SB Nation - Derek Rodriguez

This Week in White Sox Minor League Baseball

larry — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:55:57 -0000

Dayan Viciedo

This week:

Dayan Viciedo may finally be adjusting to American pro baseball. After a putrid start, he's currently 9-26 in his last six games, including a double and two homers. He was initially having trouble with breaking balls, especially the slider. It seems like he's been better at fighting those off recently and, as he sees more fastballs, his power numbers should further improve.
Clevelan Santeliz came off the DL and all he did in his season debut at Birmingham was face four batters and strike all of them out.
Gordon Beckham: .310/.396/.524.
Roster Machinations: Derek Rodriguez was promoted to Charlotte. Justin Cassel moved into the Knights' starting rotation.
Jeffrey Marquez had been atrocious so far this season: 0-4, 14.18 ERA, 13.1 IP, 26 hits, 10 BB, 7 K and a 0.94 GO/AO. I never thought he was a good pitcher but he certainly should not be this bad. So it probably shouldn't be a shock that he was placed on the DL after his last start.
Sox Machine recaps April for Charlotte and Birmingham and Winston-Salem and Kannapolis.
The Intimidators' starting pitching has been putting up some gaudy numbers so far this year. Daniel Hudson leads the group with a 1-2 record, 1.23 ERA, 22 IP, 15 H, 2 BB, 30 K (yes, that walk to strikeout ratio is correct). Roommate Dexter Carter isn't far behind with a 1-0 record, 1.69 ERA, 21.1 IP, 15 H, 5 BB, 23 K. Gregory Infante rounds things out with a 1-0 record, 0.75 ERA, 24 IP, 13 H, 9 BB, 22 K. Charlie Leesman and Garrett Johnson haven't been bad, either. Of course, what has been bad is the hitting in the South Atlantic League this year. As always, keep in mind the context of the numbers you see. Some of these guys are pretty good. But they're probably not that good.
A scout says Jordan Danks has a long-ish swing. Imagine that.
Tyler Flowers: .292/.407/.569. Now, if he could only catch...

As always, check the Minor League Update Fanpost on the right sidebar for daily updates and commentary. Additionally, I twitter updates from the minor league games that I watch/listen to so, if you're interested in that or my other random baseball thoughts, follow me: http://twitter.com/SouthSidelarry.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:05:11 -0000

Some things to read while everyone else is writing about the same thing.

I banged my head on my desk a few times this morning after reading this post from Tom H. which acknowledges the possibility that Mike Lamb and Tony Gwynn Jr. could start the season on the roster while Casey McGehee (who still has an option) and Chris Duffy (in camp on a minor league deal) are sent to AAA.

I get the premise: Stockpiling talent is a good thing, throwing it away is to be avoided if possible. But neither Lamb nor Gwynn are exceptional talents. Gwynn was below average in AAA each of the last two seasons and Lamb has been little more than a below average corner infielder for years now. Keeping them on the roster in place of players who could perform the same duties with a higher upside is like walking past a dollar on the sidewalk because your pockets are already full of pennies.

Meanwhile, Trot Nixon is playing his way out of camp and the Brewers have let him know he may not have a job in AAA either. (Also noted in FanShot) Nixon has played in 20 games this spring, hitting .105/.227/.211 in 38 at bats.

Speaking of players who aren't showing much this spring, if Trevor Hoffman isn't ready to start the regular season, David Riske will not be his replacement. Seth McClung is the pick over at View From Bernie's Chalet. He thinks the Brewers should take this opportunity to see if McClung can close next season, when Hoffman will likely be gone.

Regardless of how McClung starts the season, at least he knows he'll get to play somewhat regularly. Tom H. has a profile of Mike Rivera, who discusses what it was like to sit on the bench for weeks on end, including the Brewers' last 34 games in 2008.

I'm sure some Brewer fans wish Jeff Suppan would sit for weeks on end, too, but they're bound to be disappointed. With the announcement that Braden Looper will start on Thursday, Ken Macha implied that Jeff Suppan will be on the mound when the Brewers open the regular season on April 7. (Also noted in FanShot) Keeping Suppan in the #1 spot would mean the Brewers will pitch Suppan, Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra against the Giants, then Looper, Dave Bush and Suppan again against the Cubs.

