TBDR Receives: Willoughby Hoose, Dog Man

HOU Receives: Peter Peckershine, Methuselah Saltalamacchia





2 well known names, and 2 good fakebaseball names are being swapped between these AL teams right before session 8. This really took the league by storm, as there were no trade rumors surrounding any of the 4 prior to this Thursday. The only thing my sources have told me are that the Astros had been rejecting trade offers for Hoose just sessions earlier. Nevertheless, each team had their reasoning to make this deal.





Introduction to the Players





Hoose will join the Devil Rays' rotation as their 2nd strikeout lefty, but has far more experience than Donked McToad. Over 2 seasons with the Astros, Hoose has never been an all-star level pitcher, but can still be the face of a franchise. With over 5,000 discord results (add still growing every day), Hoose ranks himself 4th among every single pitcher in the MLR. For a season 1 draftee, Hoose does not have a ton of wear and tear on his arm that will lead to easy scouting either. He's managed to stay under 20 innings for this season. Although Hoose is more of an activity acquisition, he's not bad on the mound either. A 4.27 ERA was the best for the Astros and will be the best on the Devil Rays. Hoose is coming off a strong start against the Indians with 4 IP and only 2 ER against. Since a rough patch to start the season, Hoose has had his D/BF grow after nearly every start it seems like. Will he ever become an all-star pitcher? Just ask him: "It comes down to limiting the long ball and control. Especially the long ball. I know I have the stuff to be better, I'm consistently in the top 10 in D/BF, so I'm able to get outs. I just find myself in jams far too often. I certainly made strides with Houston, but I do think this Tampa Bay scouting team is one of the best in the league. Working with the advanced stat guys should help work out some issues with my mechanics and hopefully you'll see a more dominant Woozle on the mound moving forward" Hoose is no doubt someone you want on your team, we'll just have to see if he can make a turnaround in the reddit threads.

Hoose fun fact: 26.8% of Hoose's pitches in his last 2 appearances have resulted in a difference of 400 or more





Dog Man, or as some call him "Big Bark", doesn't have a ton of at-bats under his belt. He also has a very underwhelming discord presence. So what did Tampa Bay see in him? Whitt Bass notes that "I see a lot in Dog Man's personality that I feel will be a great fit with the club. He's confident almost to the point of cocky, and loves to win. Meth was great while he was with us but I couldn't turn down bringing a personality like that in to help fire up the clubhouse" Additionally, Man has a .400 OBP, despite the low batting average. What this tells you is that he can consistently guess the pitch in the right area, but seems to fall apart when guessing the exact tens and ones digits. My personal opinion is that the tens and ones digits are more luck than the right area, so expect a big break out from Dog Man soon.

Man fun fact: Man currently holds a slash line of 143/400/143, but if he added 100 to each swing this season, he would have a 500/600/625 slash line





Peter Peckershine was a name talked about as the next MLR superstar after collecting 2 player of the game awards in just 3 games. His new manager, Wilbur Wood, believes that "Peckershine is such an underrated player. I think he'll put up MVP numbers for the rest of the season" The contact right has a great .654 wOBA, one that leads to him being a possible all-star game favorite. The 7 RBIs are very intriguing, but you have to ask if that will keep up with Bear Thomas and Derek Bongiovanni hitting in front of him rather than De Las Rosas and Grimm Carp. Peckershine has also shown promise by popping into the league discord from time to time, in fact he'll be ranked 8th on the Astros by WDC. However, there is concern over the lack of activity from him in the past 2 weeks. There is no doubt that Peckershine's first 3 games have been special, but considering how many season 1 MVP candidates fell off the map after 7 games, it's hard to guarantee any future success from Peckershine.

Peckershine fun fact: Through Session 6, Peckershine's .370 WAR is 2nd among all position players that have played 3 or less games, only behind Foxx Dashington





Methuselah Saltalamacchia is a mouthful for sure, so much just call the contact right catcher Meth Salt. He's never been one of the well-known players, but he does have more discord results than Dog Man, even if his nickname does still say "Minors" in it. He's also hitting .333, whether that's all from 1 game or not. Honestly, most will look at this as your typical throw in, he didn't even play last session despite being kept active, and his only hit was a wrap around on a friendly matchup. But we've seen it before with Chuck McCluster and Charlie Yeagar, players who look like release candidates turn into those who you see every day on the discord calling each other bums. The hope is that that happens to Saltalamacchia here.



Saltalamacchia fun fact: Methuselah Saltalamacchia is the longest name in the MLR at 24 letters. 2nd place is now-former teammate Basebally McBaseballface





Team Fit





The Devil Rays were unanimously at the top of the power rankings 2 weeks ago, but the mighty have fallen. A 7 run loss to a division rival including Cy Hadd award candidate Ed Turner nearly quadrupling his ERA, and superstar reliever Dougie McElroy retiring young. There is no way to replace McElroy, but GM Whitt Bass knew an upgrade was needed to the pitching staff if the Devil Rays wanted to be Paper Cup contenders. In mid-March, you no longer see many teams rolling out with just 2 pitchers, even if they are both active like Donked McToad and Ed Turner. When asked how Whitt would handle the new staff, he answered "I plan to stick to my 2 starter, 1 reliever gameplan. Which pitcher will be in the reliever role has yet to be determined." Gaining Hoose as an upgrade to the pitching staff came with the price of letting Peckershine go, but they could afford it. McBaseballface has had arguably better results this season, so he already has right field locked down, as well McRedgor as a backup. There are plenty of well performing contact righties in Tampa, so Peckershine just was not as valuable to them as he would be for other teams. Swapping Meth Salt for Dog Man does not have an immediate fit, but it fits with Tampa Bay's search for activity.





The fit makes sense for Houston too. After the recent signing of Phokits Balfour, the Astros had 4 pitchers, but they were also shutout 3 out of their last 4 games. Wilbur Wood clearly saw that an addition had to be made to the lineup, and he was alright with trading away a pitcher to do so. The Astros now have 2 star hitters in Dakota Carolina Montana and Peckershine that makes it seemingly impossible for any strikeout lefty pitcher to get by them unscaved. They didn't have a humongous hole in the outfield, but Peckershine is certainly an upgrade. The ability to switch up the catcher corps this session could lead to better results too, as that was an area of weakness earlier this season. The one problem I see for the Astros is the loss of a franchise player. If not Hoose, is McGiles the face of the Astros? Arianna? Even Peckershine? There are a lot of question marks surrounding the 3 of them, so this is definitely a risky move for that clubhouse.





Final Grades





Tampa Bay Devil Rays Grade: A-





I would have traded Peckershine for Hoose straight up, and I would have traded Saltalamacchia for Dog Man straight up. This is a great trade for the Devil Rays that not only increases activity, but is a perfect fit for that organization. Hoose is a major addition and Dog Man is a future breakout, for 4 games combined of players. Moves like these are what makes the Devil Rays at the top of their division.





Houston Astros Grade: B-





Personally, I see a loss in value from the Astros. Sure this fits a need, but the pitching staff is still a problem and they still had Uzumaki and McGiles at the corner outfield spots. It seems too early to call Peckershine an MVP candidate, and he's not someone I would give up the face of the Astros for. It's not a bad move for the Astros, but I think they should have asked for more or said no deal.



