Trade Review: One Nut and Urban

Urban Achievers receive:
RP Carlos Marmol CHC
Round 17
Round 18

One Nut receives:
SP AJ Burnett PIT
Round 21
Round 23

A fair move on both sides and a necessary one for Jason. Burnett has been incredibly consistent since letting up 12 ER in a start earlier in the season, which is so very un-AJ Burnett like, but I guess that tells you something about pitching in New York. His stuff looked great the other night in the near no hitter. So often at this time of year we see mega deals based on the names involved rather than production, so this was a smart move by Jason. Nine rounds is nothing to sniff at, but splitting it up with two picks lessens the talent impact next year. Was it a fair price though? Here’s a list of the trades that have gone through this year where it was essentially a pitcher for a draft pick:

Roy Halladay (Grumpy) – 30 rounds
CJ Wilson (Grumpy) – 23 rounds
Dan Haren (Moose) – 17 rounds
AJ Burnett (One Nut) – 9 rounds
Edinson Volquez (Montezumas) – 7 rounds
Rafael Soriano (Montezumas) – 6 rounds
Ervin Santana (Grumpy) – 5 rounds
Addison Reed (Grumpy) – 5 rounds
Travis Wood (Cowhide) – 4 rounds
Tom Whilemsen (Ring) – 3 rounds

There’s clearly a top tier there based on keeper-ability. Wilson has been the best, but has struggled lately while Haren and Halladay’s ups and downs have been well documented. Burnett’s numbers (102/3.27/1.19/14 in 124 ip) have been better than everyone on this list, which look even better if you were to take out the 12 ER debacle (which is cheating, but you get the point). Dan did good holding on to him for this long and not budging on lower offers (I know he got them because I offered some) and capitalized at the right time. Dan also got a useful part in Marmol who looks like he’ll continue in the closer role for the rest of the season and could potentially be swung for a pick. Burnett doesn’t have the keeper cache of Haren and Halladay and I’d probably still rather have Wilson long term, but he’s been productive and could be just what Jason needs after trading Wilson earlier this season and having three DLd starters. Good move for both.