:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/24892655/20130921_krj_ak6_216.0.jpg)
Mark Trumbo has been traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks, as part of a three-way trade between Arizona, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and the Chicago White Sox, according to Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic.
Dbacks will be getting Trumbo and two players to be named later, Eaton to White Sox, Skaggs and Santiago to Angels.
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) December 10, 2013
Arizona will also receive receive two players to be named later, and will send pitcher Tyler Skaggs to Anaheim and outfielder Adam Eaton to Chicago. Chicago sends pitcher Hector Santiago to Anaheim as well.
Yesterday, Danny wrote about first baseman who could potentially play for the Rays in 2013, and with this trade, one of the more attractive options is now off the table. Ironically, Trumbo is now on a team where he is every bit as blocked at first (by the excellent Paul Goldschmidt) and at designated hitter (by the National League) as he was with the Angels.
We've discussed Trumbo at length. Here are the other pieces of the deal that moved him:
Adam Eaton
Baseball America ranked Adam Eaton as the Diamondbacks' fourth-best prospect after the 2012 season and the seventy-third best prospect in baseball overall. Although he had a difficult, injury-ridden season in the majors in 2013, it was only one year ago that he was being trumpeted as a big-league center fielder and leadoff hitter with double digit homerun power. For new White Sox GM Rick Hahn, it's a Ken Williams-esque move, acquiring a name-brand player who's a bit down at the moment.
Tyler Skaggs
Only 22 next season, Tyler Skaggs rated as the best prospect in the Arizona system after the 2012 season and the twelfth best in all of baseball. ERA aside, Skaggs did little in 2013 to change that assessment. His velocity averaged near 90 mph, which might have been dissapointing (Baseball America thought there still might be some projection in him), but his much ballyhooed curve was as advertised, drawing a whiff 18% of the time he threw it.
Skaggs is the type of pitcher you build around, not the type you trade for a player you'll need to play in a position where he's defensively weak. Between Eaton and Skaggs, this was a costly deal for Arizona.
Hector Santiago
Last year, the White Sox moved Santiago from the bullpen to the rotation, and they were rewarded with a 3.50 ERA (but with a FIP and an xFIP a full run higher). Well, they seem to have found someone who believes in that ERA, and now they've been rewarded with Adam Eaton. We'll have to see who the PTBNLs are, but at this point I'm not exactly sure what Chicago is doing in this deal. Good for them, though.
Update 4:40: The Diamondbacks will also receive minor league pitcher A.J. Schugel from the Angels (tweets Jack Magruger [but link broken/deleted?]). Baseball America rated Schugel as the Angels' twelfth best prospect after 2012, and classified him as a back-of-the-rotation starter.
It occurs to me that Arizona may simply rate Skaggs significantly lower than does the rest of the league. On the one hand, they should have the best information. On the other hand, there's enough data out there on Skaggs by now that the information gap shouldn't be that big. I still hate this deal from their point of view.
