As the MLB trade deadline rapidly approaches, like something a college student procrastinates on, and the rumors begin to swirl we are here to start even more rumors. So here is our list of players who may or may not be traded and where they will go. Baltimore Orioles Zach Britton – If you aren’t going to use him in the playoffs might as well trade him - Dodgers Darren O’Day – His submarine style should send him to a city surrounded by water - Mariners Mark Trumbo – So much power, so little anything else - Royals Chris Davis – Same as above but can play defense somewhat - Twins Brad Brach – Bad teams don’t need to keep middle relievers – Red Sox Richard Bleier – Trade relievers while they have some value especially if they’re old - Yankees Mychal Givens – Relievers can’t really help you if you aren’t winning - Nationals Toronto Blue Jays Josh Donaldson – Toronto starts a fire sale! - Brewers Justin Smoak – he will only be good for a year so might as well trade him now - Rockies Troy Tulowitzki – It didn’t really work for him in Toronto - Diamondbacks Jose Bautista – The fire sale gets hotter - Brewers Kendrys Morales – Doesn’t he always get traded at the deadline? - Angels Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander – Does Kate Upton like Milwaukee? - Brewers Miguel Cabrera – yet another fire sale - Astros Victor Martinez – or maybe he should just retire - Yankees Ian Kinsler – maybe he could be good again in a hitter’s friendly park – Angels Justin Upton – is his brother still around? - Rays Justin Wilson – Tigers don’t need a closer right now – Diamondbacks Warwick Saupold – they also don’t need middle relievers - Cubs Chicago White Sox Derek Holland – the White Sox should just go as young as possible - Rockies Todd Frazier – he still hits a lot of home runs right? – Red Sox Melky Cabrera – the milk man goes to the desert where there is no milk – Diamondbacks David Holmberg – trade old relief pitchers while they’re good - Rangers David Robertson – should’ve been traded awhile ago - Rays Tommy Kahnle – how else can you say good relief pitchers should be traded from bad teams - Angels Oakland A’s Yonder Alonso – Billy Beane strikes again - Rays Sonny Gray – Surprised he lasted this long - Brewers Kris Davis – young and productive, time to leave Oakland - Twins Rajai Davis – He should go back to Cleveland to hit more homers in the World Series– Indians Daniel Coulombe – good relievers never go out of style - Rockies Braves of Atlanta Julio Tehran – It seems like he’s way older than he is - Yankees Brandon Phillips – so old but yet so spry - Rays Jose Ramirez – hip hip (Jose) - Twins Miami Marlins Dustin McGowan – the only pitcher the Marlins should trade – Astros Ichiro – some partial fan gets their wish – Mariners NY Mets Addison Reed – I liked him better in Arizona – Cubs Jay Bruce – will be replaced by Tim Tebow – Nationals Philadelphia Phillies Pat Neshek - more submarine more water - Seattle Jeremy Hellickson – give me one good reason he should stay in Philly - Rays Luis Garcia – More random relievers get traded – Royals Cincinnati Reds Joey Votto – someone will take on the contract – Seattle Raisel Iglesias –pitch one inning but have big impact on playoff team (so general you are) - Rockies Wandy Peralta – the more relief pitching the better - Dodgers Zack Cozart – the donkey has to go - Twins San Diego Padres Brad Hand – the sympathy all-star gets dealt - Boston Kirby Yates – is he related to Puckett? – Angels San Francisco Giants Jeff Samardzija – could be an NFL TE right now but took MLB money instead – Angels Hunter Pence – even if the Giants might be good next year who really knows – Diamondbacks Denard Span – has grey hair, still faster than you – Rays
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By: Alex Sommerfield Giancarlo Stanton might be tired of talking about the comparison but we are not, simply because their game and body type are just so similar. So we can start off with the basics… Giancarlo Stanton looks like a Greek God with his exquisite figure. But coming in at 6-6 245lbs. he lacks behind Arron Judge in the size category. Judge weighs upwards of 280 and edges out Stanton in height by an inch. They both grew up in California and now pay on the west coast, both wear double digit numbers, and both are extremely muscular. Both are in their mid twenties, both play right field, both throw and bat right handed, they are just so similar but are they really? Both were drafted out of high school, although Judge did not sign when drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 31st round of the 2010 draft. And this is where the differences start. After not signing with the A’s Judge decided to stay home and and play baseball of Fresno State. Judge played three years at Fresno State. In his first two years he only hit a mere 6 homeruns total. During his final year there Judge exploded for 12 homeruns, a .369 batting average, .655 slugging percentage over 56 games. Those impressive numbers got him drafted in the first round of the 2013 draft by the New York