The Reds made a few more cuts today.
Alexander Smit was outrighted to Sarasota.
Richie Gardner and Tyler Pelland were optioned to AAA.
Chris Kroski and Matt Maloney were sent to Minor League camp.
The Reds also claimed Jose Capellan off of the Giants, who took him from the Red Sox in the Rule V draft. He would have to stay on the 25 man roster all year as he is basically a Rule V draft pick. In 2 innings for the Giants in ST he allowed 2 HR and 6 hits while striking out 1. He has a very good minor league resume, although a short one as well. He has an average fastball (88-91 MPH) for a lefty, but his curve and change up are both potential plus pitches that are above average right now as is his control. Its a big jump from short season A ball to the majors though….
I am a little surprised that Tyler Pelland didn’t get more than 2 spring innings this year considering how well he did last year in his AAA call up late in the season.
Wednesday, 12. March 2008
Well what do you know…Krivsky got another lefty (Capellan). He was a starter in the minors last year…does he plan on him being a part of our bullpen? Unless he has some magical arm attached to his body it’d be pretty rough to join the rotation of a MLB team from a class A team. Hell even to stay in the bullpen will take some luck.
Wednesday, 12. March 2008
Pelland probably would have gotten more of a look if he had more than 24 AAA innings under his belt. He has the advantage of being on the 40-man, but there is just too much of a logjam of more seasoned arms for the major-league bullpen & rotation, necessitating consolidation to get enough innings for the real contenders for those spots (not to mention all the lefties). Though if that is the explanation, the claim of Capellan is then somewhat out-of-step. Actually, I agree with you Alex - odd move regardless. Though he’s probably a better bet to stick than Sergio Valenzuela was, that isn’t saying much.
Real quick Doug, maybe you can explain the difference between being optioned to AAA, like Pelland, and sent to minor-league camp, like Maloney.
Wednesday, 12. March 2008
If he sticks, its going to be as the long man out of the bullpen. Odds are, he won’t stick.
DA,
This is just a guess, but I would imagine that Pelland and Gardner were optioned to AAA because they are on the 40 man roster. The others were sent to minor league camp because its not a roster move, just an assignment.
Wednesday, 12. March 2008
Picking up Capellan doesn’t make a lot more sense than the pick of Valenzuela. These guys have just not pitched anywhere near high enough in the minors to make the jump. But maybe there’s a minor league deal coming with Boston. By the way, is Valenzuela’s assignment to the Mexican League maybe a way of offering him back to us for a future consideration to the Braves?
Wednesday, 12. March 2008
Cappellan is much more ready than Valenzuela. Valenzuela got absolutely murdered in A ball. Capellan was VERY good in A ball. Still very far away, but its like 20 to 1 odds for Capellan and 50,000 to 1 odds for Valenzuela.
Wednesday, 12. March 2008
Doug,
Looking at Capellan’s minor league career, which is only two years’ service, I’m not sure I understand why he was Rule 5 draft eligible. Is it possible that’s not right and we don’t have to keep him on the major league 25? Was he possibly a minor league Rule 5 guy? Even then I’m not sure why he would have been considered to have had enough service to be Rule 5 eligible?
Thursday, 13. March 2008
The lefty Capellan was definitely picked in the major-league phase of the rule 5 draft - #4 overall. But now that Fritz has pointed it out, I’m not sure why he was eligible either. Perhaps he played a couple seasons in South America first and that time was counted?
Thursday, 13. March 2008
I don’t know why he was available, but he was and has to stay on the 25 man. 5% chance he sticks, but for the price, it is certainly worth seeing if he is worth hiding as the long man in the bullpen… but I have to say, if the Giants couldn’t find a place to hide him…. we shouldn’t be able to.