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| | Friday, November 12 | |||||
Special to ESPN.com | ||||||
| REPORT FILED: NOVEMBER 12
As promised, Down on the Farm will look at trades involving young players and prospects this winter. Here's a glance at young players involved in transactions pulled off this past week by major league clubs.
The Blue Jays traded Shawn Green and minor league second baseman Jorge Nunez to the Dodgers for Raul Mondesi and Pedro Borbon. Three of the four are established major leaguers in Green, Mondesi and Borbon. Even with salary considerations, exchanging Mondesi for Green is a good move on the Dodgers' part. What about this Nunez kid though? Is he just a throw-in, or does he have some real value?
A Dominican who turns 22 in March, Nunez hit .268 with 11 triples, 14 homers, and 51 steals for Hagerstown in the South Atlantic League. He is a good defensive player, so how far he advances depends on his bat. Nunez has a good combination of power and speed, being very strong for a guy who stands only 5-8. His main problem though is plate discipline, which isn't terrible but isn't good, either. He'll need to improve that to survive at higher levels, but he has more promise than the standard low Class A throw-in player. The inclusion of Nunez in the trade was a good move for the Dodgers, although since the Jays have good middle infield strength, it doesn't really hurt Toronto. The Blue Jays also traded former Cy Young Award winner Pat Hentgen, and reliever Paul Spoljaric, to the Cardinals for left-handed pitcher Lance Painter, catcher Alberto Castillo, and minor league pitcher Matt DeWitt. This is obviously a salary dump, since Painter and Castillo are replaceable talents, but an understandable one since Hentgen is hardly the pitcher he used to be. The prospect here is DeWitt, who went 9-8 with a 4.43 ERA at Double-A Arkansas. He has good control, but his fastball is average. DeWitt does have a decent slider, and a strong competitive streak. He looks like a Grade C pitching prospect, someone that might develop into something interesting as easily as he could disappear into the mist. San Diego traded pitcher Andy Ashby to the Phillies for starter Carlton Loewer, reliever Steve Montgomery, and pitching prospect Adam Eaton. Again, the main motivation here was to get rid of Ashby's big contract, but the Padres did get some value in return. Loewer is something of an enigma, a physically talented pitcher who has yet to put it all together, sort of like Ashby was several years ago. Montgomery is a serviceable middle man who can help out in the bullpen, but isn't going to be a star. The key to the deal is Eaton, a former first-round pick who gained confidence and control in 1999. He throws hard, throws strikes, and has learned to change speeds and trust his stuff. I liked the way he looked in the Arizona Fall League last week. If he continues to develop, he will be a very fine pitcher, and the trade will work out well for San Diego. John Sickels is the author of the STATS 1999 Minor League Scouting Notebook. You can email your questions to him at JASickels@AOL.com. | ALSO SEE Dodgers acquire Blue Jays' Green for Mondesi
Cardinals acquire former Cy Young winner Hentgen
Padres send Ashby to Phillies for three pitchers
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