Tampa Bay Rays acquire pitcher from Indians for Winston Abreu

The Tampa Bay Rays have acquired right-handed relief pitcher John Meloan from
the Cleveland Indians in exchange for right-handed relief pitcher Winston Abreu.

Abreu, designated for assignment last Friday to make room for RHP Chad Bradford, was out of options, so the Rays had 10 days to release, trade or pass him through waivers.

Meloan (ma-LONE) has been added to the Rays 40-man roster, bringing the roster to its full capacity. He will report to Durham (AAA). Meloan, who turns 25 on July 11, has spent the entire 2009 season with Columbus (AAA).

He went 0-0 for the Clippers with a 5.52 ERA (44.0-IP, 52-H, 27-ER, 17-BB, 37-SO) in 25 appearances (two starts). He haspitched a total of seven games in the major leagues, appearing in two games for the Indians in 2008 and five games in 2007 with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Over parts of five minor league seasons, he is 15-16 with 22 saves, a 3.75 ERA (321.1-IP, 134-ER) and 384 strikeouts, an average of 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

Abreu, 32, was designated for assignment on June 27 after making two appearances for the Rays. The Rays
selected him from Durham on June 14 after he compiled a 3-0 record, 10 saves and a 1.41 ERA (32.0-IP,
14-H, 5-R/ER, 10-BB, 49-SO) for the Bulls. Abreu was a non-roster invite this spring for the Rays.

Comments

[BC]

Rays 2008 Season Tribute Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vjhsRqPAog

http://www.memorymakerz.com

[Mikey A]

JJ Jones, want to see overreacting? Check out the Tribe fans thoughts.
http://www.cleveland.com/tribe/index.ssf/2009/07/cleveland_indians_add_yet_anot.html

[Mikey A]

This trade makes some sense as Abreu could've be picked up on waivers with nothing in return and we won't see Cleveland again this season.
What doesn't make sense is bringing up a guy and adding to the 40 man roster to just have him pitch in 2 lopsided games when Bradford was coming back, Thayer could've definitely filled that role and both he and Abreu would be in Durham for depth.
We'll see if Meloan can help out and possibly develop into a younger bullpen option for us down the road. I think there is a good chance we'll see him, Thayer, Davis, and Sonnanstine when rosters are expanded in September when we play the Red Sox, Tigers, and Yankees 13 times in a row (17 in a row closing out August). That stretch will determine our Playoff fate for sure!

[JJ Jones]

You guys are an overreacting bunch, huh?

[OmahaDog]

This is a "who cares?" trade. I mean, who really cares? One rag arm for younger rag arm. Is this the Rays way of attempting to show the fan base that they are making moves to make the playoffs? Ha! If they want to catch the Red Sox, Yankees and Angels to ensure at least a wild card spot, they will need to get a big bopper at the DH spot. Unload the low average, non-clutch, singles hitting DH Burrell. Bring Matt Joyce up. At least he'd get some meaningful at bats for the future. Put Aybar at DH.

Also, the Rays need an upgrade behind the plate. Navarro's season last year was fraudulent. Can't hit. Lazy behind the plate. Problem is that there's not a top notch catcher available.

[raymond]

So go to sleep jj jones

[Bob R.]

How about we think about this a bit before evaluating.

Abreu is a 32 year old journeyman with no options who has generally done well in the minors but is nobody's idea of a star. His minor league career shows an ERA of 3.57 with 4.2BB/9IP and 10.9K/9 and a WHIP of 1.24. That is good, but especially for a 32 year old not a harbinger of much in the majors.

Meloan was a highly regarded Dodger prospect. As late as 2008 he was rated the 8th best prospect in their organization, which is meaningful as they have had a deep system, and he turns 25 in a week or so. He is under team control for quite a while.

