Does Mark Teahen Have Trade Value?

(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Samuel is 22 years old with a big fastball and nasty slider. He is operating at the High A level this year, having struck out 39 batters in 31 innings, but also walking 28. If Samuel can get at least some control (his career walk rate is almost one per inning) he will be virtually impossible to hit.  I guess you could compare him to a Henry Barrera from the Royals system.

The Indians were after young, power arms for their bullpen and, if the PTBNL turns out to be Jess Todd, they got two major-league-ready ones.

Eric Hinske to the Yankees

Now, another "corner guy" who recently switched teams was 31-year-old Eric Hinske.   A former rookie of the year winner, Hinske brought 957 games and 3,012 big league at-bats worth of experience to the Yankees.  

His career line stands at .254/.337/.436 with 106 homers, but after smacking 20 home runs in 381 at-bats for the Rays in 2008, Hinske had a slugging percentage of just .368 in 106 at-bats for the Pirates prior to the trade.

In return, Pittsburgh netted two players currently in High A-ball, both of whom will turn 24 in August.  

Eric Fryer is a catcher who slugged .506 in 2008 with 15 steals, but was slugging just .344 in 2009 with 11 steals through 59 games.  Originally a tenth-round pick of Milwaukee in 2007, the Pirates will be Fryer’s third organization in three years. There are a lot of "Fryer types" in every organization, and the Royals have Ryan Eigsti and Joe Billick as examples.

The second player acquired was right-hander Casey Erickson who has 60 minor league games and 23 starts under his belt—all at A-ball or below.  Over 182 innings, he has allowed 197 hits, walked 43 and struck out 169 on his way to a nice 3.07 ERA and 1.32 WHIP.  He is quite obviously old for his level. I might compare him in value to a Matt Kniginyzky or Edward Paulino of the Royals’ system.

Scott Hairston to Oakland

The final trade we will examine is that of Scott Hairston to Oakland in exchange for Ryan Webb, Craig Italiano, AND a PTBNL. 

In Hairston, you have a 29-year-old, who has played some second and third but is mostly an outfielder at this point. Over 398 major league games, Scott has compiled a modest line of .257/.314/.470 with 51 homers, and has never appeared in more than 112 games in any one season.

In return, the Athletics gave up their 2004 fourth-round pick in right hander Ryan Webb.   Added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft this past offseason, Webb had converted almost exclusively to relief this season at AAA. He had thrown 44.2 innings, struck out 37, walked 15 and allowed 57 hits at the time of this trade.  

Over his minor league career, Webb had thrown 550 innings with a 5.30 ERA, averaging 7.5 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9. The Royals do not really have a comparable pitcher to Webb at the AAA level, but you can pretty much see what you are getting here.

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