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7.21.2003
Ludwick to the Indians for Rodriguez, Spencer Cleveland Indians get: Ryan Ludwick. Texas Rangers get: Ricardo Rodriguez, Shane Spencer. A little late on this, but here it is nevertheless. Almost everywhere I saw this trade mentioned, it's been with a headline involving the fact that Shane Spencer is changing teams. While he's almost certainly the most well-known of the three gentlemen in the deal (due to his postseason, nationally-televised experience), he's also far and away the least significant when it comes to evaluating what this trade means for the future...and even this season, as I don't know how much playing time he's going to get. Both the Indians and Rangers are completely out of the 2003 playoff hunt and are trying to put themselves in the best possible position going forward by acquiring young players to fill their needs. This is a trade that legitimitely helps both sides, which is a nice thing. That said, I think the winner here is Texas. Ricardo Rodriguez looks like a legitimate major league starter (I'm not yet concerned about his poor 2003, where he's gone 3-9 with a 5.73 ERA over 81.2 innings and 15 starts), and while he's on the DL right now, he's just about to come off. The Rangers, as everyone knows, are absolutely desperate for pitching, so much so that their 6.03 team ERA is helped even by Rodriguez's crappy figure. While Ryan Ludwick is a decent prospect who will probably have a solid major league career, the Rangers have an awful lot of bats already and are trying to get plate appearances for young guys like Laynce Nix and Marcus Thames. The Indians have a bunch of outfielders already in Jody Gerut, Milton Bradley, Matt Lawton, Coco Crisp and sometimes Ben Broussard - so they're not exactly addressing a need - but they're also deep in young pitching and it certainly doesn't hurt to add a guy who can probably produce at a relatively high level from a corner outfield spot for the next few years very cheaply. - |