Cardinals call up Randal Grichuk

[m0nkey]

Awesome. Good for him. Hopefully he becomes known for something other than the guy picked one spot ahead of trout

[DMVol]

Stop with the shit about it being a historically bad trade.

We've had enough bad ones that this will still probably just be an "eh, coulda done better". Grichuck is the only thing that will change that cause the other players are gonna be a wash, IMO. No matter how big a a stiffy some here had for PBJ.

It is had the potential to be pretty lopsided if Grichuk turns into a good player...and therein lies the problem....if you couldn't do Freese for Bourjos, forget the thing...wasn't worth throwing Grichuk in to make it work....

[Angel Oracle]

Did they trade Grichuk not only because of Calhoun, but also because of Borenstein's development in the past year?

But's it still hard to fathom trading a potential 4 tool guy (BA the main ?) for a declining 3B and a reliever who had not done much at the MLB level since 2011; and then on top of it include at the least a great 4th OF in Bourjos.

It was a panic trade, to say the least.

Could they not do any better in any trade with any other team?

Edited April 28, 2014 by Angel Oracle

[CardsFanVegas]

Did they trade Grichuk not only because of Calhoun, but also because of Borenstein's development in the past year?

But's it still hard to fathom trading a potential 4 tool guy (BA the main ?) for a declining 3B and a reliever who had not done much at the MLB level since 2011; and then on top of it include at the least a great 4th OF in Bourjos.

It was a panic trade, to say the least.

Could they not do any better in any trade with any other team?

 

 

Bourjos was the kind of player the Cards need.   Jon Jay wasn't cutting it in CF defensively and PB brought a speed element the Cards have been lacking.

 

PB would probably be getting more playing time if the Cardinals as a whole were hitting.    Bourjos is struggling at the plate, but so is every other Cardinal not named Yadier Molina.  Jay has been hitting decent, so he has gotten more playing time.  

 

Freese, well he fits in with the way the rest of his old teammates are playing, but he will likely get a couple hot streaks this year.   No real expectations for Salas though.

 

Needless to say, I am quite excited to see Grichuk get the opportunity.    The way the rest of the team is hitting, this is his chance for some real playing time in the MLB.

[Hollyw00d]

We traded this guy for David freeze. Pretty solid.

[YouthofToday]

Cardinals see Grichuk as a 4th OF. That is why they called him up and not Taveras or Piscotty -- who they see as everyday players.

Cards see Grichuk as an upgrade over Robinson as a reserve OF and aren't concerned with getting him everyday PAs or service time issues.

[AngelsAndRamsFan]

He's 0-2 in his ML debut (he replaced PB in CF who replace Jon Jay).

[Taylor]

He's 0-2 in his ML debut (he replaced PB in CF who replace Jon Jay).

 

Freese's AVG and OPS are better.

[ELEVEN]

Awful, awful trade...could potentially, when all is said and done, rank up there w/ Carney Lansford, Edmonds, Devon White and Wells....DiPoto grabbed his ankles to make that deal....

my asshole hurts just reading this.

[ELEVEN]

Freese's AVG and OPS are better.

Tick... tick... tick...

[Pujols4MVP]

Well at least the "Bourjos is god" & Calhoun is not" posts are over.

[LightTheHalo]

Hated the trade from the moment that I heard Grichuk was involved. The guy was on a normal path for a first round player drafted out of high school. Just because he was drafted the same year as a once in a generation talent, does not mean he wasn't going to develop into a starting major league outfielder. Besides, someone please name the last starting offensive player who came here after a down (non-injury) year and refound his former glory. This is the place where veteran bats go to die.

 

There really isn't that great of a precedence for this scenario — at least not in recent Angels history. The best examples I can find of the scenario you described would probably be Shea Hillenbrand and Edgardo Alfonzo, which were nearly 10 years ago. Other than those guys, the Angels really haven't brought in many guys coming off of down years and given them starting jobs.

 

I guess Albert Pujols kind of applies as a rebuttal. 2011 was a "down" year for him (sub-.300 average, .100 point drop in OPS). 2012 and 2013 were certainly not upswings, but early on in 2014 he seems to have regained his form.

[Docwaukee]

There really isn't that great of a precedence for this scenario — at least not in recent Angels history. The best examples I can find of the scenario you described would probably be Shea Hillenbrand and Edgardo Alfonzo, which were nearly 10 years ago. Other than those guys, the Angels really haven't brought in many guys coming off of down years and given them starting jobs.

 

I guess Albert Pujols kind of applies as a rebuttal. 2011 was a "down" year for him (sub-.300 average, .100 point drop in OPS). 2012 and 2013 were certainly not upswings, but early on in 2014 he seems to have regained his form.

yeah.  That was a Bavasi thing.  There have been a few instances where we've added the veteran guy on the cheap at the end of his career and hoped he could maintain some semblance of what he did the year before.  Like Finley.

 

Shea was 2007. 

 

Matsui could be slotted in there somewhere.  Same with Abreu, but neither of those guys were horrible.  They actually somewhat worked out.  Now it's Ibanez. 

 

Most teams have their 'veterans' that they are hoping can contribute.  Some are better at patchwork than others. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I am not defending the Freese trade whatsoever.  All we can hope for at this point is that David becomes serviceable, but I just doubt that ends up being the case.  My guess is that he'll maintain his starting gig until Calhoun and Hamilton come back and then Stewart will be the primary 3bman.  Freese's career splits vs. LHers are actually pretty good.  Even in a small sample this year he's been passable (maybe) and has suffered from a low BABIP.  While I would generally chalk that up to bad luck, I think we have all seen how weakly he puts the ball in play for the most part so it's not a mystery. 

 

That said, a platoon with him and Stewart would probably be acceptable. 

[joeywings]

Is this Segura or Tom Brunansky all over again ?

Wait, Danty Bichette.