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OT: The Toronto Blue Jays

ChatGPTradeassessment:


If this is indeed the final deal for Los Angeles Dodgers to acquire Tarik Skubal, it’s a surprisingly manageable price for a pitcher of Skubal’s caliber.


Here’s how I’d rate the three players:


1. Zyhir Hope — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (the centerpiece)


  • This is the big loss.
  • Widely considered the Dodgers’ No. 2 prospect entering the season and a Top 30 prospect in all of baseball.
  • Left-handed hitting outfielder with plus power, athleticism, and a chance to become a middle-of-the-order bat.
  • He had been on a tear recently, including a huge July, which only increased his value.
  • Ceiling: All-Star corner outfielder.

2. River Ryan — ⭐⭐⭐☆


  • A very talented pitcher with electric stuff.
  • At one point he looked like he could become a mid-rotation or even No. 2/3 starter.
  • The issue is health. Tommy John surgery and other injuries have slowed him considerably, so there’s much more risk than there was a year or two ago.
  • Ceiling: Excellent MLB starter if he stays healthy.

3. Brady Smith — ⭐⭐☆


  • Interesting young right-hander with good upside.
  • Still a few years away and more of a developmental prospect than a blue-chip name.
  • Has a live arm but isn’t viewed on the same tier as Hope.

Overall assessment


For Detroit:


  • They get one elite prospect (Hope), one high-upside but injury-risk pitcher (Ryan), and one intriguing young arm (Smith).

For the Dodgers:


  • If Skubal is healthy, this is the kind of trade championship teams make. He’s arguably one of the top two or three pitchers in baseball when right, and Los Angeles managed to keep several of its other premier prospects (such as Josue De Paula and Emil Morales) while landing him.

I’d grade the package as:


  • Detroit: A-
  • Dodgers: A

The Dodgers gave up a genuine blue-chip prospect, but they did not have to empty the farm system for a true ace, which is why many evaluators are likely to view this as a strong outcome for Los Angeles.
 
frickin' Dodgers had 3 really high-end OF prospects, and like 7 or 8 in total considered to be good prospects. It's actually nuts. Of the big three, I like the other 2 a fair bit more than Hope (Josue de Paula and Mike Sorota). I get why the Tigers would want Hope, but I'm not sure the other 2 guys were even available, so it's a little underwhelming. Especially when you consider that yes River Ryan has upside and is ready to plug into the rotation, but he's been plagued with injuries and will turn 28 years old in 2.5 weeks. I haven't even heard of the 3rd guy.

It's a good deal, but not amazing. Also fuck the Dodgers.
 
I won’t fault them for doing nothing if the only deals out there are lower end prospects or Loperfido-style “MLB ready” guys. But so many teams are in it, the Jays have some premium assets on expiring deals, this is a great time to re-tool and set the org up nicely for the next few years.
 
EE was the bad vet contract we had to take on to get the two shitty (i mean awesome retool) "prospects" in that deal, and then we DFA'd EE eventually, but nobody else wanted to pay him.

I'll give you Duane Ward. Looooooong time ago tho.
 
Yup, for all the hype about what he’d cost, it looks super underwhelming.

Just goes to show (yet again) that landing big names isn’t always the impossible task that some make it seem. Basically every third trade in every league is one where you wonder why one of the teams did it.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
Yup, for all the hype about what he’d cost, it looks super underwhelming.

Just goes to show (yet again) that landing big names isn’t always the impossible task that some make it seem. Basically every third trade in every league is one where you wonder why one of the teams did it.
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in fairness, teams have rightly decided not to overpay for rentals. This is a bit of a different case however, since it's the 2-time reigning Cy Young winner.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers system is absolutely loaded so they won't feel the hit, and it's not a rental for them since they'll just re-sign him for $500 mil and defer half till 2100 or some shit.
 
axlsalinger said:
in fairness, teams have rightly decided not to overpay for rentals. This is a bit of a different case however, since it's the 2-time reigning Cy Young winner.

Unfortunately, the Dodgers system is absolutely loaded so they won't feel the hit, and it's not a rental for them since they'll just re-sign him for $500 mil and defer half till 2100 or some shit.
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That’s the thing, you get him and it’s minimum WS win. And maybe you resign him too as a bonus.

What I don’t understand is how the best teams in baseball with the most expensive rosters often also have the deepest prospect pools. They never run out. Like how can LA still have a ton of great prospect capital. It’s so different than the NHL, where the best teams often have nothing in the pipeline because they spent to add at 1 or 2 deadlines.
 
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