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By Anthony De Franco  July 31, 2009, at 7:01 pm  Well, that happened a little bit differently than we thought it would. We assumed that Vitor Belfort would fight Dan Henderson, who is an actual middleweight. However, instead we get Rich Franklin against The Phenom.
UFC president Dana White announced he had signed the former UFC champion Friday on a conference call with reporters.
“I like to bring the fans the best fights I can possibly bring them and the fights that the fans want to see,” said White. “When we announced that Rich Franklin was fighting Dan Henderson, fans were pissed. There was some backlash. People didn’t like it.
“So, we went out and we just signed Vitor Belfort. Vitor Belfort is now fighting Rich Franklin in Dallas in September. That’s the new main event.”
The bout will be contested at 205 pounds said White, although Belfort’s most recent fights have been in the middleweight division.
The announcement squashed rumors Belfort had booked a fight in Brazil in September.
I think that it’s interesting that Belfort is going to be fighting at 205. He has been fighting as a middleweight for a while now and was having success. I also beleive that this is a terrible matchup for Belfort. I know that White wanted someone who will stand with Belfort, but isn’t this what Franklin does? He’s stood with guys like Wanderlei Silva and won, what makes you think that he can’t beat Belfort? If I was was White, I would have given Vitor a tuneup fight to get used to the Octagon again.
By Anthony De Franco July 31, 2009, at 7:00 pm The Huntington Beach Bad Boy will make his return to the UFC. That has been determined. However, the questions have turned from “if” to “when”, “where”, and “who.”
The first rumored matchup that we hear about is a possible matchup with 44 year old Mark Coleman later this year. Coleman recently defeated Stephan Bonnar by unanimous decision. They are both strong wrestlers who can’t do much else. Ortiz’s biggest problem in his last few fights has been that the game has sort passed him by. He may have been one of the fathers of ground and pound, but he lacks standup and submissions. Although, the latter has improved as we saw the triangle that nearly ended the winning streak of Lyoto Machida in Ortiz’s last fight.
If Ortiz can improve his all-around game, then he can beat Coleman. However, if he goes into the fight trying to outwrestle the old man, then he puts himself in a spot where he could lose a decision.
By Jason Comack July 31, 2009, at 5:58 pm Big Winners:
Boston Red Sox
The Sox needed to make some kind of move. At the end of the day they ended up with the impact hitter they needed and didn’t give up any of their top prospects to get him. Justin Masterson is a nice player. He’s a mid-rotation type pitcher, or potentially a late inning reliever, however he doesn’t have the same upside that Bucholz has. Price is a guy who the Sox miscast as a starter in the minors. As a reliever he has the potential to make it to the majors. Hagadone is the key to this deal. Much like the Cliff Lee trade the Indians identified a high ceiling youngster and are taking a flier on him. Hagadone is 23 and coming off Tommy John surgery but he has the potential to be a front of the rotation pitchers. To get Victor Martinez, who isn’t a rental and will get you two first rounders when he leaves, you have to like the value the Red Sox got in the trade.
In other minor trades the Sox sent Andy LaRoche for Casey Kotchman. Kotchman is younger and under control to 2011. Considering LaRoche is a free agent the Sox did well to get a decent role player for him. They also sent Mark Kotsay to the White Sox for Brian Anderson, who will provide minor league depth. As well as trading Julio Lugo for Chris Duncan.
All in all the Sox got much, much better and still have a core group of youngsters in Bucholz, Bowden, Bard, Anderson, Westmoreland and Casey Kelly.
Philadelphia Phillies
While opinions seem to vary widly on the bounty of prospects the Phillies traded the fact is they acquired an ace and held onto their top level prospects. Jason Knapp is similar to Hagadone, ton of upside but a ton of projection. Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson are all players who have the ability to play in the majors but none of them profile as stars. To get Lee and still have Drabek, Happ, Taylor and Brown for the future is impressive.
