Well Worth the Investment: Roberto Hernandez

Newly Acquired SP/RP Roberto Hernandez

On December 18, 2013 it was reported that the Phillies were indeed inking Roberto Hernandez to a 1 year deal with a base salary of $4.5 million.  Included in the deal, are several incentives of varying amounts based off the amount of innings pitched by Roberto in 2014.  Hernandez was coming off a rather poor 2013 with the Tampa Bay Rays, turning in a 4.89 ERA at seasons end.  What he did provide the Rays with was innings every 5th day in the rotation.  This kind of pitcher was sorely missed on the 2013 Phillies' squad.  Going along with Bert's ability to eat up innings all year, he has a very healthy career 57.1% ground-ball rate, a stat that plays well within the confines of hitter friendly CBP.  I'd say the Phillies' front office realized that information, along with the fact the NL and more specifically the NL East is a much easier league & division to pitch in, and decided that Hernandez was their man for the 5th spot in the 2014 rotation.  

MLB Trade Deadline Winners and Losers

In recent years, the trade deadline has not fallen short on the excitement factor, seeing big names like Manny Ramirez, Jason Bay, C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, and this year, Jon Lester, David Price, and Yoenis Cespedes. Teams with star players who are out of the playoff race have long traded there star players for prospects for the future, but this year was somewhat different. 25-Man Roster talent was being moved left and right, which led to one of the most active trade markets to date, and also produced some trade deadline winners and losers, here are a few:

MLB Tradeline: Who is on the Move?

Leading up to the MLB All Star Break, all the general managers start saving their minutes, as their phones will be ringing nonstop until the July 31st trade deadline at 4 PM. Blockbuster trades are what some fans and analysts crave every time this date rolls around, and some players are just happy to move onto a contending team. Some greats that have been part of major trades are Sammy Sosa, Ricky Henderson, Miguel Cabrera, and of course. Babe Ruth. Here are some players that I believe will be packing their bags for somewhere new in 2014.