Mike Stone: Trading Day In The D [BLOG]
By: Mike Stone
@stoney16
Both the Pistons and Tigers made major moves Tuesday. The Tigers sent Avisail Garcia and Bryan Villarreal to Boston in exchange for infielder Jose Iglesias. Boston then sent Garcia and three of their low level prospects to the White Sox for Jake Peavy.
The Pistons acquired mercurial guard Brandon Jennings for Brandon Knight, Khris Middleton, and Slava Kravtsov. These two trades are the fodder for this edition of the Stoney Six Pack.
1. From all reports Iglesias is an excellent fielder, who definitely upgrades the team's defense and speed. Don't be fooled by the .330 batting average or the .785 OPS. He is hitting just .143 with a 286 OPS since the all star game. They needed a shortstop for the stretch drive, due to Jhonny Peralta's looming suspension. Iglesias gives them that, plus he is 23 years old and should be their shortstop of the future.
2. Losing Garcia to a divisional rival is not something that Dave Dombrowski wanted to do. He has the chance to be a star, with the key word being chance. He is a 22 year old who can hit, run and throw. The knock on him is his power. Dombrowski better hope that Nick Castellanos is what he is cracked up to be, because it would be a shame if Garcia becomes a stud and Castellanos a dud.
Still it was a trade they had to make and has to be looked on as a positive.
3. It is possible that the Tigers facilitated Jake Peavy to a team that they could face in the playoffs. While not facing him a couple of times as a White Sox, they might face him when they go to Fenway in September or meet in the post season.
4. Although I don't sense there is that much anger towards Jhonny Peralta, those that oppose the trade have a right to be upset with him. His selfish act of taking performance enhancing drugs made this trade a necessity. So if you are a fan of Avisail Garcia take your venom out on your PED taking all star shortstop not your general manager. By the way if Peralta is eligible to come back for the post season (if the Tigers make it) I think they should take him back. He can still hit better than Ramon Santiago even if he is less versatile. However that decision should be made based on if he is welcomed back by his teammates.
5. Brandon Jennings is an extremely talented offensive player. He is both exciting and athletic. He is a better player than Brandon Knight right now. Jennings is a bonafied scorer, but he shoots less than 40 percent from the field and is a well known ball hog. Can he make Andre Drummond better? Are there enough shots for both Jennings and Josh Smith? Maurice Cheeks and Chauncey Billups will have their work cut out for them. Jennings signed a reasonable 3 year 24 million dollar contract, far less than the 4 year 48 million dollar deal he was seeking from Milwaukee. The Pistons will miss the work ethic and professionalism from Knight. He was going to be a solid team first player. Jennings appears to be just the opposite, but his talent makes this gamble worthwhile. Sources have told me that Joe Dumars told the Knight camp that this trade was Tom Gores' call. Dumars did not want to give up a character guy that Knight is. Gores wants the playoffs badly and wants to put some excitement back at the Palace. This trade should do that. Who knows if excitement translates into greatness.
6. Jennings is left handed. Josh Smith is left handed. Greg Monroe is left handed. Has there ever been a team that started three lefties. OK that's enough geek juice for you.
