HellBoy comes back to Springfield

Hellickson will look to solidify the Squirrels 2012 rotation.

In an interesting move, the Springfield Flying Squirrels of Republic traded for SPer Jeremy Hellickson today, in a deal that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. Hellickson was acquired along with RPer Phil Coke and OFer Ryan Sweeney in return for OFer Michael Brantley, and RPers Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood. Wood and Marmol were expected to be a solid hold/save combo for the Squirrels this year, but with the recent demotion of Marmol and the injury and inconsistent performance of Wood, the two quickly became expendable. OFer Michael Brantley, who is off to a mediocre start has potential, but was not overly valued by the team with the recent call up of Mike Trout.

The big prize here, though, is Hellickson. Hellickson appears to be building upon his success as a rookie and gives the Squirrels a respectable starting five. Questions still remain for nearly every one of the top five SPers, but at least on paper, Wainwright, Sanchez, Billingsley, Latos, and Hellickson look pretty formidable.