Links for Wednesday night….
- The Reds will wait until September 1st to promote Aroldis Chapman, but he'll still be eligible for the playoffs, writes John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer. In a separate blog post, Fay explains Chapman's postseason eligibility.
- Scott Miller of CBS Sports, Fangraphs' Jack Moore, ESPN's Keith Law (Insider-only) and ESPN.com's Rob Neyer share their thoughts on today's Derrek Lee trade.
- Ian Casselberry at MLive.com argues that the Tigers ought to trade Brandon Inge.
- Unsurprisingly, Ozzie Guillen had a response for those who criticized the White Sox for parting ways with Jim Thome. Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune has the story.
- Scrambling for a source of saves for the last month and a half of your fantasy league? Follow @closernews on Twitter to stay up-to-date on the latest injuries, blown saves, and everything else closer-related.
I’m assuming chapman will be coming out of the pen in September?
Well he’s been lights out in the Louisville pen, so like Chris Sale, helping the team in the pen and then next year a starter is the way the Reds are going to go.
John Fay by the way, is one of the nicest most friendly sportswriters in Baseball. The guy is awesome. I had him sign a ball for me in DC and he told me a few weeks later that he devalued the ball. I had 17 other Reds sign it in the players lot and I said to John…”You are part of the team! Why do you think you devalued it?”
Pen? Are they really going to leave him in the BP? or is this a short term placement for him?
He was moved to the pen after have a BB/9 over 5 as a starter in the minors. Since he has been keeping the walks to a minimum and worth a call up as a reliever. But they are paying him enough to give him as many chances as he needs to be a starter. But he is pretty much a lock to be a reliever for the Reds and not a starter. Especially since if they need a spot start they’ll have Leake, who was moved to the pen too.
Power pitchers take some time to learn and harness command of all of his pitches. Command can be taught (with a prospect who is willing to learn). In my opinion it would be foolish to leave him in the BP role, unless of course they believe he could turn into a lights out closer.
I know it is just that he has learned it yet and he can help his team this year from the pen. No doubt the Reds are going to let him try starting until they determine he just can’t be a starter. But I doubt at this point in his development he isn’t going to give you any more than Travis Wood will.
any reasoning why? not trying to be rude, just curious.
Not rude at all. I just point to his walk rate just over 5 in the minors. It’s hard to go deep in games and help out your bullpen when you walk even just 3 in a game. He needs to get his control in order first (Which is correctable like you said).
Yea, its rather hard to go deep into games when you walk 3-5 batters per game (depending on his pitch count), but if he is having the same struggles this time next year. Then your worries about his BB total has more merit (again no disrespect intended)
i believe that since he went to the bullpen in AAA his walk rate is way down. So maybe this could be a future closer for us. I am not ready to give up on him as a starter.
Could turn out to be a playoff closer or setup guy for the reds a la david price 2008.
I would take a chance on him as a closer. Though i think he too could become a good starter too once he gets that control in check.
Just for this season and the pennant run. He has enough stamina to be a starter and is a starter in the long run. They signed him to be a starter as well so like Sale, 2011 he will enter spring training aiming to be a Reds starter.
That makes sense since you brought it up lol. ala Price.
Yep. David Price is a great example.
How about Adam Wainwright in 06?
touche
Yeah. He had terrible command before moving to the pen where he has been dominant.
The Cubs are gettin a little love on this trade. Still think it’s worth it for the Braves but it’s nice to see the Cubs get some value instead of straight salary dumps.
Last year I was hunting with Thome. We were riding in the back of a pickup truck with a dead deer. Jim grabbed the deer around the neck and yelled, “My name is Jim Thome. Say it!” He squeezed the deer in such a way that it made a noise, “Jim Thooooohaaaameeey!” It wasn’t perfect, but it was pretty good for a deer.
True story.
The Reds are bringing up Chapman for the purpose of getting his feet wet. Anything he can give them in the post season is a bonus. They’ve spent big money on him and are not going to rush this guy. The team has gotten to where they are without him and are not going to pin the hopes on him this year. For the Reds, it will be a chance to see how he reacts and performs at the Big League level in preperation for next year.
I read the Ozzie Guillen interview mentioned in one of the links about letting go of Jim Thome ! My God isn’t Guillen bitter ! How can anyone criticize or undervalue Thome? One of the nicest guys (and one of my favorites) in baseball !! Guillen just lost a lot of respect for me by his comments.
Doesn’t surprise me. I remember when White Sox were playing the tigers a couple years ago Ozzie said about Magglio Ordonez something along the lines of: He was horse&@*! when he was with us and he’s horse#*@& now.
This trade reminds me alot of the Fred “the crime dog” McGriff deal several years back. Hope it works out as well
It’s not like Andruw hasn’t done anything for the White Sox. Besides batting average, they have eerily similar stats. Thome does have a better OBP and SLG, but he is also only limited to DH/1B duties while Andruw can still relieve all the OF’s. Thome is the better DH, but Andruw can still play RF pretty well and DH. The Sox are also only paying $500,000 more for two players (Kotsay and Andruw), who haven’t played poorly in limited duties. Since I’m not a White Sox fan, I guess I don’t have the same love for Thome, but I still respect him as a player and as a man. Thome has always been a great clubhouse presence and that’s what the White Sox are missing more than anything else I suppose.
Ozzie Guillen should keep Jim Thome’s name out of his mouth unless he’s saying “Jim Thome was one of the 3 best hitters of the last 20 years.”