Here And There

I wrote in a post a couple of days ago that I didn’t think the Indians got enough in return when they traded Rafael Betancourt to the Rockies.  However, they sure got a lot in return from the Cardinals for Mark DeRosa.

The deal looked like a solid move when the Tribe got pitcher Chris Perez, who was a former first round draft pick and the Cardinals’ 3rd best prospect according to Baseball America.  Today, the player to be named later was announced as Jess Todd, a relief pitcher, who is a former second round draft pick, and the fourth best prospect in the Cardinals’ system, according to BA.

Todd is having a terrific year at AAA Memphis in the Pacific Coast League.  He is 4-2 with a 2.20 ERA and 24 saves.  He has 59 K’s in 49 IP with only 31 hits and 13 walks allowed; and he’s only 23 years old.

In short, if Perez and Todd stay healthy, they may well form the backbone of the Indians’ bullpen for the next five or six years.

It has been reported that the Blue Jays have turned down an offer by the Phillies of pitcher J.A. Happ, pitcher Carlos Carrasco, infielder Jason Donald and outfielder Michael Taylor all for Doc Halladay.

That’s a lot of young players, but I don’t think any is a can’t-miss star.  Happ has been terrific this year, and I’m not sure that the Phillies gain much by trading him for Halladay, at least in the regular season.  Of course, if the Phillies are sure they’ll make the play-offs, you’d rather have Halladay in the post-season.

However, Happ is already 26 this year, which makes me wonder whether he can really be a top of the rotation starter for 4-6 years.

Carrasco looks awfully good at age 22, but he still needs another year in the minors.  He’s 6-9 with a 5.18 in AAA this year, but with 112 Ks and only 38 walks in 114.2 IP.  Long flies have been his downfall this year, but’s he’s certainly promising.

Infielder Jason Donald looked very promising at the end of 2008, but he’s having a lost season this year at AAA.  He’s hitting only .230 this year with a .617 OPS at AAA, and he turns 25 on September 4.  Not what you’d like to get in exchange for Roy Halladay.

I like Michael Taylor, however.  He went to Stanford, and he’s hit well at every stop in the minors so far (.902 career minor league OPS).  He’s 23 this year and has just been promoted to AAA.

Taylor’s an enormous man, listed as 6′6″ and 250 lbs; and he runs extremely well so such a big man.  This year, he has stolen twenty bases in 24 attempts, mostly at the AA level.

Taylor hasn’t hit for quite as much power as you might expect so far in his minor league career (42 HRs in 1,079 ABs), but given his size and his ability to hit for average, one has to expect that the HRs will come.  Of the players the Phillies offered the Jays, Taylor appears the most exciting at this moment, in my mind at least.

Ryan Sadowski had his third consecutive poor outing after his amazing first two starts.  He’s now 2-3 and his ERA is up to 4.81.  It looks like the law of averages is catching up to him.

Sadowski may be only one more ineffective start from a trip back to AAA Fresno.  After an ugly start on July 11 in which he allowed six earned runs in five innings pitched, Kevin Pucetas has had two more good starts, and his ERA at Fresno is down to 3.26.

Veteran Ramon Ortiz is also pitching extremely well at Fresno.  His ERA is down to 2.85, after allowing only one earned run over 14 innings in his last two starts.  Ortiz’s ratios are also very good.

In short, Sadowski doesn’t have a lot of margin for mediocrity with Pucetas and Ortiz performing the way they are at Fresno.

The Giants once again looked like lambs on offense today at Coors Field.  It was a typical Giants’ performance: seven singles, two doubles, no walks and two runs scored.  It makes me think that some kind of deal for another bat will be made by the deadline on Friday.