On Saturday afternoon, the St. Louis Cardinals dealt maligned starter Anthony Reyes to the Cleveland Indians for young righty flamethrower Luis Perdomo. This trade works for both teams, as Reyes could get an immediate shot at the big-league rotation in place of Jeremy Sowers (7.33 ERA) or Matt Ginter, and Perdomo gives the Cardinals a possible future member of the bullpen.
Cardinals fans know about Reyes is that he's basically a Quadruple-A pitcher at this stage in his career (a player who is too good for Triple-A but can't perform in the bigs). But let me give Cardinals fans an introduction to Perdomo, who has a chance to contribute to the St. Louis club in the future.
- B/R Ticket Guide
Perdomo is a 24-year-old relief pitcher who projects as a mid-relief power arm. He throws consistent gas, but also has a couple of complementary pitches. His fastball hits 95-96 mph, and his slider is said to have amazing movement. The problem is truly harnessing that slider to place it where he wants. His changeup is apparently just average.
This year with the Indians' Double-A affiliate, Perdomo was 2-0 with a 3.56 ERA in nine games pitched, with 17 strikeouts in 15.1 innings pitched. Before being called up, he posted a 0.93 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 39 innings at High-A.
Last season, Perdomo had 81 strikeouts in only 66 innings in the Sally League. It sounds like he has a repetoire that Dave Duncan could take advantage of, much like Kyle McClellan but with one fewer quality pitch.
I think that this trade is ultimately a productive one for the Cardinals. Anthony Reyes was not going to be effective in St. Louis, and Perdomo could be the bullpen solution the Cardinals truly need, even though he won't be ready for at least a year or two.
comments (9) write a comment »
write a new comment
3 months ago
You guys got a good pitcher in Perdomo. He just got to Akron about a month ago so he'll need more seasoning in Double-A. The Indians have a lot of arms in the pen like him so I think he became expendable.
from 3 months ago
Thanks for reading Nino.
I think Reyes could be a quality starter in the bigs, but never more then a back of the rotation type of guy. Isn't the park in Cleveland more of a pitchers park? If so, that would obviously help Reyes a lot with his HR problem.
from 3 months ago
I'd say it's more of a middle of the road in that area. It can have it's nights where nothing goes out, then its days when everything goes out. Very weather dependent if anything.
By no means a launching pad though.
Yeah I think we know what we are getting in Reyes and aren't expecting much more than what you said, back of the rotation guy. Shapiro is taking a chance on him. He probably feels the reward is high enough to risk an arm like Perdomo. He certainly has the stuff, I hope it works out.
3 months ago
I'd heard many rumors linking the Indians to Reyes back to the offseason. It was no secret that Shapiro has something for Reyes. I am not expecting great things from him, but as Peter said, probably a mid-rotation starter with some extra potential. His fly ball tendencies certainly have hurt him previously. Cleveland is a neutral park, so maybe that will help. But overall fair trade for both teams. This gives the Indians extra depth in the rotation for next season with Byrd gone and Westbrook out. I am more confident in Reyes than Sowers.
3 months ago
Not quite the splash that I was hoping for but if Perdomo can solidify that bullpen, then I'm all for it. Even better news is that Carpenter is slated to pitch Wednesday against the Braves, I really hope that also works out because as far as I knew Carpenter wasn't supposed to come back until mid-August.
from 3 months ago
Thanks for reading, Derek. Perdomo shouldn't contribute until next year at the earliest, but the Cardinals should benefit from this trade more then they would have with keeping Reyes around.
from 3 months ago
Good point Peter. Reyes hasn't been a factor for the Cardinals since his historic pitching performance in Game 1 of the '06 World Series. He hasn't been the same pitcher since.
3 months ago
I guess this means Colorado had no interest in Reyes? I've been holding out hope that Fuentes might still find his way to St. Louis. With one less chip to offer do you think that hope is fading?
from 3 months ago
That's not necessarily true. This trade was mostly for prospects and for the future. I still think St. Louis will get end up getting Fuentes because they're still in trade talks with them. They may even end up getting Holliday as well.
write a new comment