Musings From the Bleachers 06:12:08: The Big Trade

Posted by Frank Fedele on 06.12.2008

The biggest bat available in the offseason was a young slugger from the Florida Marlins whose price tag had grown beyond the Marlins budget. Miguel Cabrera was an all-star at a young age and young enough to have many prime years for the team that traded for him. The Marlins were also looking to move their young ace, Dontrelle Willis. Many teams were rumored to acquire one or the other, but the team from Motown made the move to acquire both and solidify their chances in the tough American League Central. How has it worked so far???? Read and find out.

The Big Trade

The Florida Marlins took their young slugger to arbitration in the winter of 2007, hoping to keep his price down for the coming year. The results were not good for the team, $7.4 million dollars for the year. This began the wheels turning in the Marlins front office to move the young third baseman before he became a free agent and they got no return for him.

Miguel Cabrera


Cabrera came up with the Marlins in 2003 and had been an All-Star his last four seasons with the team. His stats with the team were impressive with an average over .300 with 30 plus homers and 100 plus RBIs. He was the centerpiece of a young Marlins lineup, but had become too expensive for the small market team. He had to be moved and teams lined up for a chance at the young slugger.

Dontrelle Willis



Dontrelle Willis set the league afire when he first came into the league in 2003. He had an unusually high leg kick and an infectious smile. He went 14-6 in that first year, made the All-Star team and won the Rookie of the Year award for the Marlins. In 2005, his best year thus far, he won 22 games and came in second on the Cy Young voting. He was a young power pitcher that could anchor a staff for years to come. 2007 was not his best year, with control problems haunting him. Still, he was a young pitcher with a great arm and could help any rotation.

The Marlins had begun to stockpile young pitching during its trades with the Red Sox and the Cubs, bringing in young Anibal Sanchez from the Red Sox in the Beckett deal and Ricky Nolasco and Sergio Mitre from the Cubs. Willis had begun to become too expensive for the team and was about to join Beckett on his way out of Miami.

The Trade

Offers began flying in for both players. Cabrera was rumored to be heading to the Angels for a package headed by Howie Kendrick and young pitching or the Dodgers for a package that included young players Matt Kemp and James Loney. The Angels deal was rumored to be done many times, but a surprise team swooped in late in the offseason.

Willis was rumored to be heading to the Cardinals to bolster their staff and the Dodgers had expressed interest in the lefty as well. But it was not to be.


The Detroit Tigers put together a package to acquire not only Cabrera but Willis as well. The package they offered included their top two prospects, Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, along with three young pitchers and a young catcher. Miller and Maybin had been the Tigers first round draft picks in recent drafts and were their top position and pitching prospects.





The baseball world was stunned that the Tigers would include both top prospect in a trade, but worried at the power of the Tigers lineup with Cabrera hitting in the middle of it. But thus far, the results have not been what the Tigers had expected.

Thus Far
The Tigers struggled out of the gate with the team not hitting as expected. They have yet to right that ship and are presently 10 games under the .500 mark, 10 games behind the White Sox. Both trade acquisitions have struggled also, with Cabrera needing to be moved off third due to horrible defense and Willis having so much trouble finding the strike zone, he was demoted to Lakeland in the Florida State League to get sorted out.

The Marlins have been the surprise team of the National League thus far and were even in first place for a time. Andrew Miller had a rough start, but has begun to pitch better and leads the Marlins in strikeouts. Maybin has started the year in Double A and has hit well with power and speed. The Marlins would make the trade again with no hesitation; the question remains whether the Tigers would do the same.

Others

Last week I mistakenly called young Ian Kennedy, Ian Chamberlain. Maybe hoping if I changed his last name, he would begin to pitch better. Thanks to the eagle eye reader who spotted that and brought it to my attention.

Until next week, that is my thoughts from my bleacher seat.