At the beginning of the season, the NL West looked like a division to be feared. The Colorado Rockies along with the Arizona Diamondbacks surprised many in the division, making the former World Champion San Francisco Giants look like a Little League team. Some trades happened to teams in this division. Let’s see how these trades help or hurt the NL West.
The Diamondbacks acquired left-handed reliever Joe Thatcher (30 innings pitched, 2.10 ERA, 1.07 WHIP) and minor leaguer Matt Stites along with a 2014 Competitive Balance pick from the Padres in exchange for right-hander Ian Kennedy. Kennedy went 21-4 two seasons ago, but is now 3-8 with an ERA above 5, and he hasn’t won a game in two months. The Padres really wanted Ian because he’s under club control until 2015. This was a relatively even trade, but I know Diamondbacks fans were not too surprised.
The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired right-handed reliever Carlos Marmol (6.32 ERA in 31.1 innings pitched) in exchange for right-handed reliever Matt Guerrier. Guerrier is pitching with a 4.04 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and 30 K’s this season. In addition to other trades, the Dodgers acquired a pretty impressive starting pitcher in Ricky Nolasco. Ricky has 140.1 innings pitched under his belt with a 3.78 ERA, 112 strikeouts, and a 7-9 record. He’s relatively consistent on the bump, even if his win/loss record says otherwise. Los Angeles certainly could use him to spice things up on their pitching staff.
The former World Series Champions acquired right-handed pitcher Guillermo Moscoso from the Cubbies. Moscoso does not have a lot of experience this season. This week he gave up three runs on four hits in 4 innings against the Rays. He took over Barry Zito’s starting spot. Not too strong of a pitcher for the Giants who are already struggling this season.
Finally, the Colorado Rockies picked up right-handed reliever Mitchell Boggs from the Cardinals and right-handed starter Armando Galarraga from the Reds in exchange for minor league righty Parker Frazier. Galarraga recently suffered a forearm strain when pitching in a game with the Triple-A Colorado Rockies, and will miss at least one turn in the rotation. Frazier has a 4.93 ERA, 1.72 WHIP in 49 1.3 innings pitched. Hopefully he comes around. The Rockies did not do too well in trades this time around.