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Tuesday, December 07, 2004

?
Steve Andrade is a 26-year old right-handed reliever. In 2003, at the age of 25, Andrade pitched in AA, and pitched extremely well:

 IP   K/BF  BB/BF  HR/BF  ERA

51.0 .374 .096 .010 2.65
So, in 2004, he goes to AAA:

 IP   K/BF  BB/BF  HR/BF  ERA

13.7 .266 .125 .016 4.61
Okay, so it's not that great, but pretty solid peripherals despite that ERA. Apparently, that means you go back to AA for the rest of the year:

 IP   K/BF  BB/BF  HR/BF  ERA

48.0 .306 .062 .021 2.44
Apparently this means you get to go on waivers and get picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Does anyone have the first clue just what the hell the Angels are doing here? It is said that Andrade just has okay stuff, and succeeds through his repertoire more than blowing people away. However he does it, it works: he has struck out 286 men in 200 minor league innings.

Andrade is exactly the sort of guy the Angels can find value in; his numbers at Arkansas are better than Brendan Donnelly's were, and Andrade is younger than he was at the time.

What am I missing here? Does anyone know? I think Toronto has made a pretty savvy pick-up, and with the bullpen one man short this year, it just seems like we should be keeping as much depth as we can. What gives?

(Sean's on the case, and he doesn't know, either.)

Comments:
I've asked my inside source. I'll let you know what I find out if it's not too sensitive to take public.
 
My source tells me the Angels probably needed the roster spot and that their scouts thought the mediocre AAA numbers were indicative of him hitting a wall.
 
Thanks for the update.

I do find it curious that 13 innings is enough to constitute a wall, but the Angels have a knack for producing effective middle relievers, so maybe I should just shut up.
 
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