Category Archives: Trade Deadline Deals

Prospect Breakdown: Houston Astros Acquire Domingo Santana as PTBNL In Hunter Pence Trade

The Houston Astros have acquired Phillies outfield prospect Domingo Santana as the player to be named later in the Hunter Pence deal. Santana is currently hitting .269 with 29(2B), 4(3B), 7HR, and 32RBI for the Low-A Lakewood BlueClaws. In 2010 he hit a combined .211 with 19 Doubles and 8 Home Runs in a season split between Lakewood and the Short-A Williamsport Crosscutters. The recently turned 19 year old is one of the youngest players in the South Atlantic League. Santana was signed by the Phillies as a non drafted free agent in 2009 out of the Dominican Republic.

Prospect Breakdown: Dodgers Trade Trayvon Robinson To Mariners For Tim Federowicz, Stephen Fife, and Juan Rodriguez and Seattle Also Gets Chih Hsien Chiang From Boston

The Seattle Mariners have traded Erik Bedard and pitching prospect Josh Fields to the Boston Red Sox in a 3 way deal that sends Tim Federowicz, Juan Rodriguez, Stephen Fife, and Chih-Hsien Chiang to the Mariners who then flipped Federowicz, Fife, and Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Trayvon Robinson. The 23 year old Robinson has been one of baseball’s breakout prospects in 2011. He’s hit .293 with 9 Doubles, 6 Triples, 26 Home Runs, and 71 RBI’s for the Triple-A Albuquerque Isatopes. In 2010 the 5’10” centerfielder hit .300 with 23 Doubles, 5 Triples, 9 Home Runs, and 57 RBI’s for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts. Robinson was a 10th round pick of the Dodgers in the 2005 draft. In the deal, Los Angeles gets the soon to be 24 year old catcher Federowicz who is currently batting .275 with 20 Doubles, 7 Home Runs, and 50 RBI’s for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Last season for the High-A Salem Red Sox he hit .253 with 34 Doubles and 4 Home Runs. Federowicz is a U.S. National team alum. The Red Sox drafted him the seventh round of the 2008 draft out of the University of North Carolina. The 22 year old Rodriguez is currently 2-4 with a 5.19ERA in 32 appearances for High-A Salem. He has 88 strikeouts in 59 innings. He pitched in the Gulf Coast League in 2010 going 5-1 with a 3.51ERA. Rodriguez was signed by the Red Sox as a non drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2008. The 24 year old Fife is 11-4 with a 3.66ERA in 18 starts for Portland. He’s repeating Double-A this season after going 8-6 with a 4.75ERA for the Sea Dogs in 2010. Fife was a third round pick of the Red Sox in the 2008 draft out of the University of Utah. Additionally in the deal, the Mariners received and are keeping Chih-Hsien Chiang from Boston. The 23 year old Chiang is currently hitting .338 with 36 Doubles, 4 Triples, 18 Home Runs, and 76 RBI’s at Portland. The native of Taiwan is repeating Double-A and has vastly improved upon the .260, 35 Double, 11 Home Run, 65 RBI season he had with the Seadogs in 2010. Chiang was signed by the Red Sox as a non drafted free agent in 2005. Boston acquires Fields who is 1-2 with a 3.92ERA and 3 saves in a combined 39 innings out of the bullpen for the Double-A Jackson Generals and Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers. Fields was the 20th overall pick of the 2008 draft out of the University of Georgia.

Prospect Breakdown: Oakland Trades Brad Ziegler To Diamondbacks For Brandon Allen & Jordan Norberto

The Oakland Athletics have traded Brad Ziegler to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Brandon Allen and Jordan Norberto. The 25 year old Allen has seen limited time in the major leagues in each of the last three seasons. His best cup of coffee with Arizona came in 2010 when he hit .267 in 22 games. This season for the Diamondbacks Allen has hit .172 over 29 at-bats with three of his hits being Home Runs. He has seen time for the Triple-A Reno Aces in each of his three seasons in the Diamondbacks organization after coming over from the White Sox midway through the 2009 season. Allen hit .306 with 21 Doubles, 4 Triples, 18 Home Runs, and 66 RBI’s in 83 games for Reno this season prior to being called up. He was fifth round pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 2004 draft. Norberto is a 24 year old left handed reliever who has posted a 6-2 record with a 4.25ERA in 41 appearances for Reno, his second season in Triple-A. Norberto made his major league debut in 2010 going 0-2 with a 5.85ERA in 20 innings with the Diamondbacks in 2010. The 6’0″ lefty was signed by Arizona as a non drafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic back in 2004.

