Stand Pat made a trade!
Okay, its not any more exciting than his last trade with Boston, which netted us Jose Offerman. The M’s acquired LHP Matt White for class-A OF Sheldon Fulse (who, ironically, just debuted on the Future Forty this month). Fulse, though only 21, isn’t much of a loss, especially in this organization. He wasn’t likely to be added to the 40 man roster this offseason anyways, and his future with the M’s was clouded by the amount of legitimate OF prospects ahead of him on the chain.
As the saying goes, though, you get what you pay for. The M’s didn’t give up much, and thats pretty much what they get in return. Matt White is a Rule V draftee from the Cleveland Indians, meaning the M’s get to hide him on the roster all season and cannot option him to the minors until next year. He turns 26 in August and isn’t exactly a spring chicken. He missed most of last season with an arm injury, and has managed just 3 appearances with Boston to date, giving up 11 earned runs for a sport 27.00 ERA.
White’s minor league track record doesn’t suggest great potential, and his strikeout rates in particular aren’t much to scream about. It didn’t seem likely that the M’s could actually find a worse pitcher than Giovanni Carrara, but they have achived that illustrious goal.
The interesting decision will come Monday, when the M’s must decide whether to eat the rest of Carrara’s $400,000 salary or option Julio Mateo back to AAA. Realistically, this should be a foregone conclusion. Besides his tendancy for the home run ball, Mateo has pitched reasonably well, and sports a serviceable 4.18 ERA and solid 1.21 WHIP. He’s got just 8 walks and 23 strikeouts in 28 innings, and he’s only 25-years-old. Carrara’s ERA stands at 6.26 with a WHIP of 1.71. He’s walked 12 and struck out 11 in 27 innings. He’s 35 and has no future with the club.
Odds are, though, that Mateo ends up back in Tacoma. Veteran Leadership, and all that jazz.
Minor League Highlights for Thursday, June 5th
Las Vegas 4, Tacoma 3. RHP Ken Cloude made his return from a strained groin to toss 5 solid innings, but RHP Aaron Taylor couldn’t convert the save opportunity and gave up two runs, including the game winner, in the 9th inning. Cloude was as effective as could be expected, giving up two runs, walking one, and striking out two. RHP Aaron Looper was brilliant in his 3 innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out four. LF Adrian Myers was the hitting star, going 2-3 with a walk, a run scored, and a stolen base. SS Mickey Lopez also collected two hits and a walk in four trips to the plate.
San Antonio 2, Frisco 1. The Missions continued their string of ridiculously good pitching performances behind LHP Bobby Madritsch’s best start of the year. He worked 6 innings, allowed 5 hits, 1 run, walked 2, and struck out 7. The bullpen, led by former starting pitcher Chris Wright, tossed 3 more shutout innings to close the door. San Antonio has now allowed a grand total of 3 runs in their last 5 games. Offensively, it was once again 3B Justin Leone leading the charge, as he went 2-3, scored a run, drew a walk, and stole a base. He’s now hitting .332/.437/.616 with a 37/38 BB/K in 190 AB. Over half of his 63 hits have gone for extra bases. He’s simply on fire.
Inland Empire 5, Stockton 4. CF Sheldon Fulse ignited an offensive spark, at least for the 66’ers, by going 3-5 and stealing 3 bases. He also scored twice and drove in a run to give the team an offensive boost. 1B John Castellano also had 3 hits and 3B Hunter Brown added his 7th home run of the year. LHP Ryan Ketchner started and pitched 7 innings, giving up just 2 runs, walked one, and struck out three. RHP Mike Steele got the win in relief despite giving up 2 in his 2 innings of work.
Wisconsin 13, Fort Wayne 3. Where to begin? We’ll start with leadoff man and LF Corey Harrington, who ignited the offense with 2 triples, 3 runs scored, and an RBI. 2B Tim Merritt had his best game of the year with a 4-5 performance. He doubled twice, scored twice, and drove in three runs. 1B Jon Nelson, RF T.J. Bohn, C Chris Phillips, and SS Michael Garciaparra all had two hits as well. LHP Bobby Livingston moved to 9-1 on the season with 7 more rock solid innings, giving up just one run and striking out three without a walk. His ERA now stands at 2.14.