Trading Faces

Trading Faces

It's that time of year, when the contenders separate themselves from pretenders, the 2017 BoS Trade Deadline didn't go down without a whimper, in fact it may have been the busiest trade deadline the league has ever witnessed in its almost 5 full seasons.

The Fairgrove Tigers made numerous trades in their quest to repeat & win their 3rd BoS World Title in 5 years; They are the only team with multiple titles (2). Owner Robert Mosher's first deal was a simple deal between him & his new son-in-law Steve Ruder -- a deal that involved swapping reliever for reliever, a deceased ballplayer for another deceased ballplayer & draft picks for draft pick -- Fairgrove acquired Jose Fernandez and Sam Dyson with Holland's 7th Round Draft pick in exchange for Yordana Ventura and Ken Giles & Fairgrove's 2nd Round Draft Pick; It should be noted that Ventura has now been traded twice since his death.

Fairgrove also added Kendrys Morales (1B/DH), Lucas Duda (1B), Brandon Guyer (OF) and Joe Panik in a trade with the San Diego Heroes (Owner Chris Baier) -- The Heroes acquired Patrick Corbin who has been pitching solid for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017, along with youngster Austin Barnes (C) of the Dodgers, along with multiple draft picks & Carlos Gomez. The Heroes also added pitcher Trevor May for a late 2018 draft pick, in a deal with the Portland Microbrewers & added reliever Trevor Rosenthal for a late pick in a deal with the Vancouver Storm.

The Traverse City Panthers' blueprint for success didn't go as exactly as they predicted, as the players they acquired before the 2017 BoS Season didn't play well for the 2017 MLB Season. Jonathan Lucroy and Yasmany Tomas went the opposite direction from their excellent 2016 seasons, while the Panthers made the mistake of releasing newly-acquired Alex Wood during player cuts prior to the season, only to be swooped up in the 2017 BoS Annual Draft by the Micatin Destroyers.

Prior to the season, the Panthers acquired Jonathan Lucroy (C), Yasmany Tomas (OF), Brad Miller (SS/OF), Alex Wood (SP), while acquiring a 2nd Round Draft Pick [White Sox' Carson Fulmer] in exchange for Masahiro Tanaka (SP), Kelvin Herrera (RP) & a 3rd Round Draft Pick [Matt Bush-RP]. Wood was the reason the deal became a big package in the first place, then I made the poor decision on releasing Wood, in favor of keeping players such as Drew Smyly, Hunter Pence, and Tyler Clippard.

The aftermath was Wood gets swooped up & has a big season for the Dodgers, while Lucroy & Tomas has down seasons, while Miller returned to earth; Seattle didn't exactly win either in the deal, he acquired Tanaka who has not been at top form with a good reliever in Herrera, who I did hate trading, but in a league where relievers are a dime a dozen, that's not much of a loss. During those players cuts, I also made the bad decision of releasing Marwin Gonzalez.

So come August, it was another deal between the Panthers & the Seattle Rainiers (Owner Merle Watkins) that would reshape things for both franchises. I think overall we compliment each other well in our past deals, and his past deals with other teams have been well thought-out deals that benefited both teams there as well. There is many things that I like about Merle, I love his attitude, involvement in the league, and the fact that he's not afraid to make a deal, it's nice to see that his Rainiers may finally reap the benefits of good trades, as it appears they will be making a hard-earned trip to the postseason.

This deal involved Lucroy again, and for the Panthers it would be the second time that they have traded both Yasiel Puig and Cody Allen, in fact they were traded together in a deal with the Chicago Nine (June 3rd, 2015) in the big Miguel Cabrera trade. Lucroy recently won the 2017 BoS All-Star Game's Most Valuable Player Award.

This time, the Panthers traded Lucroy (C), Julio Teheran (SP), Puig (OF), Jean Segura (SS), Cody Allen (RP) & a 6th Round Draft Pick in exchange for Corey Seager (SS), Taijuan Walker (SP), David Robertson (RP), Yadier Molina (C), Mark Trumbo (DH/OF) & IF/OF-Jeimer Candelario. For Puig (2014's #1 Overall pick) it is the 4th time he has been traded, traded more than any player in BoS history.

Puig gives his thoughts on latest trade.

Sometimes when you make deals, you second-guess (sometimes a lot), but I really, really wanted Seager a lot, I think he is a once-in-a-generation star, and will love seeing him on the diamond with fellow Panthers Giancarlo Stanton & Andrew Benintendi.

My Panthers currently sit in a lousy division & find themselves in last place only 5 games out of 1st, the Spring Branch Duffers currently lead the division with a 67-64 record.