With team’s lining up to throw millions at free agents, it was comforting to be reminded that trades are still allowed. The Brewers and the D-Backs played musical chairs with six players in a deal that looks like it will help both teams. The D-Backs get a much needed starter in Doug Davis while the Brew Crew can replace Damien Miller’s .251/.322/.390 with Johnny Estrada’s .302/.328/.444, in theory at least. Add in a couple of pitchers for the Brewers and a couple of youngsters for the D-Backs and it looks like a decent overall package for both teams. It’s by no means a blockbuster event, but if you haven’t got piles of cash to spend on big impact players then you need to improve your side bit by bit.
In truth, there will be plenty of teams who will need to go down the trade route this winter due to the sky-high free agent prices. There will be plenty of players who will enjoy signing lucrative contracts this winter, but the real winners will be the teams who have players to trade. This is a sellers market and I suspect we will start to see some big trades once the rest of the thin, quality free agent market has been snapped up. Of course, some teams will feel compelled to spend their piles of cash regardless of whether they get value for their money, but shrewd operators may be able to find some relative bargains via the trade route. No doubt the Winter meetings, held between December 4-7, will be a hive of activity as usual.
