Should I trade Vernon Wells and Bobby Jenks for Erik Bedard or Felix Hernandez and Hunter Pence?

Question

I was offered Felix Hernandez (Bedard is the other option from the same team if I want it) and Hunter Pence for Bobby Jenks and Vernon Wells.

First, should I make the deal?

Second, is King Felix the best of that group to trade for

My other OF's are Hermida, Nady, Kemp. I have Braun, Longoria, Mauer, Conor Jackson, BJ Upton, Michael Young as my other starters with Delmon young on the bench.

My pitchers are

SP - Laffey, Verlander, Aaron Cook, Lester, Ervin Santana.

RP - Franklin, Lidge, Jenks, Borowski, Balfour

I'm torn because I feel like I am giving up alot but I need help in SP badly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

First, good call on identifying the need. That's half the battle.

Looking at the trade, you have the closers to be able to make up for the lost saves that Jenks would provide. Balfour and Wheeler will likely both see time with Percival on the DL, with JP Howell potentially stepping in to grab a save as well.

Franklin and Lidge should serve you fine, and Borowski will record saves as long as he's in the role.

My piece of advice there would be to watch and make sure that Franklin stays in the role with Isringhausen getting healthy. Masa Kobayashi would get first crack in Cleveland. You'll just want to be aware.

The first choice of those two pitchers has to be Hernandez. He's the ace and will continue to be. I don't think his ankle injury is anything to be concerned with. He'll be back and pitching fine. Hernandez has done well to limit his fly balls, forcing at least ten ground outs in seven of his last ten starts.

Add to that, his strikeout numbers have been solid and he's allowed less than three runs in four of his last five outings. His WHIP is what you would consider elite (under 1.25) and his opponents batting average is under .250. All good signs. He'd be the primary choice here.

But you don't lose much with Bedard right now. Both of these guys are stuck playing for a Seattle team that has been lousy offensively, so wins will always be tough to come by. Bedard's main short coming when compared to Felix is strikeouts (97 for Hernandez vs. 60 for Bedard).

Bedard's WHIP is 1.30 and his ERA is 3.79. He's been much better at home. His ERA would be better if it weren't for two bad outings that skew the entire number, one of which was against the Yankees.

Wells is better than Pence, but Pence should rebound in the second half. He had a bad June coming off an amazing month of May.

I think the offer your making is more than fair in either case. If you can't get Hernandez, you would do fine with Bedard.

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Answer 2

If it is a keeper league, then there is no doubt that you should do it and get Felix. If not, I would still do it because Pence is not that much of a downgrade and you can really use the SP help. And unless Bedard gets traded to a team that will get him significantly more wins, go with Felix.

Answer 3

If you are going to make the trade, get Felix. And you are getting rid of a lot of saves for not that many more wins by getting rid of Jenks.

I don't think you should do it. I think the outfielder trade, Wells for Pence is good for you, but dont let the other guy know that. Just dont do what I did, I needed points right now, so I totally re-did almost my entire team...now I am screwed for the rest of the 08 season and have maybe 4 keepers for next year. Totally screwed that one up.

Answer 4

I think that package you should be able to get a better SP then those two. Prob looking at a top 20 pitcher and get it from a team that needs bulpen help. Your Team looks pretty bad overall and prob need some major work done to fix that but don't trade jenks who been lights out and wells who just got back from the dl that cheap.