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I might be able to get behind a deal that looks like this, though it is pure speculation obviously...
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Crafting a three-team trade to bring Cespedes to Cleveland
A three-team trade between Cleveland, Boston, and Washington could work for all parties involved
Yoenis Cespedes (Photo: Getty Images)
By Jim Piascik
December 2, 2014
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There has been no shortage of speculation this offseason on the availability of Boston Red Sox outfielder Yoenis Cespedes, both in the national media and on this site. But as of right now, it does not appear Cleveland and Boston line up as trade partners. The Red Sox are looking for star-level front-of-the-rotation starting pitching, the kind Cleveland does not have available to give up.
The thing is, though, that no contender that needs Cespedes has that to spare. That is what led to Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron (while writing for Just a Bit Outside) proposing a three-team trade involving the Washington Nationals and the Seattle Mariners.
Given Washington’s need for help at second base and Seattle’s middle infield depth, Cameron crafts a three-team trade that looks like this:
Seattle gets:
Washington gets:
- OF Yoenis Cespedes (from Boston)
- 1B Mike Napoli (from Boston)
Boston gets:
- 2B/SS Brad Miller (from Seattle)
- LHP Danny Hultzen (from Seattle)
But while Cameron looks for a team with middle infield depth and arrives at Seattle, the readers of this site will likely come up with a different conclusion.
- RHP Jordan Zimmermann (from Washington)
- RHP Tyler Clippard (from Washington)
A certain team that plays at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario.
Crafting a three-team trade
So what would it take to switch up this trade to include Cleveland instead of Seattle?
We know a few things would stay the same, with Cespedes going to Cleveland instead and Zimmermann still making his way to Boston. But since Cleveland has no need for another first base/designated hitter type due to the combination of Carlos Santana, Nick Swisher, Jesus Aguilar, and the displaced-by-Cespedes David Murphy, we will leave Napoli out of this three-team trade and let the Red Sox deal him (or someone else) later.
Not acquiring Napoli means Cleveland would not have to give up quite as much as Seattle, but the organization will still need to send a second baseman to Washington (funnily enough, to replace the last one it sent in Asdrubal Cabrera). Given Washington could see its shortstop, Ian Desmond, walk after the 2015 season, sending someone who could potentially shift over to shortstop in a year would have some added value.
Enter Jose Ramirez.
The Nationals are definitely looking to win now, meaning they are not likely to settle for an unproven player like Erik Gonzalez who has not seen major league time. And while Francisco Lindor would definitely work, there is no way Cleveland is giving him up for one year of Cespedes.
Ramirez, however, is someone who has not only put up some nice numbers at the major league level, but also has the flexibility to play second base in 2015 and slide over to shortstop if needed beyond that. The 22-year-old’s best fit is likely at second base, but after seeing him handle shortstop just fine post-Cabrera in 2014, Ramirez’s stock seems to have risen.
Giving up someone young and talented like Ramirez hurts, but you have to trade something to get something. If Cleveland wants someone good like Cespedes, it will cost them someone good. Ramirez fits the Nationals’ needs and could be the player that gets the deal done.
Of course, these three players all do not have equal value. In order to keep balancing the scales, a few more pieces need to be involved.
Even though Zimmermann and Cespedes only have one year of team control left, those are still the two best present-day players in the deal. Since all three teams in this deal are looking to win-now, that leaves Cleveland needing to kick in a few more pieces to even things out.
In Cameron’s three-team trade involving the Mariners, he has a reliever heading to Boston. Luckily for Cleveland, the organization has plenty of relief depth that could make a trade work. Whether it is a power left-hander like Nick Hagadone (drafted by the Red Sox in the first round in 2007), an unproven right-hander with six years of team control left like Bryan Price (drafted by the Red Sox in the first round in 2008), or a more expensive, more proven right-hander like Bryan Shaw, Cleveland has the pieces to make it work.
While trading a pitcher like Shaw would hurt Cleveland’s bullpen in the late innings, the easiest place to upgrade is in the bullpen. Given Cleveland’s combination of bullpen depth and the availability of relatively-cheap relievers on the free agent and trade market, adding a reliever to the trade could be worth it to make things line up.
This still does not make everything equal, however, since the Nationals are giving up the best player in the deal and only getting Ramirez back. Knowing the Nationals are set up pretty well at all positions, acquiring a few prospects to round out the package makes sense.
With center fielder Denard Span and right-hander Doug Fister heading toward free agency (and Zimmermann heading out in this hypothetical trade), having an outfield prospect and a starting pitching prospect coming back could make Washington comfortable losing Zimmermann.
There are plenty of different prospects that could head on in this scenario, but one possibility is Cleveland sending center fielder Tyler Naquin and Boston sending left-hander Brian Johnson to the Nationals.
In this scenario, Washington takes a small step back in 2015 in return for a new second baseman in Ramirez with six years of team control (and insurance for Desmond potentially leaving), a potential replacement for Span in Naquin, and starting pitching depth in Johnson.
Finally, with Cleveland giving up a lot of team control in Ramirez, Naquin, and a reliever, only getting one year of Cespedes back does not quite line up. Boston is also getting the best player in the deal in addition to a reliever from Cleveland, while only giving up one year of Cespedes and one prospect in Johnson.
So to round out the trade, having Boston send a player with years of team control Cleveland’s way should finish things off.
Boston could send a prospect, but for this trade, what about Will Middlebrooks?
While Middlebrooks has struggled lately, he still has four years of team control left, is going to be fairly cheap in arbitration for 2015, is still only 26 years old, and would offer Cleveland a strong right-handed power option that can play third base. His struggles of late are worrisome -- and Cleveland could easily opt to go in a different direction -- but Middlebrooks would make an interesting platoon player to fit with Lonnie Chisenhall.
What a possible trade would look like
So here is what we have established as a possible trade:
Cleveland gets:
Boston gets:
- OF Yoenis Cespedes (from Boston)
- 3B Will Middlebrooks (from Boston)
Washington gets:
- RHP Jordan Zimmermann (from Washington)
- LHP Nick Hagadone -- or a different reliever (from Cleveland)
The supporting pieces around this trade can move around as needed and are not set in stone. But the three key pillars of Zimmermann, Cespedes, and Ramirez all make sense. Cleveland spends roughly $8 million to bring in two right-handed hitting options that fit in the organization’s payroll structure, Boston gets the front-of-the-line pitching it sorely lacks right now, and Washington gets some financial flexibility and builds in some backup options for their upcoming free agents.
- 2B/SS Jose Ramirez (from Cleveland)
- OF Tyler Naquin (from Cleveland)
- LHP Brian Johnson (from Boston)
Each team is dealing from a position of depth and receiving someone at a position of weakness; that is a good place to start.
If you want to follow Jim on Twitter, he’s@JimPiascik. If you want to e-mail him, you can do so at jpiasci1@gmail.com. If you want to read his Master's thesis on college athletes and Twitter, you can do so here.
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