Trade Review: Prestige Worldwide and Angry Pirates

Prestige Worldwide receive:
SP Neftali Feliz
OF Brett Gardner
14th rounder

The Angry Pirates receive:
1B/OF Mark Trumbo
SP Clay Buchholz
12th rounder

Without a higher upgrade in pick for Kyle, I have to put this one squarely in the win column for Commish. Now, it is true that where the player was drafted becomes meaningless after the draft is over; however, I also believe the position at which they were drafted is directly related to how long I wait for them to produce (call a strength of my conviction-o-meter).  Here we have a third and a sixth (Gardner and Feliz, respectively) going for a fifth and a ninth (Buchholz and Trumbo).  The highest pick here was Gardner, who was a keeper a year ago – yes, a questionable one, but there’s no doubting his ability to get on base, score runs, and obviously steal bases. He’s on the DL (expected back when eligible on May 3) and he’s only been mediocre (5/0/3/2/.424), but he’s certainly not someone I’d give up on, especially considering Kyle isn’t experiencing a rash of injuries at the moment that makes it imperative to free a spot. Trumbo has done OK (7/3/6/1/.395) but he’s only playing basically every other day and there’s no opening to clear playing time. In fact, it get more cloudy as mediocrity continues and Trout rips through AAA pitching. Not to mention, there’s the little issue of Trumbo’s sub-.300 obp last year. Gardner is clearly the better player here and, actually, Gaby Sanchez – the guy being dropped to make room – is also better, in my opinion. We’re not even a month into the season, so my basic point is the guys that were drafted high should have a longer leash before judgment is passed for 2012, IMO.

Meanwhile, Feliz (a sixth rounder) not only should be afforded a long leash, he’s produced quite well (14k/3.00/1.00/2qs) certainly considerably better than Buchholz and his 11k/8.87/1.93/0qs line. He looked better on Wednesday, but it was against the hapless Twins. And though he started off poorly last season and turned it around to post decent numbers until his injury, these numbers so far are extraordinarily bad (well, maybe not when compared to the Sox bullpen). It’s possible there’s something still wrong healthwise. So Feliz is the better option right now, and, combined with the more considerable difference between Gardner and Trumbo, the two round upgrade in picks comes about three or four rounds short of making up the difference.