November 19, 2007
Cabrera Trade
While we wait to see if the Marlins trade Miguel Cabrera, the Angels moved Orlando Cabrera to the White Sox for Jon Garland.
The 28-year-old Garland, an 18-game winner in 2005 and 2006, was 10-13 with a 4.23 ERA in 32 starts last season. He 92-81 with a 4.41 ERA in 246 games, including 223 starts, over eight major league seasons, all with the White Sox.
Garland was acquired by the White Sox from the Cubs on July 29, 1998, for pitcher Matt Karchner.
Cabrera, 33, batted .301 with 35 doubles, eight home runs, 86 RBIs and a career-high 101 runs with the Angels last year. He had a career-high 192 hits.
He won his second Gold Glove and led AL shortstops in fielding percentage (.983). Cabrera, who has also played with Montreal and Boston during his 11-year career, is a career .273 hitter. He was on the 2004 Red Sox team that won the World Series.
I like this trade for the White Sox. Cabrera discovered the value of getting on base the last two seasons. While it's not a great OBA, his .340 make over 2006-2007 is above league average. Along with his skills fielding, that makes him a somewhat valuable player.
Garland doesn't strike me as a typical Angels pitcher. One of the strengths of the Angels is that they don't strike out much on offense but their staff strikes out lots of batters. Garland records about a strikeout every other inning, which is pretty low for a successful pitcher. I suspect he'll improve in a better pitcher's park, however.
Who moves to play shortstop for the Angels? Looks like Brandon Wood to me.
Posted by David Pinto at
03:52 PM
|
Trades
|
TrackBack (0)
I don't think the deal is bad in and of itself; I just think Ken Williams could have got a lot more than a 33-yr. old shortstop for Garland. It might have had to be in a package but I think he sold himself short.
I also disagree with Cabrera having "discovered the value of getting on base". He has gotten more hits, but 95 walks in over 1200 ABs is hardly discovering any value.
Garland has a 4 ERA in the AL, I see him as a solid #2. I see Cabrera as a nice SS, but I'd sure much rather have Jon.
Brandon Wood might be well in line as the new Angels' SS, but don't be surprised if all they were doing was giving themselves room to deal for Miguel Tejada.
This is a little conter intuative, but, I think this sets up the Angels to include young cheap good starting pitching (Marlins choice of Santana or Saunders) with Kendrick, Morales, and Wood in a deal for Miguel Cabrera. The Angels will still have Figgins, Izturis, and Ayber to share in some fashion 2B and SS while hitting 8th and 9th. The Angels will also still have McPherson to back up Kotchman and Cabrera at 1B and 3B.
This trade doesn't seem to address either teams real needs. WS just resigned Uribe 2 weeks ago - maybe they're going to use 2 ss? Cabreras good but I don't think he can pitch. I guess Angels are going with Wood at SS? Kendrick at 2B? .