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Olsen/Willingham Trade Roundup

By Tim Dierkes [November 11, 2008 at 5:00pm CST]

It's official - the Marlins traded Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham to the Nationals for Emilio Bonifacio, Jake Smolinksi, and P.J. Dean. Let's round up commentary on the surprising deal.

Jim Bowden says he acquired Willingham as an outfielder, not a first baseman.
MLB.com's Joe Frisaro has Larry Beinfest saying the Marlins will move forward with both Jeremy Hermida and Dan Uggla.
Mike Berardino and Juan C. Rodriguez also believe Uggla will stay put this winter.
Olsen talked to Frisaro and the Palm Beach Post's Joe Capozzi about the trade. He's happy it's over, but doesn't sound bitter.
Also at MLB.com, Jonathan Mayo evaluates the prospects the Marlins received.
ESPN's Keith Law calls it an "easy win for Washington." He notes that Olsen's velocity rebounded in September.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post reminds us that the Marlins excel at evaluating young talent. He says Nick Johnson, if healthy, figures to be trade bait now that the Nats have Willingham.
Dave Cameron weighs in. He says the neither Olsen nor Willingham are as good as their reputations, but the Nats didn't give up much.

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Comments

I would expect that the Nationals try and trade Johnson at some point over the course of April/May/June, and then move Willingham to first and go back to the foursome of Milldege/Dukes/Kearns/Pena in the outfield. Until then though, Pena and Kearns will likely not see many at bats.

I'm rather curious as to what Florida's plan is now. They have a serious abundance of MLB ready infielders, with Gaby Sanchez at first, Chris Coghlan, Emilio Bonifacio and Dan Uggla at second, Hanley at short, and Cantu and McPherson at third. I guess they could keep Coghlan in the minors another year, but there are bunch of ways they could go about doing this.

1. Move Uggla to third, play Bonifacio/Coghlan at second and Cantu at first.

2. Keep Uggla at second, Cantu at third, and put Gaby Sanchez at first. Bonifacio in utility role.

3. Keep Uggla at second, move Cantu to first, put McPherson at third. Bonifacio in utility role.

I really think that in the end, the Marlins should seriously consider moving one or two of those guys for some help at catcher and in the bullpen, as they have done already with Mike Jacobs.

Posted by: scribbletone | November 11, 2008 at 11:12 AM

The Marlins got 3 good players in this deal, the problem is that only Bonifacio is even close to being ready for the big leagues.

And I disagree on Uggla not being traded. I think the Marlins will sell on him while the value is there. They could easily net 2 pretty good prospects for Uggla.

At the very least I think he'll be traded before the deadline this year

Posted by: myost88 | November 11, 2008 at 11:12 AM

I guess the key is what stuff Olsen will bring ? I would have analyzed every pitch of every game he threw in September, and of course looked deep into all the medical history and have his arm thouroughly checked out.

Posted by: kinsler5 | November 11, 2008 at 11:18 AM

"The Marlins got 3 good players in this deal, the problem is that only Bonifacio is even close to being ready for the big leagues."

I don't know, but Keith Law was really low on all of the guys that the Marlins received. He called Bonifacio a utility player and the other two prospects to be fringe guys who project to be no more than good backups in the majors. Doesn't sound too impressive to me, when Olsen still has the stuff of a solid 2/3 when he's on.

Posted by: scribbletone | November 11, 2008 at 11:24 AM

I agree, that it wasn't enough. But it wasn't terrible. I don't know why Keith is so down on Bonifacio. He had a good year at AAA last year over about half a season.

The other 2, the book is still out on. There only 20 year olds.

Posted by: myost88 | November 11, 2008 at 11:48 AM

They did not say Uggla would not be traded at all, just that he would not be traded this winter.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | November 11, 2008 at 11:54 AM

Wow the Nats won that deal by far.

Posted by: Jason | November 11, 2008 at 12:30 PM

Marlins clearly needed to improve their IF defense and seem to have done so with this and the Jacobs deal

I saw Olsen 4-5 times this year and never saw him throw harder than 87. If it's true that he was back up to 94, the deal looks a lot better for the Nats. But there's a chance both these players are damaged goods

Posted by: wayne gomes | November 11, 2008 at 12:53 PM

HAHA Olsen back up at 94????? Yeah and Tim Wakefield can throw 80.

Posted by: Barroid_Bonds | November 11, 2008 at 04:34 PM

What about a 3-team deal involving the Marlins, Giants, and Rangers? The main pieces could be:

Giants get Dan Uggla
Rangers get Jonathan Sanchez
Marlins get Jarrod Saltalamacchia/Gerald Laird

That makes sense for all teams..Giants get a slugging 2b, rangers get a solid #2-3 starter..and marlins get a good catcher.

Posted by: nymforlife | November 11, 2008 at 05:31 PM

A 3 team deal with the Rangers Giants and Marlins could help out all 3 teams. The main pieces:

Giants get Uggla, a young 2b with alot of power
Rangers get Jonathan Sanchez, a solid #2-3 guy
Marlins get Salty or Laird, filling their need for a catcher

Posted by: nymforlife | November 11, 2008 at 05:36 PM

Why would the Marlins deal Uggla for Salty?

They can probably package Hermida and Gregg to get Montero from the DBacks at the very least.

They already said Uggla will not be traded.

Posted by: JoeyJr09 | November 11, 2008 at 05:47 PM

This is kind of neat and hits close to home. Smolinski went to high school about thirty minutes away. Quite a descent quarterback too. My brtoher actually sacked him. As for baseball, he's got a lot of upside. He played shortstop in high school as well as pitching. He's got a real good arm.

Posted by: grimes | November 11, 2008 at 07:08 PM

how bout the nats go after Adam LaRoche?

Posted by: Stegolego7 | November 11, 2008 at 10:28 PM

If the Yankees made this trade people would raise hell.

Posted by: yankfan1 | November 12, 2008 at 07:23 AM

Commenting here on Olsen: the problem isn't "when he's on." Hell, when Darren Oliver's on he's a good pitcher.

The problem with Olsen is he's incredibly inconsistent. He's also given up a lot of HRs at Dolphin Stadium...which is not really a home run park (despite the Marlins' IF success this year).

Calling Olsen a #2 is ridiculous, and a #3 is a stretch. I hope I'm wrong on this, though, and wish him the best.

Posted by: breakz | November 13, 2008 at 01:59 PM

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Olsen/Willingham Trade Roundup

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