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Art Deco · 03-16-2022, 02:50 PM

I started out shopping for a 1B and ended up acquiring the best young pitcher in MLB:

Who is James Hays? Glad you asked:

80 stuff. Now, not potential. Hays was the #1 overall pick in 2023 and finally has put it all together and you can see how dominant he was in his first three starts of the year for Texas. He immediately becomes our ace (sorry, Dustin May) and has four more years of team control and isn't arb-eligible until 2029. There's a good chance we give him a long-term deal soon anyway. We did give Texas quite a bit in return with 3 highly-regarded starting pitcher prospects. Allen was our supplemental 1st round pick last year and could be a #2 starter if he gets his control under control, Mank was our 4th round pick but shot up the prospect charts after turning pro and was the #66 overall prospect, and Archila is a flame-thrower we discovered in the Dominican in 2024 and was highly regarded in trade talks where we were offered a lot for him (which is how this all got started when I saw the Rockies were willing to trade me 1B Michael Toglia for him).

Fortunately we didn't have to part with our elite pitching prospect Dave Cedeno, who's been in the top 10 since being a July 2 signing back in 2021 and dazzled at Durham in his AAA debut a few days ago, or with Parker Detmers, our 1st round pick last year who's almost MLB-ready. Hays will obviously go into our rotation, either in Slade Cecconi or Nick Lodolo's place. JT Ginn has pitched too well in his first 3 starts to go back to the pen. Of course when Clayton Kershaw is ready in early May Cecconi or Lodolo is out as well.

03-16-2022, 02:50 PM	#535
Art Deco Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2020 Posts: 7,789	Massive Trade! I started out shopping for a 1B and ended up acquiring the best young pitcher in MLB: Who is James Hays? Glad you asked: 80 stuff. Now, not potential. Hays was the #1 overall pick in 2023 and finally has put it all together and you can see how dominant he was in his first three starts of the year for Texas. He immediately becomes our ace (sorry, Dustin May) and has four more years of team control and isn't arb-eligible until 2029. There's a good chance we give him a long-term deal soon anyway. We did give Texas quite a bit in return with 3 highly-regarded starting pitcher prospects. Allen was our supplemental 1st round pick last year and could be a #2 starter if he gets his control under control, Mank was our 4th round pick but shot up the prospect charts after turning pro and was the #66 overall prospect, and Archila is a flame-thrower we discovered in the Dominican in 2024 and was highly regarded in trade talks where we were offered a lot for him (which is how this all got started when I saw the Rockies were willing to trade me 1B Michael Toglia for him). Fortunately we didn't have to part with our elite pitching prospect Dave Cedeno, who's been in the top 10 since being a July 2 signing back in 2021 and dazzled at Durham in his AAA debut a few days ago, or with Parker Detmers, our 1st round pick last year who's almost MLB-ready. Hays will obviously go into our rotation, either in Slade Cecconi or Nick Lodolo's place. JT Ginn has pitched too well in his first 3 starts to go back to the pen. Of course when Clayton Kershaw is ready in early May Cecconi or Lodolo is out as well.