November 4, 2009

Rays and Pirates Trade

The Tampa Bay Rays send Akinori Iwamura to the Pittsburgh Pirates for reliever Jesse Chavez:

UPDATE, 7:00: Rays make it official, trading Iwamura to Pirates for Chavez. Added bonus, Rays save the $550,000 buyout they would have had to pay Iwamura for declining his option.

UPDATE, 6:06: The Rays will get back righthanded reliever Jesse Chavez, a 26- year-old who was 1-4 with a 4.01 ERA in 73 appearances for the Pirates last season. Chavez was drafted by Texas and traded to the Pirates in July 2006 for Kip Wells. His inclusion in the deal was first reported by ESPN’s Buster Olney. Overall, Chavez has pitched in 88 big-league games and has a 1-5, 4.48 mark.

I like the move for the Pirates. Iwamura gives them something they need, a hitter who gets on base. McCutchen and Iwamura at the top of the lineup gives the Pirates a decent pair of table setters.

It seems to me the Rays aren’t getting much in return. Chavez struck out 7.9 per nine in his minor leage career, while walking 3.3. Those aren’t bad numbers, but you expect those to get worse in the majors, and so he’s come in at 6.9 K per 9 and 3.4 walks per nine. That’s not someone who can come out of the pen to shut down the opposition.

This looks like a money saving move for the Rays. With Iwamura gone, they can play both Bartlett and Zobrist up the middle giving them a very strong middle infield offensively.

3 thoughts on “Rays and Pirates Trade

  1. Tyler

    The Rays were not going to keep Iwamura at 4.85 million for next year when they have better cheaper options available. So they went ahead and traded him and saved the 550k his buyout would have cost, got a reliever with a fastball that averages 94.4mph, with 3 years of minor league options left and 5 years of team control. Is he a future back-end reliever? Almost certainly not, but this is a win for both teams.

    The Pirates are getting the more valuable player, that much is certain. But this helps fill a need for the Rays and with the unpredictability of relief pitchers, stockpiling players who have skills to succeed, but also have minor league options if they gives them a lot of roster flexibility and allows them to be patient with players, not having to cut them at the first sign of failure.

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  2. Adam B.

    Also, UZR has Zobrist as stronger than Iwamura at 2B (though that’s a one season sample, really). At worst, he is probably just as good as Iwamura. So you’re getting the better player at lower cost, avoiding issues with egos and freeing up room to be able to keep, say, Crawford.

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  3. Tyler

    Zobrist is without a doubt the better player. Freeing up money is a misnomer. The Rays were never planning on exercising his 4.85 million dollar option. That money was never in the budget. It saved them paying the 550K buyout and getting nothing in return.

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