Ubaldo Jimenez to Indians

Submitted by MichGreenWave on

Looks like it so far. Buster Olney reporting that the Rockies are getting Drew Pomerez, White and McBride. 

Can't wait to see how Ubaldo helps their hitting. 

 

<ed> Apparently throwing one inning, giving up 2 hits, allowing 4 earned runs and walking 4 batters was enough to convince Cleveland that they needed to throw P Joe Gardner into the deal. Indians giving up three of their best minor league pitchers.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110730&content_id=22531086&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb 

Philbert

July 30th, 2011 at 8:16 PM ^

i'm a tribe fan and I'm a little torn up about this. Pomeranz and white were elite prospects but in return they get an established ace. It helps but I don't like what they lost.

MGoBlue96

July 30th, 2011 at 8:19 PM ^

their rotation or fill any of the holes in their lineup. This is just a bad move for the Indians, this may give them a chance to stay in the division race, but they still would have no shot if they somehow made the playoffs. Other teams made the right move by not taking the bait on Jimenez and not mortgaging their future.

Jimenez may have ace stuff, but he is not pitching like an ace this year. He may get back to his form from last year at some point, but at the moment he still has only had one really good season in his career.

Solar Bob

July 30th, 2011 at 9:08 PM ^

is still a bug upgrade over Carmona.    Ubaldo at a 4 ERA and a .500 record probably nets them 3 more wins instead of starting Carmona.  That's one more than they need to take first place.   On paper the difference between Fister and the Tiger's 5th starter is even bigger, so I don't know that it will get the Tribe 1st place, but they didn't trade for a veteran rental player.  Jimenez is still young, talented and under contract.

AAB

July 30th, 2011 at 9:11 PM ^

in 60 games, he will have pitched better than Roy Halladay.  According to Fangraphs' version of the Wins Above Replacement stat, he's only been worth 2 wins more than Carmona for the entire season up to this point.  

AAB

July 30th, 2011 at 8:18 PM ^

That's a bit less than I'd have expected the Rockies to get.  Pomeranz is very good but, from what people are saying, there's a pretty decent chance White is a reliever.

 That seems a bit light for a 27 year old cost controlled pitcher who is locked up until 2014 and who has been worth 20 wins in his short career.  

MGoBlue96

July 30th, 2011 at 8:22 PM ^

Indians were expecting him to be in their rotation in the near future, not relieving. The other pitching prospect they gave up was also somebody who they thought could be in their rotation in the next couple of years.

bacon1431

July 30th, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^

Jimenez is good, but thought the asking price was always too high. He'll help that team, but he's another Scherzer IMO. Real good when he's on, but inconsistent. Nasty stuff though.

AAB

July 30th, 2011 at 8:24 PM ^

Career FIP of 3.57, xFIP of 3.8.  20 Wins Above Replacement over like 4 and a half seasons.  Strikes out like 8 per 9 innings.  And all of that in Coors Field. 

The real problem is that the Indians just aren't a very good baseball team and aren't in a position to be trading their best prospects for immediate help.  

I think I kinda hate this deal for both teams.  

Chester Copperpot

July 30th, 2011 at 8:28 PM ^

I agree with the Scherzer comparison going forward for both.  Too much inconsistency this year to think Ubaldo's future performance will more closely resemble his 1st half last year than the last two halves.  As a White Sox fan, I'm only slightly more concerned about the Indians staying in the race until the end than I was earlier today.  Still think it comes down to the Sox and Tigers.

MGoBlue96

July 30th, 2011 at 8:30 PM ^

the Indians may be in position to acquire Ryan Ludwig. That may change things somewhat, since it fills a hole in their lineup.

Also saw that Jimenez is still making his start for the Rockies tonight. Deal must not be finalized at this point, you would think he would scratched if it was.

ChalmersE

July 30th, 2011 at 8:30 PM ^

Jiminez to Cleveland is official. The big prize coming back is Pomeranz. The Rockies also get White, a former first rounder albeit with injury woes, and McBride, a 26-year o,d who will likely be organization fodder.

Fhshockey112002

July 30th, 2011 at 9:03 PM ^

I was thinking the same thing the other night when Hunter Pence got pulled in the middle of the game when the trade when official. So Ubaldo could pitch and get pulled (before he normally would) if the trade is sent into the league office.

Can anyone with information on the topic explain when a player has to leave the game.  Would it be when teams agree to the deal, when the trade is sent to MLB, or when MLB makes the trade official? 

