Brooklyn has completed a pair of deals with the hopes of improving the outfield. Jason Bay had an injury plagued season a year ago and now Curtis Granderson, acquired on Draft Day for top pick Yunel Escobar and change, will begin the season on the DL and could miss up to a month with a broken hand. GM Eric Caskey viewed the question marks as potential obstacles to winning the East.
On Draft Day, Brooklyn selected at least five starting pitchers to improve the team's depth. It made Jeremy Bonderman, a Moab since day one, expendable. Brooklyn dealt Bonderman and Kendry Morales to Casselton in exchange for OF Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury will be the team's fourth outfielder as he adds speed and contact at the bottom of the lineup. Cox believes that there is power in his future as well, "Clearly Ells has a wonderful stroke. He has a good body to help his slight uppercut produce 10 to 15 homers annually." The Moabs also took Jarrod Washburn to clear Bonderman's salary. Washburn returned to the Moabs for only five minutes.
In the second deal, the Moabs swapped Jarrod Washburn and Joel Guzman to Black Mesa for outfielder Austin Kearns. While Granderson is on the DL, then Kearns and Ellsbury will platoon in right field. Kearns will also see some at-bats against lefthanders with DH. Since Brooklyn will not be using a DH at home, the New Yorker's front office wanted a strong bench. With Molina or McCann, Aki Iwamura, Jhonny Peralta, Jacoby Ellsbury or Austin Kearns, and Travis Buck, there is tremendous depth as well as lefties and righties. This bench paired with a dynamite lineup featuring all-stars at every position could have Brooklyn having the last laugh this season!
Crash Jackson
The Aftermath
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