MLB Winter Meetings Has Its First Trade

MLB winter meetings’ first trade involves three teams and sends slugger Mark Trumbo to Arizona.

Mark Trumbo (Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports)

Here was the first word of another team being involved in the trade…

The deal, as it has been revised on a couple of occasions, has been confirmed by Nick Piecoro.

Okay. So, the Arizona Diamondbacks receive Mark Trumbo and two players to be named later (one from LA, one from Chicago); Chicago White Sox receive Adam Eaton; Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim receive Tyler Skaggs (from Arizona) and Hector Santiago (from White Sox).

[RELATED: White Sox Trying to Shake Up Rotation]

The first point of criticism many seem to have with Trumbo is his OBP. His career OBP of .299 isn’t pretty, and in this day and age of many looking for a respectable level in this stat (regardless of player type), Trumbo does fall short. Could go to say significantly short.

There’s the issue of strikeouts. His SO% from ’11-’13 are 20.9%, 26.1%, and 27.1%. For his career, 25.1%

The positive spin is that Trumbo could serve as protection for Paul Goldschmidt. Having a legit home run threat behind Goldy should lighten the pressure. Trumbo has cranked 95 HR in 1,853 PA.

And for those thinking the D’backs will move Goldschmidt off of first for Trumbo, think again. Goldschmidt did win the NL Gold Glove and the Fielding Bible Award. Trumbo will be in left field.

Adam Eaton (David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)

You have to wonder how Eaton will fit into the White Sox outfield scheme. With Dayan Viciedo, Alejandro De Aza and Avisail Garcia, the odds of Eaton landing a starting gig seem about as slim as they did in Arizona.

Heard that some look at this as the White Sox improving on defense. Might not seem to be the case on the surface as last season, Eaton posted a DRS of -5 and UZR of -6.9. That would be an improvement over De Aza whose DRS was -18.

And Eaton did bat first or second in 54 of his 56 starts during the 2013 season. Eaton’s offensive numbers won’t blow you away (.252/.314/.360 last season).

Eaton’s reaction?

So is De Aza suddenly available? He still has two years of arbitration eligibility remaining.

The Angles appear to have garnered a prized arm in Skaggs. He was MLB.com’s #10 prospect prior to this past season while Baseball America had him ranked at #12. Angels GM Jerry Dipoto drafted Skaggs when he was with Arizona. Skaggs was part of the deal that sent Dan Haren to LA.

Despite having some unflattering basic numbers (3-6, 5.43 ERA, 1.412 WHIP in 13 career starts), there were signs Skaggs was moving in a positive direction last season. Yes, 13 starts is a bit of a limited view and it’s stretched over two seasons (six starts of 2012 and seven starts of 2013). He lowered his H/9 and BB/9 while increasing his SO/9.

With Santiago, he could be a back of the rotation guy. In his 23 starts last season (34 appearances overall), he was 4-7 with a respectable ERA of 3.51 ERA in those starts. He also exhibited a decrease in his walk rate, but also suffered a decline in his strikeout rate. Last season was the first time Santiago had seen significant time as a starter at the MLB level.