Moves A Go-Go
Ah, Bowden got his transaction jones for the day! (Here's an Orioles link with the info, just to piss you off.)
The Nats activated Luis Ayala, called up Chris Schroder and (officially) Brandon Watson.
To make room, they designated Winston Abreu and Levale Speigner for Assignment. (Fick's move to the bereavement list creates the third roster spot)
Abreu has been terrible lately, allowing runs in 7 of his last 8 appearances. As we suspected when he first got the callup, he just didn't have command of his pitches. He was getting by in the minors because his stuff was good enough to fool lesser batters even without the command. That just doesn't work in the majors, usually.
With Speigner, his Rule 5 status complicates things a bit. The DFA puts him into a transactional limbo. He's on waivers, and any team can claim him. If they do, they retain the Rule 5 active roster requirements. If he clears, the Nats would be able to send him to the minors after offering him back to Minnesota. But MN would have to pay $25K, and is he really worth that?
We know about Ayala -- if you can remember back that far -- and Watson. Schroder pitched pretty terribly last year with a bizarre statline.
He's an amazing strikeout pitcher, with 39 K in just 28 IP. But that's half the battle. He walked 4.8 per game and allowed a boatload of homers: 7!? That's about 2.2 per game. Add it up, and he had an ERA over 6.
Schroder has done much the same in the minors this year, save for the gopher ball. He's striking out a ton of batters, walking too many. But somehow, he hasn't allowed a homer in 33 innings pitched.
If he can keep that up in the majors, he can succeed, even with the control problems. We'll find out!
The Nats activated Luis Ayala, called up Chris Schroder and (officially) Brandon Watson.
To make room, they designated Winston Abreu and Levale Speigner for Assignment. (Fick's move to the bereavement list creates the third roster spot)
Abreu has been terrible lately, allowing runs in 7 of his last 8 appearances. As we suspected when he first got the callup, he just didn't have command of his pitches. He was getting by in the minors because his stuff was good enough to fool lesser batters even without the command. That just doesn't work in the majors, usually.
With Speigner, his Rule 5 status complicates things a bit. The DFA puts him into a transactional limbo. He's on waivers, and any team can claim him. If they do, they retain the Rule 5 active roster requirements. If he clears, the Nats would be able to send him to the minors after offering him back to Minnesota. But MN would have to pay $25K, and is he really worth that?
We know about Ayala -- if you can remember back that far -- and Watson. Schroder pitched pretty terribly last year with a bizarre statline.
He's an amazing strikeout pitcher, with 39 K in just 28 IP. But that's half the battle. He walked 4.8 per game and allowed a boatload of homers: 7!? That's about 2.2 per game. Add it up, and he had an ERA over 6.
Schroder has done much the same in the minors this year, save for the gopher ball. He's striking out a ton of batters, walking too many. But somehow, he hasn't allowed a homer in 33 innings pitched.
If he can keep that up in the majors, he can succeed, even with the control problems. We'll find out!
posted by Chris Needham at
10:56 AM
3 Comments:
Too bad about Abreu. I was really rooting for that kid.
By
Anonymous, at 6/20/2007 11:43 AM
I think the Twins will take Speigner back, after he beat Santana a 10 days ago. Speigner did put up strong numbers in Class A last year. $25,000 is the price of a late round draft pick, and as dreadful as Speigner has been for the Nats, he is clearly worth that price.
By
Anonymous, at 6/20/2007 12:27 PM
I'm really excited to get Ayala back. I've been following him since '04 with the Expos (he was on my fantasy team.) When healthy, he is one of the best setup guys in baseball. With our starters not going deep on a regular basis, this is a huge boost to our 'pen.
By
Rob B, at 6/20/2007 12:58 PM
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