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He really is the perfect Safeco SP, even moreso now with Dyson and Haniger in the mix.
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Mariners.org sums it up concisely:
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In the Mariners' first deal of the day, a four-player swap with the Braves, Seattle added Shae Simmons and speedy outfielder Mallex Smith -- who was then sent to the Rays in the four-player trade for Smyly.
Seattle gave up a pair of Minor League left-handers to the Braves in Luiz Gohara and Thomas Burrows. Gohara, 20, was Seattle's No. 5-ranked prospect, per MLBPipeline.com. Burrows was ranked No. 25.
The Mariners then sent left-hander Ryan Yarbrough -- their No. 13 prospect -- and Minor League shortstop Carlos Vargas to Tampa Bay along with Smith to acquire Smyly.
To make room on their 40-man roster, the Mariners designated right-hander Cody Martin for assignment.
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For me this is the equivalent of last year's Adam Lind deal, the move that justifies the others, as it were. Karns for Yovani Gallardo? That's where the Anger Management diva warns you, "The only thing between you and incarceration is one perfectly-worded blog." But! Karns for Drew Smyly? Well, like I always say, life gets better as you get older. ... at this specific time, in this specific place, I'd have given you Nate KKKarns even steven for Drew Smyly.
Smyly has a David Price Lite Fastball, one with tremendous life and now, later in his career, improving location. He can move the ball up and down, change the eye level, and work through a lineup with little other than the changing locations, if needed.
But he also has a drop curve ball that vanishes like a spitter. He has a slider that does away with lefties. He also has a bit of gopheritis on the baseball card, but that is:
(1) Bad luck to some extent; HR/F is a luck stat
(2) Tribute to Smyly's attack mode up in the zone
(3) Rather less of an issue in Safeco with 3 CF's than it was in Tampa
The first 5 pitches on this video -- really, all the pitches, when you get down to it -- give a sense of Smyly's liking for the high FB - low curve whipsaw. Who knows? Maybe K-Pax will take the hint.
Smyly is not unbeatable but he is my idea of a plus #3 starter. Gimme two aces, then him, and I'll go to war witcher. This is a ballclub I can sign off on. ... well, maybe one more Greg Holland, but yeah.
Be Afraid,
Dr D
Comments
2
Gotta give the man his dues. You can say what you want about him, but he can put multiple deals together and get it done. Great pickup! Plus Simmons as a pen arm - yes sir!
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If youse guys want to try Shouting inside this thread, they're aimin' to get the Shout Box back per requests... thanky kindly...
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Two of our top three pitching prospects seems excessive when Jason Hammel is the same type of 2 WAR pitcher twiddling his thumbs on the market. He's just not left handed so didn't fit Dipoto's laser focus on "his guys".
I would be less skeptical if Wade Miley and Nori Aoki hadn't been "his guys" just a year ago.
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So you might as well count him as costing a Top 3 prospect as well, plus the necessity of signing a 34-year-old pitcher to a 3+ year contract while he's clearly on the decline.
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did he??? If he did of course we wouldn't sign him...
I don't see him on this list:
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/11/list-of-players-set-to-receive-qua...
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There was something I read about the Cubs offering to keep him, and him electing free agency. It must have been that they had a discussion with him before rejecting his club option. You're right that he didn't recieve a QO.
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All this, and Hammel is not as good as Smyly IMO. Definetly doesn't have the same upside.
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Tade burger, irresistible.
a nice FG article on him: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mariners-add-intriguing-arm-in-shae-simmons/
He may end up being better than Holand anyways, doc :)
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Interesting arm for sure.
The Gohara trade in particular seems on the surface to be a little lopsided in our favor. Wonder how Braves' fans feel about it?
What a rediculous course of events this past week.. I didn't like all the deals, hated some (Gallardo), but the overall result has me feeling positive about the M's chances this year for a playoff spot.
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Had Braves fans universally frustrated by it. On one hand they understood that Mallex was blocked in their outfield and it was good to get something (albeit something very far off) for him, but most hated including Simmons in the deal.
Most braves fans thought Simmons was Kimbrel's logical predecessor, he certainly has the stuff and the K's to match, he just has to stay healthy!
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A good call, Doc.
In the video I watched he does indeed get a bunch of weak-late swings on the heater. The ball seems to jump.
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Smyly's fastball has an unusually high spin rate which is the actual measurable manifestation of late life. High backspin keeps the ball on a higher trajectory. It makes the ball seem to jump.
Could be this is the Moneyball advantage Dipoto is chasing.
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And now that hes ours, how about we scrap that 'cutter'? An 85mph 'cutter' that doesn't 'cut' is a batting practice pitch.
Just rock with the 4-seam against RHs. :-)
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He should ditch the cutter. It's his fourth best pitch.