Prospect Breakdown: Los Angeles Dodgers Trade Rafael Furcal To Cardinals For Alex Castellanos

The Los Angeles Dodgers have traded Rafael Furcal to the St. Louis Cardinals for prospect Alex Castellanos. The 24 year old Castellanos is in the middle of a career year for Double-A Springfield where he is hitting .319 with 21 Doubles, 4 Triples, 19 Home Runs, and 62 RBI’s to go along with 10 stolen bases. The 5’11” outfielder hit .270 with 35 Doubles, 7 Triples, 13 Home Runs, 58 RBI’s and had 19 stolen bases for High-A Palm Beach in 2010. Castellanos was a 10th Round pick of the Cardinals out of Belmont Abbey College back in 2008.

Prospect Breakdown: Astros Trade Michael Bourn To Braves For Brett Oberholtzer, Paul Clemens, Juan Abreu & Jordan Schafer

The Houston Astros have traded outfielder Michael Bourn to the Atlanta Braves for a package of four prospects which includes pitchers Brett Oberholtzer, Paul Clemens and Juan Abreu as well as outfielder Jordan Schafer. Oberholtzer is the best of the Braves second tier pitching prospects. He is currently 9-9 with a 3.74 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 127.2 Innings for Double-A Mississippi. The 6’2″ lefty went 6-8 with a 3.72ERA combined between Low-A Rome and High-A Myrtle Beach in 2010. The 22 year old Oberholtzer was an 8th round pick of the Braves in the 2008 draft. Clemens is 6’4″ right hander who’s posted a 6-5 record with a 3.73ERA and 93 strikeouts in 108.2 innings for Mississippi this season. The 22 year old went a combined 2-4 with a 3.23ERA between Rome and Myrtle Beach in 2010. Clemens was a 7th Round pick of the Braves back in 2008. Abreu is a 6’0″ right handed reliever who is currently 4-2 with a 2.25ERA at Triple-A Gwinnett. He’s struck out 68 batters in 48 innings and International League hitters are batting just .193 against him. The 26 year old went a combined 4-2 with a 4.35ERA and 12 Saves between Myrtle Beach and Mississippi last season. He was originally signed as a non drafted free agent by the Kansas City Royals back in 2003, and has yet to make his major league debut. Schafer was at one time a top organizational prospect before running into a string of bad luck including a 50 game suspension from major league baseball in 2008 and a wrist injury in 2009. His best season in the Minors came back in 2007 when he hit a combined .312 with 15 Home Runs and 63 RBI’s between Rome and Myrtle Beach. Schafer has not had more than 4 Home Runs in a season since hitting 10 in his suspension shortened 2008 season. Since a call up from Gwinnett in May of this year, Schafer hit .240 with 6 Doubles, 3 Triples, 1 Home Run, and 7 RBI’s in 52 Games with the Braves. The 24 year old Schafer was a third round selection of the Braves back in 2005.

Prospect Breakdown: Indians Trade Orlando Cabrera To San Francisco Giants For Thomas Neal

The Cleveland Indians have traded Orlando Cabrera to the San Francisco Giants for prospect Thomas Neal. Neal is currently batting .295 with 13 Doubles, 3 Triples, 2 Home Runs, and 25RBI. The 23 year old has seen his power numbers fall significantly over the last three seasons. He had a career year for High-A San Jose in 2009 hitting .337 with 41 Doubles and 22 Home Runs. The average remained solid but the power numbers fell in 2010 as Neal hit .291 with 40 Doubles, 12 Home Runs, and 69 RBI’s for the Double-A Richmond Flying Squirrels. If the power can redevelop, he has the potential to be a steal for the Indians. Neal was a 36th round pick of the Giants back in the 2005 draft.

