CarterHud

         The Texas Rangers have acquired RHP Corey Kluber and cash from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for RHP Emmanuel Clase and OF Delino DeShields Jr.

          The reaction that most casual baseball fans had is that the Indians got fleeced. That could be true. Kluber is a two time Cy Young winner, and DeShields is a career .246 hitter. But there are a lot of concerns entering 2020 with Kluber. He is 33 and will turn 34 on April 10. His velocity has been down in 2018 and 2019. To start 2019, Kluber had a 5.80 ERA in his first seven starts. He was then hit by a comebacker in that seventh start, fracturing his pitching arm. He did not return for the rest of the season, ending his nine year Indians career. His 3rd place Cy Young finish the year before makes the return seem even more disappointing. Kluber has a career 3.16 ERA with 1461 strikeouts in 1341.2 innings, and a 2.99 FIP. The Rangers need pitching bad with only Mike Minor and Lance Lynn making 20 starts. Kluber is not exactly a third starter, but a Lynn-Minor-Kluber led rotation could be dangerous, if there is any help behind them.

           In return, the Indians get an interesting young player in Emmanuel Clase. Clase will turn 22 in Spring Training. He often hits over 100 mph on his cutter, hitting as high as 102. He had a 2.31 ERA with 21 strikeouts and one save in 23.1 innings in 2019, his first taste of MLB action. He finished seven games for the Rangers, as they were perhaps setting him up for a closer role with Shawn Kelley heading out and Jose LeClerc coming off a rough season. In the minors in 2019, Clase had a 2.82 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 44.2 innings with 12 saves.

          The son of the former major leaguer with the same name, DeShields has struggled to hit at the major league level, occasionally sending him back to the minor leagues. However, DeShields is very fast. In 118 games, DeShields stole 24 bases. He has 106 career stolen bases, with just 18 home runs. He hit four home runs with a .249 batting average in 2019. In 15 AAA games, DeShields stole eight bases and hit three home runs. He can be a fourth outfielder or starter for a weak Indians outfield. His career OPS of .668 is terrible, though.

         The New York Yankees have signed RHP Gerrit Cole to a nine year deal worth $324 million. It is the most ever given to a pitcher, and the $36 million AAV is the most for a player ever.

         The most obvious question when someone gets $324 million is \”Are they worth it?\”. Cole is going to be worth it. The 28th overall pick by the Yankees in 2008, Cole did not sign and went to UCLA. In 2011, he was the first overall pick by the Pirates. In five seasons in Pittsburgh, Cole had a 3.50 ERA with 734 strikeouts in 782.1 innings. Then, the Pirates put him on the trade market. The Yankees tried to acquire Cole, but he went to the defending champions, the Astros. Cole blossomed in Houston. In two seasons, Cole had a 2.68 ERA with 602 strikeouts in 412.2 innings. In both seasons Cole led the league in K/9. He led the league in strikeouts in 2019 with 326, and the AL in ERA with 2.50. However, he was snubbed of the Cy Young. That went to his now former teammate in Justin Verlander. Cole also finished 10th in MVP voting.

            Cole will be the head of a Yankees rotation that already had ace Luis Severino, plus solid starters James Paxton and Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees will need to shed salary to account for Cole. That could lead to a trade of potential number five starter JA Happ. How the Yankees will be able to re-sign Paxton and Tanaka, or at least one of them (both are free agents after the season) is a big question mark. When the Yankees will need to extend Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres, both franchise cornerstones, having two players earning over $25 million (Cole and Giancarlo Stanton) will not help. But the only number the Yankees care about in their number of World Series rings, which could be multiple.

          The Chicago White Sox have acquired OF Nomar Mazara in exchange for CF Steele Walker.

          This could be an absolute steal for the White Sox. Mazara is 24, and is already a four year veteran. He is very consistent. He hit exactly 20 home runs in his first three seasons, but hit 19 in 2019. His .268 batting average and .786 OPS were both career highs, but not by much. One of his 19 home runs went 505 feet, the furthest hit ball in 2019. He is a below average defender, with -4 defensive runs saved and a -2.7 UZR. The numbers do not look pretty, but keep in mind his age. If Mazara can take his game to the next level, it could be scary. But his extremely mediocre numbers through four seasons are not showing much signs of improvement, potentially prompting the Rangers to trade him.

           Even though Mazara is mediocre, I still thought the Rangers could have received more in return. They get one decent prospect in Walker. Walker is 23, so he is just a year younger than Mazara and won\’t be making the big leagues in this upcoming season. A second round pick in 2018, Walker signed for $2 million. In 2019, Walker reached as high as High-A Winston-Salem. He hit .284 with 10 home runs, 13 stolen bases (but he was caught seven times) and an .811 OPS. In the Rangers system, MLB Pipeline ranks Walker as their 12th best prospect.

          The San Francisco Giants have acquired IFs Zack Cozart and Will Wilson from the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for cash and a player to be named later.

          The basis of this trade is that the Giants are getting a recent top pick to take on a bad contract. But, with the Giants not expecting to be good in 2020, the contract is not terrible. Before the 2018 season, Cozart signed a three year, $38 million deal with the Angels. However, in the two years since, Cozart has played in a combined 96 games. The Giants have just one year of Cozart, and will pay him $12.66 million for 2020. Will Wilson was drafted 15th overall in this past draft. He was the Angels\’ 4th best prospect, according to MLB Pipeline. With the Giants having a much better system, Wilson will drop down to their 10th prospect spot. In 2019 for North Carolina, Wilson hit .339 with 16 home runs. Playing for the rookie league Orem Owlz, Wilson hit .275 with five home runs in 46 games.