Yovani Gallardo didn't have a great day on the mound yesterday, allowing six runs in five innings, but there is one encouraging note to pass along: Gallardo was scheduled for 90 pitches yesterday but threw 98, meaning he's pretty close to being fully stretched out.

On previews, rankings and projections:

Batter's Box Interactive has twelve questions about the NL Central, and wants to know what to expect from Rickie Weeks, Bill Hall and Jeff Suppan. Don't we all?
David Chalk of Bugs & Cranks has a Brewers/Rays comparison that likely isn't actually worth your time.
The Scores Report predicts the Brewers will finish third.
MLB Outsider ranks Ryan Braun as MLB's third best left fielder.

Jeremy Jeffress throws 100 mph and has quickly climbed the ladder to Huntsville in the Brewer farm system. He's also been suspended for smoking marijuana and has never thrown 100 innings in a season. As a result, it's probably no surprise that Jeffress is included in Dugout Central's list of hyped pitching prospects likely to fail.

Another day, another economics story: The Brewers have now filed three lawsuits in five days against businesses and suiteholders who owe them payments for the 2009 season.

In other camps:

Astros: Cecil Cooper thinks the Astros can win 90 games this season.
Dodgers: Shawn Estes will remain with the team and work to make the transition to the bullpen.
Giants: Returned West Bend native and Brewer killer Ryan Rohlinger to minor league camp.
Marlins: Cleared the final hurdle yesterday in securing financing for their new stadium, and could break ground yet this summer.
Padres: Signed Shawn Hill to a minor league deal.
Rays: Returned Rule 5 pick Derek Rodriguez to the White Sox. Also, B.J. Upton is unlikely to be ready to start the regular season after taking a pitch off his hand in a minor league game.
Reds: Released Daryle Ward and Aaron Fultz.

It's good news and bad news with Nate McLouth this spring. As The Book Blog notes, he appears to understand the sabermetrics of base stealing, but is completely lost on fielding metrics.

Can one get The Book on tape? If so, Alfonso Soriano and all of his neighbors could listen to it on his ridiculous car stereo.

Denard Span will have to settle for a smaller stereo after paying his fine for sloppy pants-wearing.

As we've mentioned previously, Corey Koskie retired this week, ending his attempted return from post concussion syndrome. Minor League Ball takes a look at his unlikely career.

Finally, despite the fact that he was 42 years old, hadn't pitched in over a year and was unsigned for 2009, it was big news yesterday when Curt Schilling announced his retirement. The news was so big, in fact, that ESPN didn't even have time to make sure they weren't showing a picture of Jose Canseco instead.

Drink up.

Derek Rodriguez Sent Back To Chicago White Sox

Tommy Rancel — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:12:26 -0000

Less than a week after getting back their own Rule 5 draft pick, the Rays have sent Derek Rodriguez back to the White Sox. The Rays will get back $25,000 of the $50,000 they sent to the White Sox when they selected Rodriguez. Basically, with Morlan back and Rodriguez going to Chicago the money spent/received is a wash.

If you remember back on Wednesday, I had speculated there would only be room for one pitcher and hoped that Morlan would be that pitcher. Not that Morlan is anything special at this point, but his upside is higher than Rodriguez and he is also three years younger. Morlan also doesn't take up a 40 man roster spot, where as Rodriguez did.

This is probably the most important part of the transaction. If the Rays are going to keep Adam Kennedy, Jason Isringhausen or any other NRI, they are going to have to place them on the 40 man roster. This open up one spot with two other potential spots opening up should the Rays choose to place Chad Bradford and Fernando Perez on the 60 day DL to start the season.

There was a slight chance Rodriguez could've made the club back when he was selected, but the signing of better options as well as a very unimpressive spring(0-0, 7.50 ERA in six games) closed what ever little window of opportunity that was there. Good luck, Mr. Rodriguez, we barely got to know you.

Rule 5 Pick'em: Derek Rodriguez or Eduardo Morlan?

Tommy Rancel — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:00:12 -0000

We learned yesterday that the Milwaukee Brewers had seen enough of Rule 5 pick Eduardo Morlan and promply DFA'd him in favor of Wes Littleton.

