Diamondbacks - Acquired Estrada

Arizona Diamondbacks - Acquired C Johnny Estrada from the Atlanta Braves for P Lance Cormier and Oscar Villarreal.

Estrada had a disappointing season with the Braves in 2005 and though I think he’s every bit as useful as Paul Lo Duca, I can’t imagine his trade value was very high.  Quite an odd career - he was worthless in the minors for a long time but suddenly started hitting in the minors and then, the majors, making the Kevin Millwood trade look a whole lot better.  But the Braves have Brian McCann and then, Salty J coming up, so they didn’t feel that they really needed Estrada very much.  Cormier should be a suitable back-of-the-bullpen reliever and Villarreal’s worth a try, though his arm isn’t what it used to be.

The Diamondbacks had 2 disappointing catchers of their own in Koyie Hill and Chris Snyder, but decided it was easier to pick up Estrada then try to figure out whether either, both, or none would improve in 2006.

2006 ZiPS Projections
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Player        AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG 
———————————————————————————————————

Estrada      383  42  110  34  0   5  49  29  43   0  .287  .346  .415

2006 ZiPS Projections
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Player         W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA
——————————————————————————————-

Cormier        8   7  44  16  138  137   67  13  50  91  4.37

Villarreal     2   2  21   7   27   29   15   5   8  19  5.00