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Johnson to NY? Ugie to the Giants?

4 Comments

As Jeff pointed out in the comments to yesterday’s Guillen post, the Yankees are interested in Jason Johnson as a back up plan if they don’t get Freddy Garcia.

Also, Peter Gammons is speculating on the possibility of a Ugueth Urbina/Mike Maroth package going to San Francisco.

San Francisco trades right-handed pitcher Matt Cain and infielder Lance Niekro to Detroit for closer Ugueth Urbina and starting pitcher Mike Maroth. For the Giants, the future is now. For the Tigers, two years from now to have Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson, Kyle Sleeth and Cain for the rotation will get them a lot closer to where they want to be rather than shooting for .500 in 2004.

4 thoughts on “Johnson to NY? Ugie to the Giants?”

  1. Is it just me or is that horrible deal? I know next to nothing about these prospects, but when did we start making 1 to 1 trades for prospects? If I remember rightly, we got three good prospects out of the Marlins for Redman. Why in the world would we give up our most consistent (and experienced) starter who is all but guaranteed to have a solid, if mediocre career, for two guys that may or may not ever see the light of day? I agree that any success we have this year is important only from a PR and player development standpoint, but we don’t need to be giving away major leaguers.

    Ok, having already spouted off a bit, I did some research. Sounds like this Cain kid is expected to be at Bonderman’s level. That comforts me a little, but he’s also damaged goods. “A stress fracture in his elbow sidelined him in the middle of the 2003 season.” That’s not good. I’m tired of losing pitching prospects to injuries. I’m holding out for a better offer…

  2. Yes, but… Maroths are a dime a dozen, and you don’t win World Series with Maroths. You do win them with guys who at age 19 have lines like this at high-A: 72.2 IP, 89 K, 17 BB, 58 H, 5 HR, who receive a call up to AA and throw seven scoreless (thanks to Dayn Perry’s High-A All-Stars column today at BP). However… Niekro? Blah. 25 year old 1B with a .430 career minor league slugging? We have at least four guys on the roster who can do better than that, and if soft tossing lefties are a dime a dozen, mediocre 1B are even moreso.

    All that said, Uggie is useless to the Tigers (both due to their fourth place status and is impending free agency) and Cain is an A prospect, and since pitching prospects do suffer a lot from injuries, I say stack the organization with arms and hope two of them come through. If only one or two of Verlander, Sleeth, Cain, Bonderman, Zumaya, etc. turns into as a 1 or 2 starter, then the Tigers are in great shape. You can never have enough stud arms in the system precisely because of injuries derailing careers.

    Anyway, well said, Jeff, just my two cents.

  3. All very good points, but this strikes me as a Randy Smith style trade. While it may be an even trade on paper, you have to keep in mind that the Tigers are in the driver’s seat on this one. Obviously, Uggie needs to be traded by the deadline, but there will be no shortage of contenders that will consider him. Heck, Uggie alone should command atleast a couple mid-level propsects. Maroth won’t be in as much demand, but at the same time, it doesn’t hurt to hold on to him. I would even go so far as to say that from a PR standpoint (which is important in telling free agents that the Tigers intend to stay respectable) we should keep him, unless an irresistable trade is offered. Heck, maybe I’m a bit optimistic, but I don’t see a problem with keeping Maroth for the next 6 years. He’s only 27 (28 in august). He’s at best a #3 starter, but hey… every team needs a #3 starter. In other words, let’s not go back to making trades for the sake of making trades.

    Anyways, I have the utmost confidence in Dombrowski, so I guess we should just sit back and watch him work his magic 🙂

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