The Angels have announced that they have sent righty Elvin Rodriguez to the Tigers. He’ll become the player to be named later in the deal that sent outfielder Justin Upton to Los Angeles two weeks ago.
Rodriguez, 19, joins fellow minor-league righty Grayson Long in making up the return for Upton, who was something of an odd trade candidate given that he can opt out of his contract at the end of the season. Detroit did have some leverage, as the team could have held onto him and then traded the remainder of his deal if he did not exercise that clause and return to the open market. The Tigers also had reason to want a deal, though, since Upton was not eligible for a qualifying offer (having previously received one) if he opted out.
Rodriguez has shown some promise in the Halos system and ranked 22nd among the club’s farmhands on MLB.com’s latest list. Though he doesn’t even sit above 90 mph, per MLB.com, he generates movement, possesses intriguing secondary offerings, and has a track record of success in the low minors. Refinement and perhaps also some physical development may yet come. Rodriguez posted a 2.91 ERA with 8.1 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 in his 68 innings this year, most of which came at the Rookie ball level before he earned a promotion to Class A.
A bag of hammers. Eppler’ not giving up anything for a potential one month rental.
The guys still extremely far away, but he does have good stats. I wouldn’t write him off already as a nothing prospect
Why because his #’s @ a low level say that?
He’s a threat until he isn’t anymore.
The Angels gave their #9 and #22 prospects (both being starters) plus took on most all of the Upton salary in a year in which hitters especially were bassicly being given away for merely salary relief.
That’s amazing Al Avila was able to make that trade.
Al making any trade is amazing, Al being a GM is really amazing
you can’t judge every organizations #9 and #22 the same. Silly to think they always have the same value. especially with angels
Yes, the problem is much more pronounced with a club like the Angels than it would be for a team like the Indians or Astros. Those teams have the depth where they can afford to give up one of their top prospects for a big contract; the Angels on the other hand have notoriously faced major problems for having done that for years, and continued that trend again in this deal.
So for a team that has a pieced together ML rotation, no ML rotation depth and very few rotation prospects which may be MLB capable …well the very last thing a team like that should do is trade 2 of their best starter prospects. Their #9 and #22, both of which are starters, are much, much more valuable to their specific club than similar #9s and #22s would be for other organizations
And if they end up paying Trout, Upton and Pujols an average of 84 Million a year for the next 3 years that also means the Angels will be hindered in just going out and buying their much needed starters off the market, compounding the massive problem they have created for themselves greatly.
Angels gave up way more than they could afford in this transaction
Ridiculous. That’s like making the argument that they shouldn’t have released Espinosa because you don’t release your starting 2nd basemen. You have to value them on the entire spectrum, not just within the Angels organization. If you only go by their value compared to other pieces within the organization the Angels should do whatever it takes to hang on to Nolasco and he’d be worth $20mil because he’s one of the best they have??? They got a perineal all-star to fill a huge hole in left and behind Trout and gave up 2 decent low-level minor leaguers that have a long way to go to contribute to the major league roster where it actually matters.
I believe Upton is ineligible for draft pick compensation because he’s already received it two offseasons ago, which limited Avila’s leverage. Great piece otherwise.
Other than screwing up a major part of it, yeah, great job by me. Man, I keep somehow glossing over this point in my mind. Sorry all … fixing it right now.
Yeah I don’t blame you. Who would’ve thought MLB QO would be implement this before the NFL franchise tags? Many people and NFL players alike think football franchise tags should also be one and done like new MLB QO. (but it’s 3 and done)
major difference is NFL franchise tag salary is calculated from the average of the top-5 salary in the league of that player’s position and MLB QO is average of 125 highest paid players in MLB.
Both sports tags involve draft pick compensation and forfeiture but I’m not gonna’ get into that.
I wonder if MLB copies NFL, in the next CBA and makes new QO salary, average of the highest paid players who play the same position as the player getting that QO, instead of finding the average of top-125 highest paid players in all MLB.
I don’t think that would happen because of the versatility in a lot of baseball players. What do you do in situations where a player doesn’t have a perfectly set position? Or what if they play one position one year, get tagged at that value, but the club moves the player to a position with a higher value the next year? Maybe 3rd to 1st? (I’m guessing the top 5 1st basemen get paid more than the top 5 3rd basemen. I don’t have the numbers in front of me) Could the player file a grievance of some sort that they deserve more money in the next season?
Will never understand why the Angels did this move. Rodriguez being included compounds the confusion greatly.