Winners:
Florida Marlins
Getting Nick Johnson is a bigger deal then you think. I can’t express enough how terrible Emilio Bonifacio has been. He’s the worst everyday player in the majors and actually has a negative VORP. He’s worse then a replacement player. Now the Marlins can play Johnson at first and Cantu at third and relegate Emilio to bench where he belongs. Quietly the Marlins are three games out of the wild-card and this subtle move might put them over the top.
Detroit Tigers
The Mariners did not get enough back for Wasburn. Washburn is a free agent to be, and only a type B free agent (only one draft pick) so they needed to trade him to get any value back. However, Luke French and Mauricio Robles? That’s it? So many teams needed starting pitching, especially the Yankees and Sox, and that’s all you could get back for him? For the Tigers they now can go into October with a rotation of Verlander, Jackson, Washburn and Porcello. They have to be considered the favorite in the AL Central right now.
Colorado Rockies
Maybe a surprise to see on this list but they made a couple of very subtle moves. They got two relievers in Joe Beimel and Rafael Betancourt without giving up any prospects of consequence. Also by resisting the urge to trade Jhoulys Chacin and instead calling him up Colorado managed to turn a weakness into a strength.
We Got Better But Not By Much:
Yankees: Hariston and Hinske without giving up any prospects of consequence help the bench depth and help replace the injured Brett Gardner.
Back soon with the losers of the deadline
By Jason Comack July 31, 2009, at 4:41 pm Kenny Williams at the buzzer…he shoots…he…scores!
3:35pm: USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, via Twitter, says the White Sox confirmed they just got Peavy. Brock agrees – Peavy approved the trade this time. Peavy is owed $56MM through 2012, or $74MM through 2013 if the Sox exercise his option.
3:29pm: MLB.com’s Corey Brock via Twitter: Aaron Poreda’s in the deal. Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse has righty Adam Russell in the trade as well. Righty Dexter Carter and southpaw Clayton Richard are also going to San Diego, according to multiple reports.
Wow major trade out of nowhere. Couple of things to digest here. 1) Is Peavy closer to a return this year then anyone imagined? Yes this trade is for the future also but you figure the White Sox, sitting 2.5 games out of the division feel like they can make a run at it this year. 2) It seems that the White Sox actually gave up a better package of prospects in this Peavy deal than the original Peavy deal.
At first glance this seems like quite a haul for Peavy. Maybe even more than the Indians got for Lee. More to come.
Scott Rolen traded to Cincinnati. Prospects pending but it’s believed Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart.
The Reds must love Rolens defense and figure their ballpark can keep inflating his offensive stats. Is Rolen really an$11 million dollar play next season though? And was it worth it to give up significant prospects? For the Jays if you’re not rebuilding (i.e Halladay wasn’t traded) why do you trade Rolen for a significant downgrade in Encarnacion?
Marlins acquire Nick Johnson for AA lefty Aaron Thompson. Washington also picks up Johnson’s salary.
Love the move the Marlins. Love it even more if they play Cantu over Bonifacio at third. It’s a big upgrade.
Danny Knobler of CBSSports says Andy LaRoche will be traded to Atlanta for Casey Kotchman.
Don’t get this for either team. Is LaRoche better than Cotchman? Did the Braves just want him back? Why are the Red Sox trading a first basemen for a first basmen when they just acquired Victor Martinez and already have the Youk/Oritz/Lowell/V-Tek logjam. The move only makes sense if the Sox carry only two catchers (V-Tek and V-Mart) then they can have Kotchman on the roster.
Post is reporting the Yankees have traded for Reds utility-man Jerry Hairston Jr. They sent Low A ball catcher Chase Weems to the Reds. That appears to be the only deal made by the Yankees.
Great deal for the Yanks. Hariston is a super utility guy who is an upgrade on the bench over Ransom/Hinske. He will fill nicely while Gardner is on the DL.
