Trade Analyses

This week I’m going to catch up on analyzing recent Rangers trades.

The Rangers traded Gerald Laird to the Tigers for Guillermo Moscoso and Carlos Melo on December 7th.

Guillermo Moscoso: Guillermo went 8-2 with a 2.18 ERA throughout Oneonta, West Michigan (Low-A), and Lakeland (High-A). He only pitched 90.2 innings that year, though, with 79 strikeouts and 16 walks. He had shoulder surgery in 2005 and that explains the low number of innings because they wanted to bring him back slowly. In 2008, Moscoso pitched 86.2 innings between Lakeland and Erie (AA). He struck out 122 batters and walked only 21. He was named the #10 prospect in the Detroit minor league system by Baseball America. Moscoso had a 3.72 ERA out of the bullpen and a 1.65 ERA as a starter. He has more strikeouts than innings and five times more strikeouts than walks in his career. The only downside is that he’s a fly ball pitcher, but seems like a pretty good prospect.

Carlos Melo: In 2007, the Tigers signed Carlos out of the Dominican Republic as a 16-year-old. He didn’t pitch that year. In 2008, he had a 5.14 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 20 walks in only 49 innings. He’s only 17 years old, but reportedly is already throwing 93-96 miles an hour.

Trade Evaluation:
Laird wasn’t going to be our best catcher or our catcher of the future. If I was going to trade one of our catchers it would have been Laird. Fortunately it was him (and not more). Guillermo Moscoso seems like a very good prospect who isn’t all that far away from the majors, and can both be a relief pitcher and a starter. Carlos Melo seems to have a great upside, but is far from the majors and will need a lot of attention to speed up his process and to become a successful major league pitcher. This seems like a pretty return for Laird.
Grade: A-

The Red Sox sent Beau Vaughn over to the Rangers to complete the Wes Littleton trade on December 11th.

Beau Vaughn: In 2008, Beau went 3-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 17 saves between Portland (AA) and Pawtucket (AAA). He pitched 58 innings and struck out 69, walking 24, and giving up an opponent’s batting average of .233. He is 27 years old.

Trade Evaluation:
Wes Littleton had a good year in 2006 with a 1.73 ERA in 36.1 innings. But in 2007 he had a 4.31 ERA and in 2008 he had a 6.00 ERA. I think that he could still pitch in the major leagues and that Beau Vaughn is more of a minor-leaguer-to-back-part-of-the-bullpen type guy, so I think that this trade wasn’t necessary, except to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.
Grade: B-

Results of last week’s poll:
Where do you think Manny Ramirez will go?
Yankees – 62%
Dodgers – 25%
Other – 12%

Come back next week for an interview with Rangers broadcaster Eric Nadel.

Merry Christmas!