According to Fox Sports, the Tigers are about to trade outfielder Matt Joyce to the Rays for pitcher Edwin Jackson. The 25 year old Jackson had 14 wins and a 4.42 ERA in 183 1/3 innings for the pennant winning Rays last year. However, his 5.3 strikeouts per game was not good for a hard throwing pitcher and his walk rate of 3.8 per game was indicative of his spotty control. On top of that, his ground ball rate was just 39%. Jackson was once one of the top prospects in the game and is still just 25 but the statistical indicators are concerning.
Joyce had a surprisingly good year in his Tigers debut in 2008. The 24 year old left-handed batter blasted 12 homers and posted a.831 OPS in 242 at bats for the Tigers. Joyce was one of their few left-handed bats and had what I felt was a promising future as a regular corner outfielder with the Tigers.
It was not a surprise to see Joyce traded since Jim Leyland commented about his laid back approach during the summer. I also understand that Leyland likes hard throwing (Jackson has a mid 90s fast ball) pitchers with high upsides. It could turn out to be a good deal but right now I'm not a fan of the trade.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Joyce traded for Edwin Jackson?
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4 comments:
Rick Knapp will be tested early and often to help all the Tigers pitchers who have trouble throwing strikes, and keeping the ball down, and pitching to a batters weakness.
Come on, Lee! This is good stuff. I get the concern over Jackson, but there are definitely some holes in that big swing of Joyce's. This gives the Tigers a pretty young starting rotation with some serious upside. I like the trade.
A lot of Tigers fans seem to really overrate Joyce, I think this is a pretty even trade. Good for both teams.
It's less a matter of overrating Joyce and more not being a big believer in Jackson. I'm not as convinced about Jackson's upside as others. Somebody that throws as hard as him should be striking out more batters.
Joyce needs more seasoning. He came up earlier than expected but made good progress this year. It's hard to make conclusions about him yet.
The one thing this trade does is give them more depth. They now have seven potential starters instead of six. This gives them more margin for error.
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