Trade Reviews

Living on Correa receives:
SP Jon Lester CHC
SP Carlos Martinez STL
19th rounder

Brokeback receives:
OF AJ Pollock ARI
11th rounder


The first big trade of the year as Watson is the first to call it quits. He didn't wait long after the announcement to deal away his two biggest chips, and I think he came up a bit short. Given the need for reliable starting pitching and the dearth of available options, Lester and Martinez should've each brought in at least 20 rounds and perhaps an interesting (if not surefire) keeper option -- or the two of them should've brought in an elite keeper, which Pollock is not in my opinion. The fact that the first team to start selling the past two seasons has traded for Pollock early on says a lot about his durability. His 162-game average is 93/15/58/29/.346, which is great, certainly a top-30 keeper, but not equivalent to 40-50 rounds. And that's without factoring in that he's only come close to a 162-game season once in 5+ seasons -- and he won't get there this season. That 157-game 2015 season was superb (111/20/76/39/.367), but it was also his age 27 season.  Pollock won't be contributing to Watson's team until he turns 30 years old and speed doesn't age well, particularly on players.

Garret Richards, a much less accomplished SP, brought in 15 rounds straight up early last season. Price and Kennedy brought in Pollock and 12 rounds (11 for 23) last year, which is a great comp - less picks and a significantly worse pair of pitchers (Price was in the midst of a terrible start to thes season when dealt).

For Chad, this is just what the doctor ordered. His offense has been clicking all season even after Pollock got hurt, but his pitching has been dreadful at times, despite some quality surprises like Senzatela, Miranda, and Hahn. Adding CMart and Lester to fit in between Strasburg and Bundy makes this a championship-caliber roster that should be frightening for the rest of the league. The new guy has wasted no time making a splash.

So, in short, while I like Pollock and acknowledge Watson received the highest pick he could at the moment, I really think  he could've received the equivalent of Pollock + 8 rounds for one of those SPs, leaving him at least 20 rounds short of what the market should bear at this point in the season. And I love the trade for Chad, who needed a shot in the arm and got one in a big way.

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Livin on Correa recieves:
RP Brad Bach BAL
20th rounder

Brokeback recieves:
16th rounder

I'm not going to spend much time breaking this down, but basically I think this is what every quality RP should go for in a S+H league. Bach has been one of the best, but his impact is limited and this is the right amount of rounds in the right part of the draft to receive for him.