It's ridiculously early to be evaluating an offseason trade, but let's take a look anyway. A few months ago, we sent Doug Davis, Dana Eveland, and Dave Krynzel to Arizona in exchange for Johnny Estrada, Claudio Vargas, and Greg Aquino.
At the time, it seemed like we weren't giving up much in the rotation, but we were getting cheaper in swapping Davis for Vargas. Also, we were improving our catching situation and adding bullpen depth at the expense of a fine pitching prospect in Eveland. None of those things have really changed, but let's check in.
Estrada has been catching nearly every day, getting generally positive reviews about his defense (I know, I know, it's March) and hitting well. No doubts that we got what we thought we were getting there.
Vargas, if anything, has been better than expected; he's going into the rotation for at least as long as Yovani Gallardo is in Nashville, and probably as long as he can pitch decently well. He has a 3.09 ERA this spring.
Aquino has been iffy; but he still has an option and he has what everybody likes to call a live arm. You can never have too many of those, and he has had some success in the majors. Between Aquino and Jose Capellan, we ought to have at least one decent late-inning option over the next few years.
Now to the other side of the deal: Doug Davis isn't exactly wowing 'em in Arizona. Chase Field will make his numbers look worse than they should be, but he's already underwhelming, with an ERA of just under 9.00. Worst of all, he's still walking nearly a batter every other inning. I'm sure he'll be just fine in the back of their rotation, but he's hardly a steal at his salary.
Dana Eveland may still be good, but it'll take some more time. He didn't impress in D-Backs camp: despite a wide-open competition for a spot or two in the rotation, he's going back to triple-A. He even had a shot at the club in the relief, but didn't get that either. I'm sure we'll see him at some point during the regular season, but it won't be right away. That doesn't take anything away from his prospect status, but it's hardly like Eveland is going to come back and bite us this year.
And Dave Krynzel...he was DFA'd. He was a throw-in anyway.
What do you think? Like I say, it's way to early to make any kind of fair evaluation of the trade, but at this point I like the trade just as much as I did when it happened, if not a bit more.