In Days of Yore, back when the Goliaths of the Game ruled the land and the players were mere pawns, teams rosters endured (or enjoyed, depending on your perspective) a certain stasis. Unless one franchise could bamboozle another out of an under-valued player by trade, the only route from the bottom of the pile to the top was to develop young talent.
These days, free agency has wreaked havoc, not only by exposing talent to a bidding war in which any franchise may participate, but also by distorting the salary structure so that teams have the right to control players and pay them vastly beneath their market value until their seventh year of service, when the cost of that labor, and the number of suitors for it, may spike.
One unintended consequence of this is that teams now act like electrons, inhabiting one of several states, including the states of contention, dilapidation, rebuilding, reloading and austerity. By their off-season actions, we can deduce the state each franchise believes it has entered.
A great case in point is the Brewers, who last year demonstrated clearly that they were damning the torpedoes and steaming ahead full speed with contention in the short term. They traded big parts of their minor league system for Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum in the hopes of dominating the NL Central for the year Prince Fielder was on board and maybe for a couple more years hence. The strategy has worked so far, with the Brews winning 96 games and the division in 2011, their first playoff appearance since 1982.
Two teams involved in a trade yesterday announced what orbit they plan to occupy in 2012, and if you're a fan of either you probably want to rub your hands together in glee. Recognizing that Milwaukee and St. Louis will be stung by the defection of their slugging first-baggers and that Chicago and Houston are too far down the food chain to take advantage, the Cincinnati Reds flipped a handful of spare parts for Padre starter Mat Latos. (Most of those traded were being blocked in the Reds lineup.) Teaming with Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo and Mike Leake, this could give the Redlegs a competitive rotation to complement a potent lineup, led by Joey Votto, that finished second in the NL last season in runs scored.
Latos's curriculum vitae includes three years of a 3.37 ERA with half the starts at Petco Park, the stadium that defense built. Even on the road, Latos sported a spiffy 3.57 mark and to boot he's just 24 years old. Cincy may keep him for four more seasons, the first of them at a deep discount (before arbitration kicks in.)
On the other side of the equation, San Diego finally decided to inhabit the space already suggested by the team's record. They are rebuilding, or just plain building, because while their pitching and defense are spot-on, their offense has been offensive. San Diego's top slugger, backstop Nick Hundley, pounded nine home runs in half a season in 2011. The player who consumed the most plate appearances, shortstop Jason Bartlett, made Sandy Koufax look like Albert Pujols -- .245/.308/.307. The team's most valuable hitter, center fielder Cameron Maybin, posted a .264/.323/.399 slash line. It's worse than it looks due to Petco, but it's still nothing to write home about, even if home is an offensively-challenged locale like Seattle.
Latos was a fancy bauble to relinquish, but he's off the roster a year before his cost becomes too rich for Padre blood. In return, the Friars received minor leaguers at first base, catcher and relief, each a former first-round pick, along with Edinson Volquez, who delivered 17-6 3.21 in 196 frames in '08 before Tommy John surgery and a steroid suspension ripped up 2009-2011. When he did take the mound last year, he pitched below replacement level, so this is a leap of faith for S.D.
That's what rebuilding is all about, though, trading the present for a shot at the future. This could easily turn into a win-win deal if Latos helps lead Cincinnati to a division title and any one of the four prospects pays off down the road for San Diego.
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