JustPats
12-07-2005, 12:06 PM
I have zero work to do while I wait for the higher-ups to finish reviewing the latest report I wrote, so I'm incredibly bored. Thus I thought I'd waste this afternoon looking at players originally signed or drafted by the Red Sox who are currently on other team's 40-man rosters.
Brad Baker, Atlanta. Drafted 1st round 1999. Traded to Padres in June 02 for Alan Embree.
After putting up an excellent season in AA in 04, Baker struggled with his control a bit in AAA last season, putting up a 4.75 ERA, which caused the Padres to drop him. The Braves signed him to a minor-league deal and added him to the roster. He's still only 25, and struck out 75 batters in 66.3 IP last year, so he's still got a chance to develop into a useful reliever. Embree was a good pitcher for most of his time with the Sox, so this was a good trade for them.
Chris Reitsma, Atlanta. Drafted 1st round 1996. Traded to Cincinnati for Dante Bichette in August 2000.
Reitsma was the Braves closer for awhile last year, but that was more by default than merit. His ERA was a mediocre 3.93 and his peripheral stats were unimpressive. He's 28 now, and has settled in as a decent but unspectacular middle reliever. Picking up Bichette was a waste of space, but there's no real reason to miss Reitsma.
Matt Murton, Cubs. Drafted supp. round 2003. Traded to Cubs in Nomar trade in July 04.
Murton had an excellent year in AA, and followed it up by hitting .321/.386/.521 in the majors in 140 AB. Given how uncertain the Sox outfield is right now, he'd look on the roster (plus it would have been nice to have him down the stretch when the Sox were forced to use Nixon against lefties). I know conventional wisdom says that the trade handed us the WS, and while I'm willing to concede that the Nomar-OC part of the trade was good for the Sox, I'm still not convinced that adding Matt Murton to the deal just so we could get Doug Mientkiewicz on the team to hit .215/.286/.318 was worth it. Plus think what it would have saved the Sox in court costs.
Phil Dumatrait, Cincinnati. Drafted first round 2000. Traded to Reds in July 03 for Scott Williamson.
After missing all of 2004 with an injury, Dumatrait returned to pitch 127.7 innings a 3.17 ERA in AA last season. His K/BB ratio was an unimpressive 101/70, though. He turns 25 in July, and needs a good year in AAA to solidify his prospect status.
Josh Hancock, Cincinnati. Drafted 5th round 98. Traded to Phillies for Jeremy Giambi in Dec. 02.
Hancock had a pretty crappy year as a starter in Louisville, putting up a 5.93 ERA. He did pitch well out of the pen in Cincy, but it was only 14 innings and he only had 5 strikeouts. He would appear to be out of options, so if he doesn't make the Reds' bullpen in the spring he'll likely be on waivers.
Sun-woo Kim, Colorado. Signed 1997, traded to Expos for Cliff Floyd in July 02.
Kim was claimed off waivers by the Rockies in August after putting up a 6.13 ERA in Washington, and surprisingly pitched better in Colorado, putting up a respectable 4.21 ERA. He's 28 now and has a career 5.01 ERA, and pitching at altitude isn't going to help his chances to establish himself.
Rafael Betancourt, Cleveland. Signed in 1993. Sold to Japan in 2000.
Betancourt, who was originally signed as a SS, took a long time to establish himself as a pitcher, but has now put up pretty good back-to-back seasons with the Indians. The good thing from their standpoint is that he's likely in the prime seasons of his career right now but he's still a long way from free agency, so they'll get his best cheaply.
Anibel Sanchez, Florida. Signed in 2001, traded to Marlins for Beckett and Lowell in Nov. 05.
Sanchez's chances of becoming a solid starter are pretty much entirely dependent on his ability to stay healthy. Miami is a good environment for him to pitch in.
Jesus Delgado, Florida. Signed in 2001, Traded in Beckett/Lowell deal.