"We didn't think he'd make our big-league club," said Melvin. "We like his arm but that's not our call right now," said Melvin. --Journal Sentinel

The Brewers have already offered Morlan back to the Rays, who have a Thursday deadline to accept him back. If they choose to take him back, they would pay the Brewers $25,000 and probably assign him to a minor league camp immediately. If not the Brewers could try clear him on waivers and keep Morlan in their system. Or they could simply try and work out a trade like the Pirates did with Evan Meek in 2008.

According to a Rays source close to the situation, there was no "imminent" decision, but as we all know the Rays like to move in silence and who knows what is actually happening. One thing I do know is the Morlan decision will probably come down to a simple one for the Rays; do they want to take him back? Or do they want to take a chance and workout a deal with the White Sox to keep their own Rule 5 pick, Derek Rodriguez.

In theory they could actually have both, but I'm not sure there is a need for that. Morlan is three year younger than Rodriguez and up until 2008 he was a highly touted relief prospect. Even after a disappointing and injury shortened season, his numbers were on par with that of older Rodriguez.

2008	Rodriguez	Morlan
IP	42.2	47
ERA	3.38	3.64
FIP	3.5	3.82
K/9	9.28	8.62
BB/9	3.8	2.87
K/BB	2.44	3
HR/9	0.42	0.96

*Note* for comparison's sake Rodriguez numbers are from AA.

As you can see, a down season for Morlan was still pretty close Rodriguez's AA production. Rodriguez would receive a promotion after his 42 innings and watched his FIP rise to 4.13 and his HR/9 jumped to 1.23 in AAA. The one thing I liked about Rodriguez was his ground ball percentage which is around 50% for his minor league career. However, that number was lowered to 43% in 2008. Morlan is a flyball pitcher who is at 46.4 FB% for his career. He used to sit comfortable around 92-93 MPH, but was down to 88-91 in 2008 and there were concerns with his conditioning and his elbow.

When selected in the Rule 5 draft, both players seemed to have decent shots at making their respective clubs, however, neither pitcher has impressed in spring. Morlan has given up five runs on 10 hits including two home runs in seven innings. He does have six strikeouts and two walks. I talked to a person close to the Brewers, and they said that Morlan was hit around quite a bit and he "certainly wasn't overpowering anybody." Rodriguez has shown even less. In four innings of work, he's given up three runs on five hits and three walks. He has zero strikeouts and has hit two batters.

Even though Morlan may never turn into the pitcher we imagined he would be after the Matt Garza/Delmon Young trade, when it comes to Morlan or Rodriguez, I'm taking the younger pitcher with the higher upside. We'll see if the Rays make the same decision.

Wade Davis Rocked In Most Likely His Final Spring Start

Tommy Rancel — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:54:39 -0000

Apparently Wade Davis took the news of his impending move to minor league camp pretty hard. After it was announced Saturday that today's game would "most likely" be his final start of the spring for the big league Rays, Davis was shelled by Boston lineup.

Davis had allowed just one baserunner in his first 5.2 innings of spring. He had K'd Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixiera in consecutive ABs and retired reigning NL MVP, Albert Pujols twice. This earned strong praise from pitching coach Jim Hickey, who said Davis was a candidate for the 5th spot. Realistically we all knew this was Hickey trying to "coach'em up" and enstill confidence in his 23 year old RHP future stud. Nonetheless up until today's game you could've made an argument that Davis was having the best spring amongst the candidates.

The Rays made no secret of their plans after Saturday's announcement and most of us will still remember Davis's strong starts, but this one was definitely not one to remember. In 2.2 innings of work against a Red Sox lineup that was missing: Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Jason Bay, Mike Lowell and Jacoby Ellsbury, Davis allowed six earned runs on eight hits and two walks. He allowed a home run to Nick Green. Yes, that same guy we got for Jorge Sosa way back when. He was also taken deep by Zach Daeges. I'm sure it's not the way Davis or any of us for that matter wanted to see him wrap up his portion of spring with the big club, but we still saw a ton of good and hopefully we will see a lot more of it sooner than later.

As for the rest of the game there wasn't much else going on. A day after pounding the Red Sox for 15 runs, the Rays could only send two men across home plate. One of the two runs was driven in by Mr. March 2009, Jon Weber. Dewon Day had two scoreless innings and Rule 5 pick, Derek Rodriguez worked a perfect eight inning.

