Reitsma Traded to the Braves.

[Johnny Footstool]

550 K, 210 BB, 610 IP

Now those are some decent ratios.

[Roy Tucker]

ESPN says about Bong. Sounds like Reitsma.

2003 Season
Primarily a starter during his five seasons in the minors, Jung Bong worked in relief throughout his rookie season. He was effective early in the year but then struggled, posting a 9.18 ERA after July 1. Pitching, Defense & HittingA native of South Korea, Bong throws one of the best changeups in the National League. His fastball sits at 91-92 MPH and touches 94 MPH on occasion, but he does not always have command of the pitch. Though he has shown solid improvement with his curveball over the past three seasons, he lacks the confidence to throw it often enough to keep hitters off-balance. The Braves have worked with Bong on becoming more aggressive on the mound. An excellent athlete who was considered a premier hitting prospect prior to signing, Bong fields his position very well and holds runners effectively.


2004 Outlook
While he is expected to remain in the Atlanta bullpen this year, Bong could be considered for a job in the rotation when he starts using all three of his pitches more consistently. He also could get more seasoning in Triple-A.

[LvJ]

Even more of a reasoning why I love this trade.

Bong is younger than Reitsma, and could probally put up the same numbers Reitsma will. Plus, Bong is a lefty and more of a starter than Reitsma (has more than 2 pitches). Then, Bubba Nelson, who I love in OOTP () has the talent to be a very solid SP soon. I think DanO did a good job on this.

Reitsma was another typical "fan favorite" youngster, so it's gonna upset some people, but if you look at facts. We got return value, plus more in this trade.. IMO.

[westofyou]

So.... is this the Reds first Asian Player?

If so let him know about China Gourmet in Hyde Park... and that Thai place next to the Irish bar.

And don't let him eat Chinese in Milford....... he'll demand a trade for sure.

[Red Leader]

Bong 1- 0 2.89 .286 BAA 5G 9.1 IP 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

Nelson 1- 1 5.40 .292 BAA 5 G 6.2 IP 7 H 5 R 4 ER 6 BB 1 K

It looks like Nelson has some control issues.

[919191]

I think back in the late 1970's or early 1980's the Reds signed 2 Japanese players that didn't make it to the major leagues. I don't know how far they got, but I do remember it being news that Japanese players were signed.

[TRF]

Bruce Chen was asian, and i believe Danny Graves is half Vietnamese. i think.

[New Fever]

On Baseball America this was said about Nelson


Jason from Charlotte asks:
What is the Braves feeling on Bubba Nelson? He seems like a perfect candidate to fill the Braves #5 spot in the rotation. I realize that the Braves like to start their young pitchers in the pen to give them some experience, but he fairer pretty well in Double A this season.

A: Bill Ballew: Nelson is a stud. I think he has a much better shot at the fifth starter's role for 2004 than Wainwright. The Braves sent him to Richmond at the end of the 2003 season as a reliever in order to prepare him for a possible callup to Atlanta. He'll be back in the starting rotation in 2004, either in Richmond or, possibly, Atlanta.

[princeton]

Originally posted by LvJ
Even more of a reasoning why I love this trade.

Bong is younger than Reitsma, and could probally put up the same numbers Reitsma will. Plus, Bong is a lefty and more of a starter than Reitsma (has more than 2 pitches). Then, Bubba Nelson, who I love in OOTP () has the talent to be a very solid SP soon. I think DanO did a good job on this.

Reitsma was another typical "fan favorite" youngster, so it's gonna upset some people, but if you look at facts. We got return value, plus more in this trade.. IMO.

we're up an arm. One will wash out, so we'll probably be even. But we save money in preparation for the two year plan. In two years, Reitsma was too expensive

JimBo, OTOH, would have kept Reitsma until he was too expensive, then flipped him for a high level OFer that we didn't need and an 18YO pitcher about to hit the operating table.

Here, painful as it is for me to see, we get what we need.

[westofyou]

Chen was born in Panama.

[LvJ]

Originally posted by New Fever
On Baseball America this was said about Nelson


Jason from Charlotte asks:
What is the Braves feeling on Bubba Nelson? He seems like a perfect candidate to fill the Braves #5 spot in the rotation. I realize that the Braves like to start their young pitchers in the pen to give them some experience, but he fairer pretty well in Double A this season.

A: Bill Ballew: Nelson is a stud. I think he has a much better shot at the fifth starter's role for 2004 than Wainwright. The Braves sent him to Richmond at the end of the 2003 season as a reliever in order to prepare him for a possible callup to Atlanta. He'll be back in the starting rotation in 2004, either in Richmond or, possibly, Atlanta.

That's exciting.

Though, it does look like he has some control issues he needs to work on.

[zombie-a-go-go]

Bong sounds good, although I'm always leery of any pitching that ATL is willing to give up. Anyway, good to hear that Bong projects to be a potential rotation guy. What's the word on his skill with the stick (ESPN says he was considered a premier hitting prospect as well )?

[Aronchis]

Bong is the key to the deal, I have no key what Ballew is talking about Neilson looks very Mosley like.

[KittyDuran]

So.... is this the Reds first Asian Player?

Wasn't Mike Lum the first one?

[Matt700wlw]

They're probably cheaper too...we all know how important that is

I guess we'll see how good the trade is as time goes on....