Red Sox Trade Deadline: Sox Acquire Jarrod Saltalamacchia for Roman Mendez and Chris McGuiness
by Ben Buchanan on Jul 31, 2010 4:56 PM EDT
in News
Email
PrintThe Red Sox have made a last-minute deal to acquire catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia from the Rangers for Low-A pitcher Roman Mendez, Single-A first baseman Chris McGuiness, a player to be named later, and cash considerations.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia came up through the Texas system as a highly regarded catching prospect, but has had his problems in the majors, never really reaching the level that was expected out of him in 794 career at bats. So far he's having a mediocre year in Triple-A, with line of .244/.326/.445 in 238 at bats.
The Sox actively pursued Saltalamacchia after the 2008 season, but were ultimately unwilling to part with the then-struggling Clay Buchholz.
Roman Mendez came into the season as a big time breakout candidate in Single-A Greenville, but was absolutely shelled early on. He's had a little more success since being demoted to Lowell, but has still struggled. With a high-90s fastball and a strong slider, Mendez is seen by many as a future closer. Chris McGuiness had been having a big season in Greenville with a line of .298/.416/.504, but at 22-years-old was not playing age appropriate competition. Still, it seems like a fair bit to give up for a fallen prospect like Saltalamachhia.
61 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
PTBNL is the real pick of the litter. That dude’s got power.
In all seriousness, I like this a lot, even if Mendez could be a live arm in a few years, and Chris McGuiness could be…I don’t know, Chris Carter without power? They bought low on a major talent, and unlike, say, Mo Pena- Arroyo, they’re taking their bet without giving up anything proven. This one’s a risk worth taking, if only for the site of that absurdly long last name rainbowing around the road jersey.
A 20-year-old who hits 99 on the radar gun though.
He wasn’t struggling with command until the velocity boost, either, so this could very easily just be finding out how to use his new stuff.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Jul 31, 2010 5:17 PM EDT up reply actions
99? All reports I’d read had him in the mid-90s, so I guess I understand some of the reluctance around these parts on the trade. That said, I think (and this might sound odd, in a sense), that Salty’s more of a sure thing, not that there are sure things in this deal, and that a catcher that can hit is more rare/valuable than an arm still learning to control its stuff.
There’s a reason bullpen parts get pitched around year to year and a Ramon Ramirez looks great for 2/3 of a season, awful for 2/3, and not bad for a few months. It’s the same reason they’re bullpen pitchers, not starters. You can’t project a Mendez, though you can dream on what his material can do. Will he be a bullpen stud? Maybe, but for how long at that?
As for Salty’s yips, whatever, you know they’ve got him reading Playboy down in Oklahoma City now, so that’s all taken care of.
/can’t believe he referenced Major League II’d
We got a catcher that cannot throw back to the mound
The certified ambassador of all things good and great, here at OTM.
He's going to get lessons from Tavarez
The certified ambassador of all things good and great, here at OTM.
If this was straight up Salt for Mendez that would be one thing....
But to give up, Mendez + McGuiness + PTBNL + Cash for Salt isn’t what I’d call buying low.
Mendez while unproven is a 20 year old kid who has a slider with plus potential and can hit 99 on the gun, he was projected as a possible closer or front of the rotation type pitcher.
Salt on the other hand has only proven he is a bust so far at the major league level.
In 310 PA: .233 AVG, .290 OBP, .371 SLG, K’d 34.3 % of the time
That isn’t mentioning his defense as a catcher.
I agree with this:
to give up, Mendez + McGuiness + PTBNL + Cash for Salt isn’t what I’d call buying low.
A lot of stuff for a guy doing so-so in AAA.
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
That's my main point,
If we picked up Salt for McGuiness + PTBNL + Cash I’d have considered it to be buying low (depending on the PTBNL) and I’d have been really happy for the trade.
If we traded Mendez for Salt straight up, I’d have considered it a flip flop of gambles and a pretty even equal trade. (Mendez an unproven with high potential, Salt a hyped prospect who did well in AA, had one good year in AAA, couldn’t cut it in the bigs and is doing meh in AAA, but could has done well at the AAA level.)
