Thursday, November 13, 2014

Hot Stove Update: Tigers Acquire Anthony Gose From Blue Jays For 2B Prospect

On the surface, this does not seem like a trade worth talking about, but it could have a significant impact for both teams.  The Detroit Tigers continued their evolution from a team that completely sold out defense for hitting and power hitting to a more defense first team with the acquisition of Gose who will replace the defensively challenged Torii Hunter in the OF and likely become their full time CF.  Gose, at least so far, is not much of a hitter going .226/.311/.293, 2 HR, 15 SB, 9.1 BB%, 27.0 K% in 274 PA with the Blue Jays which are pretty much his career averages.  His defense and speed, though, were good enough for him to put up an fWAR of 1.3 in that amount of PT.  Gose was playing less than half the time in Toronto and the emergence of Dalton Pompey made him completely expendable for the Jays.  He should have more value playing in the spacious CF and general offense suppressing environment of Comerica Park.  He is still just 24 years old. I have long thought that Gose was rushed to the big leagues to fast and needs a full season of daily 4-5 PA's to realize his potential.

The Blue Jays may have gotten a steal in 2B prospect Devon Travis.  Travis is small at 5'9", 185 but has hit and hit for power at every minor league stop.  Last year at AA he went .298/.350/.460, 10 HR, 16 SB, 8.4 BB% and 13.6 K%.  Those are practically Joe Panik contact numbers with more speed and more pop.  2B was a wasteland for the Jays last year and they apparently feel Travis can play at the MLB level.  Projection systems seem to agree as his Steamer slash line for 2015 is .273/.320/.401.  Travis had just been named the Tigers #1 prospect by BA in a thin system.  He was blocked in Detroit by Ian Kinsler, but was not close to running out of options.  The Tigers may come to regret letting him go in a few years.

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