With the kickoff of my new Working The Count's 2015 MLB predictions site I have missed a few deals. The biggest of which was a blockbuster deal sending 2013's AL rookie of the year Wil Myers to the Padres in a complex three team 11 player trade. The list below is as reported in an MLB.com news article.
Padres get:
Wil Myers, OF (from TB)
Ryan Hanigan, C (from TB)
Gerardo Reyes, RHP (from TB)
Jose Castillo, LHP (from TB)
Rays get:
Steven Souza, OF (from WSH)
Rene Rivera, C (from SD)
Jake Bauers, 1B (from SD)
Burch Smith, RHP (from SD)
Travis Ott, LHP (from WSH)
Nationals get:
Joe Ross, RHP (from SD)
Trea Turner, SS (from SD)
Padres get:
Wil Myers, OF (from TB)
Ryan Hanigan, C (from TB)
Gerardo Reyes, RHP (from TB)
Jose Castillo, LHP (from TB)
Rays get:
Steven Souza, OF (from WSH)
Rene Rivera, C (from SD)
Jake Bauers, 1B (from SD)
Burch Smith, RHP (from SD)
Travis Ott, LHP (from WSH)
Nationals get:
Joe Ross, RHP (from SD)
Trea Turner, SS (from SD)
The Padres receive a great young outfielder as well as a few other mediocre players, but all this came at an extremely steep price. They gave up four of their top 20 prospects (ranked by MLB pipeline), and Rene Rivera. Rivera's 2014 show was very impressive, but somewhat unnoticed. He accumulated a 3.1 WAR in just 329 plate appearances and ranking 9th among catchers. All the other catchers above Rivera in 2014 had at least 440 plate appearances, 1.34 times Rivera's plate appearances. For the Padres this trade gives them another talented outfielder to either play alongside Matt Kemp or instead of him, because the Kemp trade is on edge due to his hip injury. |
In this trade the Rays fill their need for a catcher (previously would have been Ryan Hanigan) now filled by the undervalued Rene Rivera. The Rays also receive multiple middle tier prospects. The Nationals receive possibly the biggest prospect in this trade in Trea Turner as well as receiving Joe Ross a minor league pitcher from the Padres.