But Mendez + McGuiness + PTBNL + Cash to me is paying for hype from 2 – 3 years ago, that performance so far doesn’t back.
Considering the asking price had been Buchholz/Bard in the past
We did OK.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
I can agree with you there, the old price was A LOT.
I do remember that and looking at it from that prospective we made at good, I guess Salts stock didn’t fall THAT far. I guess it’s just a case of I think it’s fallen farther than the front office did.
That being said, it’s not really a major trade, minor players for minor players, I don’t think either side can say they really made a killing on this deal, or the other side got fleeced.
I really don't agree that using one set of demands vs. the current price is really a good way to evaluate this.
Prospects in baseball are way to fluid to try and use past value, especially something from winter of the 008/09. Engel Beltre is worth 10 times his value from what it was in the same time frame. You are better off judging this from what his perceived value is now.
JD’s like, "you want some fucking pitching? Here’s all the pitching you can stand. Now choke on it, bitches!"- RCCook
So?
He ain’t my father.
You don’t stockpile young talented prospects to trade them away for might-be major league starting caliber players. Not if you have to compete with the Yankees, you don’t. While remaining open to being wrong about this, I’m projecting a 70% chance that this was not one of Theo’s best ideas.
Wait 'til next/this year?
"Laser show. So relax."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jul 31, 2010 5:41 PM EDT up reply actions
Baseball Prospectus' Top 11 Prospects
Five-Star Prospects
1. Ryan Westmoreland, CF
2. Casey Kelly RHP/SS
Four-Star Prospects
3. Josh Reddick, OF
4. Ryan Kalish, OF
Three-Star Prospects
5. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
6. Jose Iglesias, SS
7. Junichi Tazawa, RHP
8. Michael Bowden, RHP
9. Lars Anderson, 1B
10. Reymond Fuentes, CF
11. Derrik Gibson, 2B/SS
Four More:
12. David Renfroe, RHP/SS
13. Alex Wilson, RHP
14. Stolmy Pimentel, RHP
15. Che-Hsuan Lin, LF
(Just saying; I’m of the opinion that this is what you can do with your non-top prospects, and you’re not, but let’s not go throwing the possibly meaningless phrase “might-be major league starting caliber players” around lightly. That phrase technically means “anyone in minor league ball.” The moment either you or the club doesn’t see you going somewhere is the moment you quit/ are cut.)
I hope I'm wrong, I hope Salt lives up to ++ Offensive while being a decent defensive catcher.....hell I hope he is the next Joe Mauer for our sake.
That being said, I had to jump over to the Ranger blog to see what you were talking about.
It’s rather funny that he defends his son, I think any father would defend his kid if people were being overly mean, his username is apparently: 525DP.
P.S. I still think this is a crap trade
Somewhere the team equipment manager is cursing
by BobZupcic on Jul 31, 2010 6:05 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
A bit misleading
Jarrod Saltalamacchia came up through the Texas system as a highly regarded catching prospect
Never played below AAA for Texas, came up through Atlanta’s system.
He's supposedly doing better in terms of the throwing.
I don’t really understand this move. Although, he might not be available now, we could have probably gotten Iannetta for the same price or cheaper. Iannetta isn’t great, but I would trust him with the starting job over Salt.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
I don’t think the Rockies were planning on moving Ianetta
by brogshan on Jul 31, 2010 7:50 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I don't understand why they would, but from what I've read they (at least in the past)
wanted to trade him. One of the reasons (supposedly) he didn’t get traded was because of Helton’s health. If it were up to me, I’d take him all day everyday over Miguel “career year” Olivo.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Jul 31, 2010 7:51 PM EDT up reply actions
not saying Salt would start if Vic isn't back, just saying I like Iannetta better.
This may actually be a sign that Vic is going to be resigned. Maybe the contract would be a 3-4 years with 1-2 being DH years, and in that time we try and see if we can groom Salt into a starter.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Jul 31, 2010 7:50 PM EDT up reply actions
I like it.
