The Frostbite Falls front office is very excited to bring a player of Mr. Beltran's talent into the fold. As many know, we have had problems with inadequate center field play each season. The story had been the same in 2007, with Dave Roberts and Rocco Baldelli splitting time in center. Both of those players bring their own unique talents to the table, but they aren't complete players and they have both spent time on the disabled list this season.
Carlos Beltran is a true five-tool player. He makes good contact, hits for a lot of power, runs well, possesses a great glove, and has a very good arm. He will make this a very exciting season in Frostbite Falls. Flying Squirrels management is very excited to add his bat to an already power-packed lineup including the likes of Albert Pujols, Barry Bonds, Victor Martinez, and Jason Bay.
We also love the young talent we picked up. Evan Longoria will be an outstanding third baseman as soon as next season. Rich Hill is going to move into our rotation immediately, and we expect him to have much success. Also, we believe that Matt Garza will become a top of the rotation major league starter. Just imagining our possible future rotation of Johan Santana, Chris Carpenter, Ben Sheets, Hill, Garza, and Tim Lincecum makes us ecstatic.
Unfortunately, to get talent you have to give up talent. In this case, we had to give up the top two prospects in baseball, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Alex Gordon, and a possible five-tool guy in Chris Young. Trading Matsuzaka was the main sticking point in getting this deal done because he is already proving his mettle at the big league level and he should continue in success for many years to come. Even though he is struggling, Gordon is very well rounded and should be an All-Star third sacker for a long time. Young is showing glimpses of his 30-30 possibilities, but it remains to be seen whether he will hit for a respectable average.
We are very pleased with this trade, and we plan on making a serious run for the Eastern Division championship.
