The Major League Baseball trade deadline is steadfast approaching. What does that mean? Chaos of course. There was a rumor going around that Chicago Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster would be traded to the Atlanta Braves, but that seems to be futile. Afterwards however, a trade did go down.
First, the Miami Marlins traded infielder Omar Infante and starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez to the Detroit Tigers for starting pitcher Jacob Turner, catcher prosect Rob Brantly, and LHP Brian Flynn. (via Joe Frisario of MLB.com)
Let's take a look at what this trade means for their respective teams.
What This Trade Means for Detroit
The Detroit Tigers recently have been making moves in the American League Central and finally made it back into first place in the division, after a sweep of the Chicago White Sox. The production that they have been getting from their star players has been up to par with what most have expected. Prince Fielder's home run numbers may be down slightly but he could still finish with around 30 home runs, and Miguel Cabrera is playing like one of the best hitters in baseball, which of course, is what he is. However, the Tigers' production from the second base position has been far from stellar. Ramon Santiago, Danny Worth and Ryan Raburn have collected only 89 hits in 507 plate appearances (.176/.273/.273). Needless to say, that split is ugly to look at, so they desperately needed to trade for an improvement at the position. They do get that in Omar Infante. This season, Omar Infante has played like an All-Star, hitting .287, with an OBP of .312 and a SLG of .442. Infante's collected 94 hits, and certainly cannot be any worse than what they have gotten. I expect Infante to give a much-needed boost to the Tiger offense at the second base position and to help them continue their run to the Postseason. Anibal Sanchez is also a very solid pitcher and will give the back end of Detroit's pitching staff a much needed boost. Sanchez this season has posted a 3.94 ERA, with a 3.40 FIP a K/9 ratio of 8.18, and 110 K in 121 IP. He'll be going to the American League for the first time in his career, but if he is the 2011 version of Doug Fister, the Tigers will benefit greatly as they advance towards October.
What This Trade Means for Miami
The Miami Marlins, depending on who you talk to, have been one of the greatest disappointments of the 2012 MLB season. I personally was not very high on them and I think they in the offseason acquired mostly overrated players and came into the season with a lot of falsified hope. Nonetheless, they are disappointed and are expected to continue making moves for the next week. This is the first domino to fall, sending away Infante and Anibal Sanchez for young players and compensatory draft picks. What they are getting is relatively unknown players and the renowned pitcher Jacob Turner. Turner's stats this season may be SSS, but they are not promising thus far. Through three starts his ERA is at 8.03, with only 15 K in 12 IP. As I said though, Turner is very young and volatile, so I do not think what we've seen of him so far is what we're going to get. I think Turner will turn out to be a very solid pitcher in the Major Leagues some day but I wouldn't be surprised if he is sent back down to AAA. As for Rob Brantly and Brian Flynn, Brantly is a very solid catching prospect that if he gets his act together in terms of plate discipline can be a very good hittng catcher for a few years. Flynn is a southpaw that has a flamethrower arm and a lot of upside for the future. The Marlins can definitely be benefited long-term with this deal.
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