Sherrill Traded to Dodgers for Josh Bell & Steve Johnson

[blid]

Bell has a great OBP and 20 HR power in AA, and it's his first year there as a 22-year-old. Him as the centerpiece makes this a good deal already -- I just wonder how his defense is.

Steven Johnson is a promising second piece and his Baltimore ties are a great touch!

[jerios55]

Yet ANOTHER switch hitter. I wonder where Bell will ultimately end up hitting for us. But MAN - Roberts, Wieters, Bell, Izturis...all switch hitters and we FINALLY have a legitimate young 3B for the future!

I didn't realize this either, awesome to have yet another switch hitter.

So...Johnson to AA, Matusz to AAA?? Johnson started in High A and went to AA, I think it would be best. Not to mention Matusz is ready and Norfolk has an open spot with Tillman called up.

Bell was AA too I believe, does he stay there or force Michael Aubrey to Bowie (or someone else). It'd be fun to see a Synder Bell 1B/3B combo in AAA.

[scottbbfm]

Those doubles in the Southern league are HR's in a lot of ML parks, especially the AL East. Southern League is a good pitching league with a lot of big parks.

[tywright]

2011

2B - BRob

CF - Jones

RF - Nick

C - Wieters

LF - Reimold

3B - Bell

1B - Snyder

DH - Scott?

SS - ??

[DNoz29]

Johnson was ranked No. 15 by BA coming into the season.

Nice trade for Baltimore. I wasn't sure the Dodgers would deal Bell in a Sherrill deal, especially if Toronto wanted him as part of a Halladay package, but here we are.

I like the pickup, but only if it's coupled with a Halladay acquisition. I can't wait to see Bell in action, perhaps as early as next year.

[thundercleetz]

Orioles trade: Erik Bedard

Orioles receive: Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, Kam Mickolio, Tony Butler, Josh Bell & Steve Johnson

[DNoz29]

Bah, sorry for the double post.

[Austin]

So what is Bell's ETA?

[Sports Guy]

Johnson is still just 21...His K numbers are excellent...as is his K/BB ratio.

But his BBs are a little high and he gives up a lot of homers...Appears to be a flyball pitcher.

He is a decent second player in the package...Probably destined to be a reliever but has the ability, if he works on command and keeping the ball down, to make it as a starter.

Not sure what his secondary pitches are like...also not sure about his velocity.

They got Bell though and that was the key. This was a very solid trade for us...I would stop short as saying it was a great deal(at least at the time of the deal) and quite frankly, i am surprised AM accepted this deal, getting Johnson as the second player and not someone more highly regarded.

However, getting Bell is great and hopefully they can work on his defense to the point where he can be average...His approach at the plate and his power should be good...If he hits for enough power and has a good enough OPS, he may be able to move to first with no issues, if he has to.

[GoldGlove21]

The Orioles trade the best reliever and closer on the market for a AA 3B prospect with weight issues and a run of the mill minor league pitcher. I know that moving George Sherrill made sense, but I was hoping that Steve Johnson would have been the third best player in the deal. I really thought a third player or a higher upside second player would have been in the deal. It will be interesting to see what the Cubs give up for Grabow.

[isestrex]

Here's Bell's swing in motion.

<a href="http://www.baseball-intellect.com/Resources/josh-bell.gif">

<img src="http://usera.ImageCave.com/isestrex/Emoticons/drool.gif">

[Three Run Homer]

I'm very happy to get Bell. He's made huge progress in his plate discipline this year, and his raw numbers show improvement from last year despite moving up a level and moving from the California League to the Southern League, which is a pitcher's league.

According to Baseball Prospectus' Peak Davenport Translations, Bell's estimated peak performance (taking into account park/league effects as well as typical player improvement with age) is .288/.376/.564. That's the sixth best in the Southern League, and most of the guys ahead of Bell are on the short list of best hitting prospects in baseball: Jason Heyward, Mike Stanton, Logan Morrison, Tyler Flowers and Freddie Freeman.

I'm curious to hear the scouting reports on Stephen Johnson. His numbers at Inland Empire are very odd--he gave up 14 HR in less than 100 innings, but at the same time his ERA was under 4, which for the California League is excellent. He's struck out over a man an inning, but has a fairly high walk total. He's pitched very well in two starts in the Southern League.

Bell is 22 now and Johnson turns 22 next month, so both are young for AA.

Very good trade in my opinion.

[Sports Guy]

The Orioles trade the best reliever and closer on the market for a AA 3B prospect with weight issues and a run of the mill minor league pitcher. I know that moving George Sherrill made sense, but I was hoping that Steve Johnson would have been the third best player in the deal. I really thought a third player or a higher upside second player would have been in the deal. It will be interesting to see what the Cubs give up for Grabow.

Bell doesn't have weight issues anymore...He lost 30 lbs before last year.

The Orioles did good here....For the sake of DNoz, I hope they protect Sherrill in the second half and don't send him out there to much because GS has a history of having poor second halves.

[Crazysilver03]

I didn't realize this either, awesome to have yet another switch hitter.

So...Johnson to AA, Matusz to AAA?? Johnson started in High A and went to AA, I think it would be best. Not to mention Matusz is ready and Norfolk has an open spot with Tillman called up.

Bell was AA too I believe, does he stay there or force Michael Aubrey to Bowie (or someone else). It'd be fun to see a Synder Bell 1B/3B combo in AAA.

This is a good point. Johnson will be the 6th starter in Bowie, so someone must move up.

I would assume Liz moves up, though it would be nice to see Matusz go up, though it would be hard to justify having him finish the year in AAA, and if he does so on a tear, having him go back to Norfolk to start 2010.

[Crazysilver03]

Also of note, Josh Bell will have to be added to the 40 man roster after the season, to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.