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Pre-Season Trade Revisited
An Editorial By Jim Kies, Toronto Star
With the playoff races in full swing, I thought it would be fun to go
back and take a look at one of the bigger pre-season trades and the
effects it has had on the teams involved.
The trade was:
Toronto traded Cesar Izturis, Latroy Hawkins and Rondell White to San Diego;
San Diego sent Hideki Matsui and Jamey Carroll to Toronto.
How did this trade work out for both teams?
San Diego has settled comfortably into a playoff wild card berth, and currently
holds the best record of the wild card contenders. Cesar
Izturis has been an all star caliber player hitting .317 (.358 OBP, .464 SLG) --
playing gold glove defense and leading the entire Black Sox team in
extra base hits (47) and runs scored (74) not to mention 15 of 17 in stolen base
attempts (second on the team in SB). As if that was not
enough, LaTroy Hawkins has given the Black Sox everything they could have asked
for. With a microscopic 1.38 ERA, hitters hitting a paltry
.167 off of him, and 27 saves (tied for 3rd in the SPIBL) Hawkins has been a
major go-to guy in the late innings, and has produced with
fantastic numbers. The only black cloud is Rondell White who has been
absolutely miserable for the Sox. His 196/249/326 numbers are pretty
atrocious for a guy that has 301 AB's. Overall, however, this trade can
only be seen as a success for San Diego as Izturis and Hawkins have been
absolutely stellar.
Toronto has been back and forth with Detroit in a tough divisional race.
They currently sit w/ a 3 game lead, and actually have the best
record in the NL (at least for now). To examine their side of the trade we
really only need consider one player -- Hideki Matsui. Simply put,
Toronto would not be leading the division without him, as he has been,
unquestionably, the best offensive player on the team. He has often
single handedly led the Sharpshooter team to victories. The actual
numbers? He has hit .328 (.403 OBP, .675 SLG - yes, an OPS of 1.078) and
leads the team in HR (30), RBI (70), Runs (70), 2nd in doubles(28), 2nd in BB
(45). He has been a one man wrecking crew and made the Sharpshooters very
happy
they pulled the trigger on this trade. As for the 2nd member of the trade,
Jamey Carroll, he has been useful in limited playing time,
295/391/423. Exactly what Toronto thought they were getting, a guy who can
get on base as a part time player.
This is truly one of those trades that can be said to have worked out well for
both teams. We wish our former Sharpshooters well the rest of
the season, and on into the playoffs (unless of course we meet them in the World
Series!).
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