He’s only 25. Tek didn’t become a starting catcher til he was 27. If Salty hits the way he was projected, it’s a steal. If not, we traded our 17th best prospect (according to OTM’s rankings).
Manny ain't the only bad man.
This.
Brett Anderson is the Truth. Brett Anderson is divine presence. Brett Anderson is eternal life. Brett Anderson is within you. Brett Anderson is here. Brett Anderson is Now.
by Frederick0220 on Aug 1, 2010 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions
Yeah, meh
I like McGuinness, but really don’t mind trading him. Mendez, on the other hand, I think could turn into exactly the type of power bullpen arm we’ve all talked about getting this past trade deadline. I hope we’re not talking about trading for him in 4-5 years because he’s a potent 8th-inning set-up guy that we desperately need.
Fingers crossed the Sox can fix Salty. He was highly regarded at one point, maybe he can live up to that promise. Probably not, but they’ve had their eye on him for a while.
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Jul 31, 2010 7:55 PM EDT reply actions
+1
The more I think about it, the madder I get that we gave up Mendez. I think he had big league potential. McGuiness – eh, a nice A player, but verrrrry iffy in terms of his top end.
Salty, on the other hand, has never and likely will never hit at the major league level. It seems we traded too much for another Dusty Brown.
I'm hoping they can make him hit
Brown was never rated as highly as Salty, I’m hoping they can do SOMETHING to get him to be at least average in the majors.
I don’t hate the deal though, just don’t think it’s an improvement at this point in time. We will have an abundance of catching at the higher levels though: Lavarnway, Exposito, Salty, Ibarra, Brown/Wagner, Fedex. Won’t have room for them all.
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Jul 31, 2010 8:13 PM EDT up reply actions
In fact
Surprised we didn’t trade one.
I’m guessing there will be moves this winter to clear some space.
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Jul 31, 2010 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions
An even better idea would have been to pair McGuiness with Daniel Turpen
whom we just gotten in the Ramram deal.
THere may not have been enough time to put that together, though.
I read Theo's response to the trades.
From what I read, I gathered that he didn’t get Salt necessarily to fill a specific role (Vic’s backup, next year’s starter, etc.). Instead, he got him because he thought the deal was good value.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
Future Trade Value?
So I go to Costco and see they have a sale on pickles, right, real big jars of pickles. I don’t need pickles, in fact these are sweet pickles. Now my name is Theo, so even though I’m there to buy toilet paper, which I really really need I buy jars of sweet pickles. “They were a great value so I bought them, and then gave some cash to the cashier also.”
by papoonforpresident on Jul 31, 2010 8:25 PM EDT up reply actions
We have no catchers for next year
Other than Dusty Brown. This is an attempt to fill a need, and if we somehow get outrageous value out of the transaction, we take it.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
Agree, it's worth setting Salty up as the backup next year
and see if it sticks. What did we lose? A strong armed 20 year old. Oh no. Go sign Ranaudo and Workman and forget about it. McGuiness. Never going to play for the Sox, behind Rizzo and Lars who are blocked by Youk. At best, the guy is a backup for a bad MLB team in his career.
You have guys in your system so that you can trade them. They are commodities. It’s like saying, “I really like the way Lincoln is smiling at me on this $5.00, I don’t think I can buy this beer.” Buy the beer. Abe will smile on the next one too. Don’t fall in love with your commodities.
Ehhhh, that's a slippery slope though
Sometimes falling in love with your “commodities” pays off, especially when your $5.00 is an investment, and it can potentially pay out multiple times. A $5 bill never changes its value (okay, inflation, blah blah blah, but you get my point), prospects do. Sometimes they become worse, sometimes much, much better. Looking at all of your prospects as fixed commodities is a bad way to play the game. You’ll buy a lot of beer, get drunk, and wake up the next day with a headache while the guy who sold you the beer is potentially a very rich man someday.
