M’s Re-Acquire Russell Branyan
According to Shannon Drayer (and Mike Curto), the M’s have traded two minor leaguers for 1b Russell Branyan. The M’s players are apparently Ezequiel Carrera and Juan Diaz.
Branyan missed most of April with the same back injury that forced him out late in 2009, but recovered to post a .353 wOBA this year for the Indians. His ZiPS projection the rest of the way is just shy of that, at .348 (which, it should go without saying, would be a massive improvement on Kotchman/Carp/Sweeney).
Carrera led the Southern League in BA and OBP last year, but some scouts questioned whether he’d ever be more than a 4th OF in the majors. A brilliant spring capped by a homer off of Felix in an intra-squad game led many to believe that the scouts were wrong. However, from April on, Carrera’s played like a dictionary definition of a 4th OF – a poor man’s Endy Chavez – and picked up a few injuries on the way. He’d been on the Rainiers’ 7-day DL, but it obviously wasn’t serious enough to delay this move.
Juan Diaz was a moderately promising SS in a system without many middle infield ‘spects. Until this year, when Nick Franklin made him 100% expendable. Diaz hit the Cal League last year with the reputation of a glove-first guy, but put up a .346 despite never coming close to .300 previously. He wasn’t able to force his way to AA this year (a guy named Triunfel mans SS for West Tennessee), and he’s regressed a bit at High Desert thanks to his BABIP coming back to earth. .
All in all, it’s tough to be upset about what we’re sending to Cleveland. I’d been excited to see Carrera in Tacoma, but he quickly showed that he was a fairly limited slap hitter (I’m still trying to envision him hitting a homer off of Felix and I can’t quite do it). And if anyone thought Diaz’s offensive outbreak was ‘real’ in 2009, 2010 is getting really hard to explain.
With all of that said, this is a rather odd move to make now, around the first of July, with the team way back of Texas (and the .500 mark). There’s no question Branyan improves the team, and we didn’t give up another Shin-Soo Choo. But why acquire a guy of Branyan’s age and injury history at all? This’d be a great move for a contending team, but I’m struggling a bit to figure this one out. It’s clear the M’s don’t think Mike Carp’s a long-term answer at 1B, and that’s a fair conclusion to come to. But why do they need Branyan right now?
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Any chance he is part of a larger package or we’ll be flipping him at the deadline?
This indicates that the Ms have reached the end of the line with both Kotchman and Carp, and the alternatives (Sweeney, Wilson, Langerhans, Everidge, Nelson) aren’t even marginally appealing. I’d expect Kotchman to be DFA’d and Carp to be dispatched to Tacoma ASAP.
Clearly Jack still thinks we have a chance. At least it looks and sounds that way to me. That said we need someone who could possibly hit the ball over the wall, any one else at first is an improvement.
Huh. Apparently Z wasn’t being coy with that whole “too early to throw in the towel” thing.
Or else he knows the odds are against us, but figures swapping Bedard into the Lee slot (as soon as Lee’s traded) won’t set us back too much, and the added offense will show the players and fans he’s not giving up and having a fire sale. Certainly Lee will bring back a lot more than we just gave up for Branyan.
I do think the season is almost certainly over (for what little my opinion is worth, obviously) – but this move doesn’t bother me at all. It’s not like taking ABs away from Carp is a big deal.
My initial thought is that they think he can get to Type A status (remember that time missed due to injury doesn’t hurt a player in the Elias rankings).
But that wouldn’t do much given that Cleveland’s first pick will always be protected (they’re too bad to steal a 1st round pick from), so that’s a real stretch. It would appear that the M’s simply want to win as many games as they can in 2010, which, if you can put the 2011 draft aside, is sort of admirable. But why make the move now and not a month ago? I can’t imagine this Cleveland’s ask has gone up since June 1, as Carrera’s month has been poor and injury-shortened.
Still don’t understand this, unless Branyan’s a part of a larger deal where his Type A status could add some real value to any package.
I have no idea what the hell this move is about.
I think marc might be on the right track, but even that most reasonable scenario seems a bit far-fetched.
