Eckstein Traded to Diamondbacks

by Tom Dakers on Aug 31, 2008 8:06 PM EDT in Toronto Blue Jays News

We are getting A ball pitch Chad beck. Full story is here. Glad for Eck that is going somewhere they will play him. Running out but will ad to this later and do the game recap for today's game. Gotta love people that wait till after the trade then make their selection on the 'Will Eck Be Traded Today' poll.....geeze...

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2 teams involved

and all we got was an A ball pitcher who wasn’t listed as their top 30 prospects.

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by achengy on Aug 31, 2008 9:35 PM EDT reply actions

I've read that the Jays project him to be a major league reliever....

Which is damning with very faint praise. Course I’m not sure what more we could hope for trading a month’s worth of Eck.

by Tom Dakers on Aug 31, 2008 11:00 PM EDT reply actions

Wouldn't it have been better

to just keep Eck through the end of the season and let him go. There is a chance that he would have ended up a Type B free agent and we would have gotten a sandwich pick as compensation. Granted, it’s not a given that Eck would make Type B, but I think there is a chance (see below), and the risk of getting nothing is worth the chance at a high draft pick, particularly if the alternative is a guy who by most accounts is struggling in A ball and likely won’t pitch in the majors.

Free agent types are determined by the Elias Sports Bureau and take into account the previous 2 seasons. Type B FA’s rank between 30 and 50th percentile at their position group. In 2006, for Eck’s groups (2B, SS, 3B), such luminaries as Craig Counsell, Alex Gonzalez and Adam Kennedy were Type B. I think that with Eck’s OPS+ of 93 and 90 over the past two seasons (who knew he had an OPS+ of 90 this year?!?), he has at least a decent shot at making Type B, yielding the Jays some of that sweet sweet sandwich action.

by SuckaMD on Sep 1, 2008 4:56 PM EDT reply actions

given this return

I tend to agree with you. I guess the counter is that the Jays got someone who by all accounts is a live arm in return, and it’s someone they drafted before so at least they have seen the player and like him, but I think you’re probably right. Eckstein was likely, but perhaps not certain, to be a type B. My guess is that the Jays were a little uncomfortable being that calculating, since they bait-and-switched Eckstein a bit this season, bringing him in to be the everyday SS, he played almost exactly to expectations and ended up as the 3rd string SS. I’m glad he has the chance to play for a contender, since he has won me over with his attitude this season (if not his play), but agree that it doesn’t make the most business sense.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Sep 2, 2008 8:25 AM EDT up reply actions