Trade Central: Dodgers Send Wieland To Mariners — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

THE DEAL

A deep reserve of starting pitching—health allowing of course—permitted the Dodgers to move some surplus Tuesday, sending righthander Joe Wieland—acquired in the Matt Kemp deal in the winter of 2014—to the Mariners.

The Dodgers lost Zack Greinke in free agency to the Diamondbacks, but added Scott Kazmir, Kenta Maeda and Yaisel Sierra to a staff that has Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brandon McCarthy, Alex Wood and potentially Julio Urias, Jose De Leon and Frankie Montas.

Ryu and McCarthy will be returning from injury, Sierra will be getting his first exposure to baseball in the States and De Leon and Urias have not reached the majors, so there is great uncertainty, but the Dodgers were comfortable enough to offload Wieland.

DODGERS ACQUIRE
Erick Mejia, if
Age: 21

Injuries, including a shoulder strain, cost Mejia all but 51 games in 2015. An above-average runner, he shows the pop to grow into an average hitter with 5-10 home run power, and he has advanced plate discipline for his age. He has a chance to be an average or even tick above-average second baseman who is a fringy defender at shortstop because of average actions and range, although he does have a plus arm.

Club (League)	Class	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	SO	SB	OBP	SLG
Clinton (MWL)	LoA	.269	6	26	5	7	0	1	3	0	4	0	.269	.346
Mariners (AZL)	R	.417	5	12	4	5	1	0	2	1	2	2	.462	.500
Tacoma (PCL)	AAA	.000	4	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	.000	.000
Everett (NWL)	SS	.282	36	131	24	37	5	1	11	16	22	18	.361	.336

MARINERS ACQUIRE
Joe Wieland, rhp
Age: 25

Thanks to Wieland having spent so much time on the major league disabled list, he is the rare player who has racked up three years of major league service time yet still qualifies for the Prospect Handbook, as he still falls just under the 50-inning cutoff for eligibility. Wieland reached the big leagues with the Padres in 2012, but Tommy John surgery erased his 2013 season. He returned to the mound in 2014, then after the season the Padres traded him and catcher Yasmani Grandal to the Dodgers for Matt Kemp and Tim Federowicz. Wieland threw just 38 2/3 innings in 2014, so 2015 was his first full season back from TJ, and he still isn’t quite where he was before the operation. Wieland stands out more for his pitchability and savvy than his pure stuff. He’s an excellent athlete who’s able to repeat his delivery, throw strikes and use all of his pitches, working off an 88-93 mph fastball. His 73-78 mph curveball is an average pitch he leans on as his top secondary offering, mixing in a fringy changeup to both lefties and righties. Wieland operates with a thin margin for error, and can ramp up to 150-160 innings next year, projecting best as a swingman or No. 5 starter.

— Ben Badler