Looters make two trades

The Looters tonight announced that they completed two trades tonight and added one more team that they've made a trade with since moving to New Orleans.

The first trade was a minor trade with the Vista Panthers.  In this trade, the Looters traded troubled starter Javier Cervantes to Vista in exchange for 3B Rich Campbell.  Cervantes had a troubled time in New Orleans.  He was originally brought to New Orleans as a waiver claim from the El Paso Diablos in May of 2012.  However, in his first start since being acquired, he was injured for the rest of the season with shoulder inflammation.  However, with the injury, Cervantes had trouble re-establishing himself in New Orleans.  Coming into 2013, he was allowed a chance to compete for a roster spot and didn't make it on the opening day roster, but was called up in May.  In 3 May starts, he was 1-2 with a 7.64 ERA and 1.92 WHIP before being sent back to AAA.  In AAA this year he has a 3-1 record and 5.48 ERA in 8 starts and 3 relief appearances.  It was obvious a change of scenery was needed and the Looters obliged his desires and dealt him to Vista in return for troubled 3B Rich Campbell who has had his own troubles.  Campbell the last two years had slash lines of 295/341/399 and 313/369/432 and was looking like he was establishing himself as a decent 3rd base option, but this year had a steep decline.  In 299 at bats for Vista this year, he hit a slash line of 231/307/301 and a demotion to AAA last sim.  Vista moved back their fences this year and it affected Campbell greatly it appears.  The Looters obviously hope that a change in parks and a return to a more hitter friendly park can influence his hitting positively.

The second trade was with Baffin Island.  Jesus Hernandez is on his way to Baffin.  Hernandez has been a lifelong Looter/Spartan in the organization and put in the hours and time to make it to the majors despite the odds.  He debuted as a 27 year old in 2011 in 10 innings and didn't do much, but the following year upon the move to New Orleans, he came alive.  In 38 appearances over 59.1 innings, he posted a 2.88 ERA and 1.23 WHIP.  He also held opponents to a .231 average and .265 BABIP.  In 2013, he did much of the same with a 2.32 ERA in 25 appearances over 31 innings.  He allowed a few more base runners, but still had a .258 opponent average, but had been unlucky on defense with a .320 BABIP which led to his 1.68 WHIP.  Coming to the Looters is a package of 4 prospects.  The prize is MR Shinkichi Yano who is at AA and considered a 4 star prospect.  Yano has been adjusted to AA this year and has been starting all year.  In 123 IP, he posted a 3-10 record in 20 starts and 1 relief appearance with a 4.38 ERA and 1.44 WHIP.  He will likely make a full transition to the bullpen and be groomed there.  Also coming to New Orleans are 1B Tim Merrill (AAA), 3B Jimmy Murphy (BSA), and CL Shan Liu (A).  Liu at A has a 7-3 record and 6 saves with a 1.67 ERA in 39 appearances, all in relief.  He also has a 1.07 WHIP and is only 17 years old.  The Looters hope he can hone his skills and be a servicable relief arm.  Merrill is mostly organization depth.  He just earned a AAA promotion after having a 278/383/526 slash line at AA this year for a 149 OPS+.  He's a gap hitter who will likely struggle with average.  Murphy is also organization depth.  He recently earned a promotion to BSA.  In AAA this year he has a 264/351/408 slash line.  Nothing impressive, but he's great at defense at 3B and pretty good at SS.  He's 32, and not a long term player, but is a servicable player to stash at AAA for call up purposes.

With these trades, the Looters look to build a bit more depth out of very little.  Cervantes was going to have his arbitration declined in the offseason and Campbell will get a chance to earn a spot on this team going forward.  If he can revive the bat in the final months, he could stick around, otherwise it's very little risk.  Hernandez has been a solid cog all year, but he's also 29 years old and wouldn't factor into the Looters plans when they become competitive in a few years due to his age so to turn him into a prospect like Liu who may be around still when the Looters are competitive is worthwhile at this juncture.