Taylor Tankersley and a number of others with big league experience recently hit free agency, as Baseball America's Matt Eddy reports. Joining the left-hander on the open market are Bobby Scales (Cubs), Justin Lehr (Reds), Paul Phillips (Rockies), Juan Rincon (Rockies), Hector Luna (Marlins), Anderson Hernandez (Astros), Adam Stern (Brewers), Denny Bautista (Giants), Brandon Medders (Giants), Willie Eyre (Rangers) and Sean Henn (Blue Jays).
Tankersley, the Marlins' first round pick in the 2004 draft, succeeded early in his career, but has since struggled. Still just 27, Tankersley brings a career 8.8 K/9 to the free agent market and could become a lefty specialist. He missed all of 2009 with a stress fracture in his elbow, but it wouldn't be surprising to see a team like the Diamondbacks take a flier on the former prospect.
Bautista, who turns 28 this weekend, is another interesting arm. He posted a 3.74 ERA with the Giants this year and struck out (11.8 K/9) and walked (7.2 BB/9) tons of batters in 33.2 innings. The right-hander has always walked lots of hitters, but his mid-90s fastball and ability to induce strikeouts may tempt teams looking to buy low on live arms.
D-backs are gonna be all over this. Tankersley, Medders, and Bautista are guys that I imagine they’ll be interested in bringing in.
what team is Taylor on now.?
Marlins Triple-A New Orleans Zephry’s because he is an automatic homerun.
ugh, agreed. i celebrated this news of Tank no longer pitching for the fish. i wish him well, if he can get it together again, good for him. but the past several years he has been awful.
Always liked the tank, he’s about the best on that list for someone would like to have on Boston. Good LH specialist and yeah.. He can still hit 93mph or so, but really wild sometimes.
Maybe Farrell could fix that issue and sure better than some of the lefties they have had over the years other than Okie.
Denny Bautista has always had a “live arm,” it’s actual pitching that gives him fits.
Medders might help someone, Bautista has had problems for awhile. He’ll calm down for a short spell and then have a five game blow up.
Medders might help someone, Bautista has had problems for awhile. He’ll calm down for a short spell and then have a five game blow up.