Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Porcello Trade Talks in Motown

The talk of this preseason for the Tigers is the potential trade of starter Rick Porcello by the end of Spring Training. Porcello is 24 years old and was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 1st round (27th pick) of the 2007 amateur draft. Porcello would be called up during the 2009 season finishing with a 14-9 record with a 3.96 ERA in 31 games started. In four years with the Tigers, Porcello has a 48-42 career record with a 4.59 ERA. He isn't a power pitcher. He averages 109 strikeouts a season but he has been an effective starter. So why all the trade talks.


It would seem that Porcello has been deemed tradeable since the Tigers signed Anibal Sanchez to a 5-year $80-million dollar head shaking of a deal during the offseason. Why head shaking? At 29 years of age, Sanchez has been in the league seven years and has a 48-51 career record with a career 3.75 ERA. His best season was in 2006 when he went 10-3 with a 2.83 ERA. As I said then (and still believe now) why would the Tigers spend so much money on this guy. I mean who knows. Maybe the pitching staff saw something in Sanchez that they felt worked well in Detroit. But to sign Sanchez and make Porcello expendable makes no sense to me.

As it stands, Porcello has been on point this Spring Training. As Lynn Henning of the Detroit News in his article Trading Rick Porcello makes most sense for the Tigers states:
Porcello has been dynamite this spring, as opposing teams' scouts have noted in reports to their front-office bosses. He has scrapped his old nemesis, the slider, and has fashioned a dandy curveball as his second pitch.

His flagship pitch remains his sinker, and never has it showed as much pop or downward bite as it has this spring, with Porcello throwing sinkers and four-seam fastballs that have cruised consistently in the 90-94-mph range.

His change-up has been solid. And, as the numbers show, he has been throwing all of his pitches not only for strikes but for well-located strikes.
The Tigers have done well in recent years with free agent signings and trades. Perhaps there's a reason why they do what they do and I am here writing about it on a blog page. =) I just don't see the wisdom in parting with a young potential cornerstone of your pitching staff because you've locked into a pitcher who, in my opinion, is not as good. I guess time will tell whether or not Detroit trades Porcello AND if Sanchez proves me wrong by succeeding in Motown.

What do you think. Let me know.

Sisco Kid

For Further Reading
-Click Here to Access Rick Porcello's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com
-Click Here to Access Anibal Sanchez's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

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