Reaction to the Michael Pineda-Jesus Montero Trade

The New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners have worked out a trade that would send stud hitting prospect, Jesus Montero, to the Mariners for the stud young pitcher, Michael Pineda.

It seems that people think its either a terrible deal or a great deal for both sides. I am skeptical of Pineda's future success, but the deal overall was fair. Montero probably will be a quality power hitter. Pineda could be a solid number two pitcher.

Pineda went 9-10 last year with a 3.74 ERA. His splits in the second half and home/away make him mysterious though. At home last year, Pineda pitched to a 5-4 record with a 2.92 ERA. On the road, he had a 4.40 ERA with a 4-6 record. On the road, Pineda's ERA, wins, WHIP, and SO/9 were all lower. On a positive note his SO/BB ratio was higher on the road, 3.37 to 2.93. In the first half, went 8-6 with a 3.03 ERA. In the second half, he went 1-4 with a 5.12 ERA. Even though his ERA splits were drastic, his SO/9 were fairly consistent between the first and second half, 9.0 and 9.3. Pineda had an awful July in which he had a 6.75 ERA in five games. He recovered nicely in September; he pitched to a 4.00 ERA.

Michael Pineda pitched at Safeco Field, one of the friendliest pitcher's parks in baseball. Yankee Stadium is one of the best hitter's parks in baseball.

Montero has less major league experience than Pineda. In 18 games last year, he hit .328 with 4 homers. His OBP was .406 in those games. He also had great minor league performance.

The other aspects of the deal are interesting as well. The Yankees will be sending talented pitching prospect Hector Noesi. The Mariners are sending highly touted prospect Jose Campos to the Yankees. This trade overall is pretty even. In five years, we'll know who won, but that still may be hard to determine.