Deals a Startin

It was only a matter of time before the deals started to fly with the Trade Deadline set for July 31st. I usually avoid the rumors, they tend to change like every 13 minutes, but today we’ve actually got a deal that we can discuss. Here are the parameters.

White Sox Receive: Jason Frasor and Zach Stewart

Blue Jays Receive: Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen

That’s what we know for certain. However, there’s a twist. It looks like this deal is a precursor to another move. Here is that proposed deal.

Cardinals Receive: Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel, Mark Rzepcynski and Corey Patterson

Blue Jays Receive: Colby Rasmus, Trevor Miller, Brian Tallet, P.J. Walters

I know, my brain hurts too. Here are some of my thoughts on the key players involved in the deals.

Colby Rasmus
A five tool talent prone to mental lapses and selfish/destructive behavior, the dude is just 24 years old and just a year removed from a .276-23-66-85-12 campaign. He can’t hit lefties (.228 in 303 at-bats in his career), is prone to massive slumps (he’s hit .201 over his last 42 games), and he strikes out too much (more than a fifth of his at-bats), but there is no disputing the talent – and he’s still just 24 years

Edwin Jackson
A nice arm no doubt, but he’s always been inconsistent. On the year his K/BB ratio of 2.49 would be a career best, but he still sports a 3.92 ERA, has a high WHIP at 1.42, and is a roller coaster ride. He’ll move to the NL which should help at least a bit, making him a solid add in mixed leagues. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the year, so he has something to pitch for.

Octavio Dotel
He can still fling it, he has better than a K per inning this year, and he’s even done a solid job limiting the walks with a 3.68 per nine mark which would be a four year low. He’s also locked in right now with a 2.40 ERA over his last 19 appearances.

Jason Frasor
This righty really has better stuff than he’s given credit for. He doesn’t have one outstanding skill, but he usually throws strikes, doesn’t kill you in the ratio categories (2.98 ERA, 1.25 WHIP), and generally does a good job keeping the ball in the yard (0.76 HR/9 for his career).

Corey Patterson
Fleet of foot, Patterson always seems to have a stretch where he flat out kills it, but in the end the numbers never seem to get to where you look at them with excitement (i.e. his slash line is .252/.287/.379). Really, a .287 OBP? The six homers, 44 runs and 13 steals make him a solid league specific add, but he simply isn’t a very good hitter.

Mark Rzepcynski
Rumpelstiltskin has a nice arm. He get Ks, he has an 8.22 K/9 mark in the bigs, and he gets grounders like no ones business (54.4 percent). He may never pan out as a starter, but he could have a long and successful career with his skill set coming out of the pen.

Zach Stewart
A 3rd round pick in 2008, Stewart might end up doing the old starter in the minors, reliever in the majors thing. Also like Mark R., Stewart has a nice ground ball arm, though his K-rate has dipped a bit the two years (about seven per nine the past two years in Double-A).

Mark Teahen
Really? I’ll say this, he is a great follow on Twitter (@ESPY_TEAHEN)

Around the Horn: April 21, 2011

(1) Ryan Braun signs massive contract extension.

(2) Logan Morrison likely headed to the DL with a foot injury.

(3) Gordon Beckham, Brent Morel really struggling.

(4) Ryan Zimmerman (abdominal strain) unlikely to return next Tuesday.

(5) Brandon Morrow off DL – will start Saturday.

(6) Bartolo Colon looks good in first start.

(7) Willie Bloomquist starting to slow.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Blogosphere

I’m going to do something I haven’t done in a long while, and that is I’m going to link to a bunch of pieces that I think you might find interesting – similar to what we do with our Blog Roll pieces at Fanball.com and Rototimes.com. With that, here are some of the pieces that have caught my attention of late.

Offseason Moves: AL West – This piece goes over the myriad of moves by the teams in the division including the additions of Ben Sheets, Hideki Matsui, Cliff Lee and Milton Bradley. It also details two players – Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero – that switched teams but stayed in the division.

Team Poll: Oakland A’s — We’ve been reviewing each team as a staff, giving our thoughts on which players are in line to break out, fail etc. The most recent piece focuses on the team from California.

Post-Hype Sleeper: Cameron Maybin — Some of the best options on draft day are those youngsters that didn’t quite live up to the hype in their first go round. Cameron Maybin just might fit that outlook provided that his operated on shoulder is healthy.

On Nathan and Broxton — Ted Carlson does a great job in discussing just what it means to be an effective reliever year after year. Here’s a shock – it’s a lot harder than you might think.

Updated Top 10s — Interested in what one of the best minds in the business thinks about who the top-10 players are at each position. I know what you’re thinking oo, and I’m not referring to myself here.

5 Questions: Chicago Cubs — Our Cardinals blogger has begun his look around the NL Central by starting with the team most figure will represent the biggest roadblock to the playoffs for the team from St. Louis.

Breaking Down: Cabrera/Garko/Gross – I hate to toot my own horn, but you didn’t think I wouldn’t being the braggart I am did you? Per the title, I break down the recent signings of Orlando Cabrera (Reds), Ryan Garko (Mariners) and Gabe Gross (Athletics).

Pick an Ace, Any Ace – How does the Angels’ rotation of Scott Kazmir, Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana and Joel Pineiro look to our intrepid Angels writer?

Player Profile: Mark Teahen — The White Sox are truly counting on one of their offseason acquisitions, infielder/outfielder Mark Teahen. He’s never really been a difference maker, but hopes are high that he might finally reach that status in 2010.

Monday Notes on the Rangers — Which players are in the news for the team from the south?

Diamondback Non-Roster Players — The D’backs are bringing 17 non-rostered players to spring training. Have you even heard of any of them before?

By Ray Flowers