Sox Acquire Relief Pitcher Aardsma

by Allen Chace on Jan 28, 2008 1:35 PM EST in News

The Red Sox today acquired righthanded pitcher David Aardsma from the Chicago White Sox in exchange for righthanded pitchers Willy Mota and Miguel Socolovich.

The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Theo Epstein.

Aardsma, 26, has been added to Boston's major league roster, putting that list at 39 players.

Eh, what can I say? Aardsma is a former first-round pick of the San Francisco Center Fielder Giants. In 96 ML innings, he's struck out 90 and walked 55.

Mota is a 22 year old pitcher (and converted OF), who struck out 22 in 27 2/3 IP at Lowell last season. Socolovich has struck out 90 in 115 professional innings, to go along with 55 walks. I guess the good news is that neither of these guys would come close to cracking a top 20 prospect list, but it still seems strange (at best) to be giving anything up for a guy who is unable to command the strike zone.

Well, I guess Aardsma was at one point highly-regarded, given that first-round pick status. Maybe the Sox saw a mechanical flaw they believe they can fix. We don't have a whole lot of reason, based upon last season's results, to doubt the abilities of John Farrell as a pitching coach.

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Re: Sox Acquire Relief Pitcher Aardsma

Maybe they want him for an outfield prospect?

by Longsuffering on Jan 28, 2008 2:29 PM EST reply actions

Re: Sox Acquire Relief Pitcher Aardsma

Aardsma has potential. he has 85 k's in his last 85 innings over the last 2 years. he's only 26 and, as you mention, is a former 1st round pick.
John Farrell + change of scenery will do him good.
when he's "on" he has the stuff to be successful.
i like this trade for the sox.

by em3 on Jan 28, 2008 2:32 PM EST reply actions

Re: Sox Acquire Relief Pitcher Aardsma

Something for nothing. Why not acquire the first name in the pitching directory?

Bottom 9th B:1 S:0 O:0 With Bill Mueller batting, Dave Roberts steals (1) 2nd base.

by britsoxfan on Jan 28, 2008 2:48 PM EST reply actions

Re: Sox Acquire Relief Pitcher Aardsma

My thoughts exactly bsf. Aardsma has been decent in the past, though he battles inconsistency. If Aardsma is the weakest link, that's a good bullpen.

"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.

by SoxDevil on Jan 29, 2008 9:25 AM EST up reply actions

Re: Sox Acquire Relief Pitcher Aardsma

I really like this move, maybe he can turn his career around playing for a winner. Sometimes pro-athletes with talent just need a change of location and someone to say "hey buddy, we need a relief pitcher, we have a spot, do you want a chance to be part of something big?"

Look at guys who played for the Patriots or Rasheed Wallace in Detroit.

by SoxAcumen on Jan 28, 2008 5:21 PM EST reply actions

Joba

Seems joba might start season in the bullpen. Is that good or bad news? ha

http://mlbfleecefactor.com/2008/01/28/joba-to-open-the-season-in-the-pen/

by ET90210 on Jan 28, 2008 10:01 PM EST reply actions

Re: Joba

Yeah I saw that also, I'd say that's good. The less innings their good pitchers pitch the better, leaving Stating spots open for bad pitchers like Moose

_http://newsshouldbeentertainment.blogspot.com/when news articles are too long to read_

by Realistic on Jan 29, 2008 3:33 PM EST up reply actions

Re: Joba

For this season, it's bad news in my opinion.

Joba wasn't going to be tossing 150-170 ML innings as a starter anyway, so the 60-75 he'll pitch out of the 'pen won't be that much less than he'd pitch as a starter. And there's no doubt that Joba + Mo will result in a much better record in 1-run games than Farnsworth/Hawkins + Mo would.