Iowa City gets IF J.P. Ontiveros (Season 5 IFA - $18MM bonus)
Helena gets IF William Chong (Season 9 #28), 2B/CF Alberto Quinnones (Season 8 IFA - $10.9MM bonus), and 2B/OF Hal Stairs (Season 9 #40).
Analysis: Another puzzler from Helena. The argument is not what you have with Ontiveros - he established his bona fides with a .296/29/104 last year. Chong and Stairs are hard to project; Quinnones will hit a Range-Glove of about 82-78 and contact-power-vL-vR/eye of about 51-67-60-66-68. Low-end major-leaguer. But even if Chong and Stairs are better than that, I wonder why Helena makes this deal. This team has "win now" written all over it and they trade a young, star SS for 3 prospects who might be major-leaguers 2-3 years from now? We can say with certainty that the deal helps the Champs now - Ontiveros is the odds-on favorite to be the Silver Slugger at 2B, and the NL 2B Gold Glove has moved to right field for him.
Columbus gets SP Daisuke Miyakazi (Season 4 IFA - $31.3MM Bonus)
Honolulu gets IF Gabby Owens (Season 5 #2)
Analysis: The Kahunas had cap issues and figured it made more sense to trade one of their aces and get max value than move other vets and try to cobble together a lineup with the dregs of free agency. Team officials confirm that 12 teams submitted offers, and characterized "5 or 7 as serious". It came down to Columbus' offer of Owens vs. Arizona's offer of younger prospects, and the bonus of getting immediate help won out. Owens brings excellent defense and and power bat to the Kahunas; his .291/42/103 was good for the NL ROY. He'll line up in RF for Honolulu this season but is the heir apparent at either 2B or 3B. Miyakazi has 52 wins and a 3.29 ERA in 4 seasons. He moves in as the #1 starter for Columbus, which had a 3.72 team ERA last year but just missed the playoffs. The Discoverers now begin a game of musical chairs to replace Owens' production. Vance Winn moves from 2nd to 3rd, Orlando Martinez moves from 1st to 2nd, and somebody new - probably promising rookie Wally Richmond - moves in at first.
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