The Indians announced that they acquired Brent Lillibridge from the Red Sox for right-hander Jose De La Torre. The Indians transferred Lonnie Chisenhall to the 60-day disabled list to create roster space for Lillibridge, who was recently designated for assignment by Boston.
Boston acquired Lillibridge in the trade that sent Kevin Youkilis to Chicago last month. Lillibridge, 28, has a .165/.212/.177 line in 86 total plate appearances this year. He has a career batting line of .212/.279/.351 in five seasons with the Braves, White Sox and Red Sox.
De La Torre, 26, posted a 2.91 ERA with 9.4 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in 55 2/3 innings for Cleveland's Double-A and Triple-A affiliates this year. He had signed with the Indians as a minor league free agent in January.
I know nothing about Brent Lillibridge, but a guy with that kind of slash line is still getting traded for? What am I missing here?
Liilibridge’s slash line in 2011 was 258/340/505, with 13 homers in 216 PA, and he had a slew of highlight-reel-quality catches in the OF.
I have no idea what happened to him this year though.
What’s the story on La Torre? His minor league numbers look decent enough… Why hasn’t he got a call up? Or is BR not reporting his numbers?
He’s got injury issues…most likely a career minor leaguer.
That’s more like it…now we’re cookin’…
That’s an overpay for Brent Lillibridge, De La Torre could be a decent reliever in the majors. Can someone explain me how someone like Brent keeps getting a chance in the majors? and guys like Clint Robinson are just getting a chance now?
Indians are probably hoping he can play short now and again, which is desperately needed as no-one can back up Cabrera right now.
multi-positional depth with some speed and defense.
Wooo-hooooooooo!!!!!
I agree. Anything with a pulse is better than Lillibridge, even if they are a MiLB FA after the season…
De La Torre has a less than 5% chance of being called up in September as an emergency reliever, Lillibridge they have Spears to play every position and neither can hit.
Realistically De La Torre is probably a better hitter
And the Indians must feel he hasn’t play up to “his potential” yet and will expect him to bring this offense back as soon as he gets here.
What offense are you talking about? His strikeout rate is Dunnlike and with the exception of a month last year he offers nothing but defense.
He is a nice guy however, people in the clubhouse loved him in Chicago.
Nice guys don’t win ballgames. How a career .212 hitter still takes up a spot on an MLB roster is beyond me.
Mario mendoza, jeff mathis et al say hi
I’m a beat reporter covering the Akron Aeros, the team De La Torre played for this season. He’s pitched above his ceiling this year and has benefited from a lot of luck. He’s been injured most of his minor league career. Has good command, but not great stuff. More than likely minor league fill.
I appreciate the scouting report sir.
If you told a Red Sox fan in the Offseason that Kevin Youkilis would essentially be traded for Zach Stewart and Jose De La Torre, most would laugh and some would cry. But that is the reality of the situation and it really makes me upset. Kevin Youkilis is a class act and everything you want in a ball player. He’s gritty, he gives it his all, he has pop, and he gets on base with the best of them. In my opinion, Cherington traded Youkilis for an extremely underwhelming package. He easily could have gotten better for Youk than Brett Lilibridge. In the same way he traded Scutaro for Mortenson, Lowrie for Melancon and now Youk for Lillibridge it makes me question how good of a GM he truly is. Had he entertained more offers or held steadfast on focusing on the positives of Youk’s game he easily could have gotten the Red Sox more in a trade. I was all for Youk being dealt. It’s Middlebrooks time to prove that 3B is his position moving forward. It just would have been nice to see Cherington get a better than underwhelming package for a great ball player.
Couldn’t agree more.
Hindsight is 20/20. Moves like Lowrie for Melancon at the time seemed like a great move for the Red Sox who couldn’t rely on oft-injured Lowrie to play SS all year and Melacon appeared to be the one who was going to close for the Sox.
Did it turn out that way, no. But I’m not going to evaluate it and say that it was a stupid move, because at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do.
Jed is on the DL by the way
Think of it like this, the Youk trade was really for Middlebrooks , although Stewart could still emerge to be a decent Major League pitcher
Forgot about Andrew Bailey for Josh Reddick.
Good thing Cherington isn’t wasting time on crap like this!
He already wasted time on crap like this by acquiring Lilibridge in the 1st place lol
I am starting to understand why Justin Upton and Cleveland on his no trade list.
So in the past few days, we have acquired JC Romero and Lillibridge. Wow, this is not going to win us the Central. Who’s up next to be signed, Roger Dorn?
He’s above average in the OF, but not that great in the infield. He showed good power last year, but has never shown that kind of power the rest of his career.
He’s a sub, but “super” is a bit of a misnomer. That’s like me saying I’m a “super” desk jockey because I can file, lick envelopes, AND win a game of Vegas-style Solitaire in under two minutes. Lillibridge’s only value is that if your starter goes down… and his backup goes down… and you don’t have anyone left in the minor leagues with options… then Lillibridge allows you to avoid the embarrassment of filling the position via a random ticket drawing and potentially being stuck with a nine-year-old girl.
YOLO. Nawt.
It’s getting harder and harder to watch the Indians play
I feel myself slowly becoming a jaded Indians fan. It was nice to see them take a chance last year for Jimenez, even though they were already fading from the playoff picture, but they just can’t seem to put together a team capable of going the distance (since the 90’s anyways, with 2007 being the exception).
This.
With the trade of Ubaldo last year, they said now was the time to go for
it. The offseason came and went but for what ever reason they refused
to give Willingham that extra year while going after Beltran who have no
interest in coming here. All we get is Kotchman who is a mirror
defender like Hannahan with 0 impact at the plate. Now with each of our
key rivals made key trade to fix their weaknesses, while we get a guy
who was apart of an earlier trade as a throw in then dfa’d. It really is
getting harder to get behind this team while the fan base slowly fades
away. This is probably why we are on Upton’s no trade list, no faith in
management.
The Indians are one of the most maddening teams in either league. They are in this strange cycle, and seem to have been for several seasons. No money=no players=no fans and the Indians response is to keep doing the same thing, bring in the same type of players and expect a different result. They need a new owner or a new paradigm or something. Their attendance is the worst in the majors and it doesn’t appear to be improving anytime soon. It’s a shame what has happened to that franchise.