His minor league numbers are slightly worse than Abreu's, who was a waiver type pickup by the Rays by the way. In fact he has been released 7 or 8 times in his career. Meloan on the other hand was a major chip in the trade that brought Casey Blake to LA. Anyway, Meloan, who has excellent stuff, has a minor league ERA of 3.76 with 4.1BB/9 and 10.8K/9, slightly worse than Abreu's.

But, and a big "but", as a 23 year old, the Dodgers put him in the AAA rotation and his numbers declined precipitously. His ERA there was 4.97 and he allowed 5.1BB/9 and 8.5K/9 with a WHIP of 1.70. That was in 105 IP, almost 1/3 of his minor league total. That has skewed his overall numbers badly in the wrong direction. Prior to that, as a reliever, his ERA varied from 1.54-2.5 and he was striking out over 13/9 and walking under 4/9.

He has not fully recovered, but shows some improvement in his BB rate. As with all such deals, it may not work out, but in return for a journeyman the Rays picked up essentially for nothing they now have another young power arm in the system. I consider that a plus.

As for calling up Abreu and thus limiting their options, perhaps they could have left him in the minors and promoted someone else, but apparently they thought he could help at the time (which he did in one case), and it is likely he would not have had much trade value without at least a whiff of the majors this year. Seems to me they made something out of nothing again.

[Mike]

BTW... I was wondering why cut Abreu? Why not Dillon, Houser (AAA) or even Elliot Johnson - all on the 40-man roster.

James Houser 4-4 5.23 ERA
Abreu 3-0 1.41 ERA

Part of the reason is Houser was a high round pick and the Rays don't want to look bad. Abreu came cheap. Knowing that pitching is high priority, wouldn't Abreu be more valuable than say Elliot Johnson - an infielder that has no value in AAA with all the utility infielders we have at the major league level?

[Chris S]

Mike you are exactly right. I forgot that Abreu was out of options. This guy from Cleveland probably was the best we could get because at that point the trading partner has the leverage. Abreu would have had to clear waivers and both sides knew he wouldn't.

Mike, I hope you're right about Burrell. Anyone here, by the way, that thinks Burrell is going to be traded before the trade deadline, by the way, obviously has ZERO knowledge of the business of baseball. Give me a break, guys! You really think there's a market for Burrell right now?!?!?! He's got a year and a half left on a $16 million contract and he's underperforming. Yeah, sounds like good trade bait. I'm sure there are plenty of teams lining up to eat that contract.

[Mike]

Guys, what are you smoking?
The mistake was made weeks ago when they brought up Abreu without a plan. He was out of options, which meant they had to keep him in the roster for the rest of the season. Knowing that they had Kazmir and Bradford returning from injury, they should have brought up someone with options like Thayer. Then Sonnastine and Thayer would have been sent down.
But perhaps we do not know the whole story. Was there an issue with Abreu or someone else in the club?

Once the player has been designated for assingment (Abreu), you lose most if not all leverage in trade negotiations. All other teams know you either trade that player for something or you have to expose him through wavers (cut).

I guess Meloan is the best we could get.

And watch out for Burrell, I know he has sucked all year, but I have a feeling that after the break, he is going to get hot. WATCH...

[Jim - NJ]

What the heck?!? Abrea was stapler for us we gave him away for a guy who can't even cut it in cleveland's farm system?!? This was a stupid move and I can't believe Im reading this. What's next- trade Bartlett for a 6th round pick? Unbelievable.

[MarkFidrych]

Burrell has been a dud so far.Will he get traded by the July 31st deadline?

[WTF]

Gotta be that Meloan is 7 years younger. Maybe they're finally trying to get younger in the bullpen seeing as how many relievers have gone down to injury this year. Hopefully he gets that ERA down before he comes up.

[Chris S]

I gotta say, this one is a head-scratcher. We gave up a very good right-handed relief pitcher for a mediocre right-handed relief pitcher? Do I have that about right?

[JJ Jones]

Raymond, you are yawn enducing

[raymond]

The Rays traded the wrong player, it should have been Pat Burrell.