Who Won the Trade?

-Crow

We continue my  weekly review to judge (maybe prematurely) of who won the trade. We will look at the talent involved, prospects, salary-cap implications for each team and judge each on a basis for THIS year and going forward. Feel free to disagree…

The Basics:

Boston Receives:

SP: John Peterson (93), 25 years-old, 20.5 until ’22 (arbitration)

Milwaukee Receives:

SS: Ian Flory (74/89), 21 years-old, Arbitration ‘25
RF: Rich Schroeder (67/85) = 20 years-old, Arbitration ‘25
SP: Reiji Igarashi (71/90) = 20 years-old, Arbitration ’25
SP: Nate Lagasse (76/87) = 21 years-old, Arbitration ‘25
SP: Nelson Tobias (80/93) = 25 years-old, Arbitration ‘24
MR: Paul Godden (74/84) = 23 years-old, Arbitration ‘22

Season Implications:

Toronto is currently sitting 3 games ahead of Boston in the ALE but the Sox just gained the best SP in the game to help their chances. Peterson has unbelievable control, power, movement, etc…He’s a once in a generation talent who can help them NOW. They were in desperate need to improve their rotation and Peterson will definitely keep them in games. Although Boston needed help in the rotation, I fear that the bullpen may not keep up their current pace of production. If the Red Sox are smart, they will need to build their pen a bit more so they can hang on in games.

The Brewers are in re-building mode and have no real aspirations of contending for this year. This deal moves the best SP in the game and may help them lose a few more along the way to get a better draft pick. We’re not sure who Leb is going to plug into the rotation, but it won’t be someone who can win now. In the short-term we are unsure of how this affects the Brewers since they are looking to move. The current fans in Milwaukee may be pissed about this trade, but from what we’ve heard that won’t affect the future fans (wherever they are).

Long-Term Implications:

Boston receives a cornerstone SP and a possible future HOF’er. Luckily the Sox have the cap space to keep Peterson around until he’s in a nursing home. However, taking a deeper look into the Boston farm, it looks as if he took a big gamble on this acquisition. Tobias is probably near his peak and probably doesn’t have much more room for growth. A positive from this trade is Boston was able to retain their best SP prospect. Yet, it will be interesting to see how the Sox will be able to re-build their depleted farm on the pitching side.

Milwaukee just had a shot of heroin into their farm and franchise by making this deal. They get 6 players for 1...Peterson is great, we know that. However, it's hard to build a team on one player. Salary cap flexibility moving forward is key for this franchise in transition. They could have extended Peterson, but his contract may have hindered them for a few years until Leb could find his footing. If 3 of the 6 players pan out, that's a plus for the Brewers. Milwaukee still has flexibility to trade some of those prospects in the future to further help their cause.

Final Verdict:

Milwaukee wins this trade because of long-term implications. Leb was able to build a solid core of young pitchers and it looks like a heavy price to pay for one player. Boston’s GM is savvy and it will be interesting to see how this plays out for the next few years. If Ryan is able to rebuild his farm after this trade in the subsequent years, I may eventually call this a PUSH. Yet, in the short-term it doesn’t fix Boston’s impending bullpen problem and is only a very over priced band-aid. The Sox get an ace who will be under control, but it’s hard to rebuild the farm depth…Let’s see what Ryan does next and where the team can go in the short/long-term.