Braves - Acquired Gonzalez, Lillibridge
Atlanta Braves - Acquired P Mike Gonzalez and SS Brent Lillibridge from the Pittsburgh Pirates for 1B Adam LaRoche and OF Jamie Romak; signed 1B-OF Craig Wilson to a 1-year contract.
A fairly swanky series of moves by the Braves. Looking down and out, they’ve now acquired Rafael Soriano for free and Mike Gonzalez, Brent Lillibridge, and a little bit of cash for a slight downgrade at 1B. Gonzalez, along with Soriano, will make the Braves bullpen one of the better ones in baseball almost singlehandedly and Lillibridge is quietly a really good shortstop prospect, unlike the pretend-good middle infield prospects that the Braves have at the top of their system like Prado and Pena.
The Pirates? They’re like the dorky kid in high school that gets a new IPOD - it’s a decent product, but all the popular kids already have them too and despite what he thinks, it doesn’t make him cool. LaRoche is a decent-to-good player, not some special player that can turn around the Pirates. They’re still an organization that can’t evaluate or develop talent and now, they’re a simply an organization that can’t evaluate or develop talent and have a decent first baseman. Strangely enough, this might be the best trade that Dave Littlefield made on purpose - getting Jason Bay was an accident (the Pirates wanted Nady). It’s hard to look at this trade and not remember the widespread reports at the time that Littlefield turned down Ryan Howard in return for Kris Benson.
2007 ZiPS Projections
———————————————————————————————————
Player AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB BA OBP SLG
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LaRoche 445 65 124 36 1 24 89 45 91 0 .279 .345 .526
Lillibridge 450 73 113 22 3 9 45 55 105 32 .251 .337 .373
Wilson 368 59 94 18 2 20 61 32 124 1 .255 .344 .478
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2007 ZiPS Projections
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Player W L G GS IP H ER HR BB SO ERA
——————————————————————————————-
Gonzalez 5 1 55 0 55 39 15 2 27 69 2.45
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Dan Szymborski
Posted: January 19, 2007 at 04:10 AM |
32 comment(s)
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1. Frisco Cali Posted: January 19, 2007 at 05:05 AM (#2282913)Is Lillibridge a candidate for 2007 starting 2b for the Braves?
Nice
It's even worse in PECOTA: Lillibridge is .277/.349/.428 and Wilson is .280/.325/.396.
And just to nitpick a bit (inspired by the Sister Helena thread): if Gonzalez along with Soriano make for a great bullpen, then he's not doing it singlehandedly. But you more than made up for that with the i-pod line.
Is Lillibridge a candidate for 2007 starting 2b for the Braves?
Lillibridge hasn't played above class A.
They're like the dorky kid in high school that gets a new IPOD - it's a decent product, but all the popular kids already have them too and despite what he thinks, it doesn't make him cool.
Is dead on.
Perfect.
Maybe Boston will give up someone interesting in return.
* Emeigh: I haven't seen Lillibridge, and I haven't actually heard much about his glove. He was a little old for the SAL (which is not atypical for the Pirates) and his extra-base power has fallen off since he was promoted to Lynchburg. Interestingly enough, his numbers at Lynchburg are not all that different from those of Brian Bixler, who's a year older and has seen a dropoff going up to Altoona as well. Lillibridge has more pop than Bixler and makes more consistent contact, so he's a better hitting prospect in the long run, but I'm not sold on either yet.
* Me: I haven't seen Lillbridge as a pro (just on tv in college and in person w/ the national team), but I remember that he did things very quickly - quick swing, plus range (@ cf & ss), good runner. He *looked* like a ballplayer and I'd be surprised if he didn't eventually find a way to contribute at the major league level.
* Schuler: I've seen Lillibridge this season playing for Lynchburg. Lillibridge has hit leadoff everytime I have seen him play. He has a good eye and enough speed to stay at the top of the lineup. He is reliable with the glove and has a good enough arm to stay at SS. I am not sold that he has enough power in his bat to contribute as he advances up the chain - I think Mike's comments regarding Bixler will apply to Lillibridge.
I have an in-depth look at this trade on my blog:
kenphelpsallstars.blogspot.com
Take a shower once in a while, ditch the Members Only jacket, and stop talking about Star Trek constantly.
Ha, what a blast from the past. I hadn't thought about Trapper Keepers in a long time (except maybe for a reference during a VH1 I Love the 80s/90s show). I had the same expereience, BLB.
This is a damnable lie.
This statement rests uneasily against the hard fact that many Primates are married or have girlfriends.
Oh, believe me, I'm most definitely not. Terrifying thought, isn't it?
Supposedly.
Damn, I went to all the wrong schools for my education.
Nice moves by the Braves. If the Pirates were a contending team this move wouldn't be so bad for them. But they aren't. So it is exactly as described in the OP.
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