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Jul 31, 2010 10:13 PM EDT up reply actions
We'll see
I happened to catch a game in OKC this year and watched him play. Here are some stats:
2010 Season
Team League AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI TB BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS
OKC PCL .244 63 238 37 58 11 2 11 33 106 25 60 1 0 .326 .445 .771.
Now the RedHawks are a damn good time, AAA league leaders and all that. Salty’s numbers have been declining steadily and the OKC paper (Homer paper to the max) has pretty much wondered what happened to his power. So I stand by my “why bring home pickles” remark and I IMHO think that (even besides Tek) the Sox have enough catching propects not to have this rehab case here. I thought two years ago that Salty was an up and coming but he was less than stellar and another peak at the ML stats bear that out.
by papoonforpresident on Jul 31, 2010 10:44 PM EDT reply actions
We traded one project for another (Mendez for Salty) with an added 1B who probably won't turn into a big leaguer
Neither Mendez nor Salty could turn into anything special, probably the most likely situation, or maybe one does and not the other. Who knows.
We brought home the pickles because we’ve been eying pickles for a few years now and we think we could make a nice sandwich with them (hey look, it’s the best I could do with the metaphor okay?).
Salty is a catcher and they can take longer to develop, plus he’s been a top prospect in the past. Let’s at least give him a chance to work with Gary Tuck and see what we can do with him. Maybe we’ll strike magic (Ortiz) orrrr maybe it’ll be a bust (Hermida).
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Jul 31, 2010 11:13 PM EDT up reply actions
meh - crap for crap
Not thrilled but not upset by this trade.
Salty is nothing but depth at the C position for the organization.
Neither McGuiness nor Mendez were even in the top 20 of prospects in the Sox’ system. Yeah, Mendez could occasionally hit the high 90s. Whatever. I doubt he would be cracking the Sox MLB roster anytime soon. There are quite a few guys ahead of him.
We didn’t get anybody important in Saltalamachia. But we didn’t give up anybody important either.
This serves two purposes in my mind
first, it provides some leverage with negotiating for a catcher (and possibly an extension for Martinez.
Second, it gives us a backup catcher for next year who, god knows, might turn into something.
I dunno, maybe what I’ve seen is off, but I’ve never pegged McGuiness or Mendez as anything in any way important. I don’t think this is really significant in any way, but I don’t mind it.
I dont care about McGuiness, but Mendez hurts a bit.
Still, just a raw live arm. Considering 6 months ago the price was Buchholz, we came out well.
Salty has a lot of promise and its impossible to find decent young catching. You cant get Salty without giving up something of value. In this case we got a guy who is a year removed from being considered one of the best young catchers in the game and we didn’t give up:
a) any of our top 20 prospects
b) any of our top 2 1B prospects
c) any of our top 10 pitching prospects.
Good deal.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
Saltalamacchia was the centerpiece of the 2007 Texas-Atlanta Teixeira trade.
I definitely see why Theo thought this was a buy low opportunity. Now maybe Salty won’t turn into anything special. I’d rather bet on a young, former top prospect than any of the non-VMart free agents at catcher.
Adrian Beltre is why we can't have healthy outfielders.
I kind of like having Salty.
I think there’s some potential upside there, I think. But there’s something about the “and cash” part of this deal that rubs me the wrong way.
“You have to give me this guy. Oh, and that guy. And someone else later. Oh…and you got to pay me, too.”
@#$% you. The guy’s hitting two-fitty in the minors. I know $350,000 isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of the Sox payroll, but it’s the principle of the thing.
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
Eh... theyve been negotiating this deal for like three years
Theo knew the price and decided to pull the trigger. He probably went to Daniels with these kind of alternative ways to add value.
& although many knock the Yanks for it, I prefer when the team pays money rather than gives up prospects/players/value.
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
A bit odd
This an odd deal for the trade deadline. The Sox are in desperate need of bullpen help, so they trade a reliever, Rameriz for a AA prosepect, and get a catching project. Very odd. My take is that they took a look at the landscape of available catching over the next couple of years, both inside and outside the organization, and decided they better grab Salty as a project to bolster the thin crop. I guess the Paw Sox catcher just lost his job.
