| 20 January 2012
The Michael Pineda trade can only be summed up in one word: wow. Jack Z did it again, in typical fashion of holding his cards close and not giving anyone a peek. Everyone following the Mariners closely knew Pineda could be a trade chip but no one thought there could be a package suitable for Jacks standards.
Not only did he find one, but with a mixed reaction from the Mariners faithful. Did we get fleeced? Did we just make a move that will set our team back another 10 losing seasons? Is this Adam Jones all over again? If this is still your opinion of the trade after a week, maybe you should re-evaluate your stance as a Mariner fan.
READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP!
Harsh. I know. But Jack Zduriencik has limited options. With Prince Fielder sitting on the “payday of his career” Jack refuses to be that team that drives up the dollar signs only to lose out in the end. How do I know this? It’s simple. Up until early December, the Mariners were one of the teams right at the top in the thick of things for Prince Fielder.
When the Rangers and Nationals started to sniff around a little closer to Prince, rumors surfaced that even if Prince was offered the money he wanted from Seattle, did he really want to play here? In typical Scott Boras fashion, and this is just my speculation; Seattle became the team so desperate to get fans back in the seats and runs on the board, they were willing to offer Prince close to what he wanted.
The Mariners' offer drove the offers of other teams up. This was all happening at the same time when the Mariners and Yankees started to explore trade options. Per Joel Sherman via Twitter on the day the trade was made (January 13), the Mariners and Yankees had been discussing the trade for weeks — around the same time the Nationals and Rangers Prince Fielder rumors were getting hot. Zduriencik had made the decision that the Mariners needed a middle-of-the-order bat, and free-agency wasn't going to be a place where he'd find it. Enter the Yankees.
Pineda was quietly on the trading block all along. I don’t know if Z made that official at the winter meetings or not, but the Yankees weren’t the only team calling in on Pineda. The Red Sox were also interested, but quickly backed out when Jack told them they had no prospects in their system he was interested in. That shows some grit on Jackie’s part, as well as how much he values Jesus Montero as a player. Zduriencik didn’t jump on the first offer that was put on the table. No good GM would.
The Yankees' first goal was to obtain Felix Hernandez, (I don’t know why, and I give Jack all the credit in the world for being as vocal as he has that The King isn’t going anywhere) that was quickly shot down. The Yankees then began to construct a package for Pineda built around Jesus Montero.
The Yankees needed pitching and young pitching. The Mariners needed power bats and young bats. Montero just happens to be a 22 year old top-5 hitting prospect in all of baseball and the Mariners are stacked with excellent young arms. MLB.com has ranked Danny Hultzen and James Paxton the No. 3 and No. 8 LHP, and Taijuan Walker No. 6 RHP prospects in baseball. Thus making Pineda expendable.
Yes Pineda was an All-Star in his first season and throws gas with great control. But when you can acquire a bat that’s been compared to Miguel Cabrera with power to all fields and is under team control for the next six years, you jump all over it. Especially for a pitcher that only has one year under his belt in limited innings.
Is Pineda going to be successful in New York as a No. 2 behind C.C. Sabathia? Sure. Is there a clear cut winner and loser in this trade? Absolutely not. The Mariners received a rare, unique power bat that WILL play catcher; and also received Hector Noesi who will probably be the 3rd or 4th starter in the rotation.
Don’t give up on Jack Zduriencik yet because this was a great trade for the Mariners.
--Joe Chanes (@ChanesJ)
My prediction for each player next season goes as follows:
Michael Pineda 215 innings / 4.15 era / 217 K’s / 17-10 W-L
Jesus Montero .290 BA / 23 HR / 90 RBI
