Trade Review: Angry and Donkey

Angry Pirates receives:

RP Koji Uehara BOS

20^th rounder

21^st rounder

Donkey receives:

SS Everth Cabrera SD

14^th rounder

18^th rounder

This is a pretty cut and dry trade. Chris Shannon is making some smart moves as he waits to decide to go into full fledged sell mode. Dealing Weaver and getting 18 rounds and Alfredo Simon, an equally valuable pitcher thus far, was a great move. Liquidating his closers for assets won’t make or break his season. There’s certainly demand and he had two top flight guys in Uehara and Soriano. Nine rounds is a very high price to pay for a closer considering that they typically go for 3-5 rounds near the deadline. However, you’re paying for both the high quality here and the additional month and a half of service time, which is valuable. Though the picks are capped at 14^th round, there is a lot of value to be found in those rounds and Chris already has four 14^th rounders for next year. Meanwhile, he’s also maintaining a talented though obviously flawed roster. If some of his guys can rally and he makes a run at the playoffs, he can restock closers easily with his bounty of picks and at a cheaper price.

Meanwhile, for Kyle, it made little sense to keep Kimbrel and not have any other closers since it negates the one category in which he is most valuable. Getting Uehara immediately legitimizes his bullpen and puts him in a position to win the category every week. With a strong, powerful offense, the pick sacrifice was worth it.