Trade Reactions, Part Six
The Royals traded Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth to the Braves for Gregor Blanco, Jesse Chavez, and Tim Collins. Kansas City continues its purge of veterans, which makes sense given their position in the standings and the talent percolating in the farm system. Chavez has struggled this year but has a live arm, Collins is a very intriguing reliever who could help sometime next year, and Blanco is an on-base threat with a good glove. They are all potentially useful spare parts. Collins is the most interesting to me, with his spectacular performance record. All in all, I like this for the Royals but it isn't bad for the Braves either, assuming Farnsworth remains effective down the stretch. Ankiel's bat could be useful too.
The Red Sox picked up Jarrod Saltalamacchia from the Rangers for Chris McGuiness and Roman Mendez. Salty needs a change of scenery from Texas, and while I think there is a pretty decent chance he is a bust, it won't cost a lot to give him a chance. McGuiness is a decent hitter but we need to see him above the Sally League and was blocked in Boston, and Mendez, while possessing a very live arm, is very raw. This one works for both sides, the Rangers adding some farm system depth in exchange for a player they had given up on.
The Red Sox also shipped reliever Ramon Ramirez to the Giants in exchange for prospect Dan Turpen. Ramirez is a useful relief reinforcement for San Francisco, while Turpen has posted so-so numbers this year in Double-A. He has a good sinker but looks like an 11th man on a major league staff, not an irreplaceable asset. He's five years younger than Ramirez, so this is simply a youth exchange for the Red Sox.
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