These don't seem to be the Cleveland Indians I grew up with. The team that tried to stockpile its minor league arms like gold at Fort Knox for the past generation certainly didn't do that on Saturday night, dealing their two best young pitchers (and two other minor leaguers) to the Colorado Rockies for Ubaldo Jimenez in a trade that is the biggest so far at the trade deadline in 2011.
You might not have heard much about Drew Pomeranz or Alex White, but Indians fans certainly have. White, their No. 1 pick in 2009, had a 1.90 ERA in four starts with the big club before injuring a ligament in his finger. Pomeranz, their No. 1 draft pick in 2010, was dynamic at high-A Kinston and projects as a top-of-the-rotation starter in a few years.
My immediate reaction: Horrible deal for Cleveland (and I'm not the only one) even as Jimenez is under contract for two more years. Jimenez has had whispers about arm trouble, and is 6-9 with a 4.46 ERA this season. Colorado gets two big-league arms for the price of one. And that one could be hurt.
How times have changed. The Indians reportedly could have had Pedro Martinez straight up for Jaret Wright in 1997, but didn't pull the trigger. They regretted not making that deal, but I think they will they regret this one.
"Obviously, we gave up a lot of talent, but you have to give up talent to get talent," Indians closer Chris Perez said to MLB.com. "Pomeranz has a lot of talent, but at the same time, he hasn't done anything up here yet. Maybe five years from now, we might be kicking ourselves. But you can't look five years from now."
Said GM Chris Antonetti, to Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com: "'The Plan' is to win games, get into the postseason and win a championship. Nobody's smart enough to know when factors will line up to have those opportunities. We have an opportunity in front of us to potentially reach the postseason. We don't take those opportunities lightly."
The biggest problem with the deal is the fact that the Indians didn't address their biggest problem: Offense. This is a team that was no-hit by Ervin Santana last week and has Grady Sizemore and Shin-Soo Choo on the DL. Cleveland is not going anywhere in the pennant race without more offense.
It's a make-or-break deal for Antonetti, who just ascended into the GM spot. The deal is contingent on a physical. Indians fans might be crossing their fingers that Jimenez doesn't pass.
Fantasy impact: Jimenez, assuming he's healthy, should be better now that he's not pitching half of his games in Coors Field. Kevin Kleps covers that and more in the Week 18 Fantasy Baseball Weekly Planner.
Comments
your article lacks any facts. Pomeranz does not grade out as an ace, at least not by any legitimate minor league rating service. Your opinions shouldn’t be cited as “facts”. I have scoured the internet and cannot find a single reference saying the trade was Wright for Pedro–Bartolo Colon was part of the deal which is why we said no. No mention of Ubaldo’s contact ratio, that it hasn’t changed between the years and opp BA when making contact has jumped nearly 100 points–a stat pitchers have little control over. You assume Pomeranz is an ace, Whites finger injury (Adam Miller anyone), and not really evaluating any of Jimenez’s stats makes this article poorly written.
It’s my opinion, and I’ll stand by it. When did I say my opinion was a “fact?”
Anyway, I worked as a writer in Cleveland then (see my bio), and everybody knew the Wright-for-Pedro rumor. Here’s one post on another site that independently references it.
There are others, too.
Pomeranz is a left-handed power pitcher who was picked No. 5 overall in the draft – you don’t think that projects as an ace down the line?
I didn’t want to bog down the post with a lot more stats (I’m trying to write tighter), but you have a good point with the BABIP on Jimenez this year. The contract is favorable, and that is alluded to.
Nevertheless, I’d still want Pomeranz and White over Jimenez.
SK
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9825 alludes to the trade, unfortunately the former GM of Expos wont come out and say exactly what the deal was. The article you list states Wright was included in the deal, not straight up for Wright.
I wonder how much of Pomeranz and White you (or anyone) has actually seen. I like how the former tops out at 95, however White’s fastball is very straight and lacks top end speed. Solid starter potential, but does not have top of the line stuff. Beau mills, Bo Greenwell, Sowers, Huff, Guthrie, etc all were high picks (granted by a different farm director) and do not represent untradable assets by any means.
What’s the timeline of Pomeranz to the majors? Next year? How is he going to be able to pitch 200 MLB innings (which is what we need for 2012) if he is rushed? I expect him to touch MLB next year but be closer to two years away from being a cog in a rotation. So we have 2 years on Pomeranz and next year on White, meanwhile our core players are hitting their stride now. We needed to time this correctly. And we did.
Offense–huge problem; however so is the back end of the rotation. Minus Tomlin and Masterson our starters have been borderline atrocious. The obvious weakness is offense, but adding a bat (hunter pence?) instead would not have had the same impact. A sub 3 ERA (see road ERA–feel free to adjust to the AL and have appx a 3 ERA) is much more valuable than a .311/353/827 hitter, who was the top bat on the market. Essentially would you rather have ezequial carrerra and Jimenez or Pence and Carrasco right now? You have a chance to win with Jimenez every fifth day, not sure Pence makes that sort of impact.
Have to agree with Scott, didn’t like it because we have 0 offense right now. You need pitching to win, true. But this team can’t score a single run right now and you can’t win a game 0 to anything!