I like Mark Trumbo. I like him as a person. I covet his light-tower power. All things being equal, I would like him on the Giants, taking shots at the Coke bottle for our amusement.
All things are not equal because Trumbo is a good-but-flawed player. His career OBP is a tick under .300. For all his light-tower power and 30-homer seasons, he's never slugged over .500. He had a lower OPS last year than Angel Pagan, and he doesn't play the outfield well at all. I'd like him on the Giants, but only if the Giants could acquire him for a good-but-flawed-player price.
The indications, though, are that the Diamondbacks are going to pay a star or near-star price. The word from Orlando is that the Diamondbacks are trading Adam Eaton and Tyler Skaggs for three years of Trumbo and two prospects.
I guess it's not fair to laugh at the return yet. The last time I laughed at a prospect-laden return for the Diamondbacks, Skaggs was one of the prospects. Patrick Corbin was the other. That worked out well for them.
But this proposed trade seems a little ... off. Eaton is a man-crush of mine, so maybe I'm not thinking clearly, but the Diamondbacks are selling really, really low. He was hurt last year, and his 250 at-bats were mostly miserable. He's still a tremendous leadoff talent. I'll put a shiny nickel down on him being better than Trumbo next year alone (by WAR, not dingers).
Then they would be giving up Skaggs, who was a top-20 prospect in baseball before last year, but had a disappointing season. Still, it was in Reno (a hitter's paradise) and he's just 22. Again, it's a sell-low move. It would be like the Giants trading Madison Bumgarner after his velocity dip, except there's no velocity dip for Skaggs.
The Diamondbacks might have felt Eaton was redundant with A.J. Pollock around, and they still have a gaggle of young pitchers, even after losing Skaggs. And for all this flawed-player talk, it's not going to mean much when Trumbo is demolishing Giants pitching, which a default I'm anticipating.
Still, it seems like a lot for three years of a good-but-flawed player who will make arbitration money. I'm not sure what the Diamondbacks could have gotten for Skaggs/Eaton last December, but I'll guess it would have been substantial. They probably could have pried anything from Wil Myers to James Shields to Gerrit Cole loose with that combo.
Instead, they might get Trumbo. Who's good. And pleasant. And freaky-strong. But not that good, even if he'll combine with Paul Goldschmidt to hit more homers than the Giants next year. That last part stinks, alright.
Update: It's apparently done.
Source says the three-team deal is done.
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) December 10, 2013