You got J Up on a 4 year contract when he was at peak value. Angels are a contender, Angels also had a hole in the outfield. As a Tigers fan, I think both teams made off well
As a tigers fan, we completely won this deal you kidding me?? We got rid of that contract that would hurt us for years which gives us way more freedom in our rebuild.
Angels won’t compete with the Astros, Yankees, or especially the Indians the next couple years.
Win Avila.
Upton was our best hitter on a reasonable 4 year contract (If he stayed). It was never going to hurt Detroit. Now, we get to watch Presley or Collins in the OF instead. If they knew he was leaving, it was a good trade. Otherwise, I’d rather have something worth watching for the next four years.
Talking about teams not competing…Twins and Brewers were pegged as bottom-five teams coming into the seasons and they’re in the playoffs or close. It’s baseball, any team can compete and trading away great players generally isn’t helpful but teams can compete even after doing so so ultimately it doesn’t matter all that much necessarily.
Neither team will make it man, get real.
Reasonable?
Ha only Upton, his agent, and you would agree.
Uptown has 99 stakes, you might not get 99 ML inn. Out of them, yeah you won!
Correction, you got Upton on a one month opt out.
The unknown variable of the opt out, is what limited Avila’s leverage.
I don’t think many teams, would trade for a player that may or may not add $88.5M to their payroll next 4 years but Angels are trying to get into the playoffs and make a late playoff push, as the Tigers embark on a honest to good rebuild– Im not a fan of either team– but I think Avila used his leverage well.
I think Avila used his leverage well, seeing that he didn’t have much of it, Given the situation, Upton contract, opt out, and takin advantage of that desperate team trying to make that late playoff push, with the understanding that Upton most likely opts out. (with No guarantees given)
This isn’t a deal for the faint of heart. I think Avila did well.
@bartoloshomie
Not “(I) got J Up” as I’m an unbiased spectator in this move, but let us dissect:
Angels, whose major issue the last few years was minimal depth and a vacant system as they were all traded for expensive ML talent,
-traded 2 of their best SP prospects for a guy on a 4 year, 88 Million contract
…OR…
– traded 2 of their best SP prospects for a 2 month rental
The club you see on the field right now for the Angels is a near 200 Million dollar investment. With Upton in 2018, they will once again need to be a near 200 million club just to fill out a roster around Upton (22MM), Trout (34MM), Pujols (27MM), Calhoun (8MM) Valbuena (8MM) and Simmons (11MM) – those 6 guys, plus buyouts to Street and Nolasco, are already 111 Million committed. You should be able to see how keeping Upton at his cost raises a problem
On the other hand, if he opts out then they further depleted their system just for a hail Mary
So either option seems rather bad for the club. Guaranteed lost are the 2 staters they desperately need in the system, with the team gain being either a continuation of the exact same problem the team has faced for years or an extremely costly single roll of the dice.
The trade makes no sense for the Angels
We needed a couple of decent arms more than an outfield body… Maybin was decent and with the depth we have with Revere and Young would have been enough to held the second WC… now we are 3 games back and falling and the pitching was the issue this year and was. It addressed…
It was not addressed
Upton will opt out … guaranteed!
You think he’s gonna get more money as a free agent?
He got way overpaid by Detroit and now he’s two years older and he’s gonna get more money?
We needed a couple of arms more than an outfielder… Maybin was decent, and with Revere and Young we had LF depth… Of we would have gotten the arms we needed, we could have been solid securing the second WC… The reality is that the pitching was and it still the issue which was not addressed. We are 3 games back from the second WC and falling …
I can’t figure out who is going to give Upton more than 22 million annually. Which team with money has a need there? Edwin Encarnacion, a truly elite hitter, couldn’t get more than 3/60.
Those two aren’t direct comps. They don’t even play same position. Edwin Encarnacion’s much older (Turned 34 years old, year 1 of contract) plays a less premium position of 1B practically DH (Which you’ll take all day, everyday 10/10 times if he continues to hit like that)
You get what you pay for. Consistency is what scares me most with Justin Upton because he’s very streaky. but Upton has age on his side, Power, LF Defense, Players like Encarnación would usually call for a shorter commitments due to turning 34 year 1 of his deal.
Touch call. I think most people would pick Encarnacion and his current contract (three-years $60MM with fourth year team option) over having Upton for what he’ll most likely demand.
Tough* call.
EE had an alarming increase in strikeouts going into FA. He is also pretty much a DH. That will limit earnings, because it limits bidders. J Up is solid defensively and was showing an improved arm in LF. He should match it, at least.
Are you kidding me that’s all? The tigers are embarrassing. They dumped Justin Upton for nothing. What are they following the Mets model? Trade a king get back a deuce. Bravo!