Ubaldo Jimenez Traded to Cleveland Indians: Why He Will Fail Miserably in the AL

The Colorado Rockies have agreed to send Ubaldo Jimenez to the Cleveland Indians for four prospects. Jimenez is considered to be the best starting pitcher available at the 2011 MLB trade deadline, but he is going to struggle against the American League.

The Indians are 1.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers in the American League Central, and are trying to recapture their lead from the beginning of the season.

The Indians dealt P Drew Pomeranz, P Alex White, P Joe Gardner and 1B Matt McBride. Pomeranz is a 22-year-old pitcher who was the Indians’ first-round draft pick in 2010, and had an ERA of 1.98 in his first 18 starts.

Jimenez is not going to be a free agent until 2014, so the Indians did not mind trading four prospects for one players.

Jimenez had one of the best halves of a season we have ever seen last year, going 15-1 with an ERA of 2.20 before the All-Star break. He has struggled since then, including going 6-9 with an ERA of 4.46 and a WHIP of 1.37 this season.

Jimenez has had an awful season in comparison to 2010, and his ERA and WHIP are much higher than his 3.62 and 1.28 career averages, respectively.

Jimenez has been struggling against the National League, which we know is much worse than the American League offensively.

The AL's players lead the NL's in batting average, home runs, RBI and most other categories. Jimenez has struggled against the inferior NL, and he is going to fail miserably in the AL.

Jimenez has done much worse against the AL than the NL in his career. His numbers include a 4.08 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP, both of which are substantially higher than his career numbers, and even higher than those against the NL.

Jimenez has historically done worse against the AL than the NL, and he is already struggling this season. Jimenez is due for a horrible time in the AL over the next two-and-a-half seasons.