Yahoo!: Teams ‘gobsmacked’ by D-backs’ haul in Brad Ziegler trade
Jul 18, 2016, 6:02 PM | Updated: 7:51 pm
Tony La Russa, newly hired as chief baseball officer for the Arizona Diamondbacks, speaks to reporters after being introduced Saturday, May 17, 2014, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan called the Arizona Diamondbacks’ problems this year the results of “serial mismanagement,” and he just might have gave one example of such in his latest column.
Explaining the surprises that change the complexion of the trade market, Passan shared this tidbit about the D-backs’ pre-trade deadline deal of closer Brad Ziegler in exchange for Low-A pitching prospect Jose Almonte and infielder Luis Alejandro Basabe.
Look, weird things happen in July, ones that don’t make a whole ton of sense. Before Brad Ziegler was traded to Boston, the Diamondbacks were asking teams for frontline prospects – all top 100-type guys, some top 50, even higher. Cleveland, Toronto, the Cubs – all wanted Ziegler, and all were gobsmacked by what the Diamondbacks ended up taking from Boston: second baseman Luis Alejandro Basabe and right-hander Jose Almonte. “I was just wondering if they know they got the wrong Basabe,” said one GM, referencing Luis Alejandro’s twin, Luis Alexander Basabe, who is considered by scouts the better player of the two.
Both Almonte and Basabe have been assigned to Single-A Kane County, and while they don’t appear atop prospect rankings for Arizona at this point, neither has reached his 21st birthday.
Nonetheless, it’s odd the D-backs dealt for two lesser-known prospects, especially after calling teams with interest in top prospects. With Ziegler having a bit of interest across the majors, it’s even more curious that Arizona pulled the trigger on what appears to be an underwhelming deal with so many days left before the August 1 trade deadline.
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