Has a worse injury history than Sanchez, having missed two whole years, is further behind him, and is already a reliever. Has some nice scouty stuff, but I'm not too worried about him becoming something special.
Hanley Ramirez, Florida. Signed in 2000, traded in Beckett/Lowell deal.
The Marlins are talking about starting him at SS next year, which seems like a mistake to me. At best, he'll be below average for a couple of years and then start to develop just as he hits his arbitration years. At worse, rushing him will hurt his chances of ever developing.
Wilfredo Ledezma, Detroit. Signed in 1998, taken by Tigers in Rule 5 draft in Dec. 02.
After putting together a fine season in AA in 2004, Ledezma struggled in both AAA (5.29 ERA) and the majors (7.07 ERA) last year. He's still got at least one option yet, so the Tigers should send him back down to Toledo until his performance warrants another promotion.
Mike Maroth, Detroit. Drafted 3rd round 1998, traded to Tigers for Blyce Florie July 99.
Maroth has emerged as kind of the left-handed Jeff Suppan; a guy who makes 33 starts every year giving you league-average pitching. His strikeout rates suggest he'll never be much more than that, but that has some value. He's hitting his arbitration years now, and will probably last a couple more years in his current job before he starts to bounce around.
Jeff Bagwell, Houston. Drafted in the 4th round in 1989, traded to Astros for Larry Andersen in Aug. 90.
Bagwell has finally reached the point in his career where the horrible trade that netted him for the Stros is being overshadowed by the cripplingly bad contract they signed him too. He's at the point where he should be contemplating retirement, but instead the Astros will have to pay him $17 million next year, and then have to decide between paying him $18 million in 2007 or an incredible $7 million buyout. He should be platooned with Mike Lamb, but no team's gonna do that for $24 million.
Adam Everett, Houston. Drafted in 1st round in 1998, traded to Astros for Carl Everett in Dec. 99.
Seeing Everett in the World Series last year brought back joyful memories of the glory days of Buddy Biancalana and a bunch of guys named Rafael. He's entering his arbitration years now, which means it's time to start looking around for someone better, because it won't take much for him to become more expensive than he's worth.
Brad Baker, Atlanta. Drafted 1st round 1999. Traded to Padres in June 02 for Alan Embree.
After putting up an excellent season in AA in 04, Baker struggled with his control a bit in AAA last season, putting up a 4.75 ERA, which caused the Padres to drop him. The Braves signed him to a minor-league deal and added him to the roster. He's still only 25, and struck out 75 batters in 66.3 IP last year, so he's still got a chance to develop into a useful reliever. Embree was a good pitcher for most of his time with the Sox, so this was a good trade for them.
Chris Reitsma, Atlanta. Drafted 1st round 1996. Traded to Cincinnati for Dante Bichette in August 2000.
Reitsma was the Braves closer for awhile last year, but that was more by default than merit. His ERA was a mediocre 3.93 and his peripheral stats were unimpressive. He's 28 now, and has settled in as a decent but unspectacular middle reliever. Picking up Bichette was a waste of space, but there's no real reason to miss Reitsma.
Matt Murton, Cubs. Drafted supp. round 2003. Traded to Cubs in Nomar trade in July 04.
Murton had an excellent year in AA, and followed it up by hitting .321/.386/.521 in the majors in 140 AB. Given how uncertain the Sox outfield is right now, he'd look on the roster (plus it would have been nice to have him down the stretch when the Sox were forced to use Nixon against lefties). I know conventional wisdom says that the trade handed us the WS, and while I'm willing to concede that the Nomar-OC part of the trade was good for the Sox, I'm still not convinced that adding Matt Murton to the deal just so we could get Doug Mientkiewicz on the team to hit .215/.286/.318 was worth it. Plus think what it would have saved the Sox in court costs.
Phil Dumatrait, Cincinnati. Drafted first round 2000. Traded to Reds in July 03 for Scott Williamson.