A Deeper Look at the Tampa Bay Rays Bullpen: Post-Isringhausen Edition

R.J. Anderson — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 20:45:04 -0000

We've talked a lot about preventing bullpen regression next season on an individual and staff-wide basis. Naturally, Andrew Friedman and staff have put those concerns to rest with a number of reliever additions, all baring some usefulness. It might be time to bury any concerns we had about the pen regressing to hell.

Left-handed specialist

Last year the Rays signed Trever Miller and claimed Kurt Birkins off waivers as their LOOGY additions. Miller did a decent enough job when called upon, and Birkins has an abbreviated run for the Rays early in the season, although most of his time would be spent in Durham. Both are now out of the organization, with Miller signing in St. Louis and Birkins going to Colorado on a minor league deal. In their places are Brian Shouse and Randy Choate. The only similarities the pairs feature are contract types and dexterity. It's not stretch to say the Rays have improved in talent while spending less money.

Below you will see a chart with labels such as "L3YFIP", don't be confused, that simply means the last three seasons of the players career have been weighted (on a 5-3-2 scale) and the number is a representation of that statistic. I've included FIP, tRA, and pLI, but it's important to note that pitchers have next to no control over their pLI. The inclusion is simply to show how previous teams have used them, not necessarily how the Rays will use them.

Name	Shouse	Miller
L3YFIP	3.87	3.95
L3YtRA	4.44	4.47
L3YpLI	1.11	0.87
Salary	1.55	1.6

First up, the major league lefty specialist:

Shouse appears to be a better pitcher despite being used in tougher situations. In equal innings the differences are quite marginal, however we should factor in Shouse's usage in Milwaukee as questionable, given Ned Yost's poor bullpen management. Miller will be guaranteed a third of Shouse in 2009 and yet might earn 2 mil based on appearances, but Shouse is actually making less than Miller did in 2008 and less than Miller's option called for.

Now we move on to Choate and Birkins.

Name	Choate	Birkins
L3YFIP	3.54	4.61
L3YtRA	3.54	4.74

With a lack of consistent major league spots, the above numbers are a mixture of major league and minor league performances, I'm not aware of a readily available pLI measure for minor leaguers otherwise I would list it. Regardless, Choate shows a clear advantage of Birkins. Add in a funky throwing motion and the run advantage is all the sweeter.

Groundballer

Name	Cormier	Bradford
L3YFIP	4.26	3.61
L3YtRA	4.85	3.68
L3YpLI	0.78	1.46
Salary	0.65	3.5

Necessitated by injury, Cormier's numbers look poor thanks to being a failed starter. The Rays added a number of additional groundball minor league relievers, here they are:

Name	Childers	Day	Rodriguez	DePaula
L3YFIP	3.49	3.18	3.93	4.52
L3YtRA	3.59	4.69	3.57	4.3

Late innings

A wild Isringhausen appears!

Name	Izzy	Percival	Balfour	Howell	Wheeler	Nelson
L3YFIP	4.7	4.7	3	3.34	4.09	3.79
L3YtRA	5.3	4.35	2.7	4.1	4.19	4.2
L3YpLI	1.94	1.4	0.89	1.15	1.66	1.14
Salary	~2	4.55	1	0.4	3.2	1.3

Summary

The bullpen will most likely look like this:

Percival/Isringhausen

Wheeler

Howell

Balfour

Nelson

Shouse

Cormier

That's at a cost of ~13 million. Which isn't too bad, although that's without Bradford's 3+ mil and Izzy's potential salary. Next year the cost should drop which is good, considering most relievers are either really good or really replaceable. The Rays have a stable of arms capable of filling in given injury or other incapacity. They also have one excellent reliever in Grant Balfour and a handful of decent types.

I'm impressed.

*For players missing a year (Nelson, Percival, ect.) I assumed a league average performance.

The Bullpen Matrix

R.J. Anderson — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 00:06:40 -0000

A while ago Rich Lederer at Baseball Analysts put together a "matrix" of pitcher types using groundball percentage and strikeout percentage. I wanted to do something similar for the bullpen candidates, and here it is:

It's important to note that Rodriguez, Salas, Thayer, and Childers' numbers are all from Triple-A relief work, but we can still gather some observations:

- Chad Bradford gets a lot of grounders and not a load of strikeouts.

