clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

A's Acquire Tadano for Alvarado

By papiblez

The A's have announced the acquisition of Kazuhito Tadano from the Cleveland Indians. He will be immediately sent to Sacramento.

Tadano pitched pretty well for the Indians this spring and he pitched well in Buffalo last year as well. But he didn't pitch well enough to earn a spot with the big club.

As for what the A's gave up, they traded Ramon Alvarado, who is just 20 years old. Here is what John Sickels says about him:

His (Alvarado) debut in North America was a success, as he posted a strong +24 percent OPS in the Arizona Rookie League, demonstrating power, good strike zone judgment, and a touch of speed. He also has a right field arm and decent fielding range. The only negative I see here is age. At 20, he was much older than much of his competition. If I were Oakland, I'd send him to full-season A-ball directly in '06 to get a better read on where Alvarado stands. Grade C+ for now, but I like the early numbers, the scouting reports are fine, and I have an intuitive feeling he'll be good.

Tadano started four games for the Indians in 2004, going 1-1 with a 4.65 ERA, striking out 39 and walking 18 over 50.1 innings pitched. He was a reliever as well that season. Here is what ESPN.com says about Tadano:

Tadano, who has a deceptive motion, throws a fastball, slider, changeup and blooper ball. He throws his fastball between 87-91 MPH and will use a 50-70 MPH changeup to a big hitter on occasion. Tadano has a good knowledge of pitching, and knows how to exploit hitters. He would like to start, but the Indians aren't convinced he can handle the workload. He is the best fielding pitcher in the organization and covers first easily. Four of five basestealers were successful with Tadano on the mound in 2004, but generally he does good work in that area.

The Indians love Tadano's versatility. That versatility may allow him to break camp in the bullpen. He can pitch long, middle and late relief, or make a spot start. When he was shut down in September, surgery was contemplated, but not needed.

I imagine this is your basic trade a prospect for some bullpen reassurance deal. The risk is obviously that Alvarado becomes something special in the minors this season, but I would imagine if the Eric Kubota and Keith Lieppman felt this way about him, he wouldn't have been dealt.

One more thing about Tadano...he had an unfortunate incident several years ago that's sure to be brought up once again. Personally, I don't care as long as the guy helps the A's somewhere down the road.

More From Athletics Nation