The Marlins and the Royals kicked off the Hot Stove League when the Fish traded firstbaseman Mike Jacobs to KC for reliever Leo Nunez.
It didn’t take long for baseball pundits to weigh in on the deal. Many poo-poo-ed the deal saying that KC could have gotten more. The knock on Jacobs of course, is that he’s a one-dimensional player. You couldn’t give Jacobs a free pass if you gift wrapped it and put his name on it. While that’s probably true, his one dimension is pretty decent. Jacobs hit 32 dingers in 2008, a career high. Considering that the Royals hit all of 120 for the whole year and their starting firstbaseman hit 3, it might benefit the team.
Another thing to consider… Jacobs hit 13 points better in the second half of 2008.
There’s no doubt that the Marlins needed to get rid of Mike Jacobs who is arb-eligible in 2009. They have prospect Gaby Sanchez waiting in wings to over at first base. With Nunez, they have a young set-up man with good numbers who by the way, isn’t eligible for arbitration till after 2009.
Did the Royals get enough for Nunez? It’s too early to tell. But I’d wager Jacobs (who will be only 28 next year) won’t be bust.