A TTP (Theoretical Trade Proposal)

TB trades Andy Sonnanstine to NYM; NYM trades SS Reese Havens and CF Ezequiel Carrera to SF; SF trades Randy Winn, RHP Keiichi Yabu, and LHP Geno Espineli to TB

Got that?  So this is a three-team deal.  And yes, the Rays trade away one of their starters in the playoffs Andy Sonnanstine.  Still, this trade makes sense for every team involved. 

The Rays predictably will use their starting pitcher depth to acquire a bona-fide starter in right field.  In this case it would be Randy Winn. 

It's true, the Rays have a lot of players who play right field.  Eric Hinske, Gabe Gross, Ben Zobrist, Fernando Perez, and Justin Ruggiano all are capable.  But Hinske and Gross are not exactly the type of guys you want starting every day on a team that is expected to compete for the championship again next year.  Zobrist and Perez are bright, young players but at least at this point are most valuable being on the bench because of Perez's ability to play every OF position, and his blazing speed.  Zobrist also is very versatile and is a valuable guy off the bench.  He might even have a reasonable chance to overtake Iwamura as the Rays starting second baseman.  Ruggiano has done everything you could ask from him in AAA.  Yet he just can't seem to bring the same game to the majors.   He had a .911 OPS in 66 AAA games versus .576 with the Rays.  So, with Winn coming up, in it can put all of the right field questions to rest while adding a veteran presence that can fill the #2 spot in the Rays order.  That way Iwamura can move down in the order where he should be. If Crawford continues to struggle, Iwamura could easily come back to the top instead of a guy like Upton having to be taken out of the heart of the order.

Although Winn will obviously make a huge mark on the Rays, I think Andy Sonnanstine is the biggest impact player involved in this deal.  Simply put, to have a Sonnanstine in the Mets rotation would be fantastic for them.  Even if, at his best, Sonnanstine is only as good as a #3 starter, his ability to eat up innings without eating payroll is a quality invaluable to the Mets at this point.  This way the Mets can afford not resigning Oliver Perez.  In my opinion, Jon Niese is ready to be the Mets' 5^th starter next year.  However, if the Mets do re-sign Perez their rotation would be dynamite.  Whether or not Perez comes back, the Mets would have, for the first time in a while, a young rotation that can last a long time.  To have a rotation where every pitcher in under control until 2012 is a huge advantage over the other NL East clubs. 

Of course since Sonnanstine is that valuable, New York will have to give up a lot.  The big sacrifice that the Mets will have to make is their second pick of the 2008 draft, slugging infielder Reese Havens.   

Havens (left) was drafted 22^nd overall as a shortstop but is expected to wind up as third or second baseman by the time he gets to the majors.  Ezequiel Carrera, a High-A outfielder, didn't put up great numbers this year but if you start thinking about his age (21) and the fact that he completely skipped A-ball, his .344 OBP, 28 steals, and seven dingers are pretty impressive.  The Giants have a fair amount of outfielders like Fred Lewis, Aaron Rowand, and Nate Schierholtz and some nice prospects like Antoan Richardson, Ben Copeland, and Eddy Martinez-Esteve.  And yet, with the decent chance that Rowand and Lewis could get traded in the near future, Copeland's and Richardson's non-overwhelmingness, and Martinez-Esteve's and Schierholtz's sudden lack of power, there is a reason to why the Giants might want to add another outfield prospect.

Now when you think about it, Tampa Bay would be trading Sonnanstine straight up for Winn, and that obviously wouldn't favor them.  But if you add Yabu and Espineli to the deal, it evens out.  Those two will add depth to the bullpen.  And although Espineli (right) probably will find himself spending some time in Durham, he provides a lefty arm and the credentials of 2.66 in Triple-A last year in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.  Yabu (below) is pretty old but if he can be effective when he's 40 (3.57 ERA), how much much worse can he be at 41? 

SO, when it's all said and done, here's how it would work out for each team:

Rays

Receive                      Give Up

Randy Winn             Andy Sonnanstine

Keiichi Yabu

Geno Espineli

Giants

Receive                      Give Up

Reese Havens          Randy Winn

Ezequiel Carrera      Keiichi Yabu

                                    Geno Espineli

Mets

Receive                      Give Up

Andy Sonnanstine  Reese Havens

                                    Ezequiel Carrera

So, what do you think?  Fair all around?

I guess since Monday marks the beginning of baseball's hardware week, I  will give you my picks for each major award (with the runner-up in parentheses):

Again, these are my picks for who deserves each award, not my predictions for who will win:

Rookie of the Year

AL - Evan Longoria -- (Jose Arredondo)

NL - Geovany Soto -- (Joey Votto)

Cy Young

AL - Cliff Lee -- (Roy Halladay)

NL - Johan Santana -- (CC Sabathia)

MVP

AL - Kevin Youkilis -- (Mark Teixeira)

NL - Wily Mo Pe, I mean, Albert Pujols -- (Manny Ramirez)

Manager of the Year

AL - Joe Maddon -- (Ron Gardenhire)