Supposed to be. This winter, we are learning that someone's got a case of the sposdas.

Tuesday's blockbugger deal sends Mark Trumbo and two players to be named later to the Arizona Diamondbacks, left-handed pitchers Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago to the Los Angeles Angels, and outfielder Adam Eaton to the Chicago White Sox.

This is the second time in the week that Arizona general manager Kevin Towers has pulled off a ménage à blah on the trade market. Last Tuesday, the Diamondbacks got right-hander Justin Choate in a deal that saw the Tampa Bay Rays get closer Heath Bell and catcher Ryan Hanigan, with left-hander David Holmberg going to the Cincinnati Reds.

There are useful players in these deals, but it's not exactly like four years ago, when the Diamondbacks were part of a three-team deal with the Detroit Tigers and New York Yankees in which Phil Coke, Curtis Granderson, Austin Jackson, Edwin Jackson, Ian Kennedy, Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth all had to file change-of-address forms.

This time around, the big name is Trumbo, a 27-year-old slugger who will have to move to left field because the Diamondbacks have MVP finalist Paul Goldschmidt at first base. Trumbo hit 34 home runs this year, following up a 32-homer campaign in 2012, but power is all he really brings to the table. He has a .299 career on-base percentage and struck out 184 times this year. The first name that springs to mind thinking of Trumbo is Rob Deer, although while Deer did strike out 186 times in 1987, his career OBP was 25 points higher.

The return for the Angels is appropriate in giving up Trumbo, as two scouts told Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register that Skaggs compares to Jon Niese of the New York Mets, and that his status as a prospect has slipped, along with his velocity, since the Angels sent him to Arizona as part of the Dan Haren trade in 2010. Santiago gets a lot of strikeouts (137 in 149 innings in 2013), but also walks a ton of batters (72 in 2013). Turning 26 on Monday, Santiago is reaching the point of his career where he needs to work out his control issues quickly, or he won't be a major leaguer for too long. As projects go, the Angels could do worse, but it's not exactly a scintillating acquisition

Eaton may have the greatest upside of anyone in the trade, but at the age of 25, he has played only 88 major league games, with a .332 on-base percentage. He generally profiles as a younger version of Alejandro De Aza, who is two years from free agency and may now be hit the trade market around the peak of his value after a 17-homer season in 2013, albeit with a negative-0.3 WAR by baseball-reference.com's formula.

"When you make changes you would, for the most part, like to have a lot of young guys that are good and you have control over for a lot of years," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said before the trade was completed. "I think that would be the plan for a lot of people. However, you do want guys that are established and know what you're going to get.  So the combination is really perfect.  I don't think going all young is going to be the ideal situation."

As a young player with some major league experience, Eaton fits the description. If the White Sox can spin off De Aza to address another area of need, they should be better off still, albeit still not on the same level of the top teams in the American League Central in Detroit and Cleveland.

None of the three teams involved in this trade gets markedly better because of it. The Angels give up a flawed power bat and get flawed young pitchers. The Diamondbacks get a power upgrade at a significant cost of on-base percentage. The White Sox put themselves in a position to make an incremental overall improvement with a less-developed outfielder while giving up on a high-strikeout, high-walk rate pitcher.

Unless you live in Los Angeles, Phoenix or Chicago, this trade is not getting mentioned on the 6 o'clock news. Three-way trades just aren't what they used to be.


A'S SEND ANDERSON TO ROCKIES


The Oakland Athletics found a trade partner for pitcher Brett Anderson and his big salary.

The A's dealt the left-hander and cash to the Colorado Rockies for lefty Drew Pomeranz and minor league right-hander Chris Jensen on Tuesday.

Two-time AL West champion Oakland had been looking to move Anderson, who is due to make $8 million this season and has a $12 million contract option for the 2015 season. That includes a $1.5 million buyout.

The 25-year-old Anderson was the Athletics' starter on opening day this year. He went 1-4 with a 6.04 in five starts and 16 appearances, finishing up as a reliever in an injury-interrupted season.

"Thanks to the A's Organization and Fans for everything," Anderson posted on Twitter. "I'll nothing but fond memories of my time there."

Of his move to Denver, he added: "Peyton Manning and I are going to become best friends...fact."

This marked A's general manager Billy Beane's fourth trade in just over a week.

"We had a lot of starting pitching, and in the acquisition of Pomeranz, it allows us to turn back the clock a little with another very talented left-hander," Beane said at the winter meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. "Brett's been with us for several years, and someone obviously with that kind of talent we think very highly of, but with the amount of guys we have, we knew we could use that to get younger guys with less service time, and that was attractive."

Anderson, a second-round draft pick by Arizona in 2006, has been plagued by injuries in recent years.

He returned in the summer of 2012 after missing 14 months following Tommy John elbow surgery. During his lengthy rehab, Anderson worked to improve his fitness and lost more than 20 pounds. He then missed four months this past season with a sprained right ankle and stress fracture in his right foot.

"Great talent and certainly moments of brilliance," Beane said. "From the Rockies end, they're probably getting him at a great time. He's been through the Tommy John. He's always been motivated. He's a hard worker, and this is the time to get him, because the cost of acquisition a couple of years ago on Brett, well there really wasn't one. He was an untouchable."

The power-armed Pomeranz was on the disabled list late in the season with left biceps tendinitis. He went 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA in with four starts and eight outings for 21 2-3 innings. He went 2-9 in 22 starts the previous year. Beane envisions keeping him as a starter at this stage, but eventually could work into a bullpen role.

Jensen went 5-8 with a 4.55 ERA in 152 1-3 innings for Class A Modesto. He had 136 strikeouts to 39 walks in 28 starts.

In less than 24 hours last week, Beane completed three trades while also working to deal Anderson. The A's acquired new closer Jim Johnson from the Orioles to replace All-Star closer Grant Balfour. Then last Tuesday, they traded for San Diego right-handed reliever Luke Gregerson for Seth Smith and acquired outfielder Craig Gentry from Texas for top prospect Michael Choice.


ANGELL WINS AWARD


The New Yorker's Roger Angell has won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for meritorious contributions to baseball writing. He is the first writer to earn the honor who was never a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

The 93-year-old Angell will be honored during the Hall of Fame's induction weekend July 25-28 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

The BBWAA said at baseball's winter meetings Tuesday that he was named on 258 of 451 ballots cast. The late Furman Bisher, who wrote for 59 years for The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta Constitution, received 115 votes. Retired syndicated columnist Mel Durslag received 74.

Angell received the George Polk Award for Commentary in 1980 and the first PEN/ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing in 2011.

BBWAA membership is limited to reporters for newspapers, news agencies and some Internet companies.

Contributors: Jesse Spector, The Associated Press