Toronto trades Adam Lind for Brewers’ Marco Estrada
The Milwaukee Brewers have acquired left-handed power bat Adam Lind from the Toronto Blue Jays according to Chris Cotillo of MLB Daily Dish. The Blue Jays will receive starting pitcher Marco Estrada in the trade according to Andrew Walker of Sports590.ca
Lind’s team-friendly option of $7.5MM being picked up by the Blue Jays earlier this week, it fueled the speculation that he would eventually be dealt. With their recent acquisition of Justin Smoak and Lind’s drastic platoon splits and atrocious defense, the deal made sense for the Blue Jays. The Brewers got below-average production from their platoon of Lyle Overbay and Mark Reynolds last season so Lind figures to be an upgrade.
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Lind, 31, played in 96 games for the Blue Jays in 2014 while hitting a career best .321/.381/.479 with six home runs and 40 runs batted in. The career-high .321 batting average was helped by Lind playing mostly against right-handed pitching as he is a career .212/.257/.331 hitter against southpaws. Lind also spent time on the disabled list in 2014 with a broken foot, which limited his power.
Estrada, also 31 years of age, spent 2014 bouncing between the Brewers’ rotation and bullpen. The right-hander began the year as a member of the starting rotation but poor pitching demoted him to the Brewers bullpen in July. The move seemed to have worked as Estrada’s numbers improved in the bullpen as he finished with a league average ERA of 4.36 in 150 2/3 innings pitched.
Fly-ball tendencies have been a problem for the righty and in 2014, those tendencies resulted in 29 home runs allowed, the most in the National League. A change of scenery could be beneficial to Estrada as he would be more than serviceable if he were to revert back to his 2012-2013 numbers when he averaged an ERA of 3.75 and 8.8 K/9.
The deal works out well for both parties as Lind gives the Brewers their best first baseman since the departure of Prince Fielder and Estrada gives the Blue Jays a lot of flexibility as a swingman, capable of both starting and relieving effectively.