When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

12.11.2008
Behold The Rule of Five

The Giants were all over the Rule 5 draft today. Here are the players the Giants chose, and the ones who got away.

Gained

Luis Perdomo rhp (from the Cardinals)

Matt Yourkin lhp (Marlins)

Perdomo is a 24–year-old who All-Starred in Single-A this year before a promotion to Double-A and a trade from Cleveland to St. Louis. Seems he throws hard (lots of strikeouts) with shaky control (lots of walks). He’s now on the 40–man roster and must make the 25–man roster in the spring or else go back to the St. Louis system. Expect the latter, not the former. Every Rule 5 pick is a long shot. (Here’s Baggs’ scouting report.)

Yourkin was taken in the minor-league portion and doesn’t have to be added to the 40–man roster. He also has a local angle. He’s from Napa and went to college at St. Mary’s.

Lost

Ben Copeland of (to the Athletics)

Elio Sarmiento c (to the Rangers)

Kyle Haines 2b (to the Phillies)

The most significant loss is Copeland, a top draft pick in 2005 who put up nice on-base numbers all the way up the ladder.

A couple other notes:

* The quote that’s gotten a lot of attention is that the Giants made it “abundantly clear” they wouldn’t trade Jonathan Sanchez. Note that it came from an MLB.com writer who cited “a Rangers source.” It also came in the context of Jorge Cantu. To me, this is far from proof that the Giants won’t trade Sanchez this winter.

* Baggs, again kicking serious Chronicle ass, notes that Merkin Valdez is going under the knife again. He might be ready for opening day, the Giants said, but any arm surgery for a pitcher is potentially a serious setback. Definitely do not pencil him into your 2009 projections.

* Lost in his rant was Sabean’s assertion that Kevin Pucetas is a candidate for 5th starter next spring. The idea has floated to the surface before. It would be quite a jump for Pucetas, his highest level being High-A ball. He’s done well at the lower levels so far by walking few and keeping the ball in the park. He just turned 24, so maybe he’s as ready as he’ll ever be. It seems more likely, though, that he’ll start in AA or AAA and be a call-up option if he pitches well.



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4 Comments

| Leave a comment
Chris | December 11, 2008 4:24 PM | Reply

I don't think Pucetas is ready for the bigs. I hope they at least promote him to AA for half a year before calling him up. Ben Snyder -- who is a comparable pitcher albeit left-handed -- was on a similar development track as Pucetas and hit a wall in AA. Finesse guys have such little wiggle room.

obsessivegiantscompulsive | December 11, 2008 6:12 PM | Reply

Pucetas did nicely in the AFL this year, and that's roughly AA-AAA play, so at least he got that.

I see no harm in letting him be in the mix in spring training and see what happens.

I think the Sanchez quote is more about the loss of value if he's traded than anything. If someone made a good offer for him, I'm sure they would take it, but thus far the offers have been so underwhelming that he's happy to keep him for 2009 and say that he won't trade him. I think that's best, he should do a lot better in 2009 with more stamina and be worth that much more after the 2009 season.

Boof replied to comment from obsessivegiantscompulsive | December 11, 2008 6:32 PM | Reply

"I think that's best, he should do a lot better in 2009 with more stamina and be worth that much more after the 2009 season."

Didn't you make a similar comment about Noah Lowry a couple of years ago? Pitchers are finicky things and sometimes you should cash in these guys. Certainly was the case for Lowry as I had suggested many times.

Having said that, trading Sanchez for a Cantu or an Encarnacion would be monumentally dumb. I agree the return should be a lot better than that for the Giants to move him. I don't agree with the sentiment that he should not be traded. I think he is at that same point as Lowry was a couple of years ago when the Giants could have cahed him in for a nice package.

ELM replied to comment from obsessivegiantscompulsive | December 11, 2008 8:16 PM | Reply

>>Pucetas did nicely in the AFL this year, and that's roughly AA-AAA play

Good point, I forgot about that. It's also possible the Giants keep floating his name so other teams don't forget about him. No doubt he was scouted in the AFL; other teams might be asking about him.

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