A's trade for minor league pitcher Denham
by andyinfremont on Apr 25, 2007 4:34 PM PDT
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PrintNeeding more pitchers in their system, the A's picked up right-hander Dan Denham, Cleveland's first-round draft pick in 2001, in exchange for cash. Denham, 24, played at Deer Valley High School in Antioch.
No word yet on what the A's paid, but given that he becomes a six-year minor league free agent at the end of the season, I doubt it was much.
Signed to a $1,860,000 bonus in 2001, the Indians apparently got tired of waiting for Denham to move beyond an average AA pitcher. He didn't perform well in AAA during two short stints the last two seasons, but he's still only 24, and he has good stuff.
Denham’s failure to succeed at Buffalo is somewhat of a mystery because he continues to throw an above-average fastball, which tops out about 94 miles per hour, an improving cut fastball and an average curveball and slider. When he is going well, Denham gets a lot of ground-ball outs.
The fact he has an ineffective changeup might well account for a big part of his problems. In addition, Denham’s attitude, which borders on cocky, has also been questioned throughout his pro career.
Denham, who has never been on the Tribe’s 40-man roster, can potentially be a six-year minor league free agent at the end of the 2007 season, making this coming year the most important of his career.
Sounds like a guy who might do well with a change of scenery. Hopefully he'll also take the trade as a wakeup call and adjust any attitude problems.
Even though this is a small-time deal, I like the A's taking a chance on a good arm, and adding to the depth of the mid-to-high minors. Denham once had a lot of promise -- maybe the A's can help him recapture that.
Beane has certainly had luck with these types of long-time minor leaguers before, and I wonder if he acted now partially out of concern that someone else would snap him up after the season? Or was it simply that the A's needed to fill the hole left by Braden's promotion, and didn't want to rush their own prospects? Or was this payback for the Indian's medical reporting screw-up regarding Rule 5 pick Ryan Goleski (who eventually had to be offered back to the Indians, after the A's paid an extra $100,000 to the Devil Rays to draft the guy)?
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Definitely Goleski payback.
Quite honestly, I don't consider us short of pitching at all. Quite the opposite, when you look at who we have in our rotation, and where they'll likely be back pitching in a few weeks time.
This guy is slightly better than a PTBNL, but he's essentially that.
Foley
The A's also recently purchased Travis Foley, a relief pitcher, from the Indians. I was wondering if this also was a Goleski followup. Foley is at Midland.
by jarforcefatherofforce on Apr 25, 2007 5:06 PM PDT reply actions
Interesting
Foley looks like a decent relief pitcher, and was another high school pick in the same draft as Denham.
Baseball Cube stats for Foley and MiLB stats at Midland
A quick check shows that Goleski is back in AA, and just doing so-so.
by andyinfremont on Apr 25, 2007 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions
To quote Officer Farvah in Super Troopers
"Hey Denim Dan, where'd you get the Canadian Tuxedo?"
Just a Roster Filler
Beane, like all other GMs, is constantly fidgeting with their minor league rosters, shuffling in guys for a year or two as roster filler and as possible low-cost, high upside pickups that might help out the big club...
But he's also a very competitive person who is on record as stating how important it is for prospects to come up through the system on successful teams, as a way of nurturing a "winning mentality" in them before they hit the majors.
In this context, a lot of these minor league pickups can be seen as ways for Beane to immediately help minor league teams win.
For instance, I don't think this cocky clown Denham has any chance of making it to the big leagues. But he's got a live arm and he can probably win a few games against AAA hitters.
Same thing with Colby Lewis...Lou Merloni...Hiram Bocachica...etc; etc;
If he is another Dan Meyer, great...
We traded Hudson to get Meyer and others. Meyer was considered major league ready. And with that type of promise, he may still make it to the bigs. Another good, live arm picked up. Never know how it will come out in the wash. Cocky; so is Swisher and we love it.
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