PRE sends: 2019 2nd Round Pick, $10 2018 Auction Budget
HLR sends: 1B Edwin Rios (minors), 2019 3rd Round Pick
Andrew’s thoughts: I like this move for HLR. He upgrades a future draft pick by an entire round, as both of these picks belong to the Evil Otters and were dealt away during the team’s previous owner’s war on draft picks. He also banks $10 for an interesting prospect that I think he’ll be able to adequately replace during the season via waivers.
Rios is fine. He’s been on some lists, including clocking in at No. 100 on FanGraphs’ November list based on our scoring. His scouting reports are pretty solid. His minor league numbers are sick. He can hit for sure. He’s also almost 24 and a Dodger, so he could debut at any time now… but is blocked and probably needs a trade. Fantrax lists him as a 1B, but he plays some 3B in the minors. He’s far more interesting at 3B than 1B. I like him as a flier to stash away in the minors.
I also continue to enjoy the Double Stuffs’ purge of every possible present day asset. They’re down to $390 in budget with around $150 in cuts still to come, if my guesses are accurate. Yikes. In general I feel like dumping $10 for any prospect that’s even a useful bench piece is fine, just because it’ll take a couple seasons to pay them that much in salary. I guess if you’re going to punt a year of cash, you may as well go all the way.