Transaction Analysis: The Night the Dodgers Had

ANAHEIM ANGELS Team Audit | Player Cards | Depth Chart

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Acquire LHP Andrew Heaney from Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for 2B-R Howie Kendrick [12/10]

The top prospect in the Marlins system by a fair margin, Heaney immediately steps into the same slot for the Angels, providing the Halos with a near major league-ready asset that could fill a rotation spot for the bulk of 2015 and provide mid-rotation production in short order. The Oklahoma State product boasts a repeatable delivery with an easy arm and just enough deception to help his low-90s fastball jump on hitters.

The heater is a solid plus offering that can play to a 65 on the 20-80 scouting scale due to quality arm side action and aforementioned giddy-up, and he pairs it with a malleable slider that grades from a 55 to 65 depending on its implementation. Heaney can be tightened it to near-cutter levels with precision or give it some breathing room as a deeper change-of-pace offering that is particularly effective early in the count as a freeze pitch or late as a swing-and-miss offering that can lead barrels out of the zone. The change piece is a quality offering that can play above or below the slider depending on the day, with a nice seven to ten mile-per-hour delta off the fastball and late bottom.

It’s an advanced control profile that regularly produces strikes, but in order for the talented lefty to reach his mid-rotation upside he’ll need to effect the arsenal a little more surgically. At present Heaney can be hittable when he gets to loose in the zone, particularly up, and inconsistencies in release can leave both secondaries soft and inert. Perhaps more importantly, a better handle on the stuff will improve the effectiveness of his sequencing, which combined with his deception will be the true determinant as to whether the Angels received a solid back-end innings eater or more impactful mid-rotation weapon. —Nick J. Faleris

MIAMI MARLINS Team Audit | Player Cards | Depth Chart

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Acquire 2B-L Dee Gordon, INF-R Miguel Rojas, RHP Dan Haren, a player to be named later and cash from Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for LHP Andrew Heaney, UT-R Enrique Hernandez, UT-R Austin Barnes and RHP Chris Hatcher. [12/10]

The motivation for dealing a guy who just recorded his first All-Star nod at the age of 26 is surprisingly straightforward. Besides Gordon being a vestige of the previous regime, his career-best season was fueled by a career-high BABIP, and while there were some clear adjustments made in the first half of the season, the league adjusted back in the second half, causing a steep tumble in Gordon’s production. He hit .284/.300/.348 after the break as pitchers were exploited his lack of power, and realized the only bad approach to Gordon is ball four: His walk rate dropped from 6.9 percent in the first half to 1.4 percent in the second.

The motivation for acquiring that same guy isn’t complicated either. The Marlins get four years of control on a player who just posted an All-Star-caliber season, and led the league in stolen bases. While they gave up six years of Heaney, the potentially free Haren mitigates that loss a bit, and the Marlins were dealing from a source of depth. Still, the price is steep, the return far from certain—not just on Gordon's behalf, but because Dan Haren might well retire before he puts on a uniform. What’s clear is the Marlins are planning to contend, and the likelihood is this is far from their last move of the offseason. —Craig Goldstein

LOS ANGELES DODGERS Team Audit | Player Cards | Depth Chart

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Acquire SS-S Jimmy Rollins from Phillies in exchange for two prospects [12/10]
Acquire LHP Andrew Heaney, UT-R Enrique Hernandez, UT-R Austin Barnes and RHP Chris Hatcher from Miami Marlins in exchange for 2B-L Dee Gordon, RHP Dan Haren, INF-R Miguel Rojas, a player to be named later and cash [12/10]
Acquire 2B-R Howie Kendrick from Los Angeles Angels in exchange for LHP Andrew Heaney [12/10]
Sign RHP Brandon McCarthy to four-year deal [12/10]

The Rollins move is pretty straightforward: It fills the hole left by an aging, but still productive shortstop who departed for a multi-year deal with an aging, but still productive shortstop who is effectively on a one-year deal. While Rollins' slash lines are going in the wrong direction over the past four years, when viewed in context, he’s been an effective option at the plate while providing value on defense as well. Outside of an aberrant 2013 (.241 TAv), Rollins has sat between .269-.283 by TAv, and he’s ranged between providing quite bad (-9) and quite good defense (9) over that period. While the metrics appear to be unsure of how he rates, he generally receives high marks on his glove, and can be considered an asset on that side of the ball.

While Rollins had a full no-trade clause with the Phillies, and was willing to use it, the prospect of heading west to a team built to win now likely appealed to him. Without Rollins, the Dodgers would have relied on the punchless duo of Miguel Rojas and Erisbel Arruebarrena, the latter of whom is more of a threat to announcers than he is at the plate.

The swirl of moves that landed Kendrick is more intriguing. In what seemed like a major heist for an hour or so, the Dodgers lifted Andrew Heaney and three others from the Marlins for the low price of Dee Gordon and a potentially-retiring Dan Haren. But the centerpiece of that return was actually bait to acquire Gordon's replacement.

While Kendrick has been an empty-average hitter for much of his career, the league's slugging percentage has been steadily dropping to the point that he's an above-average power hitter for the position. It’s still not a lot of pop for a guy who hits right around .290, but he's a flashlight replacing a candle. While they only have him for one season, his consistent offensive performance, paired with an above-average glove, makes Kendrick a candidate for a multi-year deal following 2015. He's a fringe candidate to get a qualifying offer next winter, otherwise.

While Heaney was the key piece from the Marlins, Barnes shouldn’t be overlooked in this deal. People will focus on his age relative to his level (he’s 24, and has “only” reached Double-A), but don’t let that distract you from his 50 walks (to just 36 strikeouts), or his .296/.406/.507 slash line in Double-A. He’s as versatile as he is patient, logging 73 games behind the plate, 30 at the keystone and 15 at the hot corner.

Hernandez is on his third team in six months—Heaney would scoff at his churn rate—and has made a significant trip from org-guy to legitimate bench piece, and could be seen as a starter on some non-playoff teams. He’s willing to take a walk, but makes contact when he does swing, so while he might not hit for a high average, he’s a worthwhile contributor on offense. Defensively he offers versatility, having played center field, second base, third base and right field in a limited sample in 2014.

Hatcher is a former relief arm who paired a 26 percent strikeout rate with a walk rate close to five percent. Rojas was potentially the starting shortstop for the Dodgers when the day began, but should fill in as organizational depth for the Marlins. He can pick it with the best of them, but his utter inability to contribute offensively makes him more of an up-and-down guy than a backup infielder.

McCarthy has credited advanced metrics with saving his career, and he can likely add this contract to the list. While the surface stats from his time in Arizona were less than ideal, the advanced metrics such as FIP were much kinder to McCarthy. Much was made of his abandonment of the cutter at the Diamondbacks' behest, and the poor results that followed—especially compared to his turnaround with the Yankees after they encouraged him to re-establish the pitch. It wasn't just the first 200-inning season of his career, but the first 25-start season of his career.

Each of the three moves makes extra sense when viewed together: McCarthy's groundballs should play especially well now that Rollins and Kendrick (and Uribe, and Gonzalez) combine for an exceptional infield defense. Whether McCarthy can reach the 200 inning mark again—let alone four times—is in question. But he'll pitch in front of the best defense of his career this year, at least. —Craig Goldstein