Hot Stove: 12/24

Record of the Day

Heaviest player of all time: Walter Young, 315 Ibs (2005).

Though the Mississippi native played only 14 games in his career, all coming with the Orioles in 2005, the 6'5", 315 Ib first baseman is the heaviest ballplayer of all time. In his 14 games, he homered once, drove in three runs, and batted .303 (10-33) for Baltimore.

Free Agent Signings

Rockies signed Wil Nieves (0 HR, 0 RBI, .140 AVG, 0 SB, 2012 age: 34) to a minor league deal.

Cardinals signed Eugenio Velez (0 HR, 1 RBI, .000 AVG, 1 SB, 2012 age: 30) to a minor league deal.

Trades

Cubs traded Sean Marshall (6-6, 2.26 ERA, .234 BAA, 5 saves, 2012 age: 29) to the Reds for Travis Wood (6-6, 4.84 ERA, .293 BAA, 2012 age: 25), Dave Sappelt (0 HR, 5 RBI, .243 AVG, 1 SB, 2012 age: 25), and minor leaguer Ronald Torreyes (3 HR, 56 RBI, .356 AVG, 12 SB at Class A Dayton, 2012 age: 19).  

A funny fact to note is that new Red Sean Marshall is 6'7", while new Cub Travis Wood is just 5'11" and Dave Sappelt and Ronald Torreyes are both 5'9". 

Minor leaguer Robert Gilliam (12-7, 5.04 ERA, .263 BAA at High Class A Stockton, 2012 age: 24) was included in the Gio Gonzalez trade and is headed from the A's to the Nats. Sorry I missed that.

To me, the Cubs won this deal. The Reds did acquire Sean Marshall, who is one of the top left handed relievers in the game and has only gotten better since converting from the rotation. However, Marshall isn't "top tier", and the Reds gave up a young starter and a couple of quality prospects for Sean. A dependable, consistent reliever who has made 158 appearances (80 in 2010 and 78 in '11) over the past two seasons, the 6'7" lefty intimidates hitters with his devastating sinker that caused him to let just one ball leave the ballpark in 2011, the home run coming on May 13th off the bat of Cody Ross. After a rough rookie season in 2006 for the Cubs as a starter where he went 6-9 with a 5.59 ERA in 24 starts, Marshall bounced back with a solid 2007 by going 7-8 with a 3.92 ERA in 21 games (19 starts). He began to transition to the bullpen in 2008, adapting smoothly with a 3-5 record and 3.86 ERA in 34 games (seven starts). After another hybrid season in 2009 where he was 3-7 with a 4.32 ERA in 55 games (nine starts). He made the transition to full time reliever in 2010 and dominated. Placing fourth in the National League with 80 appearances, Marshall was 7-5 with a 2.65 ERA and .210 BAA, even striking out 90 batters in 74 2/3 innings. He was even better last year, going 6-6 with a 2.26 ERA and .234 BAA in 78 games. One thing that has helped is his solid command, helping him drop from 25 walks (which is still relatively low) in 2010 to 17 in 2011. Over his six-year career, Marshall was 32-40 with a 3.96 ERA and .254 BAA in 292 games (59 starts) for the Cubs. 

The centerpiece that the Cubbies acquired was Travis Wood, a young Arkansas native with at least middle of the rotation potential. The little lefty turned heads in the Reds organization with a magnificent 19 start stint for High Class A Carolina in 2009 where he was 9-3 with a 1.21 ERA and .189 BAA. By 2010, he was in the majors, and turned the heads of the national audience with his nine innings of one-hit shutout ball in Philadelphia on July 10th. In 17 starts, he finished the year 5-4 with a 3.51 ERA and .222 BAA for Cincinnati. He did not live up to expectations last year, going just 6-6 with a 4.84 ERA in 22 games (18 starts). Over his two years in the bigs, Wood is 11-10 with a 4.18 ERA in 39 games (35 stats). Still only 24, Wood has the potential to be a solid starter.  

The Cubs also acquired a couple of prospects, one major league ready and the other a few years off. The major league ready Dave Sappelt is a contact hitting outfielder who batted .342 across three minor league levels in 2010 with 25 stolen bases. After batting .313 in 74 games for AAA Louisville, Sappelt was called up to the Reds for 38 games. He batted .243 and scored 14 runs for Cincinnati. The Cubs also acquired low level minor leaguer Ronald Torreyes who has yet to be figured out by opposing pitchers. When Torreyes was first signed as a 17-year-old in 2010, he batted .390 with 23 stolen bases in 67 games for the Reds Venezuelan Summer League (VSL) team. Promoted to the Arizona League (AZL) after that, he still batted .340 in 18 games there. He started right up at Class A Dayton in 2011 and the 18 year old batted .356 in 67 games for the Dragons. Paired with superspeedster Billy Hamilton (who stole 103 bases for Dayton), the Dragons had an unstoppable one-two punch at the top of their lineup.  

Waiver Claims

Reds claimed Josh Judy (0-0, 7.07 ERA, .321 BAA, 2012 age: 26) off waivers from the Indians.

Other News

White Sox signed John Danks to a five-year, $65 million extension ($13 million per season). 

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Teams followed in this email: Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves

If your team is not included, please leave a comment.

HR: home runs. RBI: runs batted in. AVG: batting average. SB: stolen bases. ERA: earned run average. BAA: batting average against. K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage

Zack Silverman