- Balfour is the anti-Bradford.

- Percival/Wheeler are strikingly alike.

- Hammel is meh on both.

- Rodriguez is less like Bradford and more like Howell.

- Childers was Bradford with strikeouts (note: Childers other minor league stats don't really back his GB% up, he's more likely in the 55% range than 60%)

- I didn't include Niemann or Talbot because their numbers are as starters.

- Joe Nelson would place right underneath Thayer.

- The Rays should NRI a few more relievers for Durham and so we can all pointlessly obsess on their pros and cons.

The Winter Meetings Wrap-Up Thread

Tommy Rancel — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:01:46 -0000

Ok, it's been an action packed four days of winter meetings. It's time to gather up everything in one nice recap and see where we stand.

Day One

The Rays were quiet until late afternoon Eastern Time when it was announced that Milton Bradley ate Pizza and French Onion soup with the Rays.
The Rays also signed minor leaguer Paul Phillips, the pitcher.
We learned that Griffey wanted to be the next Raymond.

Day Two

Delmon Young coming back was the hot topic, but that was shot down quickly.
The Rays and Cardinals had discussions. The suggested names were Rick Ankiel and Ryan Ludwick
Jason Giambi and The Rays chewed the fat at N9ne steakhouse.

Day Three

The Rays liked Nelson Cruz, but so do the Texas Rangers.
The Marlins offered Jeremy Hermida for two pitching prospects and got the no thx.
The Rays have interest in Griffey. Position, DH or Mascot, unknown.
Bobby Abreu's agent met with the Rays and it appears the Rays and the White Sox are the front runners for his services.
In the biggest Rays news from the meetings, the Rays traded Edwin Jackson, who was proclaimed in 2003 as the best Dodger pitching prospect since Pedro Martinez, to the Detroit Tigers. It's only fitting that his last regular appereance came in Detroit and saw him blow a two-run lead only to get lucky enough to later win the game and tie the franchise record for wins in a season.
The return for Jackson is Matt Joyce, a Tampa native with good power and is an above average corner outfielder. The Rays get six years of team control for what Dave Cameron calls "essentially, a left-handed Werth - a guy who can play very good defense in a corner OF spot, has gap power and will walk occasionally, but whose lower contact rate will always keep his average down. "
Oh and he rescues kittens. P Brady would be proud.

Day Four

The Rule 5 Draft took place and as expected Eduardo Morlan was selected. Morlan is now property of the Brewers, but could still land back with the Rays at some point.
The Rays selected RHP, Derek Rodriguez, who oddly enough could be the loogy the Rays need. Here is what Andrew Friedman had to say about him.

"We feel like he’s got an advanced feel for pitching," Friedman said. "He changes arm angles, he changes speeds, he misses bats. We’ve got numerous reports that he makes hitters uncomfortable in the box with the different things that he does and we’re anxious to get him into big-league camp and get a look at him firsthand."

Friedman said Rodriguez will definitely be given a chance to make the team.

"I don’t think we would have taken him if we weren’t intrigued enough to give him a real opportunity," Friedman said. "What will happen remains to be seen, and some of that will be dictated by what we do between now and then. But as we stand here today we’re excited to add him and feel like he’s got a very legitimate chance to come in and earn a job."

In news that just makes you smile, Marc Topkin shares this.

Probably the most interesting thing Friedman said is that he thinks the Rays can be "competitive" in bidding for the free-agent hitters. The Rays have not made a formal offer for any of them, thus far just talking parameters.

All in all it was a crazy rumor filled week. The Yanks got Sabathia and made offers to every possible free agent pitcher. The Mets got K-Rod and then traded for a better closer the next day, but will use him as a set up man. The Red Sox really didn't do anything and the Rays got stronger in two areas with one move.

The Rays still have a few holes, including DH, a possible right handed bat in the outfield, and maybe a bullpen arm or two, but do you know the best part of this whole week? The Rays are players, serious players. We all felt great after the successful on the field season, but hearing the words: Rays, competitive and free agents in the same sentences just makes it even better.

Overall Winter Meeting Reaction:

via cache.daylife.com