Now that the Rays have traded Akinori Iwamura to the Pirates, it is time to look at the reaction that this trade has gotten from around the baseball world.
Pirates blog Raise the Jolly Roger says
As much as I like Iwamura and as much as the Pirates need an upgrade at 2nd, I feel like they gave up a promising reliever (Chavez) for a one-year stopgap. Iwamura’s a fun, exciting player that I bet we’ll grow to love in 2010, but he probably won’t be here much longer than that. In fact, he may even be shipped away at the deadline if Andy LaRoche is ready to move to 2nd and Pedro Alvarez is ready to come up and play 3rd.
He also says this about Chavez
Jesse, 26, boasted excellent velocity and his main problem–home runs allowed–is something that might have been correctable under Joe Kerrigan (I have a feeling it won’t be corrected now in the AL East, though).
Dave Cameron from Fangraphs says this about Aki:
Aki Iwamura is not going to lead the Pirates to the playoffs, but he’s also a potentially useful player who will improve the 2009 club without harming the development of any significant pieces and likely came at a low cost to the organization.
My reaction to the trade is the Rays saved some money with this trade, which is always good. Aki would’ve only been with the Rays for one more year anyways, if they picked up his option. The Rays got some value to a player they most likely would’ve let go this offseason. If the Rays get any value out of Chavez in the bullpen, this will be a good deal for the Rays.
What does this trade mean for the Rays? Well, it means exactly what we thought all along. Ben Zobrist, Ried Brignac, or Sean Rodriguez will be playing second base for the Rays in 2010. IMO, it should be Brignac and Rodriguez with Zobrist in right. The defense would be improved that way, because Zobrist is clearly a better right fielder than a second baseman. What does this mean for Matt Joyce? Who knows but I do think the Rays will have one or two more major trades up their sleeve this offseason. BJ Upton anyone?
