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.
Shortstop Barry Larkin was the only member of the 2012 class that was admitted to the Hall of Fame. The long time shortshop for the Reds was above average at the plate and in the field. However, he was not a hall of fame caliber player. He is a career .295 hitter with 198 homers.
Plagued by injuries for much of his career, Larkin missed out on much time during his prime. Don't get me wrong. Larkin was a good player. He wasn't a great player. The major argument for Larkin stems from his position. For a shortstop, he was a very good hitter, but players shouldn't receive praise for hitting well as a shortstop. The only position in which extra consideration should be placed for hitting abilities is catcher. Catchers under extreme amounts of physical stress behind the plate, making their offensive abilities diminished. Shortstops are fatigued just as much as second basemen, third basemen, and outfielders.
Admitting Barry Larkin is controversial, but most seem to be in favor of it. I am happy for Larkin because he definitely was a good player. However, the standards of the Hall of Fame need to be maintained. We cannot admit borderline players like Barry Larkin like that.
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