One month in…
Apr 24, 2013, 11:45 PM | Updated: Jul 26, 2024, 1:12 pm
Let’s be clear: In evaluating the off-season trade between the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks, it’s about the bottom of the first. There’s still a long road before we’ll know who won the deal. However, since everyone wants to keep score in the Justin Upton deal, why aren’t analysts keeping score in the Trevor Bauer trade?
So, let’s look at how the Didi Gregorius/Trevor Bauer/Shin-Soo Choo trade is going.
Bauer has made one start. He walked more batters than innings pitched (7 to 5). His ERA is 5.40. He (supposedly) pitches to avoid contact and strike batters out, but has two K’s against 23 batters.
Choo leads MLB in hits and on-base percentage. His slash: .387/.535/.613. His defense has been bad to average, but for a team that had the worst leadoff OBP last year and now is in first with the boppers behind Choo (and that ballpark to hit in), they’ll take it.
Gregorius has played five games. Yes, that’s it. His defense has been stellar. The rookie’s slash line .400/.429/.800. He homered on the first pitch he saw as a D-back…AT YANKEE STADIUM! In back-to-back games, Gregorius has doubled against Giants outfielder Angel Pagan. He didn’t double off the pitcher. The “rookie” out-smarted and out-hustled a man considered a gamer.
The rules of the comparison are simple. If you’re going to blast Towers for the Upton trade, then give the same praise for the Bauer trade. If you’re going to say it’s too early to evaluate the Bauer trade, then the same is true for Upton.
