Seattle gets a utility infielder in Ronny Cedeño who was passed by two other similar players in Mike Fontenot and Ryan Theriot in Chicago. I personally feel he was given a sort of raw deal by the Cubs but that's an argument for another day. What is evident is he has skills that offer an upgrade to what the Mariners are currently running out there in Yuniesky Betancourt (offense) and José Lopez (defense), the guys he'll be competing against in spring training.
Garrett Olson is a guy who's really taken his lumps in the majors but is also worth taking a chance on. Maybe he's learned how to pitch? Going from a terrible defensive ball club in a hitters park to one that appears to be much improved defensively and in an extreme pitcher's park should give him a little more confidence.
These are the types of deals teams like Seattle need to make in order to find a core of players upon which they can build their next playoff run.
In losing Cedeño Chicago isn't really losing too much in that he was only a utility guy for them. The bigger question is who is replacing him? With DeRosa being traded, second base appears to be a platoon situation between Fontenot and Aaron Miles. It's a reach to think either of them would a decent defensive shortstop though. It's doubtful the Cubs are satisfied with this alignment so picking up a decent defensive shortstop for the stretch run already seems likely (Andres Blanco is not the answer either).
Heilman is an above average reliever who could really solidify their pen in the late innings. However there's already rumblings about the Cubs letting him compete with Sean Marshall and Chad Gaudin for the fifth starter's role. In November I said this about Heilman starting:
AHeilman is a disgruntled reliever who told the Mets to start him or trade him. Well, Aaron, you got your wish. If used as a starter it will be a disaster since he only has two decent pitches and a pretty significant platoon split.Lucky for him and Cubs fans I don't think management is serious about this offer. Granted we are talking about a fifth starter but 2 good innings of Heilman will be more important to the Cubs than 5 mediocre ones.
What this trade boils down to is the Clubs clearing out a roster space by trading two guys who are out of options and Seattle taking on those guys hoping to capitalize on their upside.
2 comments:
Seattle gets the best end of this deal. Once he gets to play everyday, Cedeno will be a .280 hitter who fields his position better than half the shortstops in the American League.
The Cubs seem to be doing everything they can right now to keep from trading for Jake Peavy.
This is another potential playoff team that will be one-and-done. Hope that's worth $100 a ticket for all you Cub fans.
I know you feel the Cubs gave raw deals to Pie and now Cedeno but I feel if they were worth their salt, they would have shown some sort of brilliance. It seems to me that other higher end teams also are quick to pull the plug on their highly touted prospects. And why not, usually if they dont immediately show some promise, they're just destined to be .260 hitters with the occasional 20 home run season. With Pie, i feel he was just a physical freak that never had the mental toughness to succeed in the MLB. Probably would be a better forward or split end in another sport. As for Cedeno, he got his reps, but never outshined Theriot. Theriot just made the team run and his mighty mite demeanor was enamoring to his teamates. Cedeno was more a fly on the wall that didnt have the guts to solidify his belonging on the squad.
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