The Rockies acquired lefty reliever Joe Beimel from the Nationals, according to Chico Harlan of the Washington Post. MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo reports that the Nats get righty Ryan Mattheus and Robinson Fabian in the deal.
Waiting to see how the prospects are but you can’t imagine it’s anyone major. Rockies get a much needed bullpen arm. Think the Rocks have done more to upgrade their team than the Giants and have given up much, much less to do it.
From Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, via Twitter: the Blue Jays acquired Double A pitcher Sean Smith from the Pirates for future considerations.
Apparently Neil Huntington comes from the Bill Parcells school of rebuilding.
ESPN’s Amy K. Nelson, via Twitter, passes along a press release saying the Dodgers acquired catcher Vinny Rottino from the Brewers for pitcher Claudio Vargas. Vargas pitched for the Brewers back in ‘07.
Moving on nothing to see here.
The Tigers acquired pitcher Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners, according to Mike Salk of ESPN radio in Seattle. Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports agrees, saying the Mariners will get pitcher Luke French and another prospect. MLB Network tells us the other prospect is pitcher Mauricio Robles.
One of the bigger moves of the day. Really think the Yankees should have upped the ante for Washburn. I don’t love Seattle’s return here. French is a fringe starter and Robles is a closer in the making but he’s so young so much can change. Steal for the Tigers.
Refresh 3rd String Safety for all the trade deadline news!
By Anthony De Franco July 31, 2009, at 4:39 pm Victor Martinez was one of the few premium bats available in this trade crop and he is now going to be the everyday first basemen for the Boston Red Sox.
Martinez adds a ton of pop to a lineup that doesn’t have a lot of it right now. Jason Bay has slowed down after a crazy first half, David Ortiz is a shell of his former self and Dustin Pedroia is not the player that he was last season. The Sox needed another bat, and they got it with Martinez who is currently raking to the tune of .284/.368/.464.
In exchange the Red Sox send P Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Brian Price. All three of these guys are middle of the rotation types. Fangraphs suggests that Masterson has upside like Gil Meche. That maybe a little overly ambitious. Hagadone is a big lefty who has the most upside in this deal, but also has the lowest floor.
Nevertheless, I think that the value in this trade is about even. The three pitchers that Cleveland got back are all nice pieces, and they shed some salary and piece that is not in their future plans. For the Sox, They get a nice bat without giving up top prospects like Clay Bucholz.
With the gap at first base filled, the Sox then sent recently acquired lefty Adam LaRoche back to his original team, Atlanta Braves. The Braves gave back their current first basemen Casey Kotchman.
Kotchman was one of the prized pieces of the Angels’ crazy good farm system from a few years ago, and has been solid with a line that looks .272/.340/.412. He plays average defense which is saying a lot considering that LaRoche is an absolute butcher at the easiest position in the game.
Atlanta wanted the extra power in the lineup with LaRoche, but are losing a good player in the process. Ultimately, Fangraphs says that they are similar players and the swap doesn’t help either team. I think Kotchman will be a nice piece for the Red Sox stretch run.
Check out our complete MLB trade deadline recap.
By Anthony De Franco July 31, 2009, at 3:52 pm This trade doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. How much better is Orlando Cabrera than Brendan Harris?
Cabrera is a nice piece, but has never been the kind of bat that will have a huge impact on a team. Currently, he’s hitting .281/.318/.365. Does that wow anyone? Does that seem like a piece that is worth trading for? Sure, he’s playing excellent defense, but Harris isn’t that much worse than him defensively either.
For the A’s, They get back a young shortstop in Tyler Ladendorf. He’s a young, athletic shortstop who will likely stay there. He was mashing the ball to a tune of a 1.2 OPS at Short Season ball, but has struggled since moving up in the organization.
All in all, this is another trade that I think that the A’s win. Even if Ladendorf never becomes anything, what did they really lose by trading Cabrera? I find it hard to believe that Bobby Crosby can’t match his dismal numbers.
Check out our complete MLB trade deadline recap.
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