The Padres designated reliever Mike Ekstrom for assignment to make room for Jon Garland, tweets MLB.com's Corey Brock. Ekstrom, 26, was done in by hits and home runs allowed in an 18.3-inning big league stint last year. At Triple A, he had a 1.73 ERA, 6.2 K/9, and 2.3 BB/9 in 62.3 innings. Ekstrom was designated for assignment once before, in April of '09.
No way Ekstrom stays as bad as he was. 2.38 K/BB with a 49% groundball rate is pretty good. Sounds like he was killed by some bad luck. Hey Padres, want Tim Byrdak? We’ll trade you.
i’ll cite this post to anyone who questions how serious mlbtr is about it’s “if it’s whispered…” claim. cuz i’m doubting this one made much noise.
Ekstrom is at the older end of the prospect pool. He did fairly well in AAA last season and will likely be claimed. Like to see him pass through waivers and remain in the Padres system.