[Sundance]

As I mentioned in my monthly review, we had a decision to make. Either we trade to rebuild, or we trade to win. Either way, moves were destined to happen at the deadline.

We opted to trade to win.

Trade #1

The Royals receive RF Edouard Kieffer, CF Jose Delgado, 2B Jim DeWitt, RHP Antonio Mendoza, SS Juan Colon, and San Diego’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, and 15th round draft picks. In return, the Padres receive CF Luis de Jesus, 2B Tanyu Shirokawa, and $5 million in cash.

Decisions had to be made, and while all of these players have performed for us in the past, they fact of the matter is that they were all letting us down this season. The Royals are looking to win now, and in this deal they receive a number of experienced ball players who have a ton of playoff experience under their belts. Despite being on a downward trend, these are all players who were good enough to make our roster, and who still have the talent to contribute. They just weren’t working in our system anymore.

Did we give up a lot? Yes, perhaps we did. But like I said, we want to win. Luis de Jesus was the AL Rookie of the Year last season. He’s got a lot of tools, but there are definitely some holes in his game as well. He hasn’t hit for the BA that we would expect him too, and he strikeouts far too often. But he has decent power and can punish pitchers when they make a mistake, and he has shown glimpses of patience at the plate. He’s got decent speed, and picks his spots well. Production-wise, he is an upgrade to our lineup and he still has room to grow. Shirokawa is a player that we acquired in the offseason, but then promptly traded in order to bring Artie Hall into the organization. He’s an extremely well-rounded hitter and is very solid out in the field.

Trade #2

The Cardinals receive RHP Edwin Harvey, RHP Dave Ling, LHP Tadaaki Maeda, minor leaguer RHP Eric Williams, and a selection of draft picks. In return, the Padres receive 3B Satoshi Hirata, CF Tony Tucker, and $10 million in cash.

Hirata is a player that we’re probably buying high on. He’s had a rather solid career, but he has definitely been on a downward trend over the last couple of seasons. Still, he’s had a bit of a resurgence here, and quite frankly, we need someone to rotate Rodgers with and rest those old legs of his. On paper, Tucker is an average player that is probably most suited to a platoon or fourth outfielder role. However, he has produced some very solid numbers in recent years, and we don’t have a better option, so he will jump straight into our starting lineup. He was just recently called up by the Cardinals and is hitting .288/.345/.423 over 16 games with them.

Again, we probably gave up too much in this deal as well, but we are trying to win here. Things have been shaken up, but hopefully the team can gel together quickly and turn the season around.