I like the move, if for no other reason than it reduces the likelihood of having to watch Kotchman or Carp flail at MLB pitching. I also wonder if this isn’t a bit of gamesmanship on Z’s part, an essentially no-cost move that instantly improves the offense while suggesting to interested parties that they will need to make impressive and serious offers to get Lee sooner than later under the guise of the M’s not giving up. Of course, whatever Z is up to, I am sure it would warp my puny, mortal mind.
Very strange, indeed. I’m also hoping this is part of a bigger plan.
*dream scenario that will never happen ON* The M’s package Russell in a deal with Lee that will net them Justin Smoak or Ike Davis. *dream scenario that will never happen OFF*
Yeah, too bad GMs aren’t that stupid these days… seriously, I hope this trade isn’t a sign that Jack Z thinks we still have a chance.
Also worth noting, the Indians are paying the rest of Russell’s $2 million salary.
I assume that Carp will be sent down. Why? Kotchman looks untradeable and clearly isnt part of the future so why not just DFA him and cut their losses? This is also a a rebuke to any who thought that the Mariners were wise to let their HR leader from last season go. They are rectifying what was clearly an error.
The Muscle is back! Well this should’ve happened back in May. Now the lineup has some power but yeah, being 14 games out the M’s aren’t going anywhere.
If I remember the posts here correctly, the Mariners offered Branyan a reasonable deal, considering his age and injury history, which he turned down, expecting to do better. He didn’t, and ended up with Cleveland.
So you would want the Mariners to have overpaid for him, had to sit through his early injuries this season instead of this outcome, Cleveland picking up his salary? Sounds great to me! Can’t wait to see him back…for nearly free.
Russel was not healthy until recently and Cleveland hadn’t given up until recently. Jack Z. is simply trying to win some games for the fans that pay good money to go to the games. We were rolling out a SS at 1B lately and there are no better options in AAA.
It’s a very low risk high reward trade for this year. We’ll have a new 1B next year. Hopefully through the Lee trade. Then Russel can DH with Bradley the rest of this year if we get a new 1B by trade.
This will make me go to more games as a season ticket holder for sure. I appreciate the gesture while at the same time understand that they are going to deal Lee for players that will help in the future.
@Juneau
The point is that many supported RB not being brought back. I thought that he was worth the risk. His production shows that he was a better option than Kotchamn. Now they get him back when they are buried. Perhaps if he had been here all along they would not already be buried.
He was hurt early this year and he would not have made up for the short comings of Figgins, Lopez, Bradley, Bullpen, Hyphen, Snell, Catchers..etc.
So did everyone else; Brannyan just asked for way too much and we had to move on. There was nothing the Mariners could do.
He was hurt. But his post injury production is a giant leap from where this team has produced. He was activated from the DL on 4-20. On that day the M’s record was 7-7. Still think he couldn’t of helped?
I guess I’m lost in your argument, Goody. He would have had to accept the contract offered. Management couldn’t force him to come here, regardless of fans wants.
So I assuming you mean the team should have overpaid him drastically, crippling the budget for years, on that assumption the team would be leading the division right now with his bat in the lineup?
And that contract he wanted would be for more than just this year. So this aging, injury-prone player would be clogging up a spot for years to come. Sound familiar?
No, this is too high-risk, questionable-reward to be merely a bluff on Z’s part. Think about it. If that’s what it is, most GMs I’m sure could see through it easily for what it is.
The numbers (and our record) are what they are. They don’t lie. We’re out of it, and anybody with baseball IQ knows it- public posturing otherwise be damned.
Then once other teams have figured out it’s a bluff from Zduriencik, they smile and start to decrease their offers- because they’ve just gotten a clear-cut signal of desperation.
I’m inclined to take a cynical view of this and guess it’s about filling seats in Safeco via the dingers Branyan will add. It’s a zero cost move, dollar-wise, and 1B was a bust anyways.
Duh everybody–
It’s obviously part of the Branyan & Lee for Adrian Gonzalez deal!
Nice work, Z. (No, I haven’t stopped dreaming yet… “Believe Big” has to show up somewhere this season…)