First of all thanks to those who read my first article thatI posted yesterday. I got more views then I hoped for. One person even likedit, thanks mom!

Well if it’s allowed on a Twins blog I have a few thoughtson yesterday’s trades. It looks like the Tigers are going all in for 2012. Theytraded a top 15 pitching prospect a couple fringe prospects and a sandwich draftpick for next season. What they got in return was Anibal Sanchez, Who is an aboveaverage pitcher and certainly a need for the tigers. However he has a 3.94 ERAin the National league and coming to the American League. He does have a FIP of3.41; however that doesn’t count for much in this situation when you considerthe defense that is playing behind him. The problem is compounded even morewhen you consider a groundball rate of 47.6% and the Tigers infield behind him.On the plus side he has a very good strikeout rate of 8.18 per 9. He should fitin nicely behind Verlander, Fister and Scherzer and gives them another solidoption in a playoff game.

They also received Omar Infante. Infante is nothing special atthe plate he makes enough contact to hit for a decent average but has a verylow walk rate and an OBP of .312. He has occasional power and speed, but not differencemaking. As far as in the field he is solid average at second base with a 5.5UZR. However compared to what the Tigers had at second base fans are going tobe calling him the MVP.

Overall the Marlins did very well in this trade getting agood pitching prospect for the future. I know some Tigers fans are down onTurner but keep in mind the kid is only 21 and may have been rushed to thebigs. The Fish also got a bit of a bonus with 2 prospects who could pan out anda sandwich pick which can produce some nice players.

For the Tigers Sanchez and Infante probably add 2-4 wins forthe rest of the season. The big impact is on the playoffs; this solidifies therotation and takes care of the gapping black hole at second base. Do I thinkthat the Tigers gave up too much? Yes, and if this doesn’t go well they couldreally regret it in the near future. However if them helps them win the WorldSeries, to quote ESPNs Keith Law “Flags fly forever.”

The other trade involved a big name and little impact. Foranyone gasping in shock the Ichiro is now a Yankee calm down. This isn’t theIchiro of old. His bat speed and leg sped are both down meaning he can’t slapand run like he used to. In fact his .288 OBP is just plain awful. In fact hiswOBA is .281 with .290 being considered awful. The value for the Yankees is hisdefense; it’s the one thing he still can do. Corner outfield defense for theYankees has been brutal this year and Ichiro is still a plus defender. So forthe Yankees you take the defense, bat him at the bottom of the order and maybehe can use his speed for a small advantage with the top of the order up.

As for the Mariners they got 2 non prospects for Ichiro anda large chunk of cash. Their biggest gain does not have to worry about resigningIchiro in the offseason and dealing with the fan base about it.

Well if anyone has questions or comments feel free and I’lldo my best to get back to you. If you think I’m nuts go ahead and tell me why.If you have any questions about the metrics either ask in the comments or visitfangraphs.com and look at the glossary.

Good initial blogging efforts Killer. L like that you're bringing some research to these stories and not just opinions.

One suggestion I would make would be to change you're formatting up a little. On computer screens, short paragraphs with only a few sentences work pretty well. And then have a full line break between that and the next paragraph. People feel overwhelmed when they don't have enough white space while reading. It also looks like maybe you're writing this someplace else and then cutting and pasting it into the text box? I do the same thing, but make sure you then go and edit it, because I see a lot of times where the words run into each other. That's usually because the "word wrap" or something like it isn't happening in the other program. If you try some other ways, it'll make it easier for you.

Finally, one cheating mechanism we often use is "bullet points" which I think the blogs support. Or you can use headers if you're talking about multiple stories. I'm not sure if I would have used that here or not. I might have formatted this something like this:

First of all thanks to those who read my first article that I posted yesterday. I got more views then I hoped for. One person even liked it, thanks mom! Well, if it’s allowed on a Twins blog, I have a few thoughts on yesterday’s trades.

Tigers-Marlins

It looks like the Tigers are going all in for 2012. They traded a top 15 pitching prospect a couple fringe prospects and a sandwich draft pick for next season.

In return, they got Anibal Sanchez, an above average pitcher and certainly a need for the Tigers. However, he has a 3.94 ERA in the National league and is coming to the American League. He does have a FIP of 3.41; however that doesn’t count for much in this situation when you consider the defense that is playing behind him. That problem is compounded when you consider a groundball rate of 47.6% and the Tigers infield. On the plus side he has a very good strikeout rate of 8.18 per 9. He should fit in nicely behind Verlander, Fister and Scherzer and gives them another solid option in a playoff game.

They also received Omar Infante. Infante is nothing special at the plate he makes enough contact to hit for a decent average but has a very low walk rate and an OBP of .312. He has occasional power and speed, but not difference-making. He is solidly above average defensively at second base with a 5.5UZR. However, compared to what the Tigers had at second base fans are going to be calling him the MVP.

Overall the Marlins did very well in this trade getting agood pitching prospect for the future. I know some Tigers fans are down on Turner but keep in mind the kid is only 21 and may have been rushed to the bigs. The Fish also got a bit of a bonus with 2 prospects who could pan out and a sandwich pick which can produce some nice players.

For the Tigers Sanchez and Infante probably add 2-4 wins forthe rest of the season. The big impact is on the playoffs; this solidifies the rotation and takes care of the gaping black hole at second base. Do I think that the Tigers gave up too much? Yes, and if this doesn’t go well they could really regret it in the near future. However, if them helps them win the World Series, to quote ESPNs Keith Law “Flags fly forever.”

Ichiro To The Yankees

The other trade involved a big name and little impact. ........

See what I mean? How that's easier to read?

Thanks John! I'll work on that. Never did great in my English and writting classes in college but i guess now is as good a time as any to start improving