Prince Fielder walks away dejected after learning he's
going from a contender to the Slum Lords.
In desperate need of a first baseman, Carlo Cognata's Norris Slum Lords finally gave up on the enigmatic Mark Prior, dealing him along with JD Drew to the Isotopes for 22-year-old 1B Prince Fielder and injured SP Mark Mulder. With a parade of underwhelming players like Ryan Shealy, Chris Duncan and Ryan Garko set to man first base for the Slum Lords, they targeted Fielder for quite a while and today finally got their man.
To do it, they finally parted ways with the 26-year-old walking injury known as Mark Prior. While Prior has dealt with a number of injuries, his career marks of 42-29, 3.51 ERA, and 10.37 K/9 point to his tremendous talent. The 31-year-old Drew hit .282/.393/.498, 20 HR, 100 RBI last season for the Dodgers, good enough for 27th among OF, despite missing time due to injury. He will now join the Red Sox potent lineup and with it, Fenway's famous Pesky's pole. His numbers should improve from the park switch alone. If Prior can regain his form, this trade could be an incredible landslide in favor of the Isotopes.
In Fielder, the Slum Lords get the 1B help they badly needed. Fielder hit .270/.347/.483 with 28 HR, 81 RBI in his rookie season, 17th among first basemen. He should be a longtime middle-of-the-order threat for the Slum Lords. The 29-year-old Mulder, on the other hand, is a big question mark. He not due to return from off-season surgery to his partially-torn rotator cuff until July. The injury was likely to blame for his dreadful '06 performance (7.15 ERA, 1.71 WHIP), but surgery doesn't necessarily mean all is solved. The list of pitchers that have had rotator cuff surgery and returned to their pre-injury levels is short, and almost all of them have struggled in their initial return to the mound. It's a virtual certainty that he'll be worthless this year.
All in all, it's a pretty even deal. The Slum Lords may have gotten the most valuable player right now in Fielder, but the upside is mostly in favor of the Isotopes if Prior and Drew stay healthy. Big "if's" though.
The move not only unites but injury-prone Cubs pitchers Prior and Kerry Wood, but brothers JD and Stephen Drew. In honor of the trade, the MattroStars have announced they'll be giving away a free pack of "D" batteries to all ticket holders for their game against the Isotopes.
2 comments:
Interesting trade. Carlo did a nice job of getting a good young 1B for his #4 OF. But, Prior and Drew are ultimate buy low canidates right now that could have huge seasons.
That being said, the piece that doesnt make sense in this deal is Mulder. Even before the injury Mulder had declined three years in a row. Chances are far better that he's shot than they are that he regains his 2003 and prior form. Kind of curious the Slumlords didn't go for more of a sure thing like Jennings or Garland. Just one man's opinion.
The more I think about the deal, the more I don't like it for the Slum Lords. Prior's only 26. He's dealt with a bunch of injuries, sure, but so did Chris Carpenter at his age. He still has plenty of time. Carlo needed to get a better pitcher than Mulder. I think part of it is because he loves trading for injured pitchers (Mike Hampton) so he can stash them on the IR. Interesting strategy.
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