So I haven't don't trade analysis for a while... here are the trades I've made since my last one.
Las Vegas sends:
3B Walter Seguin
next year 2nd
Helsingborg sends:
C Bill Harris
First move of the off-season. Losing Pottenger and not confident in Vis, I went for a catcher that I've wanted for a long time. Oddly it looked like he's hit his peak around 24 but as a LH power hitting catcher, he was a perfect fit for me. Seguin was huge in me winning a ship with 28 doubles, 10 tripes and 30 HRs last year. His issue with me was his lack of OBP and my park hurts RH batters. That said: his 3 Playoff HRs will always be appreciated in Vegas.
Las Vegas sends:
next year 6th rounder
SS Rhys Opie (AAA)
BR sends:
3B Steve Green (WBL)
I was very into Green. Great defense, LH 3B, can play SS and RF too. Just a super utility type I hoped would be a decent starter vs. RHP. He's been a huge disappointment with a .661 OPS vs RHP. But it was kinda a "let's see if this guy fits" trade so it's not that big of a deal.
Las Vegas sends:
3B Hector Rivera (WBL)
C Gabel Vis (WBL)
1B Ehran Bahceli (WBL)
Cairo sends:
SP Randy Hapgood (WBL)
cash needed (~$1.1m)
This was an odd deal. I came into the year with the best bench I've ever had in anticipation of injuries. It was probably the #1 reason I was leading the NL in runs about 40-45 games in... my bench players were keeping my starters healthy and hitting themselves. But down went Punchy Wong and I decided I needed a similar talented guy in my #2 slot in order to have a chance moreso in the playoffs than the regular season. Hapgood has been very solid for me and his FIP this year (3.37) is a lot lower than his ERA. He's been unlucky. The issue was I didn't have anyone to replace the guys I lost.
Vis has woken up in Cairo with a .397 OBP. Bahceli is a steady player at 1B (.833 OPS with me) and has been OK in Cairo. Rivera has had a vintage year in Egypt with a .397 OBP himself. My team could've really used all three guys badly especially once Juarez got hurt.
This trade probably sunk my season as my offense has gone to hell and I'm not sure I really needed Hapgood. What is especially frustrating is Rivera was only in the trade for the cash back and I never even got the cash (thinking with me over budget I had to even out the salaries).
With the injury to Juarez and departure of Vis, this was my quick turn around to try and remedy it. I gave up two guys on the minimum plus a solid AAA prospect for Benny Jones (maybe a better version of Bahceli after all) plus Pottenger who was awesome for me last year. Problem was Jones got off to a horrific start with me.
@doh Vegas sends:
Rafael Franco (WBL)
Jorge Martinez (WBL)
Borg sends:
Rute Xarito (DL)
Rolf VonTirpitz (AAA)
Douglas Tagg (AA)
Enrique Gomez (A)
Las Vegas 2047 second rounder
This was the start of my attempt to just move on in pieces from this team. Franco is a premier set up guy (and could close). Grim Reaper started out hot and is a great source of average. Franco has a 1.74 ERA with Helsingborg and Reaper has hit .280.
Part of the motivation of this deal was to trade these guys away while they were healthy. They've both had terrible injury problems so I wanted to trade them before they perhaps got another. But I really miss Franco especially. He might've been the MVP of my team last playoffs (8 app, 9.2 IP, 0 R) with some huge innings to bridge from SP to 8+9 guys Sutton and Izo.
The haul is solid but not special. I wanted my 2nd back.. I loved the second round last draft. Rolf is an experiment as a vs. LHP catcher (and he's failing so far). Tagg was depth. Gomez has some special skills, is a LH MIF and just 18. My scout sees 4* potential but the low WE scares me a bit. Rute was for salary purposes and I'll try to flip him once he is healthy.
Las Vegas sends:
C Oscar Pottenger (WBL)
Amsterdam sends:
P Doug Vance (AAA)
Again trying to move guys. Vance IMO could become a really good LH specialist/be a solid long man. Victor Wilkins is having a bad year/due for a raise so I might replace him with Vance who has a lucky 2.50 ERA. Potty is a great luxury item though for any contender. Only 80 defender in the WBL and big power/patience.
Istanbul sends:
SS Noberto Rodriguez (A)
Las Vegas sends:
RP Dawud (WBL)
Dawud had been quite good for me with a 3.23 ERA. I mostly just wanted to dump his salary ($6.7m) after his one-year FA deal. Rodriguez is a lottery chip who my scout likes a lot more than OSA.
Las Vegas sends:
3B Matt Weaver (DFA)
4th
Berlin sends:
"3b" Pancho the GOAT Ninor (WBL)
Well I wouldn't start losing and drop out of the race so I wanted to target guys I could get on the cheap who just are hitters. This trade forced me to move Fazackerly from DH to 1B but when you can trade for a GOAT, you go for it. Weaver I had DFA'd and his salary matched up with Ninor.
Maybe Spider's found a second career at DH? He looked finished the last few years but sometimes if you move a guy to DH, he can play more often is better. He has a .313 avg with a .387 OBP on the year. He's 37 but I think he has one more good year in him.
Australia sends:
Jae Hong Hong, LF (WBL)
Las Vegas sends:
Ashley 'Rush Hour' Manley, 1B (AAA)
Douglas Tagg, SS (AA)
Hong has been on my radar for a while. I like his skills plus he can play 2B which is rare for a power guy. He's a FA and I'd like to get him to sign a 2/20 or so deal. Manley I had promoted for a sim (and he had 2 HRs in 3 games) but he's just a vs. LHP 1B/DH and not much more and those guys don't play well in my ballpark. Tagg could be a good utility player. Switch hitters at 2B/SS are nice to go after.
Once I get eliminated I'll have a "what happened this year" post...