Prospect Breakdown: Baltimore Orioles Trade Derek Lee To Pirates For Aaron Baker

The Baltimore Orioles have traded first baseman Derek Lee to the Pittsburgh Pirates in return for prospect Aaron Baker. Baker is currently batting .282 with 21 Doubles, 15 Home Runs, and 73 RBI for the High-A Bradenton Marauders. The 23 year old first baseman batted .253 with 34 Doubles, 18 Home Runs, and 79 RBI’s for the Low-A West Virginia Power. Baker was an 11th round pick of the Pirates in the 2009 draft out of Oklahoma.

Prospect Breakdown: Athletics Trade Rich Harden To Red Sox For Lars Anderson

The Oakland Athletics have trade Rich Harden to the Boston Red Sox for prospect Lars Anderson and a player to be named later. A former member of the U.S. Junior National Team, Anderson never quite lived up the the lofty expectations Boston had for him when the signed him out of high school in the 2006 draft. The 23 year old is currently batting .261 with 26 Doubles, 10 Home Runs and 57 RBI’s in his second year at Triple-A Pawtucket. Anderson’s best season in the minors when he hit a combined .317 with 32 Doubles, 18 Home Runs and 80 RBI’s between the Single-A Lancaster Jethawks and the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. His lone big league experience came in 2010 with Boston where he hit .200 with a Double in 18 games with the Red Sox.

UPDATE: According to multiple online sources this trade has fallen through at the last minute. Was previously announces by many as being a done deal. Sean McAdam of the Comcast reports the Red Sox wanted to take away a player to be named later after looking at Harden’s medical reports and just trade them Anderson, and were denied by Oakland.

Prospect Breakdown: Rockies Trade Ubaldo Jimenez To Indians For Drew Pomeranz, Alex White, Joe Gardner, & Matt McBride

The Colorado Rockies have traded Ubaldo Jimenez to the Cleveland Indians for a package that includes Drew Pomeranz (who will be a player to be named later as he cannot be traded until August 15th, a year after he signed), Alex White, Joe Gardner, and Matt McBride. The 22 year old Pomeranz was the 5th overall pick out of Ole Miss in the 2010 draft and has been lights out since turning pro. This season he is a combined 3-3 with a 1.98ERA and has struck out 112 batters in 91 innings between the High-A Kinston Indians and the Double-A Akron Aeros. He was a participant in the 2011 Futures Game. The 6’5″ lefty has as high a ceiling as any pitcher in the minor leagues. White went 1-0 with a 3.60 in 3 starts with the Indians earlier this year before going on the DL with a finger injury. The 22 year old pitched a simulated game on Monday and was scheduled to start tonight for Akron before being scratched upon news of the pending trade. White went 10-10 with 2.45ERA in 25 starts between Kinston and Akron in 2010. He was the 15th overall pick of the 2009 draft out of North Carolina. Gardner is another product of the 2009 draft. The Indians took the 23 year old in the third round out of UC Santa Barbara. He is currently 7-8 with a 4.99ERA in 19 starts for Akron. Gardner was 12-6 with a 2.68ERA in 28 starts for Kinston in 2010. McBride is a 26 year old with a solid bat who has yet to play above the Triple-A level. He was second round pick by the Indians out of LeHigh University way back in 2006 and has been in the Indians organization since. After not hitting more than eight home runs in any of his previous minor league seasons, McBride broke out with a 44 Double, 18 Home Run, 99 RBI year between Kinston and Akron in 2009. He followed that up with a 31 Double, 21 Home Run, 79 RBI year between Akron and the Triple-A Columbus Clippers in 2010. This season McBride has once again split between Akron and Columbus and has posted a combined .279, 26 Double, 15 Home Run, 56 RBI year to this point.

Prospect Breakdown: Washington Nationals trade Jason Marquis To Diamondbacks For Zach Walters

The Washington Nationals have traded journeyman pitcher Jason Marquis to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Zach Walters. The 21 year old third baseman is in the middle of a very solid season for Low-A South Bend. Walters is hitting .302 with 27 Doubles, 6 Triples, 9 Home Runs, 56RBI’s and has 12 stolen bases on the year. The biggest knock on 6’2″ switch hitter may be his plate discipline as he’s struck out 96 times in 361 at-bats. Walters made his pro debut last season at Yakima of the Northwest League where he hit .302 in 69 games. He was a ninth round pick of the Diamondbacks in the 2010 draft out of the University of San Diego.