Wow I didn't know I could be so exited about baseball in December. But this is a huge trade for the future of the M's. We give up J.J. Putz, Sean Green, Jeremy Reed, and Luis Valbuena. We get Franklin Gutierrez, Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez, Mike Carp, and some "minor leaguers".
Lets first discuss who we had to give up: J.J. Putz will be missed. He was been one of my favorite players the last few years and he was the leader of the team. But I understand why the team would want to trade him. He was hurt for most of last year, and when he did pitch, he stunk. Good luck in Queens J.J.! Sean Green will also be missed. He has been our best right-handed set-up man the last two years. Jeremy Reed will not be missed. He has basically no potenial upside and is basically a career .250 and 15 home run hitter with average defense. Luis Valbuena definitely has some upside. I was impressed by his bat and glove but he is the same player as Jose Lopez right now, just with a slightly better glove and less power, so one of them had to go.
Now lets get to the exiting part. I'm stoked about Franklin Gutierrez. He is going to be our center fielder for a long time! Great defense, decent offense, and great upside. Aaron Heilman isn't really that exiting, he's a downgrade from Sean Green. He wants to start but we already have too many starters so he'll probably be in the bullpen again. Endy Chavez will probably split time with Wlad in left. He's a great defensive player that can hit for average and has good speed. Mike Carp is a good minor leaguer that has potential.
Bottom line is that we drastically improved our outfield defense (and possibly outfield offense) but at the same time lost some key bullpen pieces. Another big question is do we move Brandon Morrow back to the bullpen? I really think this kid could be a great starter but now without Putz and Green, we need him as a closer.
Spring Training is less than 3 months away!
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