Had a chance to solidify our position to make us basically impossible to beat. Instead we got some slightly-better-than-garbage pieces. Wonderful.
If Calhoun is their big piece, this is a fantastic deal for the Dodgers. Calhoun is probably not a NL major leaguer and might not even be a starter 2nd baseman. He's probably just a DH guy and even then he's not quite ready for the majors. This is an AMAZING trade for the Dodgers. Like I said Calhoun is probably not an NL player. Alexy has some promise, but he's just 19 and isn't expected to play for at least 2-3 more years. Davies is another guy who is probably 2-3 years at least away from competing in the big leagues. For reference this was our 4th, 17th, and 27th ranked prospects coming into the year. edit here it is:
Word is Kershaw is progressing VERY well. I wouldn't mind if they gave him the month off but it's looking like Clayton will be back soon. Yu is the 1A now with Wood and Hill being the 3 and 4. Dodgers look solid. Added two lefties too boot. If the Dodgers don't win it all this year, it will be a massive choke. Worse than any year. I don't believe they have really choked in the last few years. They had too many flaws. But now they have everything. Great pitching, great hitting, right blend of vets and youngsters and an amazing manager.
For reference: the Yankees traded for Gray and gave up their #4, #5, and #14 prospects. Gray is younger with a lower ERA and is cost controlled via arbitration for two more years. Their stats: Gray: 3.43 ERA, 6 wins (5 losses, 16 games), 97 IP, 8 HR, 30 BB, 94 SO, 1.175 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9, 8.7 K/9 Darvish: 4.01 ERA, 6 wins (9 losses, 22 games), 137 IP, 20 HR, 45 BB, 148 SO, 1.168 WHIP, 3.0 BB/9, 9.7 K/9 I'd say Gray is better, but not by a lot and we gave up a lot less to get Darvish. Either way, it's pretty incredible that the Yankees and Dodgers were both able to pull off similar trades for star pitchers without giving up any of the prospects they were determined to keep. Really shows the depth of the farm system.
I wouldn't necessarily say we gave up a lot less. I prefer to rank prospects based on their overall MLB prospect ranking: Dustin Fowler (77), Jorge Mateo (unranked), and James Kaprelian (unranked) for Sonny Gray Willie Calhoun (69), Brendon Davis (unranked), A.J. Alexy (unranked) for Yu Darvish