It's no blockbuster, but Kevin Towers and Brian Cashman made a deal today. The Yankees acquired right-hander Scott Allen from the Diamondbacks for first baseman Juan Miranda, according to a team press release.
The Diamondbacks chose Allen, 19, in the 11th round of the 2009 draft. In 95 2/3 innings over two seasons, he has a 3.95 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9. He won't figure into the Yankees' big league plans for a while, but Miranda could compete for Arizona's first base job in 2011.
Miranda, now 27, has played parts of three seasons with the Yankees and has a .253/.330/.458 line in 94 big league plate appearances. With Mark Teixeira at first base and Jorge Posada DHing, the Yankees don't have much room for Miranda, who has a .281/.367/.478 line in 1779 minor league plate appearances. He's out of options, so the D'Backs will have to expose him to waivers to send him to the minor leagues.
Towers worked for the Yankees in 2010, so he knows their farm system – and their general manager – well. It's not the first time in recent history the two GMs have matched up on a trade. Cashman acquired Chad Gaudin from Towers' Padres in 2009 and acquired Darrell May from San Diego for Paul Quantrill and Tim Redding in 2005.
Is Scott Allen code for Justin Upton?
why???
Miranda was out of options, I believe. So at least the Yankees got something for him.
Wait, what?? Miranda was a perfectly useful DH/backup 1B type. Why in the world would we swap him away for some nobody?
Posada is the DH in 2011….and he’ll in all likelihood be alternating with Montero.
Decent trade. A 1B filler player that might be deserving of a shot at the MLB level for an A baller with bad ERA but decent peripherals. Nothing wrong with this move. I guess LaRoche is gone.
19-year-old pitcher with good peripherals (best indicator of future success in young pitchers). Makes no sense the Dbacks would trade him for a 28 year old 1B who is just a bench player.
The D-Backs’ farm system is so poor that Miranda is probably a big upgrade on whoever’s place he’s taking.
Brandon Allen? No. Allen is by far the superior 1B, and is young.
Er no, I meant whoever the backup was going to be.
Yeah i tend to agree, not sure why the D-backs made this move. Obviously Towers had a year with Miranda, but if 1B is a target I’m sure they could get back a pretty good prospect in an Upton deal.
They will probably still take a 1b prospect in return if its included in a package (i.e. Rizzo). Pretty sure Miranda isn’t the future for AZ, just someone to hold them over/bench bat.
Yeah Miranda might compete with Allen for 1st. Otherwise he’d be decent off the Bench.
I was never a big fan of Miranda. Maybe if he gets consistent playing time he can put up some decent numbers, but he was never going to get that with the Yankees.
Towers might become one of my favorite GMs in baseball next to Beane of course. This was a really good deal and saves you money. You don’t have to plug in a 1B for next season.
I know Allen is around but they might be willing to convert him into a LF/RF. I think this surely means that this team is about to explode(Reynolds, Drew, Johnson.etc), although, Upton ain’t going no where.
you, sir, are quite the optimist.
Brandon Allen is 6-2, 235. According to BMI, these measures constitute an obese man. I hope you see what I’m getting at here.
Congrats to Miranda. He came to NY as a 24 yo with a good rep. He never got a chance to crack the mlb roster despite putting up good minor lge numbers and never embarassed himself in his call ups. Defensively, he’s nothing great but I think he can be a solid platoon guy at 1B and might crack 10-15 hrs if given some AB. Good for you.
I probably would’ve rather had the 19 year old pitcher rather than the 27 year old career minor league 1B…
I am happy for Juan, he would have never played with the Yankees. This is a good move for both sides, a little riskier for the Yankees but they have more upside. Juan can be a 10-20 HR guy with consistent playing time and had good minor league numbers. He would have been lost by the Yanks because he was out of options so since they were able to get something in return was a + move in itself.
why are you all hating on this trade? Allens 19 and has good control. Miranda was out of options so we got something for nothing. This was a good trade for the Yanks. And I think Mirandas going to do well down there he just needed a full time job and maybe a change of scenery.
Yup. The perfect trade: Both sides gain something they could use, while giving up something they can spare. I wonder if anyone has ever studied the bias in rank-and-file reactions *against* trade deals? We all think we’d be a better GM than our GM, and after the Nick Johnson and Javier Vasquez signings I’m not sure that most Yankee fans aren’t correct by default, but this is a good trade.
This is a good deal for the Yanks. Pretty bad for the D’Backs.
I think it’s a great deal for both sides. Miranda could contribute to the DBacks and he’ll never (ever) play in New York.
Allen had a 2.97 FIP (ridiculously unlucky .371 BABIP and only a 67% strand rate) with a superb 9.12 K/9 and only a 2.54 BB/9 through 16 starts at A ball. But he’s only 19, is very very far away from the majors and doesn’t have particular impressive natural stuff.
Good to see Miranda get a crack somewhere….Miranda will put up good numbers against RH pitching in the NL
Good small deal. I wish the best of luck to Miranda, never got a legitimate shot to start.
As a Cubs fan, it seems to be a habit of pointing out that Jim Hendry must be asleep at the wheel again. We have no first base depth, and this would have been a nice pickup. Carry on Jim.
If I’m not mistaken, isn’t Boston looking for 1st base insurance? This might have factored into not “non tendering / releasing” him….
Would love the Yanks to look at picking up LaRoche if the market for him ends up playing out the way it did last year (1 year deal >5 mil)…Replace Miranda and give a little protection IF Texeria ends up needing more time to recoup.
I doubt LaRoche signs with a team where he isn’t guaranteed a full time job.
Are where in the world would that be?
Here are the other FA’s that are better then him….
Derek Lee
Adam Dunn
Carlos Pena
Paul Konerko
and an equal Lance Berkman
Just do not see a huge “Adam LaRoche” market brewing…
Dodgers? He’s better than Loney…
Dodgers? He’s better than Loney…
oh no! they traded a Casey Kotchman with a worse glove… who cares…
at least they got a young player with a little potential
Good luck to Juan Miranda. I was at the Stadium watching when he hit a walkoff single against Kyle Farnsworth in 2009. Like all wins I’ve seen in person, it’s a fun memory.
Not a good trade for the Yanks. They could have saved Miranda for a better deal.