Posted by Steve
Add Salomon Torres to the barrel of relievers the Brewers are collecting this season. The Brewers acquired him from the Pirates for a pair of relief prospects, Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts. Roberts was likely the more valuable player of the two prospects, but both were at least a few years from a possible impact at the Major League Level.
This is probably my favorite transaction so far this season for the Brewers. Not because Torres is anything too great, but because it was a good value trade. The Pirates are really selling pretty low on Torres in this deal, who could have brought back some very good talent a couple years ago. Torres had a poor year last year as far as ERA is concerned, but his secondary numbers weren’t all that different from the previous three seasons where he was quite effective.
Another appealing part of this deal is Torres’ contract. It truly makes this deal a low-risk/relatively high reward type of trade. He’s making 3.2 mil in ’08, which isn’t anything to sneeze at, but it’s also not a lot when compared to what set-up type pitchers are getting in today’s market. He then has a 300K buyout for ’09, so if he doesn’t work out they can just let him go.
It may sound strange, but I actually like the current bullpen more than last year’s version. Obviously no one pitcher is as good as Cordero, but there’s more depth in the middle-late innings. Last year’s set-up guys were pretty much down to just Turnbow and Shouse before Linebrink arrived, and Turnbow obviously had more than his share of struggles. This year you have Riske, who I’d argue is at worst a wash from Linebrink and probably an upgrade. Then to make up for the loss of Cordero, you have Mota and Torres. Certainly guys like Torres, and especially Mota could end up flaming out, but relievers are pretty volatile from year to year so there’s always a chance they can bounce back.
What the Brewers have now are four pitchers for the back end of the bullpen: Derrick Turnbow, David Riske, Salomon Torres and Guillermo Mota. Each has some history of struggling, but each also has a history of success at the major league level. Same for Matt Wise, who people tend to forget was good before the second half of last year, and Brian Shouse.
It may not be very exciting, but this is typically the way the Brewers have built a pitching staff under Doug Melvin: building depth rather than making a big splash. If your ace reliever gets signed away to a huge deal, the next best thing is to bring in as many “next step down” type pitchers as possible. We’ve seen the Brewers do this with guys like Dan Kolb, Matt Wise and Derrick Turnbow, and none of that group really had any sustained MLB success when they arrived. The difference here is that these pitchers are not projects.
Small moves adding up
In fact, the entire off-season is going that way so far. There haven’t been any big moves, but the Brewers have quietly improved in a few areas. They have made a probable upgrade at catcher, and they have added three relievers to replace Linebrink and Cordero without giving up any major league arms.
Rolen deal still alive?
The Cardinals’ situation with Scott Rolen seems to take a new twist every day. Rolen’s rocky relationship with Tony La Russa is well-documented, and it seems that it’s now beyond repair. The two have been exchanging some verbal blows through the media, and it’s really making new GM Jon Mozeliak’s job difficult. Complicating things even more is Rolen’s full no-trade clause, and the speculation that Milwaukee is his number one preference.
St. Louis probably prefers not to trade Rolen to an NL Central team, but the odds of another team who fits the qualifications (has a need for a third baseman, can take on Rolen’s contract AND then Rolen would need to approve the trade) offering more than the Brewers seems pretty low. It comes down to whether the Cardinals are willing to take an inferior deal and/or eat more of the contract just to keep him away from Milwaukee.
With all this considered, I still think there is a pretty strong chance that Rolen will end up in Milwaukee.
