Yesterday I posted a note about a trade offered to me in the Blog Wars league hosted by MDS over at milliondollarsleeper.com. Today I wanted to take a look at the details of the trade in which I would receive Jhonny Peralta, Ian Kennedy, and Sergio Romo and give up Yunel Escobar and Travis Wood.
Check out the trade at TradeBashers.com here, and see my thoughts after the break.
Jhonny Peralta is a serviceable SS in a league this deep and Ian Kennedy is an above average pitcher with decent numbers all around, 7.42 K/9 and 3.81 BB/9 career. I'm excited about Yunel Escobar this year as he's due to rebound from last year and hitting second in a potent Jays lineup should improve his value. Travis Wood, meanwhile, is a young starter who projects to be slightly better than Kennedy.
First, I think this trade might be all about the guy who looks like the odd man out, Sergio Romo. Relievers with excellent ratios and no direct line to save opportunities can be very useful in medium to deep leagues as they really are five category players, even if their W and Saves numbers aren't that impressive. Romo, for instance, projects to pitch around 60 innings with a K/9 close to 10 and a BB/9 well under 3. Obviously as a starter with three times the innings that would put Romo near the head of the pack but as a reliever he'll be ignored in the majority of leagues. If Romo can put in 60 innings at a 2.50 ERA then that should lower your team's season ERA between five and seven points, a not insignificant number at the end of the season. Such a reliever can also be expected to lower your WHIP by about one or two points. If he can luck into 4-6 Wins and vulture 6-10 Saves then just how much is he worth? Maybe $5-8? That's probably what you spent on your SS this year and not something to be disregarded when considering the above trade offer.
Of course the down side to adding a reliever is that he'll take up a roster spot that could be used to stream starters or stash a backup. Since I would be the party taking three players while giving up two that's an important consideration in this trade. I also own Brian Wilson so Romo would provide some security in the event that Wilson goes on the DL again which maybe adds a buck or so to the value of Romo in this situation.
Travis Wood definitely has upside as a rookie with good control and solid K numbers. Yunel Escobar is hitting in a good lineup and has the OBP skills to take advantage. If it were simply Kennedy and Peralta for Escobar and Wood I would decline quickly as I'd rather have Escobar than Peralta and rather have Wood than Kennedy. Romo really does make it interesting, though. He's almost like a free ten streaming starts with the chance of getting a few saves. The problem is that unlike streaming starters taking on Romo would tie up a roster spot long term. Just how much does that change the equation?
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