After missing all of 2004 with an injury, Dumatrait returned to pitch 127.7 innings a 3.17 ERA in AA last season. His K/BB ratio was an unimpressive 101/70, though. He turns 25 in July, and needs a good year in AAA to solidify his prospect status.
Josh Hancock, Cincinnati. Drafted 5th round 98. Traded to Phillies for Jeremy Giambi in Dec. 02.
Hancock had a pretty crappy year as a starter in Louisville, putting up a 5.93 ERA. He did pitch well out of the pen in Cincy, but it was only 14 innings and he only had 5 strikeouts. He would appear to be out of options, so if he doesn't make the Reds' bullpen in the spring he'll likely be on waivers.
Sun-woo Kim, Colorado. Signed 1997, traded to Expos for Cliff Floyd in July 02.
Kim was claimed off waivers by the Rockies in August after putting up a 6.13 ERA in Washington, and surprisingly pitched better in Colorado, putting up a respectable 4.21 ERA. He's 28 now and has a career 5.01 ERA, and pitching at altitude isn't going to help his chances to establish himself.
Rafael Betancourt, Cleveland. Signed in 1993. Sold to Japan in 2000.
Betancourt, who was originally signed as a SS, took a long time to establish himself as a pitcher, but has now put up pretty good back-to-back seasons with the Indians. The good thing from their standpoint is that he's likely in the prime seasons of his career right now but he's still a long way from free agency, so they'll get his best cheaply.
Anibel Sanchez, Florida. Signed in 2001, traded to Marlins for Beckett and Lowell in Nov. 05.
Sanchez's chances of becoming a solid starter are pretty much entirely dependent on his ability to stay healthy. Miami is a good environment for him to pitch in.
Jesus Delgado, Florida. Signed in 2001, Traded in Beckett/Lowell deal.
Has a worse injury history than Sanchez, having missed two whole years, is further behind him, and is already a reliever. Has some nice scouty stuff, but I'm not too worried about him becoming something special.
Hanley Ramirez, Florida. Signed in 2000, traded in Beckett/Lowell deal.
The Marlins are talking about starting him at SS next year, which seems like a mistake to me. At best, he'll be below average for a couple of years and then start to develop just as he hits his arbitration years. At worse, rushing him will hurt his chances of ever developing.
Wilfredo Ledezma, Detroit. Signed in 1998, taken by Tigers in Rule 5 draft in Dec. 02.
After putting together a fine season in AA in 2004, Ledezma struggled in both AAA (5.29 ERA) and the majors (7.07 ERA) last year. He's still got at least one option yet, so the Tigers should send him back down to Toledo until his performance warrants another promotion.
Mike Maroth, Detroit. Drafted 3rd round 1998, traded to Tigers for Blyce Florie July 99.
Maroth has emerged as kind of the left-handed Jeff Suppan; a guy who makes 33 starts every year giving you league-average pitching. His strikeout rates suggest he'll never be much more than that, but that has some value. He's hitting his arbitration years now, and will probably last a couple more years in his current job before he starts to bounce around.
Jeff Bagwell, Houston. Drafted in the 4th round in 1989, traded to Astros for Larry Andersen in Aug. 90.
Bagwell has finally reached the point in his career where the horrible trade that netted him for the Stros is being overshadowed by the cripplingly bad contract they signed him too. He's at the point where he should be contemplating retirement, but instead the Astros will have to pay him $17 million next year, and then have to decide between paying him $18 million in 2007 or an incredible $7 million buyout. He should be platooned with Mike Lamb, but no team's gonna do that for $24 million.
Adam Everett, Houston. Drafted in 1st round in 1998, traded to Astros for Carl Everett in Dec. 99.
Seeing Everett in the World Series last year brought back joyful memories of the glory days of Buddy Biancalana and a bunch of guys named Rafael. He's entering his arbitration years now, which means it's time to start looking around for someone better, because it won't take much for him to become more expensive than he's worth.