Bucs scoop up Yates

I am not going to read too much into his spring numbers.  Last year righties had a horrible time against him.  He will complement Marte well as setup people.  I agree with irocnek.  He can not get overworked and from what I have read he wore down at the end of the season last year. 

I am not so sure about Redmond.  He is a prospect and I am confused at this point because NH wanted to build up our prospects not get rid of them. He stated earlier this year that he wanted to make sure he upgraded the bullpen for this coming year.

X:  I have no doubt that Jeff Andrews was an active part of this exchange.  This guy fills a big void.  The point I was trying to make is that Redmond was 20 - 18 in 52 starts over two years in Lo A and Hi A with about a 3.50 ERA.  I do not care what his projections are, the stats tell me he's a winner and still only 22.  If Yates comes back to 06 and 07 form, it will be a steal.

Yates had some VG years in the Mets organization and was the Closer at AA and posted 17 saves for the team.  His years with the Braves were very good.  At ST this year he has been throwing his fastball between 92 - 97 mph and has a high 80's to 90 mph Slider.  I have looked at his career and there's a void for 2005 - anybody know where he spent 2005?  He was with the Mets into the late year of 2004 and then pitched in Atlanta in 2006 and 2007.  He's also making a few bucks above minimum - around $500K/year.  I agree he will not or should not be intimidated, but somebody who throws the stuff he throws would be awesome with an offspeed pitch he can get over for strikes.        

Enlightening response as usual from emjay.  Can you imagine if Yates could throw a Kuwata-like curveball into his repetoire of pitches?  He would make batters throw up before facing him!

While watching the Twinkies and Buccos last night, I heard the announcers talking about Jeff Andrews working with Ian Snell on developing a change up.  He could be one of the most dominating pitchers in the league with a solid third pitch.  I like what Jeff Andrews has done so far with Zack Duke and the rest of the young staff.

I had to think about this one a bit before passing judgement. I've really liked Redmond for the last two years, although it seems he may not have enough of a pitch selection to be a big league starter. A move like this is confusing, but then again several of NH's moves have been. On one hand it seems like we are building, on the other its like we are about to try and contend. He traded Torres for two non-propects, then he gives up an OK prospect for Yates. I think it comes down to the new gang wanting to get the type of arms that they like. Apparently the new view is very different than during the DL regime. Personally, I'd rather have Torres than Yates.

Yates has already had both Tommy John in 2002 and rotator cuff surgery in 2005, so he has little left to break at this point. The most telling stat from last year was his second half breakdown. It seems that overuse will be a key issue, his 1st half ERA in 2007 was 3.99 and his second half was 6.83. Overall, he was tough on righties so that gives you a nice 1-2 combo with Marte in the 8th inning. Stuff certainly isn't his issue, he's going to strike guys out, his effectiveness may have a lot to do with management.

First, thank you m'killer for a very nice compliment.

J:  Thank you for the assist - I had asked if anyone knew where Yates was at for the 2005 season and you answered that he was off with Rotator Cuff surgery.  I also like the conclusion that there is little to break at this point since he also had TJ surgery in 2002.  I looked at his stats in the 2003 season after TJ and he had 23 starts, in Hi A (11 starts), AA (8 starts), and then only 4 starts at AAA, for 108 IP.  He posted about a 4.20 ERA with 50 walks/100 K's.  This tells me he really worked hard to come back from that surgery that quickly and to do that well.  I was also concerned about his age, but with losing 2 or 3 seasons with surgeries, he should not have too much use on his arm.

I agree that his effectiveness will have a lot to do with how management uses him.  He's a former starter used to throwing 5+ innings a game.  But, if he is depending upon maxing out with every pitch - mid-90's fastball and 90 mph slider, he will not be able to go much beyond 60 innings over the year.  That's why I say that he needs to work with an offspeed and I think that Andrews is an excellent person to help him develop such a pitch.