Trading for Wily
The Giants have entered the second half of the season much like the first, looking bad. The 12-1 beat down handed out by the Cubs yesterday only punctuates this notion. With no hope of playoff contention, the Giants should be looking to wheel and deal what little they have this year. This is basically the common mantra chanted by most fans.
In a Boston Herald article today it appears that the Red Sox are actively shopping Wily Mo Peña.
The Sox are looking for a righthanded-hitting outfielder who can play center, as the team actively seeks to deal Wily Mo Peña. Peña, who struck out twice in Tuesday’s 9-3 loss, is batting .146 (6 for 41) in his last 19 games, and has struck out 12 times in his last 17 at-bats. He has just one RBI in his last 17 games, has just one hit in nine at-bats as a pinch hitter, and while the Sox still acknowledge the raw potential, there is substantial evidence they have concluded he is inadequate for the role they need. It’s not enough that the Sox pick up a righthanded bat; they need someone who also can play center, which should put to rest recent speculation about reacquiring Kevin Millar
Would the Red Sox be interested in a trade of Randy Winn? Winn is a switch hitter that has experience in the American League and could spend time in center if the Sox needed him too. The obvious obstacles are that Winn has a no-trade clause and that he’s from California so he may be very comfortable in his current living arrangements. But the Giants are so lousy this year, Winn could have a legitimate shot at winning a ring with the Red Sox, that has to count for something, right? I think a trade of Winn for Peña and a low level prospect could potentially be a match for the Red Sox.
Furthermore, if the Giants were able to move Winn, it would make room in the OF for a younger player from the three headed monster of Ortmeier / Lewis / Schierholtz. Fred Lewis has played well this year posting a line of (.283/.358/.425) and Ortmeier looked decent too in his brief time with the club. I think the real winner of a Randy Winn move could be Nate Schierholtz who is the closet thing the Giants have to a legit hitting prospect. Nate has been having an excellent all around season in AAA this year. With a line that looks like (.333/.361/.538) I would hope the Giants will give Nate a chance to win a starting job in 2008. If Winn is moved, it opens another potential spot for Nate. Lewis and Ortmeirer probably profile more as 4th OF types right now but I like Nates chances.
Wily Mo Peña isn’t the perfect answer to the Giants troubles (he has some big flaws, such as a bad walk rate and high strikeout rate) but he’s still young at 25 and I like his power potential. In 2006 Peña was a part time player with the Sox and posted respectable numbers of (.301/.349/.489). He’s definitely a hacker much like Pedro Feliz but unlike Pedro he’s still young with the chance to get better and his power eclipses Pedros. Wily has struggled this year and isn’t much more than a LF in the field but with Bonds leaving after the year he could find some time to start, or be used in some sort of platoon role like he was with the Red Sox.
Better yet, the Giants could shed Winn, even if they have to pay some of his salary in the deal. Winn is basically an average OF with a career OPS+ of exactly 100. I think that a combo pair of any of our young OF’s could match his production for much less salary and we could take a chance to Peña who is a little intriguing.
20/07/2007 at 1:51 pm Permalink
Nice idea, I like Wily Mo too. If you read BP 2007, it notes that his 2006 numbers are inflated by a BABIP of .411, tops among AL hitters with 250+ PA. So, as BP says, take his 2006 numbers with a grain of salt (huge grain, .411 is horribly out there; regression to the mean strikes again this year for Wily).
The key thing with the move is that Wily is a righty, who can platoon with Lewis, who need a platoon buddy badly. They can man LF. Schierholtz is doing pretty well this year against LHP and was pretty even last year too. I wonder why my prospect book lists him as a platoon player when he reaches the majors. Anyway, he can man RF.
As far as trading, I like Roberts but why didn’t you offer him instead of Winn? True, Roberts does not have as much experience as Winn in the AL, but more importantly, he’s an icon in Boston. If the Red Sox was willing to give up extra prospects in order to get Mirabelli back from San Diego, maybe they give more for Roberts.
That said, I like Roberts up top, I just don’t like the fact that we have to platoon him often. But he gets things going, I saw him do that for SD the past couple of years. And given his high percentage success rate stealing, I would like him to teach Lewis his tricks (that he got from Maury Wills!), who can then pass that on (hopefully) to our other speedsters in the minors, like Burriss and Sanders.
Say, sudden thought, but Darren Lewis is our minor league coach for steals. He’s good but not Maury Wills good, he should just spend time with the Giants and learn from Roberts in order to pass that on to our minor league speedsters. Institutional learning/teaching like that could be invaluable to the Giants vision of speedsters taking over again.
22/07/2007 at 9:02 pm Permalink
Hey OGC,
I think I would move Roberts if I could and the Red Sox could prove a logical home. He’s definitely achieved folk hero status for that swipe in 2004. A brief look over of Roberts deal at Cots Contracts and it appears he doesn’t have a no-trade clause. He could be easier to move but his numbers this year have been a big let down. I’m not sure many teams would want to take the rest of his deal on right now.
I can’t seem to get a read on Roberts this year and I hope and pray that his lackluster numbers are the result of his injury and not age. If he’s healthy, I like him as a leadoff guy, as long as he can keep posting a .350+ OBP and stealing bags at a > 75% rate.
24/07/2007 at 12:49 pm Permalink
Look at his July numbers, that’s what he can do when healthy.
25/07/2007 at 2:28 pm Permalink
I’ll drink to that (his July numbers) pass me the Koolaid