Bucs Deal for Tyler Yates, Cut Kim

by Charlie on Mar 26, 2008 10:43 AM EDT Comment 13 comments

The Bucs have traded pitching prospect Todd Redmond to the Braves for reliever Tyler Yates, and will buy out Byung-Hyun Kim's contract. The Bucs also released Juan Perez, allowed Jaret Wright to become a free agent, added Doug Mientkiewicz to the 40-man roster, and sent Jorge Velandia and Josh Wilson to minor league camp. Whew! I wish I had more time to deal with this stuff, but here are a few quick thoughts.

-Losing Redmond is no big deal; if this had happened a year ago, I would've been upset, but now he looks like a classic finesse pitcher who isn't going to have an easy time in the high minors, let alone in the majors. As for Yates, he isn't young, but he had a good strikeout rate last year and could be poised to have a good season or two. Or not. Either way, I'm fine with this deal, as I'm pretty sure Redmond's not going to amount to anything. (With his mediocre stuff, he also doesn't fit management's preference for power arms.)

-The BK Kim buyout was necessary because he didn't exactly wow anyone in camp, and took weeks to even get ready to throw. If he doesn't want to revive his career, it shouldn't be the Pirates' business to help him.

-Based on the Velandia and Wilson cuts, it looks like Freddy Sanchez won't start the year on the DL.

More later, probably.

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I'm not quick enough

I see you beat me to it, Charlie. Most of mine is just a duplication of what you've written, outside of last para.

by Thunder on Mar 26, 2008 11:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Don't want to overstate it

But no way DL would have cut Kim. No way.

by azibuck on Mar 26, 2008 12:46 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

im glad

Huntingdon took a stand and bought out Kim's contract because he isn't one of the best pitchers left in camp.

You're a Pirates fan?

by thegetupkids on Mar 26, 2008 1:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Kuwata-san

Is retiring according to PG.

by Thunder on Mar 26, 2008 3:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Kim's Release

Kim's whole approach seemed to be about just getting the $300,000 severance from the Pirates.

by rissaldar on Mar 26, 2008 4:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yates

i don't like the yates deal at all. he's a bad reliever with a high walk rate. it's not that i think we'll miss redmond, it's that we gave up anyone to get tyler yates. is he any better than our other other righty options? why, after taking so long of a look at guys like hector carrasco, jarret wright, evan meek, masumi kuwata, etc, did they decide that this guy with crappy career numbers and a horrible spring is the answer for the back of the bullpen, so much so that we'll deal another player to get him before he hits waivers?

by johnnycuff on Mar 26, 2008 4:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think

they figured the chance that Yates could duplicate his first half performance from last season far outweighed any other option. I think you should look at it as an attempt to actually improve the team. Let's face it, very few relief pitchers are consistent for a long period of time. You never know for sure what you're getting with relief pitchers. They didn't give up much and it has a potential huge upside.

by bucofanNY on Mar 26, 2008 8:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Carrasco

sent to minor league camp. Looks like it's down to Dumatrait, Meek, Osoria and Burnett for 3 spots. Probably closer to being Burnett and Meek for the 25th spot.

by Thunder on Mar 26, 2008 4:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Juan Perez

The Pirates have unconditionally released Juan Perez and he will probably need major arm surgery according to press reports.

What responsibility-financial and otherwise-do the Pirates have to Perez because of his health, even though they will no longer employ him?

by patthatt on Mar 26, 2008 11:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

DK at the Post-Gazette

always has the answers. Thanks!

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08088/868591-63.stm

by patthatt on Mar 31, 2008 7:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Masumi Kuwata

I have to go back to work now, so I`ll give you a longer opinion on his career and retirement later. I will tell you that he was on the front page of the sports dailies this morning.

by patthatt on Mar 26, 2008 11:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

Signing Kim was a good idea. I saw him (somewhere) when he was a solid starter. If he could give 2-3 innings and occassionally spot start, he would have been very cheap.

But he couldn't. So the new boss grabbed his gonads and said, "I'm not throwing good money after bad." You're fired.

Definitely not what the old boss would have done.

P.S. for those of you in Squirrel Hill, you'll have to ask your parents what "gonads" are.

by Trogluddite on Mar 26, 2008 11:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Another Smart Move (Maybe)

Or maybe sending Carrasco down was just "not dumb." What caught my eye was that he had a 1.29 ERA - shades of Gibson, Lyle, and Vida Blue (and Mark Fydrich). Provided that he remains respectable at AAA, we should be able to leverage him into 2 younger prospects to restock our depleted farm system. He wasn't going to put us over the top, he's an outsider (I think) so we're not being disloyal to a competent contender from our farm system, and someone will need him sometime.

by Trogluddite on Mar 26, 2008 11:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs