Reds trade for A's pitcher Saarloos

[TheBigLebowski]

Best move of the off-season, IMNSHO. Could be this year's David Ross or Brandon Phillips.

[gonelong]

Makes you woder if it is mental or physical? Does he concentrate more when runners are on, which means he has focus issues. Or does that mean he is a candidate for switching to the stretch full time? Could it be that simple?

Making a leap here ... but I'd assume lots of ground balls equals lots of double play opportunities and as someone stated before he seems to give up less extra base hits than is the norm. That also would suppress scoring. Lots of guys can't score from 2nd on a hard hit ground ball through the infield.

Saarloos has pitched once at Great American, when he was beginning his career with Houston in the ballpark's inaugural season of 2003. The game left quite an impression.


Houston hit three consecutive homers in the first inning of a 9-8 win over the Reds. There were five homers in the game. Saarloos pitched in relief during Cincinnati's five-run ninth inning.


"What I know is it seems homers never get hit into the first or second row, they seem to go to the 23rd or 24th row," he said, laughing. "It seems they built it downhill for some reason."

While this is not a sexy move, they get a guy who has a chance to help them at little to no cost.

Worth the price paid for the risk/reward here IMO, but mostly because the price paid was so small.

GL

[Johnny Footstool]

Best move of the off-season, IMNSHO. Could be this year's David Ross or Brandon Phillips.

This year's Zach Day or Jason Johnson, more likely.

[Kc61]

Actually I do not think he was ready to start the season in the majors, but I think he could have been up by Memorial Day. He is at least as likely to be successful as Weathers, Cormier or Majewski.

Now they add another guy that they have to keep and can not be sent down. If he was a clear upgrade that would be great. This trade doesn't really improve anything and limits flexibility.

I would agree with WK that Shafer is not likely to do as well as Weathers, Cormier or Majewski. If you look at Weathers' state line with the Reds thelast two years, I would be amazed if Shafer could do that well. Majewski had a bad year and Cormier a bad second half, but Shafer has a long, long way to go before achieving what these guys have at the major league level.

Depending on the players to be named, I make yesterday's trade every day and twice on Sunday (doubleheader).

[TRF]

The team needs sinkerball pitchers and they got one. If he wins 10+ games as the number 5 starter, I would be happy with that.

If he wins 10 games it's because the Reds will have averaged 6 runs a game.

Lets see. He K's no one.
He gives up a ton of hits.
He walks a lot of guys.
His HR rate is higher than any other candidate for the #5 pitcher the Reds currently have signed.
And as a reliever, his projections are positively Maj like.

Meh indeed.

I'm stating this right now. Saarloos is the guy that forces Brad Salmon to repeat AAA. And that's a damn shame. Though not a starter, Salmons numbers compared favorably to Homer Bailey's last year. Tremendous K/9 rate. Doesn't give up a lot of HR's. He should be making his debut in the bullpen this year.

[Benihana]

Yep I like the deal too. Give up a 24-yr old pitcher in AA for a guy that should be in our rotation to start the year (could even be our third best starter to start the season, YIPES! )

As it stands now, our rotation by May 1 should be:

Arroyo
Harang
Lohse
Saarloos
Bailey

Pretty significant improvement from the past. Hopefully Lohse pans out.

[TRF]

I would agree with WK that Shafer is not likely to do as well as Weathers, Cormier or Majewski. If you look at Weathers' state line with the Reds thelast two years, I would be amazed if Shafer could do that well. Majewski had a bad year and Cormier a bad second half, but Shafer has a long, long way to go before achieving what these guys have at the major league level.

Depending on the players to be named, I make yesterday's trade every day and twice on Sunday (doubleheader).

Why do people keep insisting Cormier is a good pitcher? he had a nice half a season in philly last year, but he actually sucked as a Red. His K/9 rate has been declining since 2002 with a small uptick in 2005. And he turns 40 3 weeks into the season.

[Heath]

Yep I like the deal too. Give up a 24-yr old pitcher in AA for a guy that should be in our rotation to start the year (could even be our third best starter to start the season, YIPES! )

As it stands now, our rotation by May 1 should be:

Arroyo
Harang
Lohse
Saarloos
Bailey

Pretty significant improvement from the past. Hopefully Lohse pans out.

That's a pretty expensive LOOGY we got in Milton.



I also wouldn't be shocked to see Salmon make the club if he has a knockout spring.

[Kc61]

Why do people keep insisting Cormier is a good pitcher? he had a nice half a season in philly last year, but he actually sucked as a Red. His K/9 rate has been declining since 2002 with a small uptick in 2005. And he turns 40 3 weeks into the season.

Over his career Cormier has been a good pitcher. He has a lifetime 4.02 ERA in over 1,200 innings with a WHIP of 1.28. He had a bad second half last year. He had a good first half.

He is older now and who knows how well he will do next year, certainly I don't. I just don't think the Reds would be better off with David Shafer in the bullpen and I'm glad they made the trade yesterday, that's all.

[Crosley68]

Can anyone else forsee a circumstance in which Milton gets DF'Ad? I am not anti-Milton as much as some people, but I could see Loshe, Sarloos, and Bailey making Eric not have a spot even in the pen.

[registerthis]

We all wanted a groundball pitcher, right?

Well, we got one. Hope he pans out.

[registerthis]

Can anyone else forsee a circumstance in which Milton gets DF'Ad?

With his salary?

no.

[Johnny Footstool]

We all wanted a groundball pitcher, right?

Well, we got one. Hope he pans out.

As jojo pointed out, we had one. His name was Jason Johnson. That didn't work out too well.

Making a leap here ... but I'd assume lots of ground balls equals lots of double play opportunities and as someone stated before he seems to give up less extra base hits than is the norm. That also would suppress scoring. Lots of guys can't score from 2nd on a hard hit ground ball through the infield.

You can't turn a double play unless the pitcher has already allowed a guy to reach first base. Allowing baserunners is bad. And with Saarloos' high HR rate, it could be really bad.

While this is not a sexy move, they get a guy who has a chance to help them at little to no cost.

Worth the price paid for the risk/reward here IMO, but mostly because the price paid was so small.

GL

That's the main thing this deal has going for it. It's like playing penny slots at the casino. Low risk, low reward.

[redsmetz]

Yep I like the deal too. Give up a 24-yr old pitcher in AA for a guy that should be in our rotation to start the year (could even be our third best starter to start the season, YIPES! )

As it stands now, our rotation by May 1 should be:

Arroyo
Harang
Lohse
Saarloos
Bailey

Pretty significant improvement from the past. Hopefully Lohse pans out.

I'm doubtful that Bailey will be up that early. I think he needs to taste and do well with AAA level baseball. And I don't think we're getting rid of Milton that easily. He might be moveable, but he'll need to show he's healthy following his surgery. I would be surprised to see Bailey much before the All Star break, but that's just my opinion.

[Redsland]

Can anyone else forsee a circumstance in which Milton gets DF'Ad?

Not really. But I could foresee a bout of ineffectiveness being followed by a trip to the "DL." (Note the quote marks.)