Breaking Down The Morrow-League Trade

The Mariners finalized the Brandon Morrow for Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez of the Toronto Blue Jays. The trade comes a week after the blockbuster Cliff Lee-Roy Halladay trade which sent prospects from Philadelphia to Toronto.

In that trade Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik sent former No. 1 pick Phillipe Aumont and to other prospects to the Phillies in exchange for SP Cliff Lee. Zduriencik continues to put his impressive finger print on the Mariners franchise by trading or releasing all of former Mariners GM Bill Bavasi players.

Good news for Mariners fans is that Felix Hernandez and Ichiro Suzuki were not brought in by Bavasi.

Now back to the Brandon Morrow- Brandon League trade.

If you look at it on paper it seems like the Jays come out the clear winner but if you did deeper its not as one sided as people are making it out to be.

In his career with the Seattle Mariners, Brandon Morrow has been the guy "who was picked instead of Tim Lineceum", the San Francisco Giants Cy Young winner. In his career Morrow has bounced between being a starting pitcher, relief pitcher and even trying to become a closer last year.

Now mostly to blame for this is former M's GM Bill Bavasi and his staff of clowns but Morrow get's the blame for last season. He said he didn't feel comfortable enough being a starting pitcher so he wanted to become a closer.

Fair enough, he's got the fastball to do it.

Well in a series against the Texas Rangers Brandon Morrow blew two straight saves giving up three homeruns in the process.

Afterwards he was sent down to AAA Tacoma to fix the kinks and develop more. He's never developed into a quality pitcher let alone what people think he can be which is a front line starting pitcher.

Well unless he goes back to single A ball he's just not going to be that big time starting pitcher. Now yes Morrow has shown flashes of greatness with the almost no-hitter against the New York Yankees.

Now for the two players the Mariners will receive in exchange for Morrow, relief pitcher Brandon League and OF Johermyn Chavez (Triple Crown winner in Single A this past season).

League brings an added presents to the Mariners bullpen which was very key to the Mariners success last season. David Aardsma's 38 saves and the rest of the bullpen locking it down.

League brings a great two seem fastball and he's plus groundball pitcher which is great considering the outstanding defense behind him with Chone Figgins, Jack Wilson and others.

League went 3-6 last season with a 4.58 ERA and 76 SO in 67 appearances for the Jays.

The other player the Mariners received in the deal, outfielder Johermyn Chavez is a Jack Zduriencik type of player.

Chavez, a 20 year old who hit .283 with 21 homeruns and 89 RBI's last season for class single A Lansing is an outstanding complete hitter, who still needs to work on a few things before becoming a MLB player.

Luckily for Chavez time is greatly on this side. Chavez's 2009 stats are as follows.

.283 BA, 87 Runs, 144 hits, 21 HR's, 89 RBI's, 40 BB, 137 SO's, .346 OBP, .474 SLG and a .820 OPS.

Chavez will most likely start the season in class A in either Clinton (with the Lumberjacks) or High A Desert Mavericks.

Chavez is an upgrade over former OF prospect Tyson Gillies who was traded to Philadelphia in the Lee deal.

Look for Jack Zduriencik to continue building for his year, which he's pick as 2010.

What The Additions of Cliff Lee and Milton Bradley Mean For The Mariners

What an off season it's been for the Seattle Mariners and their general manager Jack
Zduriencik.

The Mariners, since the conclusion of the Winter Meetings in Indy have acquired Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee and OF Milton Bradley. At the Winter Meetings the Mariners and third baseman Chone Figgins came to terms on a four year, $32 million dollar contract with an option for a fifth year.

Now after reviewing the Chone Figgins signing I've moved on to reviewing the two recent acquisitions in Cliff Lee and Milton Bradley and what both mean for the Seattle Mariners in 2010.

Cliff Lee: 14-13, 3.22 ERA, 231 IP, 181 SO, 43 BB, 6 CG, 7 K/9, 1.6 BB/9, 4.2 K/BB and a 1.24 WHIP.

Cliff Lee, a 2008 Cy Young award winner played in both the American and National League last season with the Cleveland Indians and Philadelphia Phillies respectively.

In the AL Lee posted a 7-9 recorded with the Indians before being dealt in a five player trade to the Phillies.

In the National League Lee posted an astounding 7-4 record, which doesn't sound like much but when you break down all of his performances his record could have been 11-0.

With Lee now heading back the American League, in a pitchers friendly ballpark in Safeco Field there won't be any problems for the former Cy Young winner.

Lee dominated in a hitters ballpark in Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia so with the defense in Seattle, added to the size of the ballpark there shouldn't be any problem for Lee.

The Mariners defense is all-star caliber with Ichiro and Franklin Gutierrez in the outfield and Chone Figgins, Jack Wilson and Jose Lopez in the infield Lee don’t have to worry about having a lackluster defense behind him.

One thing that Cliff Lee, as well as Milton Bradley doesn’t have to worry about is the press in Seattle. There is really on pressure unless for some bizarre reason the M's tank as bad as the Seahawks are right now.

Another added bonus for Lee is that when he was in Philadelphia he was their ACE and he was the man. In Seattle he's got the King in front of him in King Felix Hernandez who went 19-5 in 2008, and really had the better performance to win the Cy Young.

My prediction for Cliff Lee would be something along these lines: 18-20 wins, 2.35 ERA, 210 SO and maybe 240 IP.

I also think, which some people outside of Seattle will argue, that Cliff Lee will sign a long term deal in Seattle with the Mariners making the playoffs in 2010.

Milton Bradley: .257 avg, 12 HR's, 40 RBI's, .378 OBP, 61 R, 101 hits, 66 BB, 95 SO, .397 slugging percentage and a.775 OPS.

Bradley signed a three year $30 million dollar contract last year with the Chicago Cubs after coming off of one of his best seasons. Since the signing he's hated Chicago and the Cubs fans. Then again who wouldn't when the Cubs haven’t been in style since Gold was discovered in 1909.

Bradley never really fit in with the Cubs so trading him to the Seattle Mariners, who have a very supportive fan base, unless your name is Bill Bavasi or Carlos Silva as well as great team chemistry.

Throughout his career Bradley has always done better in the American League. Here is his AL/NL comparison in his career.

American League: 6 years, 450 games, 455 hits, 249 runs, 57 HR's, 230 RBI's, .294 BA, .390 OBP, .481 slugging percentage and a .871 OPS.

National League: 6 years, 491 games, 449 hits, 252 runs, 58 HR's, 209 RBI's, .263 BA, .353 OBP, .422 slugging percentage, and a .775 OPS.

As the stats show, Bradley has done better in the American League in 41 fewer games.

With Bradley being a switch hitter and playing DH and LF in 2010 I expect his numbers will be where they usually are in the AL.

.290 BA, 25-30 HR's and 95 RBI's. He'll hit in the 4-6 range in the lineup.

The major thing about both of these trades that brought Cliff Lee and Milton Bradley to Seattle is that the Mariners come out clear winners in both trades.

And Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik said he's still not done. That's what scares me. What else is left for GMZ to do? Wait and see.