In principle, I like the Sox trading low level prospects for a player that could help in the short term. Remember, the Sox are not building for 2014, they are going for it every year.
It's not that odd.
Any of the good relievers either wouldn’t be traded or was too expensive.
"If I was being paid $30,000 dollars a year, the very least I could do was hit .400."- Ted Williams
I hate Hermida
Twitter: @BoldandBrash
by BoldandBrash on Aug 1, 2010 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions
Its an odd deadline
for an odd team that doesn’t have a distinct direction still. This is what happens when you can’t decide if you’re a buyer or seller (not that I AT ALL blame them for being indecisive on that).
Bullpen Banter
www.bullpenbanter.com
twitter: @alskor
The Yankees
The Yankees got Berkman, Wood and Kearns and just missed on Cliff Lee; do they have a much deeper farm system to trade then the Sox? Could we make that assumption? Just asking.
I don't think they do
But for whatever reason teams just like to bend over for the Yankees. They didn’t really give up anyone particularly good to acquire these players, so it’s not like we couldn’t have outbid them.
DFA Beckett
by South Coast Ghost on Aug 1, 2010 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Moolah,
We ate a bunch.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
by CasanovaWong on Aug 1, 2010 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions
The Yankees also had a set of specific needs
They NEEDED a DH and outfield depth and bullpen. Besides bullpen (where the asking price this year was crazy high) what did we NEED that we weren’t getting back from the DL sooner or later?
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
You have to ask?
The Sox have been in need of another bullpen arm since the end of last year. Great, we are all talking about some catcher project that may or may not help the team next year or ever. What we should be discussing is why Theo didn’t pull off a trade for a reliever. No, he TRADED a reliever instead?!?! I get the idea of not trading a blue chip prospect for a bullpen arm rental, but why not take a shot with Kerry Wood? The Yankees got him for cash OR a player to be named later. No prospects traded there. I don’t get it. All I can assume is that the Yankess were more agressive.
I would personally rather try out Bowden and Doubront than Wood
he’s just not that good a pitcher. He walks way too many guys, can’t stay healthy, and has been quickly declining the last two years. In addition he is costing the Yankees between 1.5 and 1.7 million (depending on if he’s healthy), plus a player to be named later (hard to say much about the trade until they reveal who that is). In any case, Wood looks to me an awful lot like a tiny upgrade over the guys we have now, at a very high cost for his production. Like I said, I’d much rather give Bowden and Doubront a chance.
Cash OR a player
I’m guessing the Indians take the cash. Are you really worried about the Sox spending a million? That is chump change when you have a $170 million payroll. I know how this went down – once the Sox knew the Yankees were offering cash, they just walked away. Probobly smart, cuz the Yankees are not going to lose in a cash game against the Red Sox.
That's not what MLBTR says
I don’t know if you see another source other than what they have linked to there.
Why would the Red Sox want him in any case? Look at the year he’s having. He’s barely an upgrade if at all over what we have in the bullpen, and I think that both Doubront and Bowden have the possibility of a lot more to offer than he does.
No I don’t care if the Sox spend an extra million. Doesn’t bug me one way or the other. They can go out and pay $10 million for a player that’s a marginal upgrade for all I care, as long as it’s the best possible upgrade available. Not my money and that’s never bothered me.
I think the more likely situation of how this went down was that the Red Sox looked at how Wood is performing and said no thanks, regardless of what the Yankees were offering.
Franchise personality
I believe the Yankees are just the more agressive franchise and it has been that way forever. The Sox also run a great business, but just much more carefully. Theo & Co. have a plan and they stick to it, without deviation.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- The Cardinals Hall of Fame can now be found at Bill Clinton’s library in Arkansas (Huh?)
- Will Bryce Harper start the season with the Nationals?
- Mitch Mustain puts football behind him, signs reported rookie deal with White Sox
- Robinson Cano and Denzel Washington face off in Jay Leno’s Yankees trivia contest
- Shane Victorino lands role on ‘Hawaii Five-0′
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
