Tuesday, September 14, 2004

Purchased the Contract of RHSP Kyle Denney; Recalled him from Buffalo (MLB Debut)

Denney's finally going to get his shot in the majors. Kazuhito Tadano has been shut down for the season with back problems, and Cliff Lee has approached uncharted territory in innings pitched, so Denney will be in the rotation for the remainder of the year. What is Denney capable of? I think he could be a 4th or 5th starter on a mediocre staff, or a 5th starter/swingman on a good staff. This season Denney has been inconsistent, starting the year on fire, and after a suffering a knee injury in May, he really struggled. His season totals (all in Buffalo):

134.2 IP, 4.41 ERA, 134 H, 113 SO, 39 BB

The hits allowed/inning isn't indicative of future dominance (for reference, look at Adam Miller's stats), but Denney has enough control (only 39 walks) and stuff (119 strikeouts) to get by. It should be interesting to see how he does the rest of this month, and if he does well enough, could parlay that performance into a spot on the staff next year. Again, I'll explore this after the season is over in my 40-man roster review.

The Detroit Tigers Offered Rule 5 Pick Lino Urdaneta Back; The Indians Declined

Urdaneta was a real reach pick for the Tigers; he was signed by the Indians earlier in the fall as a minor-league free agent. After a dominating performance in winter ball, the Tigers grabbed him as their third Rule 5 pick. He didn't pitch all year until recently because of an arm injury, and when he did pitch, he didn't retire a batter against the Royals. The Tigers still control his rights, and have outrighted him off their 40-man roster. So here's a handy chart as to what happend to the four Rule 5 Picks selected last December:

  • Hector Luna (St. Louis) - Kept on 25-man roster all season
  • Luis Gonzalez (Colorado) - Kept on 25-man roster all season
  • Willy Taveras (Houston) - Rights traded for Jeriome Robertson
  • Lino Urdaneta (Detroit) - Refused to take back; Outrighted by Detroit

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