November 16, 2015
Leonys traded...
Leonys Martin has been traded to the Seattle Mariners, along with middle reliever/long man/spot starter Anthony Bass for reliever Tom Wilhelmsen, speedy outfielder James Jones, and a player to be named later.
Wilhelmsen is a solid late-inning reliever with two years of control left. Adam Morris at Lone Star Ball speculates that this move is mostly about the acquisition of Wilhelmsen as a hedge against a rumored Shawn Tolleson trade or fear of injury to Keone Kela's elbow.
Personally, I think that was about getting rid of a player that likely didn't fit in Jeff Banister's clubhouse, and putting together a deal that brings value back. The Texas front office and Banister expressed quite a bit of disappointment in Leonys Martin in 2015 regarding lack of effort, un-coachability, and his snit that occurred when he didn't make the post-season roster. Normally, you disregard personality-based disagreements, and you certainly never draw attention to anything that affects players' contracts. The Players Union doesn't like that. Baseball Players are individual professionals that you try to get to perform as a team, but as far as getting the job done goes, Leonys Martin is paid to show up and do his job. Of course, he didn't do that...except that he wasn't contractually obligated to.
However, my bet is that Texas and Leonys were in an uncomfortable situation, at least in the clubhouse. When you've got Prince Fielder willingly relinquishing 1B duties in order to make the club better, throwing a fit about not making the roster after a down offensive year looks really bad. I've already pointed out that Leonys has more than enough talent to have earned reconciliation and a shot to regain the starting CF job, but it's also true that Texas had four outfielders on the 25 man roster without getting into a couple of AAA candidates who not only could hopefully man an everyday position (Ryan Rua) but also play a depth position.
The bottom line is, in my opinion this trade is about dumping Leonys. And since I don't believe dumping a talented player is something smart MLB teams do unless it makes them better or rectifies a *serious* problem. Wilhelmsen is a good get...he's not a spare piece or a depth piece; he's a guy who sit's right next to Diekman, Dyson and Kela. Two years of control, just like Leonys. A mediocre fourth outfielder for Anthony Bass is probably parity. Players To Be Named Later are usually minor league depth or lottery tickets. If the PTBNL is a lottery ticket, I'd call the trade value for value.
EDIT: And there it is:
Edits and updates at the bottom.
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Wilhelmsen is a solid late-inning reliever with two years of control left. Adam Morris at Lone Star Ball speculates that this move is mostly about the acquisition of Wilhelmsen as a hedge against a rumored Shawn Tolleson trade or fear of injury to Keone Kela's elbow.
Personally, I think that was about getting rid of a player that likely didn't fit in Jeff Banister's clubhouse, and putting together a deal that brings value back. The Texas front office and Banister expressed quite a bit of disappointment in Leonys Martin in 2015 regarding lack of effort, un-coachability, and his snit that occurred when he didn't make the post-season roster. Normally, you disregard personality-based disagreements, and you certainly never draw attention to anything that affects players' contracts. The Players Union doesn't like that. Baseball Players are individual professionals that you try to get to perform as a team, but as far as getting the job done goes, Leonys Martin is paid to show up and do his job. Of course, he didn't do that...except that he wasn't contractually obligated to.
However, my bet is that Texas and Leonys were in an uncomfortable situation, at least in the clubhouse. When you've got Prince Fielder willingly relinquishing 1B duties in order to make the club better, throwing a fit about not making the roster after a down offensive year looks really bad. I've already pointed out that Leonys has more than enough talent to have earned reconciliation and a shot to regain the starting CF job, but it's also true that Texas had four outfielders on the 25 man roster without getting into a couple of AAA candidates who not only could hopefully man an everyday position (Ryan Rua) but also play a depth position.
The bottom line is, in my opinion this trade is about dumping Leonys. And since I don't believe dumping a talented player is something smart MLB teams do unless it makes them better or rectifies a *serious* problem. Wilhelmsen is a good get...he's not a spare piece or a depth piece; he's a guy who sit's right next to Diekman, Dyson and Kela. Two years of control, just like Leonys. A mediocre fourth outfielder for Anthony Bass is probably parity. Players To Be Named Later are usually minor league depth or lottery tickets. If the PTBNL is a lottery ticket, I'd call the trade value for value.
