The 2015 Major League Baseball season is shaping up as one of the most highly anticipated in history and a big reason for that is the high-profile trades and acquisitions in the past month. Let’s take a look at the latest deals.
Byrd flies to Reds
The Cincinnati Reds acquired LF Marlon Byrd from the Philadelphia Phillies for RHP Ben Lively. Despite being 37 years of age, Byrd is coming off a career high 25 home runs in 154 games last year as he drove in 85 runs which was the fourth highest total of his career. The tradeoff for Byrd’s production was an unsightly 185 strikeouts.
“I wasn’t real happy with my year last year even though I put up good numbers as far as power and production,’ said Byrd who finished n with .264/.312/.445 batting numbers. “My batting average went down. My strikeouts went up. My walks went down.”
Byrd is working hard in the offseason with an adjusted stance that is not as wide as last year.
The Reds are attracted to Byrd’s power and his work ethic.
“”It makes us better in a lot of ways, not just statistically from a run production standpoint but from the standpoint of how hard we’re going to play and how we prepare.”
Top Reds players such as Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto, and Jay Bruce all have familiarity with Byrd which will make for an easy transition and welcome.
Yankees and Braves Swap Arms
The New York Yankees acquired right hand reliever David Carpenter and left hand reliever Chasen Shreve for left hand starter Manny Banuelos.
The trade could prove to be a gamble for both teams. The Yankees fulfilled their goal of building bullpen depth while the Braves acquire a young pitcher that is on the mend from Tommy John surgery. Banuelos was considered to be a top prospect coming out of Mexico in 2008 and will compete for the Braves fifth spot in the rotation.
Carpenter had a tough 2014 season in which his ERA doubled from 1.78 in 2013 to 3.54 in 2014. He will take the place of Shawn Kelley who was traded to the San Diego Padres.
Shreve is perhaps the sleeper in the deal as he was impressive in his 2014 season debut with 15 appearances and a 0.73 ERA.
Smith to Mariners
Seth Smith is best known for being a backup QB at Ole Miss behind Eli Manning and was probably not happy about the Rebels 42-3 loss to TCU in the Peach Bowl. But that disappointment should be offset by the joy of a new contract. In Seattle he is projected to fill a RF platoon with fellow newcomer Justin Ruggiano.
“I’m very excited,” said Smith. “If you (Seattle) have a pitching staff like that and add in new guys like they’ve done recently, we’re going to be a good team. It’s definitely exciting to be headed to a team going in the right direction.”
Smith is a left hand power hitter that has bashed numerous right hand hurlers into the showers. He has played on four playoff teams for his career and is well regarded as a solid hitter and an even better teammate.
Anderson to Dodgers
LHP Brett Anderson signed with the Dodgers as SS Erisbel Arruebarrena was designated for assignment to make room on the roster.
Arruebarrena proved to be a major disappointment with inconsistency both on the field and with his attitude. While his fielding was slick his bat left a lot to be desired. He is likely to be sent to Triple A as the $22 million remaining on his deal is too high for clubs to take a flyer on him.
Anderson got a one year $10 million deal with incentives that could add an additional $4 to the contract. Anderson became a free agent when the Colorado Rockies decided that he was not worth the risk due to his injury issues that have kept him in and out of the lineup. The Dodgers passed off the injury issue as mostly “bad luck.”
Anderson will join Brandon McCarthy in the back end of the Dodgers starting rotation that begins with Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Hyun Jim Ryu.
