Lots of baseball players had miserable seasons in 2012. Immediately, Michael Young, Jeff Francoeur, Ricky Romero, and the Boston Red Sox come to mind. But no one had a rougher season than Heath Bell. The Miami Marlins gave him a $27 million contract to serve as their closer. By mid-May, Bell had blown four of his seven save opportunities, his ERA was hovering around 10.00, and he was temporarily demoted from the closer role six weeks into a three-year contract. He permanently lost his job as closer in July. He finished 2012 with an ERA of 5.09. As a relief pitcher. At the end of the season, Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen actually went on the radio and said flat-out that he had lost respect for Bell as a person. According to a report, a few Marlins played that radio interview on full volume in the team clubhouse so that Bell could hear his manager call him out in front of the entire team. One of the more tragic and awkward things you'll see in baseball.
So naturally, the Arizona Diamondbacks thought it would be a swell idea to trade for Heath Bell.
Granted, it's not an awful idea. There's hope (somewhere, I guess) that Bell will find himself again once the Marlins stink has worn off. Miami is helping out by kicking in $8 million of the $21 million still owed to Bell (this is how desperate they are to ship Bell out of town). And it's not like the D'Backs gave up anything of note to acquire the embattled closer. But Bell's strikeout-to-walk ratio has declined for three straight seasons, and he's 35 years old. $13 million over two years seems like a lot of money to gamble on a middle reliever in his mid-30's coming off an embarrassing season. So...meh. There have been better deals, there have been worse deals.
Unfortunately, this wasn't the only component of Arizona's trade.
It was actually a three-team swap, with the Oakland Athletics taking part. The A's sent two players to the Diamondbacks: infielder Cliff Pennington and minor leaguer Yordy Cabrera (basically a warm body). The D'Backs then sent Cabrera to Miami for Bell and the $8 million. In exchange for Pennington and Cabrera, the D'Backs sent Chris Young to Oakland.
Heath Bell, Cliff Pennington, Yordy Cabrera, Chris Young. Embattled 35-year old reliever, light-hitting utility infielder, no-name minor leaguer, former-All Star center-fielder. One of these things is not like the other.
Chris Young is 29 years old. For his career, he has averaged 20 home runs and 20 steals per season while playing solid defense in center field. Regardless of his low batting averages (career .249 hitter) and high strikeout totals, Young is a valuable player with that coveted power-speed combination at a premium defensive position.
Why did the Diamondbacks trade away a solid everyday center-fielder for a near-replacement-level infielder and an expensive, potentially-awful middle reliever? Because Arizona had too many outfielders on the roster; someone had to go, they decided. But that doesn't explain or justify the meager return for Young. The D'Backs didn't even save money in the deal: they moved around $10 million off the books by trading away Young, which was negated by taking on Bell's $13 million. Sure, the Diamondbacks may be able to replace Young's production from within; the failure was flipping him for so little in return without even saving money. The fact that this trade was finalized so early in the trading season suggests that Arizona didn't exactly shop Young around the league to find the best offer before pulling the trigger with the A's and Marlins.
From Oakland's perspective, the trade is a smashing success. Cliff Pennington can be replaced in the middle infield, probably by Stephen Drew, who's a better player anyway. Chris Young perfectly fits Oakland's new organizational philosophy of pursuing players with power, speed, and defense. Furthermore, there's reason to believe Young can improve on his subpar 2012. He was hitting a scorching .410/.500/.897 in April before colliding with an outfield wall and possibly separating his shoulder, usually a three-month injury. Young surprisingly returned to the lineup after just a month's absence and proceeded to slump to a .143 average until the All-Star Break. From the All-Star Break until the end of the season, Young bounced back to a .261/.327/.471 line. It seems fair to hypothesize that his season numbers were pulled down by that nagging shoulder injury. He'll be fine.
Plus, there's no long-term risk for Oakland. Young will cost $8 million in 2013. If he has a good season, the A's can exercise a 2014 option for $11 million. If he's terrible, they can opt out of the contract with a $1.5 million buyout. The downside is limited to one season and the potential benefit could extend into 2014. It's a nice example of Oakland's willingness to spend some money in the wake of its surprising playoff appearance.
Between Young, Coco Crisp, Yoenis Cespedes, Josh Reddick, and Seth Smith, the A's now have five starting-caliber outfielders on the roster. The Diamondbacks had similar outfield depth, but chose to trade it away to place a $13 million bet on Heath Bell. That difference in front office decision-making is one of the reasons why the Diamondbacks are coming off a .500 season while the Athletics won the best division in baseball on a shoestring budget.
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