          The Angels are in the center of a big offseason. While they missed out on top starting pitchers Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole, they will be in the market for Madison Bumgarner, Hyun-Jin Ryu and maybe Anthony Rendon. They will likely spend a lot of money, so they needed to shed salary. While they gave up Wilson, it could lead to a much better player. Cozart was a big disappointment. A .254 hitter with 82 home runs in parts of seven seasons with the Reds, Cozart hit 40 home runs combined in 2016-2017, including a 2017 all-star appearance. In two years with the Angels, Cozart hit .190 with five home runs. He hit .124 in 38 games with no home runs in 2019. The Angels will likely have David Fletcher starting at third base, unless a Rendon or Josh Donaldson comes to town.

         Cozart might not be as much as a risk for the Giants as it seems. He will probably be hurt at some point, and his production could lack. But if he can at least hit 10 home runs and hit .250, the Giants will be happy.

          The San Diego Padres have acquired OF Tommy Pham and SS/RHP Jake Cronenworth from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for OF Hunter Renfroe, SS Xavier Edwards and a player to be named later.

          Pham has joined the long list of quality players the Rays traded after not being able to afford. Pham is only in his second season of arbitration, but he is already 31, so he will probably get a nice raise that was too much for Tampa Bay. This could re-start the cycle with Renfroe giving them a quality season(s) until being shipped off for more assets. For a team like the Padres, Pham is a great addition. While Renfroe is a great player, Pham can steal 20 bases and hit 20 home runs, walk 70 plus times a year and hit .270. He is also a pretty durable player. While Pham\’s one defensive run saved in 2019 is not great on the outside, in his 160 games in the outfield for the Rays, Pham did not make an error. He makes all the easy plays, which is sometimes what you need in a defender. Ever since Pham broke out in 2017 with the Cardinals, he has averaged 21.6 home runs a season, 21.6 stolen bases, has a .284 batting average and an OPS of .380. His WAR adds up to 13.6. However, His lowest WAR in that three year stretch came in 2019, with a 3.3 WAR. Pham has a career OPS of .844 and an OPS+ of 126. His age might scare away suitors, but he is still not a free agent until 2022, and will be arbitration eligible every year until then. In 2019, his only full season in Tampa Bay, Pham had a .273 batting average, with 21 home runs and 25 stolen bases in a career high 654 Plate Appearances.

          The least spoken about person involved in the trade is also the most intriguing player. Jake Cronenworth was the Rays\’ 17th best prospect according to MLB Pipeline, and he will slot into the same spot in the Padres\’ organization. Cronenworth will be 26 next month and hasn\’t made his MLB debut yet, which isn\’t appealing, but Pham did not make his debut until he was 26 and was not a regular until he was 29. A .312 hitter for the University in Michigan, Cronenworth also had 27 saves in his three years there. In 2015, the Rays picked him in the 7th round. In his first three minor league seasons, Cronenworth was primarily a shortstop, but with AAA Durham this past season, Cronenworth was given a pitching chance as an opener. Pitching in seven games (six starts), Cronenworth struck out nine batters and allowed four hits and no earned runs in 7.1 innings. While pitching for Durham, former MLB 50 home run hitters Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton where rehabbing against the Bulls. Cronenworth struck out Stanton and got Judge to ground out, showing he can get major leaguers out. Cronenworth\’s offensive numbers are impressive as well. He hit .334 with 10 home runs and a .934 OPS with Durham. With rosters expanding to 26 men, Cronenworth could make the Padres if he has a good spring.

          The replacement to Pham for the Rays will be Hunter Renfroe. Not to be confused with the Raiders\’ receiver with the same name, Renfroe\’s 2019 numbers don\’t look amazing. He hit .216 with a 31.2% K rate and a .778 OPS. However, Renfroe hit a career high 33 home runs. But he could have hit more if it wasn\’t for a terrible second half. Going into the all star break, Renfroe hit 27 home runs. He also had a .252 batting average, and a .921 OPS at that time. He is also a good defender, with making just one error and finishing with a 13 DRS. The first thing the Rays will try to do with Renfroe is figure out how he had an insane first half and work on stretching that out for an entire season, or as long as possible. While Pham is a top of the order guy, Renfroe is a middle of the order hitter. To replace Pham\’s presence at the number two hole, the Rays could keep Yandy Diaz, Austin Meadows and even Ji-Man Choi at the top two spots in the lineup, with Renfroe, Brandon Lowe and Avisail Garcia in the middle of the order, if Garcia re-signs. The Rays could add another discount bat to replace Garcia.

           Compared to Cronenworth, Xavier Edwards is a much more heralded prospect. Edwards was the 5th best prospect in a stacked Padres system, and is now the sixth best prospect in an equally stacked Rays system (all according to MLB Pipeline). Overall, MLB Pipeline has Edwards as the 72nd best prospect in all of baseball. The 20 year old is a long way from the majors, reaching as high as High-A. In 2019, Edwards had a .322 batting average with 34 stolen bases. He is not a power hitter, with just one home run. The 38th overall pick in 2018, Edwards might already be blocked in the Rays system. They have two young middle infielders in Willy Adames and Brandon Lowe starting at the major league level. Also, the 39th best prospect in all of the MLB is Vidal Brujan, another Rays prospect. Brujan is 21 and like Edwards, is a middle infielder. While Brujan could be dealt in a blockbuster trade, he could block Edwards, leading to Edwards potentially being flipped. Edwards is highly touted by scouts and has a good chance of being a star, leading to this being a potential steal for Tampa Bay, especially if the player to be named is a future stud.