You know who I'd guess might be throwing a cutter this year? Felix. He's wanted to throw it for years and has a good one on the sideline, but didn't really need it. Now it might give him a pitch he can control and steal strikes with.
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Might be a good idea to try, Felix's sinker declined more in 2016 than any other pitch (loss of velocity and movement). Its an ineffective pitch now. Hes almost better off increasing the changeup usage since the speed differential is similar at this point and there is far more downward bite. Fourseam/cutter might be better combo to try out.
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Has any team ever changed its exterior style more from one admin to the next?
Remember all those stories about Jack being unwilling to pull the trigger? Now we got Jerry and, "Can we hurry up and get this done? I got three more trades to make this morning."
As a journalist, I covered politics for the first half of my career. I could never figure out the guys who once elected were afraid to do what they believed in - from any side - to do anything in case it cost them votes. I always thought: What was the point of being elected?
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He's like a dog gnawing on a bone with this roster.
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Hah! How many teams have MOSES competing for the rotation?! (#7 above, C. Heston)
Smiley pushes everyone behind him back a notch. Gallardo will be fine as a #5. Compared to Zduriencik and Bavasi teams, this team has good depth. The biggest uncertainty is that there is not a single outfielder that can be rock-solid counted on to produce offensively. Sure, our infield is great. But I'm a little nervous about the outfield.
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Interesting that they list Steve Cishek even though he underwent serious surgery to repair a torn hip labrum in October that will require 4-6 months of recovery and is very unlikely to be ready for spring traing. However, there's no mention of Tony Zych who also had surgery around the same time but for a procedure (shoulder biceps tendon transfer) that should mean recovery by spring training as apparently it doesn't involve the rotator cuff or capsule in the shoulder.
Perhaps for Zych there's a quicker recovery time but fewer guarantees of success or return to previous performance levels, hence the omission?
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I had forgotten about Motter! I kind of like him. The O'Malley/Freeman/Motter battle will be interesting.
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He seems to have the most offensive potential of the 3, and I imagine he makes a better backup RH outfield than Valencia. If they keep Motter, they would be able to run out 7 RH bats on appropriate days, keeping O'Malley or Freeman would mean the team could only manage to field 6 RH Bats (including Martin) unless they run Ruiz at DH with Cruz playing OF. He's almost a necessity.
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They'll play most of the time, but...they do need days off.
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You don't like O'Malley in that role?
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I think he'd be okay as an emergency backup, maybe they could switch him for O'Malley once a moth to catch a few rest starts at 2B and SS. Does Motter still have options?
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he had 7 MLB starts at SS last season...and he was pretty shaky in that SSS. His Rf/9 was 2.83. Not good at all. He booted one ball in 19 chances. In the minors he's shown a 4.17 RF/9.
O'Malley has had 26 big league SS starts: Rf/9 of 4.26. He has 459 MiLB SS starts. 4.28 Rf/9 on the farm. He switchhits.
Freeman has 1 big league SS start, last year for us. He has 115 in the minors. 4.66 RF/9 there. Is a .314 AAA hitter.
The better SS will likely get the UT spot. I like them all. Would bet on O'Malley.
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They got one of the top 3 options they wee pursuing for SP by slipping and sliding ino another two part deal to get one guy and they get another guy that fits right into the bullpen arm they wanted as a second (or third) choice behind SP.
If DePoet's chicanery work and they make the playoffs, he has earned, in two years, the equivalent admiration of the supertraders revered by he Seahawks fans ... and buttzzz will rush for season tickets at Safeco in 2018.
If, they don't make the playoffs, well, DePoet will only get one additional year.
The thing that distinguishes the M's GM is that two types stand out amidst all candidates: primacy and recency.
DePoet is a primacy guy: get the guy before somebody else gets him.
The recency guys are remembered like a longshot coming from far back in the stretch.
Most GM's in beisbol are somewhee in he middle, regardless of the budget they are working with.
At least 3 - 5 other clubs were discussing boh Dyson and Smiley, and probably 3 working on Shae Simmons deals.
DePoet didn't wait around while Tampa meditated on Archer or Odorozzi deals to max their hauls.
Regading Hammel, I suspeec that possible damaged goods is why no one has signed him.
Finally, the M's still could go for one banger in the outfield in a trade regad;ess pf what the GM said yesterday about the team being set.
Smyly puts the M's into a very tough WC position, and, if all the clouds fill with sunshine ...
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The "t" is not working at times on my keyboard, which distracts me, and creates more typos.
But that is no reason for my grammer gremlins.
The title of my retort referred to "tamale", who is O'Malley, who I believe is an absolute DePoet guy and will be on the 25.
Motter has an option and he will be Tacoma bound at the start of the season.
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