Trading Season
It's trading season. Personally, this is my second favorite time of the baseball year, slotting in just behind the playoffs but ahead of the draft. We have about 11 days until the trade deadline, but already the trades have been pouring into the commissioner's office for approval. This morning the Jays and Astros worked a deal that lead to 10 players switching teams. Shortly thereafter, the Rockies worked out a trade that sent ex-Oriole Jeremy Guthrie to Kansas City for ex-Giant Jonathan Sanchez. This afternoon the Orioles, not to be left out of the fun, acquired Omar Qunitanilla for cash considerations from the Mets.The most obnoxious part of the trade deadline involves experts and novices proposing trades left and right. I will now try my hand at proposing an obnoxious trade.
The Deal
Baltimore sends JJ Hardy, Darren O'Day and a prospect or two to the Giants for Brandon Belt and a prospect or two.
Justification
Orioles' fans may not be a big fan of this deal, but for the O's this trade makes a lot of sense. We haven't had a big time first baseman since Rafael Palmeiro, and Belt could step right in and play a very solid 1B for us. Trading Hardy is a hard pill to swallow as he's a fan favorite, but running a baseball team is about winning. Belt clearly fills a hole and adds another solid core player to this building Orioles squad. While Hardy provides immense value to the team now, he'll likely be supplanted by Manny Machado on the next 90-win O's team.
The Giants are in a similar situation where this deal won't make many fans happy as they would love to see Belt get more playing time. However, the Giants have a chance to make a serious run this season and Hardy & O'Day help fill big holes on the team. While Hardy hasn't played well lately, he's a superb defensive SS and is slowly coming out of his slump the past few days. The Giants could use the offensive bump he'd give them. Belt is beloved by the fans, but the organization has shown that they won't give Belt regular at-bats for a reason far beyond me.
The "& prospects" listed on both sides is just a nod to the common swapping of lower level prospects to balance a deal. A perfect example of this was in the Pineda/Montero trade where both sides sent a lo-A player along with the headliner.
Do you think this trade makes sense for the O's? How about the Giants?
