Trade Profiles: Ian Kennedy

Picture Credit: zimbio.com

I love when this time of year when rumors about the Pirates fly their way into my twitter feed.  It just make the job of choosing who to profile next easier.  This is a great example of that right now as Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Pirates were one of the teams scouting Ian Kennedy on Friday.  This was music to my ears.

#Pirates, #Royals among teams that scouted #Padres’ Kennedy last night. Pirates looking for SP and RP. Royals keeping all options open.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 19, 2014

Kennedy was a traded to the Padres from the Diamondbacks last season because he was having a poor year.  When he arrived in San Diego he turned it around in a hurry and hasn't looked back.  Kennedy brings to the table a 7-9 record with a K/9 of 9.53, BB/9 of 2.57, a WHIP of 1.21 and an ERA of 3.62.  But you should all know the drill by now.  His FIP shows he should have an ERA of 2.97 and an xFIP of 3.23.  So there is room for Kennedy to get even better.  And if you're thinking he's only performing well because he's pitching most of his games at Petco Park, think again.  Kennedy has a 3.06 ERA away from Petco compared to the 4.18 ERA he has when pitching there.

Kennedy is also not a rental pitcher.  He has one more arbitration eligible season where he will probably get a raise from the $6 million he's making this season.  So my guess would be he'd get close to $9 million in arbitration next year.  That's a price the Pirates can pay for a pitcher of this quality.  Especially since the only locks for the rotation next year are Gerrit Cole and Charlie Morton.  Kennedy would surely stabilize that.

I really don't see any negatives about acquiring Kennedy.  I mean the price might scare off the Pirates because they wouldn't pay AJ Burnett $12 million why would they pay Kennedy $9 million?  But Kennedy is not AJ Burnett.  He's 29 and shows signs that he is only going to improve while Burnett is only going to regress.  He doesn't have an extensive injury past.  He wouldn't cost too much in prospects either.

This is a trade I really think can happen and I really want it too.  The Pirates could use another starter just to stabilize the rotation for a playoff run and beyond.  Then if anyone gets hurt, Jeff Locke and Vance Worley will be there ready to go.  The Pirates have a good trade history with the Padres but since the front office was blown up I'm not sure that's the case anymore.  But the Pirates should be able to make a deal like this centered around Alen Hanson.  I think the Pirates have lost faith in Hanson because they continue to bench him for lack of effort and he's not getting it.  It's time to either play him or send him to a team that still values him as a top 100 prospect.  Maybe that's San Diego.  A deal consisting of Alen Hanson, Harold Ramirez and a grade C pitcher should be able to get it done.  If that's the case, NH should pull the trigger and add another good arm to the rotation.