Mark Trumbo for Tyler Skaggs Trade Watch
By Tyler Roberts
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
With the annual Winter Meetings getting underway today, much has been said about the Arizona Diamondbacks and who they may be trying to acquire, whether it be through free agency or a trade. One of the more intriguing trades being discussed is Tyler Skaggs for Mark Trumbo of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Kevin Towers seems to be on a mission to get rid of Skaggs, a guy who has pitched fairly well in the minors and in the majors, despite spending way too much time traveling between Reno and Phoenix. The stability one would need to excel has not been there.
Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
That being said, if Towers is hell bent on trading for a power bat to protect Paul Goldschmidt in the lineup, which he should be, Skaggs is going to have to be the guy to get it done. Skaggs has the most upside to most GMs of any of the pitchers we are willing to trade. Jerry Dipoto, the GM for the Angels was the interim GM for the D’backs between Josh Byrnes and Towers in 2010. Dipoto acquired Skaggs, Patrick Corbin, Rafael Rodriguez and Joe Saunders from the Angels for Dan Haren. It would be an intriguing storyline if he acquired Skaggs via trade a second time. Skaggs just is not ready to pitch in the everyday D’backs rotation and therefore will be deemed expendable (also the fact that Towers didn’t acquire Skaggs does not work in his favor).
I like Skaggs, but also feel we have a wealth of pitching depth in our farm system and we need the power bat now. Trumbo is a guy who hopefully can continue to provide that, should the D’backs acquire him. The team has also now been rumored to be looking at signing free agent Shin Soo-Choo, which I mentioned in an earlier post which you can find here. According to Ken Rosenthal, these are real possibilities, as shown on his Twitter account here and here. The possibility of either Trumbo or Choo being a D’back is a lot more realistic than many thought. What do you think? Who would you rather see in Sedona Red come April? Let us know in the comments below.
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