Martin Prado has just been traded to the New York Yankees. It looks like it has been a busy month for trading for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Martin Prado, their 3rd baseman, was traded to the Yankees in exchange for minor league slugger Peter O'Brien.
Just earlier that same day, the Diamondback had already opted to trade outfielder Gerardo Parra to the Milwaukee Brewers for two players, namely, outfielder Mitch Haniger and Anthony Banda, left-hander.
Although O'Brien is a very interesting offensive prospect, he has some limitations that led critics to believe that the trade-off was primarily money-related in nature. By removing Martin Prado from their team roster, the Diamondbacks save nearly $3.6 million this year alone. Plus, the team becomes off the hook for $11 million in each of the upcoming two seasons.
Martin Prado was actually the main gist of the deal that sent outfielder Justin Upton to the Atlanta Braves before last season started. Although he did not play particularly poorly during his time with the Diamondbacks, many believe that he fell a bit short of the team's expectations.
Martin Prado hit .282 with a .750 OPS, short for on-base plug slugging, just last season. However, at the time that the trade was made, Martin Prado was only hitting .270 with a .686 OPS. In the previous years of Martin Prado with the Atlanta Braves, he was able to hit .296 with a .784 OPS.
O'Brien, on the other hand, was able to hit .267 with 33 homers and a 70 RBI. Plus, he was able to slam 22 homers just last year after hitting 10 in 52 games back in 2012. Looking at these numbers, it can be derived that he is, indeed, a powerful player. However, the issues about O'Brien lie on his defense.
O'Brien, traded for Martin Prado, has been listed as a catcher, but there are some major concern regarding his ability to stay behind the plate. Since being promoted to Double-A, the Yankees has just made him play more 1st base than catcher.
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