Trade Analysis: Barako Bull-Meralco Trade

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Surprise! Jason Ballesteros is going to Barako Bull.

So I missed out something last Tuesday. There was an out-of-my-radar trade that happened that day. The Meralco Bolts gave biggie Jason Ballesteros to the Barako Bull Energy for Sunday Salvacion and Carlo Sharma. This trade came as a surprise because the Bolts lent the services of star center Asi Taulava to the San Miguel Beermen of the ABL the previous week.

1. Barako Bull Energy

Coach Junel Baculi of Barako Bull calls Ballesteros, the Bolts's first round pick last year, a "project player". The former San Sebastian Golden Stag will give the Energy a tall order in preparation for the slam-bang affair with Petron, featuring their own beanpole June Mar Fajardo. Baculi hopes that he and his coaching staff's skill can turn Ballesteros into an effective inside player.

2. Meralco Bolts

As aforementioned, this trade stunned the Meralco fans since it will be likely that Ballesteros will get the starting center spot now that Taulava's off to the ABL. But Ryan Gregorio said during an interview with InterAksyon.com that they will focus on Jay-R Reyes as their starting 5-guy. Well, they got two good players in Sharma, who is known as an efficient defender at the post, and Salvacion, who can shut the lights out from the outside. Gregorio also added that Sharma will be their main defender against Fajardo once Meralco and Petron clash.

Conclusion: Barako Bull clearly won this one. You can't escape from the fact that Salvacion and Sharma are both aging players. While Sunday can still do a "Special", it's not as big as his Ginebra days anymore. Sharma has been journeying from one team to another since leaving the old Barako Bull franchise now named under Air21 because of the other teams's preference of young guns.