Martin Prado traded for pitching….
I one of my previous posts I wrote about the option of trading Martin Prado for pitching. Well it appears that Cashman has read my post. But the trade is not quite the way I expected it to be.
The Yankees opted Martin Prado and pitcher David Phelps to Miami in exchange for Nathan Eovaldi, first baseman Garrett Jones and pitching prospect Domingo German.
Some depth at first base isn’t a luxury with injury prone Mark Teixeira. But trading two similar pitchers regarding their numbers? Eovaldi has a career ERA of 4.07 and has kept his opponents to a .271 batting average. His ERA is rather high when you take in consideration that Marlins Park is one of the pitcher friendliest parks. And in my opinion the batting average of his opponents is rather high compared to MLB’s average of .251.
Phelps’ career ERA is 4.21 and he has kept his opponents to a 2.51 batting average. The only big difference is that is four years younger than Phelps. You can’t compare the W-L records since Eovaldi played for a team that stank big time last season, while Phelps’ team didn’t stink that much.
German Domingo is a minor leaguer who has pitched at A Full season level last season.
Eovaldi is a power pitcher and inning eater. Last season he pitched 199 2/3 innings, certainly not a luxury when you keep the uncertain situation of the Yankees’ rotation in mind. It is good to have someone that can give the bullpen some rest at times. His fastball averages 95.5 mph and tops 97 mph. He also has a slider (87mph) a curve (77mph), a changeup (88mph) and a sinker (97mph) in his repertoire but he rarely throws the latter two.
With Prado gone, barring other acquisitions, I think you can say that Rob Refsnyder will be the Yankees’ Opening Day second baseman.
It starts to look like if Casman has set his mind on rejuvenation, which I applaud. But if Eovaldi is the guy the Yankees are waiting for? Time will tell. At least I will not burn him down in advance. We will have to wait how he will pan out. I will keep my fingers crossed.