Houston Astros Acquire Travis Blackley from Oakland A’s http://calltothepen.com/2013/04/04/houston-astros-acquire-travis-blackley-from-oakland-as/
Paul Hoynes is the Indians beat writer for The Plain Dealer. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23indians">#indians</a> acquire catcher Chris Wallace from Houston for lefty Eric Berger in minor league deal . Wallace assigned to AA Akron</p>— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) <a href="https://twitter.com/hoynsie/status/323808988309360640">April 15, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> No, not the Chron writer who calls himself the "Science Guy." Baseball-Reference Berger, who will turn 27 next Monday, was selected in the 8th round of the 2008 draft by the Indians out of Arizona. John Klima, Baseball Prospect Report: Scouting report from 2009 California League vs. Carolina League All-Star Game In 2 appearances with Akron (AA) this season, he had no record and a 4.15 ERA, allowing 2 runs on 6 hits, walking 3, and striking out 2 in 4 1/3 innings. He's spent a good portion of the last 4 seasons in AA; he's been promoted to AAA 3 times and hasn't been able to find much success. He's probably driven on Interstate 71 more than any other baseball player in history. Last year, splitting time between Akron and Columbus, he was 2-9 with a 5.27 ERA in 31 appearances (5 Akron, 26 Columbus), 18 (5 Akron, 13 Columbus) of which were starts. In 111 combined innings, he allowed 71 runs (65 earned) on 114 hits (19 homers), walked 37, and struck out 99. As a reliever in 2011, he made 42 appearances (2 starts) between Akron and Columbus, going 2-1 with a 4.04 ERA. In 71.1 combined innings (57 Akron, 14.1 Columbus), he allowed 41 runs (32 earned) on 70 hits (6 homers), walked 36, and struck out 87. He pitched for Israel in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 World Baseball Classic, going 1-0 with an ERA of 5.68 in 2 appearances, both starts. He allowed 4 runs on 10 hits and struck out 4 in 6 1/3 innings. He also sported a Rollie Fingers-esque mustache during Spring Training in 2011. Overall, on paper, this trade was pretty much minor league depth for minor league depth, with extenuating circumstances being the cause for this trade. However, OKC's pitching staff has been greatly affected by promotions to cover for injuries in Houston (Paul Clemens and Dallas Keuchel for Josh Fields and Travis Blackley) and has been hit with a pretty significant injury of their own. The Redhawks have been using two A-ball guys in Kyle Hallock and Lance Day to cover for Clemens and Keuchel; bringing in a guy like Berger provides veteran depth to the club and presumably, he will step in to fill the void left by John Ely. If he assumes a bullpen role, he could see some time in Houston. Because that bullpen.... really. Woof. What's the worst that could happen? He's been a better reliever than starter at the upper levels. The trade leaves Cody Clark and Jason Jaramillo as the catchers on OKC's roster. Both are basically AAA insurance should something happen to Carlos Corporan or Jason Castro, and neither of them should pose a threat to Carlos Perez or Tyler Heineman.
I think it speaks volumes for the organization's commitment to their pitchers' development plan. Many organizations would have just promoted Wojo or Nitro to fill those holes at AAA. Wojo in particular hasn't shown any problems with the AA competition level in his small sample size.
We have now acquired two different pitchers with a variation of "burger" in the name. Safe to say Luhnow has an appetite for success...
He did that here in a small sample size. Schafer sucks. He's proven that from his inability to even hit in AAA.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Astros have claimed LHP Wade LeBlanc off waivers (from MIA). Will join club in KC on Sunday (corresponding move will be make then).</p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/343445019249737728">June 8, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
