The Spokane Fightin' Fish continued to load up for the 2021 Season, announcing a deal Tuesday with the Idaho Taters. The Fish will acquire outfielder Austin Meadows (2R/$3) and third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes (Minors) in exchange for right-hander Chris Paddack (2/$14), outfielder Austin Hays (Minors) and left-hander Matthew Liberatore (Minors).
Meadows was placed on the injured list July 16 following a positive COVID test and did not debut until Aug. 4. In 36 games before his regular season was cut short by a left oblique strain, Meadows had a 32.9 K% and the quality connections were few and far between (7.1 Barrel%). His postseason was even worse; add the numbers together and you're left with a .185 BA and six homers over 183 total at-bats. He attempted steals in a total of two games and his sprint speed ranked in the bottom half of the league, dropping from 28.1 ft/sec in 2019 to 26.5 ft/sec.
Meadows has proven quite capable though and should present an extremely strong value if he can return to his 2019 form where he slashed .291/.364/.558 with 33 home runs and 29 doubles.
Hayes, a former RDBL 1st Rounder, exceeded even the most optimistic expectations as a rookie in 2020. A .450 BABIP obviously propped up his stats to some degree, but his 9.2% barrel rate would have ranked 22nd among qualified hitters, ahead of Mike Trout, Luke Voit and Nelson Cruz, so his performance was more skill than luck. Gold Glove caliber defense at third base ensures everyday playing time, and he should reprise his role as the Pirates No. 2 hitter serving as another stellar value for the Fish through 2023 with a likely Opening Day activation this season.
The Taters return was led by right-hander Chris Paddack who is under team control through 2022. Paddack was the talk of baseball for a while in 2019 as he made the jump from Double-A and hit the ground running, cruising to a 3.33 ERA and 0.98 WHIP over 140.2 innings as a 23-year-old. His changeup remained a great weapon in 2020, but his fastball suddenly became entirely too hittable. Major League Baseball combined to hit .308 with a .658 SLG against Paddack's four-seam fastball in 2020, up from .204 and .391 the season prior. Of the 14 homers Paddack allowed, 10 were against the four-seamer.
Aside from a minor ankle injury in September, Paddack was ostensibly healthy. His average velocity on his four-seamer held steady, supporting the idea his arm is fine. Paddack, who had Tommy John surgery earlier in his career, is just entering his age-25 season and should theoretically be well rested and capable of handling a relatively heavy workload in 2021 with a potential return to a frontline arm if he can improve the results of his heater.
Rounding out the deal were a pair of prospects in Austin Hays and Matt Liberatore with Hays projected to slot in as an Opening Day starter on the Taters Active Roster. Hays was an interesting option last season after posting a .309/.373/.574 slash line in 75 plate appearances in 2019. Unfortunately, his 2020 campaign was largely disappointing. He missed nearly half of the short season with a fractured rib, appearing in just 33 games. His performance took a step back across the board, as he hit just four homers and stole just two bases while slashing .279/.328/.393. The Taters believe there is more in the tank for Hays with playing time likely assured for at least 2021 in Baltimore.
Liberatore is a great athlete who can touch the mid-90s and gets big spin on his curveball, while also mixing in a slider and changeup, with the slider especially promising given how new the pitch is for him. One concern on Liberatore is that his delivery doesn’t provide that much deception, an issue many pitchers with premium stuff and very pretty mechanics have had before. He’s also had some trouble keeping the delivery together with men on base, although that’s easier to remedy than insufficient deception. If hitters see his fastball too well, that’s a bigger concern, because it has sunk some very talented pitchers before, from Luke Hochevar to Casey Kelly to Jeff Hoffman. St. Louis ability to find a way to keep hitters off Liberatore’s fastball will be the key to developing the lefty into his #2 starter ceiling.
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