Os acquire Saunders.

[McNulty]

To me the big upside here is putting Hunter in the pen. He's a much better pitcher when he's only allowed to go through a lineup once.

[sfosfan]

Stupid. Who's spot does he take? Who goes when Hammel comes back?

I hope we gave up nothing, bc this is already a bad move.

Hopefully not too much. But I'm not concerned with the rotation- it's a good problem to have. Whomever gets bumped will probably move to the bullpen. OR, Buck may use a six man rotation to save the arms. I'd love to see that!

Update: I just read the O's gave up Lindstrom. I'm LOVING this! Makes perfect sense. Lindstrom was a short inning guy and now whomever gets bumped from the rotation would go in the pen, and this team could use a long reliever. Lindstrom and Ayala were pretty much interchangeable, and this move really strengthens the bullpen. I love this renewed emphasis on long relievers! Reminds me of how Earl used his rookies. It's really nice to have extra guys who can swap between starter and long relief, and given how young the O's starters are, this is a really good thing in September.

sfosfan

[LookitsPuck]

Roch is saying he's arb eligible. He's just 31 and a lefty with the Yanks coming up on the schedule. Aren't the Yanks a lefty heaving lineup?

Yes.

Swisher, Cano, Granderson, Chavez, Ibanez, Ichiro, etc.

[LookitsPuck]

To me the big upside here is putting Hunter in the pen. He's a much better pitcher when he's only allowed to go through a lineup once.

Hunter is in the minors. Doesn't this bump Johnson to the pen?

[Malike]

Yes.

Swisher, Cano, Granderson, Chavez, Ibanez, Ichiro, etc.

Swisher is a Switch Hitter, but yeah, they have a lot of lefties.

[Frobby]

Roch is saying he's arb eligible. He's just 31 and a lefty with the Yanks coming up on the schedule. Aren't the Yanks a lefty heaving lineup?

Unclear if Roch is correct. BB-ref said he was at 5.013 seasons before this year, which would make him a free agent this winter.

[Lester Freamon]

I'm curious about the PTBNL. I'm not sure about the rules.

I'm wondering if the DBacks will have to choose from a list of players DD gave them, or the DBacks put together and DD approved, and if the DBacks will choose in the offseason when waiver restrictions are lifted. I wonder if the PTBNL could be altered based on Saunders' performance?

Does anyone know if the passing through waivers is required of all players before they can be traded at this time, or just players on the 40-man? I'm wondering if we have a situation like the Red Sox and Dodgers just had where there is a player the DBacks wanted but who didn't pass through waivers so we have to wait until the offseason to officially ship him over.

Just curious.

[LookitsPuck]

2012:

Away: 2.92 ERA, 670 OPS against

Home: 5.80, 874 OPS

[statman]

A 4.22 ERA is not similar to 5.95. Also, Hammel came from the NL West, how'd that work out.

According to baseballreference.com (http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hunteto02.shtml) Tommy Hunter was 23-13 (.639 winning percentage) with a 4.36 ERA, 1.307 WHIP, 5.1 K/9 on the Rangers

Also according to baseballreference.com (http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/saundjo01.shtml) Joe Saunders was 51-32 (.628 winning percentage) with a 4.29 ERA, 1.392 WHIP, 5.1 K/9 with the Angels

Am I missing something here Frobby?

[dorfmac]

Maybe this has been addressed earlier in the thread, but if Joe Saunders really is a worthwhile pitcher, why would no one else have claimed him during the waiver process? It's not like he has a crazy salary.

[statman]

His ERA is almost 2 runs lower, his home run rate is half of Hunter's, his strikeout rate is higher, their walk rates are similar. Saunder's FIP is a lot lower than Hunter's, and his xFIP is a half a run lower. They're really not similar at all. Even talking career marks Saunders has ERA/FIP/xFIPs between half a run and a run lower than Hunter.

I don't really expect Saunders to pitch to a 4.22 in the AL East, but I have to think he'll be an improvement over Hunter.

You're comparing Saunders' NL West stats to Hunter's AL East stats...from a statistical perspective, that doesn't seem very sound.

See my above post for an attempt to compare them under similar conditions.

[LookitsPuck]

Swisher is a Switch Hitter, but yeah, they have a lot of lefties.

Good call! I forgot one of those fellas was a switchie.

[Leitch]

Maybe this has been addressed earlier in the thread, but if Joe Saunders really is a worthwhile pitcher, why would no one else have claimed him during the waiver process? It's not like he has a crazy salary.

Because that's a :cussing: move.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=18138

[LA2]

One thing I think is good about this trade is that Buck likes his moving parts. Lindstrom was a little redundant in the bullpen, even though he had pitched really well. Saunders gives him a few more options, potentially getting Chen a little more rest which he clearly benefits from.

Don't forget that Hammel has also done much better on longer rest--and that may be even more the case coming back from his surgery.

[DrungoHazewood]

You're comparing Saunders' NL West stats to Hunter's AL East stats...from a statistical perspective, that doesn't seem very sound.

See my above post for an attempt to compare them under similar conditions.

The issue there is that those results were from years ago, and I don't think the difference between Hunter pitching to a 4.00 and Hunter pitching to a 6.00 is all (or even mostly) division. I think you might be able to look at Saunders and say he's likely to add a half a run or maybe a bit more to his ERA. But it's hard to say the likely case is that his ERA will go up nearly 2.00 runs. Of course in six starts anything could happen.