 

Committed

July 30th, 2011 at 8:42 PM ^

I feel Ubaldo is overrated. He's had 1 good year. The Rockies are trading him for a reason. Due to velocity issues or something we don't know about, but teams don't just trade players that are game changers. This reeks of something that the Rockies know and we don't. The Rockies are not a bad team. This just isn't their year.
<br>
<br>The Indians just mortgaged their future. The Rockies are savvy sellers. We will look back on this like we look back on the Johan Santana deal. Injuries and overrated.
<br>
<br>Plus, don't the Indians need hitters?? Haha maybe Ubaldo will play RF and bat 5th.

AAB

July 30th, 2011 at 8:45 PM ^

but I really wish people would stop saying he's overrated.  He's a 27 year old pitcher locked up through 2014 with very good numbers according to advanced metrics.  He's really, really good.  He just also might be hurt.  And the Indians aren't in a position to be buyers.  

AAB

July 30th, 2011 at 9:04 PM ^

he's probably the better pitcher than Shields, though. 

Jimenez: 

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=3374&position=P

Shields:

http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=7059&position=P

Better career k/9 (though more walks), better ERA and FIP numbers (though a worse xFIP).  Virtually identical Wins Above Replacement numbers even though Shields has like a year and a half more service time than Jimenez does.  And Jimenez is 3 years younger.

If Jimenez hadn't lost 3 mph off his fastball this year, I'd rather have Jimenez.  The injury possibility is a real concern though.

maizeandblue21

July 30th, 2011 at 8:46 PM ^

probably a good thing for cleveland since they are raping their farm system for a pitcher who can only make an impact every 5 days if he performs. this is what the rockies are doing right now. "we want your top 2 or 3 prospects for a pitcher who magically lost 3 mph off his fastball and he will not be given a physical until the deal is finalized" and clevelands retarded gm is going "ahh shucks ill destroy our future for that you got a deal" im soooooo glad the tigers didnt trade turner for him

mgoviking5

July 30th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^

Alex White had a few very solid starts for the tribe and Pomeranz is a first round pick, this seems like the Indians are making a deal just to make a deal and I don't like that all. They need a big bat with decent speed or a 1st baseman that can at least hit 25-30+ HRs  because Matt LaPorta is slower than Terrelle Pryor and hits softer than Justin Boren.

AAB

July 30th, 2011 at 9:18 PM ^

Joe Gardner, right handed pitcher who was 7th on Sickels's top 20 Indians prospects list at the start of the year.

 

Calvin

July 30th, 2011 at 9:58 PM ^

They gave up a haul. I feel like Jimenez is pretty good, but I need to see him do that consistently before I can really fear this move. It helps for sure, but I'm not sure it helps enough. Who knows though, the Tigers are so wildly inconsistent it might be enough. Here is to Fister working out for us. Cleveland was kind of forced into this move once Detroit pulled the trigger. I hope they gave up too much because of it.

tricks574

July 30th, 2011 at 10:10 PM ^

Why else do you give up the farm for a guy who, albeit very talented, has some serious medical question marks this year which you can't check out until after the trade? He's not even a soon to be FA, so there's no draft picks coming back for arbitration.

If it all works out, its a great deal. A healthy Ubaldo Jiminez is essentially the best case scenario a guy like Pomeranz could develop into, and he's locked down with a team friendly contract. Problem is things don't always work out, and there's a giant risk to trading for a starter with dropping velociy and no medicals.

The good news for cleveland is that its unlikely the trade will really be a franchise killer type move. Even if he has TJ or misses extended periods, he won't hamstring the budget, and they didn't give up any real immediate impact guys like Chisenhall or Kipnis.

blue95

July 30th, 2011 at 10:47 PM ^

who has given up some of the best pitchers in the league over the years, decided to give up their entire future of prospects to maybe contend with Ubaldo?

Whoever gets in from the Central is dead meat any way.  Why give up so much?

bacon1431

July 30th, 2011 at 10:54 PM ^

If Ubaldo ends up healthy, it sets Cleveland up for success these next few years. They weren't supposed to contend this year anyways. I don't think it does much for them this season - as pitching isn't their problem - but it bodes well for them the next few years. Of course, until his contract year and the Indians trade him because they're cheapskates

maizenblue92

July 30th, 2011 at 11:06 PM ^

I talked to my uncle who is a die hard Indians fan and he hates this trade. Because the three guys they had to give up to get Jimenez were not just good prospects but elite ones.

DenverRob

July 31st, 2011 at 12:20 PM ^

As a Rockies and Tigers fan, I don't like this at all.

UJ could be viewed as a one year wonder, but he has a ton of talent. Now he will try to beat my tigers for years to come.