"As the winter's starting-pitching market continues to thin, the asking prices via trade for premium arms are getting steeper.
There is no greater example than Thursday's Gio Gonzalez deal. The Washington Nationals acquired Gonzalez, giving them a young, outstanding 1-2-3 at the front of their rotation. But in order to land the left-hander, they had to pay a steep price in prospects: three of their top 10 -- No. 3 Brad Peacock, No. 4 A.J. Cole and No. 9 Derek Norris -- as judged by Baseball America, as well as Tommy Milone, a 24-year-old left-hander who managed a 3.81 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in a five-start stint for the team in September.
All five names should grab fantasy owners' attention.
Gonzalez, the centerpiece, instantly inherits one of the top three spots in the Nationals' rotation. It can be argued he'll be their Opening Day starter and "ace," being that he lacks the workload concerns of either Jordan Zimmermann (only one full major league season removed from Tommy John surgery and a 161 1/3-inning campaign at that) or Stephen Strasburg (15 months removed from the same operation and certain to face the Zimmermann treatment from this past season). Gonzalez has managed at least 200 innings in each of the past two years, and the good news surrounding his arrival as it pertains to the at-least-as-interesting Strasburg and Zimmermann is that if he can make it three in a row while helping keep the team competitive deep into the summer, the Nationals might be pressured to loosen the reins on their other two youngsters.
Although Gonzalez isn't an ironclad guarantee to make it three straight -- he has, after all, ranked among the top 20 in the game in both pitches per plate appearance and pitches per inning, with his occasionally sketchy command sometimes leading to more taxing frames -- another 200-inning campaign is certainly a stronger bet than the Nationals being competitive into August in what is an increasingly competitive National League East. His arrival is certain to be a plus for both Strasburg and Zimmermann, if only because he'll ease the pressure of either needing to be the "leading man," and that's not talking about "aces matching up with aces" (that's a myth); it's talking about expectations."
