Reds acquire Saarloos, sign Bellhorn

[BrooklynRedz]

Acquired RHP Kirk Saarloos and a PTBNL from the A's for David Shafer and a PTBNL.

And Mark Bellhorn agreed to terms on a Minor League deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

[Red Leader]

Interesting. I wonder if Saarloos was acquired for the bullpen or the rotation.

There goes RZ's 12th rated Red's prospect...

[Dracodave]

Acquired RHP Kirk Saarloos and a PTBNL from the A's for David Shafer and a PTBNL.

And Mark Bellhorn agreed to terms on a Minor League deal with an invitation to Spring Training.

Saarloos?? If he is insterted into our rotation he easily becomes a number 3/4 without a doubt. He's better than both Milton and Loshe.
I am AMAZED. I like this trade!!!

[Matt700wlw]

Interesting.

[forfreelin04]

Saarlos I know nothing about, but Bellhorn... I thought WayneK wanted to cut down on the strikeouts!!

[Joseph]

I'll have to see this kids stats. Very interesting. I don't hate trading the unknown for the unproven.

[dunner13]

W.K quietly makes another nice move.

[Red Leader]

Year Ag Tm  Lg  W   L   G   GS  CG SHO  GF SV   IP     H    R   ER   HR  BB   SO  HBP  WP  BFP  IBB  BK  ERA *lgERA *ERA+ WHIP
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
 2002 23 HOU NL   6   7  17  17   1   1   0  0   85.3  100   59   57  12   27   54   6   1   372   5   0  6.01  4.28   71 1.488
 2003 24 HOU NL   2   1  36   4   0   0  11  0   49.3   55   31   27   4   17   43   3   0   218   3   0  4.93  4.41   90 1.459
 2004 25 OAK AL   2   1   6   5   0   0   1  0   24.3   27   13   12   4   12   10   2   0   112   0   0  4.44  4.68  106 1.603
 2005 26 OAK AL  10   9  29  27   2   1   0  0  159.7  170   75   74  11   54   53  11   1   682   8   0  4.17  4.49  108 1.403
 2006 27 OAK AL   7   7  35  16   0   0   7  2  121.3  149   70   64  19   53   52   3   3   548   3   0  4.75  4.43   93 1.665
+--------------+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+--+------+----+----+----+---+----+----+---+---+-----+---+---+-----+-----+----+-----+
  5 Yr WL% .519  27  25 123  69   3   2  19  2  440.0  501  248  234  50  163  212  25   5  1932  19   0  4.79  4.43   93 1.509

Saarloos isn't a strikeout pitcher and his WHIP indicates that he does allow a lot of baserunners. We'll have to see how this one turns out. Saarloos is the kind of pitcher that needs a good defense behind him to be truly effective.

[RichRed]

Saarloos career numbers:

3.33 BB/9
4.34 K/9
1.509 WHIP
4.79 ERA (vs. league avg.: 4.43)

He's only 27 so there's room for improvement but I don't see much to get excited about.

[Tom Servo]

I like this, quite a bit.

Contract status for those wondering: Saarloos signed a one-year, $1.2 million contract with the A's a few days ago to avoid arbitration, and isn't eligible for free agency until after the 2009 season.

[Gallen5862]

Could the ptbnl from the A's be the Rule V pick Burton that was selected from the A's?

[Redus]

I like Saarloos alot. The A's yanked him back and forth from the pen to starting a ton which never let him settle in. I like this trade alot.

[Kc61]

Saarloos is a ground ball pitcher, so I understand the thinking. He'll be the fifth starter coming out of camp, no doubt.

To me, Bellhorn is very interesting. I would expect him to make the team with Castro as extra infielders. That doesn't leave a lot of room for other bench players. Deno, Valentin, Hamilton, Conine? One too many.

Either they don't expect Deno to make it, or they don't expect Hamilton to make it, or they have something else brewing.

[dunner13]

I think its a very nice pickup. He wont ever be as good as Harang or Arroyo but in the NL he could be a solid #3.

[IslandRed]

Just caught that on Trent's blog.

I'm not a fan of Saarloos. I don't understand how the guy can survive striking out so few hitters. But in an environment where Ramon Ortiz just signed for $3 million, Shafer's not too much to pay for another plausible rotation option.