Catching Up: The Hernandez Trade

Background

The Orioles traded C Ramon Hernandez to the Cincinnati Reds for IF/OF Ryan Freel and minor leaguers Brandon Waring and Justin Turner. Freel is a speedy righthanded bat, who will turn 33 in March. Waring is a 23-year old righthanded 3B, who played in the low-A Midwest League last year. Turner is a 24-year old righthanded 2B, who played AA ball last year.

Stats

Hernandez

Year	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS+
2008	BAL	133	463	49	119	22	1	15	65	0	32	62	.257	.308	.406	86
10 Yr		1188	3975	477	1044	206	6	137	602	7	333	571	.263	.326	.421	96

Freel

Year	Tm	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS+
2008	CIN	48	131	17	39	8	0	0	10	6	8	18	.298	.340	.359	82
7 Yr		553	1895	295	515	98	17	22	117	142	211	327	.272	.357	.376	91

Waring (minor league stats)

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
2 Yr	188	709	126	203	40	4	40	134	2	64	239	.286	.355	.523

Turner (minor league stats)

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG
3 Yr	294	1133	193	351	63	9	24	153	29	108	185	.310	.377	.445

GG's Take
Everyone knew Ramon was out the door, and not just because of Wieters' enormous shadow. His play was lackadaisical at times, the bat came and went, and the defense just went. He may be motivated in a contract year to run out every grounder, and the friendly hitting environment of Great American Ballpark will help, but as an Oriole, he was good as gone.

Ryan Freel has always been intriguing in small doses, and small doses are all you get with him, since he's been injured in nearly each of his 6 years in the bigs. When healthy, he plays hard, steals bases, and gets on base (.357 career OBP). He's also a righty, and it's not hard to picture him complementing Felix Pie in LF. He's a free agent at the end of this year, and may not figure into the O's long-term plans, but for 2009 at least, he'll be the antithesis of Hernandez effort-wise.

The B-level prospects the O's received in this return are somewhat interesting. Justin Turner has limited upside but stands a chance of manning 2B one day. He is the key player in this deal. Brandon Waring is in the Scott Moore/Mike Costanzo mold - intriguing power, not enough contact or defensive skills to stick. A point in favor of these guys - new assistant GM Wayne Krivsky knows the Reds system intimately from his days as their GM, so if he sees something in these guys, he's got the credentials to earn my trust. His Reds career was checkered, but one thing he did exceptionally well was find nearly free talent - Arroyo, Harang, and Phillips were all acquired on his watch for little or no cost.

ND's Take
I tend to hold Freel in higher regard than most. I love his energy, I love that he gets on base, and I love his basestealing ability. To me, he's the quintessential backup. He's a decent fielder both in the outfield and in the infield. If he can show any talent as a SS in Spring Training, I can see him being a frequent replacement for Izturis. If he can just stay healthy, which, admittedly, is a big if, he's going to be a nice addition to the team, even if it's only for this season.

As for the minor leaguers, I'm not expecting a lot. Turner is a nice player, but he's blocked by Brian Roberts (who appears about to sign for 4 years after this one). If he plays well enough at AAA, he could be dealt elsewhere; if not, he's an insurance policy. Waring is an all-or-nothing guy, as evidenced by his 45 XBH versus only 18 singles (and 156 Ks) last season at low A ball. He's also old for his level, so I don't expect to ever see him in an O's uniform.

The key to this deal is, of course, Matt Wieters. There was just no point in keeping Hernandez's salary on the books, and there was no way I'd want to risk that his attitude would rub off on Wieters at all. Hernandez gave us one very good season and two poor seasons. He served his purpose, but his time was up. Bring on the kid.