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THE TRADE:

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The Manchester MooniniteZ trade [Low Minors But Destined To Be High Minors Any Moment Now] RP Joe Jimenez and [High Minors] SP Amir Garrett to Q-Tip City Morning Wood for SP Daniel Norris.

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THE MOONINITEZ RETURN:

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SP Daniel Norris – Just about 24 year old lefty for the Tigers and guy I drafted a couple years too early a couple years ago BACK WHEN WE HAD DRAFTS. 4-2, 3.38 ERA (3.93 FIP), 71 Ks in 69.1 IP (9.22 K/9), 4 QS in 2016. Look either he breaks out or he doesn’t yanno WHO CAN BE SURE OF THESE THINGS? I will leave you with this encouraging cherry-picked statistic:

There were only 19 starters who threw at least 50 innings, struck out at least 9.0 batters per nine, and walked less than 3.0 batters per nine in 2016:

Clayton Kershaw, Noah Syndergaard, Jose Fernandez, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Madison Bumgarner, Stephen Strasburg, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, Michael Pineda, Chris Archer, Aaron Nola, Carlos Rodon, Yu Darvish, Carlos Carrasco, Danny Duffy, and Norris.

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THE MORNING WOOD RETURN:

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RP Joe Jimenez – 22 year old righty relief prospect for the mighty Tigers, ALLEGEDLY was ranked their 7th prospect by Baseball America at some point in time but damned if I see him there now. Probably not ranked anywhere else because it is hard out there for a relief prospect to crack top 100 lists. Don’t meannnn he can’t throw himself a fastball CUZ HE CAN. Fastball sits 94-97 and can touch 100, also has a decent slider, so a two pitch relief pitcher which can either work or not work (Bruce Rondon just had this EXACT same profile basically and he got send down for Jimenez so yanno). Jimenez will end up the Tigers closer, likely at some point this season, and will be an excellent source of Ks no matter when they put him in the game. If he can improve command and limit the damage on his fly balls (sub 40% grounder rate in 2016) he can be a very good relief pitcher very quickly, and I am NOT going to compare him to Rondon that would be petty. Major League Comparison:  Alex Colome.

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SP Amir Garrett – BASICALLY 25 year old hard throwing lefty prospect for the Reds, their 3rd ranked youngin’ according to Baseball America (#81 overall BA, #64 MLB.com, #32 Baseball Prospectus). Fresh off a GEM against the Cards last Friday, 6 IP 2 hits 2 walks 4 Ks 0 runs. That would be his MLB debut. Spent 2016 between AA and AAA, with a 1.75 ERA (2.50 FIP) and 9.12 K/9 in 77 AA IP and a 3.46 ERA (4.14 FIP) and 7.18 K/9 in 67 AAA IP. Low 90s fastball that can occasionally touch 95, up-and-down slider, and an alleged “work in progress” changeup that I thought looked pretty good when I watched him on Friday. Has had questions about command but every goddamned prospect pitcher has questions about command, his command looked plenty good in his debut (SMALL SAMPLE SIZE ALERT). On the Reds it wouldn’t be hard to become their #2 starter (if not #1) and Garrett looks good enough to get there this season (SMALL SAMPLE SIZE ALERT). Major League Comparison: Like maybe a black pre-injury Patrick Corbin?

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RETURN SEAN LIKES MORE:

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Q-TIP CITY MORNING WOOD. AND THIS IS TWICE NOW that I’ve had to side with Shane’s side in my own goddamned trade, but his team keeps appearing into view when I need to shed players for dumb roster reasons. Amir Garrett looked really really good his first time out and Joe Jimenez is allegedly the Tigers closer of the future so a bullpen eligible guy pitching those types of innings should be swell for him. Never say I am not doing my best to put new owners in this league in position to do their best.