Yankees. The evil empire got richer. Judge was taken with the 32nd pick, meaning that every team had a chance to take him but didn’t. Judge’s underwhelming number of homers during his first two years in college did not follow him to the professional ranks. In each of his three years in the minors he hovered around 20 dingers and 70 RBI a year. The down side to all those homers though is that he was striking out about once a game, that seems to be the trend of baseball these days, a four bagger or nothing. Now back to Stanton who took the other route that ball players can take out of high school. Drafted in the second round of the 2007 draft Stanton signed straight out of high school, unlike Judge. The then Florida Marlins took the then Mike Stanton out of Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, CA. Stanton took four years in the minors to reach the majors, but Stanton practically doubled Judge’s homerun numbers per season in the lower ranks. These two were similar in the rest of their minor league statistics although, especially when it comes to them both striking out about once a game. Stanton did make the jump straight from AA to the majors, another different route that Stanton took. Stanton’s route got him to the majors at the age of 20, Judge had to wait until he was 24 to make his major league debuted. Judge had the college experience that Stanton will never get but it worked out for both of them you could say. So far we have established that their differences include going to college and amount of home runs in the minors. I guess they are pretty similar. Judge is like Stanton’s little brother who is bigger than him and that Stanton never wanted. But will Judge be better than Stanton? Stanton looked to be on pace to become the new home run king with his towering fly balls that surpassed outfield fences like planes cruise over mountain ranges. But injuries have slowed his pace down, but certainly not the distance those bombs travel. Over 7+ seasons Stanton is at 215 round trippers. Then there is Judge, one of the leaders of the Baby Bombers, who has only played 53 games in the majors and has been on a home run rampage so far this season. He has hit 17 big flies so far in his career. *Home run king Barry Bonds*, who by many peoples account should have an asterisk next to his title, played 2986 games in his 22-year career. By my quick math, if Judge was to play the same amount of games of Bonds in his career then he is on pace to hit 957ish home runs. Now it shouldn’t be expected for Judge to continue his ridiculous pace and it’s too early to call him the new home run king but on the other hand you heard it here first that Arron Judge is the new home run king. Stanton has played 855 major league games and has hit 215 moon shots. Now if he played the same amount of games as Bonds then he would then he would fall short of Bonds record by 12. That means Judge is going to be better than Stanton (chuckles to self). Yes, it’s too early and we won’t officially say that but it can be said that Judge is somewhat of a second coming of Stanton. If we want to get in to some sabermetrics, then we can do that as well to compare these two super buff Cali dudes. Arron Judge has the top two exit velocities recorded this season (four of the top eight). The better of those two was a home run that came off the bat at 119.4 mph, that ball traveled 435 feet. Stanton comes in third on that list with a double that left the bat at 118.7 mph. Judge’s average exit velocity is third best in the majors this year at 95.4 mph. Stanton pulls up at 37th on that list averaging 91.8 mph. That four mph difference isn’t that big of a separation as there are great hitters all the way down this list. Stanton comes in tied with Edwin Encarnacion while Judge is tied with Manny Machado. Miguel Sano leads the majors this year averaging 100.5 mph on batted balls coming off the bat. Judges’ average launch angle is 14.8°, Stanton’s is 17.1°. If we all break out out protractors from middle school then those are some pretty nice line drives. Over all it’s tough to separate these two studs. Both of them early on in their careers took the league by storm and look to continue to reek havoc. It’s difficult to project who will be better because they are at two different points in their careers, but there will probably be more media coverage around Judge because he plays in the Big Apple. Stanton might have to make the change to an American league team later in his career to be a DH if the National League doesn’t adopt the DH soon. SO we can just appreciate the greatness these two provide. These two guys were just cut from the same branch of the handsome/great baseball player tree. The one major difference between these two right now though? Their pay checks, Stanton is currently raking in $14 million a year and will jump to $25 million next year, Judge is only making $545,000 this year. That is their one difference, other wise this article could have just been called the California Home Run Duo. (Who both still strike out about once a game). |