EDIT: And there it is:
Jon Daniels says the player to be named is 'actually a pretty important part' of the deal. Interesting - I didn't expect that.
— Or Moyal (@OrMoyal) November 16, 2015
Daniels said the trade won't be official until after the winter meetings, which most likely means the PTBNL is Rule 5 eligible. Rule 5 eligible players are guys with five years of service time (five years out of the seven years of automatic club control over the contract) that are not on the major league club's 40 man roster. The rationale being that after five years in the minor leagues, it's possible their shot at playing major league ball might be blocked on their current team by another player. As an example, let's presume Joey Gallo had just completed his fifth year of minor league ball (instead of his third). He's not going to play 3B for Texas next year, but at his talent level Texas doesn't want to lose him. He'll be put on the 40 man roster, and won't come off until he's either playing for the Rangers, gets traded, or declines so far they don't care anymore. Of course, that's one 40 man roster slot that can't be used for someone else, so you have to manage them carefully.
The point is, if you're a guy that the big league club doesn't think is vital to the teams future success or possibly doesn't want to invest the time and money they think it will still take to get you there; or if they think other teams won't value you highly enough to claim you on waivers, they'll leave you off the 40 man and expose you to waivers. For (relatively) nominal fee, other MLB clubs can claim you and put you on THEIR 40 man roster. The caveat is you have to stay on it all year, or you go back to the original team.
The Rangers got Delino DeShields, Jr. from Houston through the Rule 5 draft last year, and DeShields not only stuck on the roster, his impressive On Base Percentage was a major factor in driving the Rangers' offense. However, the Rangers also lost a Rule 5 eligible player, Odubel Herrera. Herrera had seemingly hit a wall at AA for Texas, playing up the middle where he was also blocked by several other talented middle infielders. Philadelphia took him in the Rule 5 draft and made him their Center Fielder, where he surprisingly thrived; generating not only his best offensive campaign ever but also plus defense at a difficult position that he had never played before. Completely unpredictable.
Anyway, the point of all this is that the player Texas wants is likely someone in the upper levels of the minor league system that neither Seattle nor Texas actually want on their 40 man roster. So, Seattle will leave him off the roster and hope he makes it through the draft unclaimed. If he does, Texas will then complete the Leonys trade and add the Rule 5 player to their minor league roster. I've been trying to find a list of Rule 5 eligible players in the Seattle system, but have been unsuccessful so far.
The point is, if you're a guy that the big league club doesn't think is vital to the teams future success or possibly doesn't want to invest the time and money they think it will still take to get you there; or if they think other teams won't value you highly enough to claim you on waivers, they'll leave you off the 40 man and expose you to waivers. For (relatively) nominal fee, other MLB clubs can claim you and put you on THEIR 40 man roster. The caveat is you have to stay on it all year, or you go back to the original team.
The Rangers got Delino DeShields, Jr. from Houston through the Rule 5 draft last year, and DeShields not only stuck on the roster, his impressive On Base Percentage was a major factor in driving the Rangers' offense. However, the Rangers also lost a Rule 5 eligible player, Odubel Herrera. Herrera had seemingly hit a wall at AA for Texas, playing up the middle where he was also blocked by several other talented middle infielders. Philadelphia took him in the Rule 5 draft and made him their Center Fielder, where he surprisingly thrived; generating not only his best offensive campaign ever but also plus defense at a difficult position that he had never played before. Completely unpredictable.
Anyway, the point of all this is that the player Texas wants is likely someone in the upper levels of the minor league system that neither Seattle nor Texas actually want on their 40 man roster. So, Seattle will leave him off the roster and hope he makes it through the draft unclaimed. If he does, Texas will then complete the Leonys trade and add the Rule 5 player to their minor league roster. I've been trying to find a list of Rule 5 eligible players in the Seattle system, but have been unsuccessful so far.
Posted by: Ben at
06:04 PM
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