Rays / Tigers Trade

[johnbosma]

The Tigers and Rays have agreed to the following trade:

Tigers send:
1B Miguel Cabrera (2012: $21m; 2013: $21m; 2014: $22m; 2015: $22m)
OF Andy Dirks (2012: $440k; 2013: year 3; 2014: arb; 2015: arb; 2016: arb)
LHP Andy Oliver (2012: $440k; 2013: year 3; 2014: arb; 2015: arb; 2016: arb)

Rays send:
SS/3B Hanley Ramirez (2012: $15m; 2013: $16m; 2014: $16m)
OF Matt Joyce (2012: $480k; 2013: arb; 2014: arb; 2015: arb)

Rationale will be posted shortly.

[johnbosma]

Thanks to PlayerX3D for working with me on this deal on and off for several days.

It was very tough to move Cabrera but the opportunity to land Hanley and Joyce was too tempting to pass up. I fully expect Miggy to be in the top 5 of MVP voting this season but I also expect Hanley to bounce back in a big way. His track record is too strong and I'm not seeing any indications that he isn't healthy this season. He might not like the move to 3B but I think he will enjoy hitting beyond Jose Reyes and will have plenty of protection in that lineup. I also think Ozzie will allow him to attempt SB's until his heart's content. And the move to 3B actually works out well for my team because I have Jhonny Peralta at SS and my 3B options were Brandon Inge and Scott Sizemore. Matt Joyce has shown that he is a consistently productive player and will certainly provide a long term upgrade over Casper Wells for me. Andy Dirks was a useful but not hugely valuable piece and Andrew Oliver could be a solid SP in time but I've lost patience with him after last season's struggles at both the ML and AAA level.

[PlayerX3D]

The Tigers and Rays have agreed to the following trade:

Tigers send:
1B Miguel Cabrera (2012: $21m; 2013: $21m; 2014: $22m; 2015: $22m)
OF Andy Dirks (2012: $440k; 2013: year 3; 2014: arb; 2015: arb; 2016: arb)
LHP Andy Oliver (2012: $440k; 2013: year 3; 2014: arb; 2015: arb; 2016: arb)

Rays send:
SS/3B Hanley Ramirez (2012: $15m; 2013: $16m; 2014: $16m)
OF Matt Joyce (2012: $480k; 2013: arb; 2014: arb; 2015: arb)

Rationale will be posted shortly.

The Rays agree to this trade.  Thanks to the Tigers for the successful (albeit arduous) trade discussions.

We agree to this trade primarily for strategic purposes.  The Rays organization fully expects Hanley Ramirez to become a viable star in this league again, but we could not resist the consistency of Miguel Cabrera.  Even in light of the recent injury to Victor Martinez, we fully anticipate the Cabrera will be able to put up MVP caliber numbers for the next several seasons in a Rays uniform.

The strategic purpose is simply that we are currently sans a 1B here in Tampa, and the upcoming 1B free agent market is particularly top-heavy.  We anticipate that monster contracts will be doled out to the superstars on top, and then we will be in a dog-fight to attempt to secure a 2nd tier starter at 1st tier money.  Therefore, we felt the decision was best to secure our 1B and settle for more of a role player at the SS position.

Joyce is another solid hitter that we hate to lose, but we felt that the package of Dirks and Oliver softened the blow.  Oliver still has a chance to file in nicely with our army of young arms coming up through the ranks, and Dirks will be a suitable 5OF.

Overall, a very straight forward trade where I think both teams accomplished their goals.

[johnbosma]

Will trades be automatically approved in this current period without a trade committee?

(The reason I ask is because both of my trades have been made with free agency in mind and my FA strategy would change if one or more of the trades didn't go through.)

[Lindner]

 

[DVB78300]

 

[Daniel]

  Could be a good trade for both teams.  The winner will probably depend on whether Hanley goes back to who he once was or is as bad as last year.

[ldsjayhawk]

 

[BrewCrew]

 

[Lindner]

The Trade Committee's ruling:
5 Approves
0 Vetoes

It has been over 72 hours since this trade has been under the review process.
This trade has been officially approved by the committee.