Indians acquire Slowey

[A.Zajac]

The Indians have acquired Kevin Slowey from the Colorado Rockies for Zach Putnam.

[GhostofTedCox]

Slowey just climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro last week with Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey. They did it for charity.

I don't know. Slowey wouldn't be worse than the pitcher formerly known as Fousto. Also now around $5 million is jingling in their pocket.

[Edible14]

I'm not a fan of the trade. Slowey is decent, but I'm not sure he's that much of an upgrade over Jeanmar Gomez. Additionally, if Carmona comes back... now what? Send down Tomlin and make AAA even MORE crowded? My guess is that the Indians aren't expecting Fausto back at all.

And we were already thin enough at reliever. Putnam leaving hurts in that regard. As of right now, we'll only have on reliever in AAA on the 40, and that will likely be Kelvin De La Cruz, who I'm not sure would be an option if one of the right-handers were injured (since that would give us 4 lefties to 3 righties). That means that we would likely end up needing to clear a 40 man roster spot for either one of these NRI guys before the season starts... or we'd have to clear one for CC Lee if and when one of those injuries happens. And if there's two injuries, or maybe a trade? Now you're looking at clearing space for... Hector Ambriz? Bryce Stowell?

[Hermie13]

Well Slowey can be used as a long reliever...and guess he is a bit of an upgrade over Hermann there. But not a fan of paying the 7th guy in the pen what Slowey is getting. Hermann could be another 40-man reliever in AAA...

We could use the one open 40-man spot we'll have (Carrasco to the 60-day DL) on one of the relievers we signed to minor league deals too. But agree, we're starting to thin out the relief depth at AAA with this deal and losing Judy.

[MadThinker88]

Even with the former pitcher known as Fausto on the shelf for all of 2012, I'm not a fan of this move. I really believed that Putnam would be a core member of the bullpen as soon as the 2nd half of 2012 and his presence would enable the Tribe to deal a Joe Smith or Chris Perez for other needs (Pestano to closer and one of Putnam/ Bryson move into Vinnie's slot).

Someone will need to sell me into being neutral on this move.

[homerawayfromhome]

It's cheaper to sign a FA sometimes than deal for a guy. Can't say I love the deal, I agree Putnam (who i really like) would have been in the pen late 12, but Slowey has a career 39-29 record and 4.66 era. $1.5 mil is cheap for a 5th starter / long man. The Tribe also has 2 yrs of control.

[Tondo]

I really don't get the reaction...I LOVE this trade...people are too prospect happy around here

Just as a reminder...Slowey was a 2nd rounder, Putnam a 5th rounder...Slowey's a SP, Putnam a RP only

Never been a big fan of Putnam anyway (didn't even have him in my Top 20 list)...he was the typical "stuff" guy that never had the according results....somewhat the anti-Tomlin...he was a barely AVG to above AVG AAA RP...and got hit in the bigs...his 0/9 BB/K small sample size ratio presented perfect timing to turn him into a guy like Slowey who's still young and had a down season

Folks, this is a low risk (because of positions involved) BUY LOW-SELL HIGH kind of deal...I love it...what's not to like, really?

Some nugget for the prospect lovers out there: Slowey owns a 2.14 MiLB ERA with a sick BB/K ratio....Putnam an AVG RP with an arm...and not much more...his "upside" has always been a 7th Inn RP in my opinion...and those are dime a dozen

Good trade

[Hermie13]

I really don't get the reaction...I LOVE this trade...people are too prospect happy around here

Just as a reminder...Slowey was a 2nd rounder, Putnam a 5th rounder...Slowey's a SP, Putnam a RP only

Never been a big fan of Putnam anyway (didn't even have him in my Top 20 list)...he was the typical "stuff" guy that never had the according results....somewhat the anti-Tomlin...he was a barely AVG to above AVG AAA RP...and got hit in the bigs...his 0/9 BB/K small sample size ratio presented perfect timing to turn him into a guy like Slowey who's still young and had a down season

Folks, this is a low risk (because of positions involved) BUY LOW-SELL HIGH kind of deal...I love it...what's not to like, really?

Some nugget for the prospect lovers out there: Slowey owns a 2.14 MiLB ERA with a sick BB/K ratio....Putnam an AVG RP with an arm...and not much more...his "upside" has always been a 7th Inn RP in my opinion...and those are dime a dozen

Good trade

Indians didn't really buy low though...the Rockies did. Tribe really gave up the better reliever to get the same pitcher. Sure they had to eat some money to do it but wasn't a lot.

Not sure why you are posting Slowey's minor league numbers....he's been in the bigs long enough that they are pretty irrelevant. From Baseball America after the first Slowey trade:

Slowey won the Triple-A International League's ERA title (and pitcher of the year honors) in 2007, going 10-5, 1.89 with 107 strikeouts and 18 walks in 133 2/3 innings for Rochester. But despite fine pitching at the outset of his Twins career, Slowey's 4.66 ERA over 532 2/3 big league innings checks in about 10 percent worse than the American League average, when adjusted for home park context. According to Baseball-Reference.com, that's the AL's fourth-worst showing since 2007 among pitchers with as many as Slowey's 90 starts. Slowey wore out his welcome with the Twins this season as he stumbled after a conversion to the bullpen, where he struggled to get loose on short notice. Moved back into the rotation on Aug. 19, he closed out the year by going 0-8, 7.25 in eight starts.


I don't hate the deal as much since we did get some cash...but still, you got a guy in Slowey that very well may end up as our long reliever if A) "Carmona" is able to get back into the country, or B) he's outperformed early by one of Huff, McAllister, Gomez, or even Barnes....which doesn't seem too far fetched to me. I'd rather have the 7th inning guy in Putnam than a long reliever in his arby years in Slowey. Not sure if you saw, but the Rangers traded some nice specs to get a few 7th/8th inning relievers this past summer. 7th inning guys are valuable.

Just think the Tribe overpaid too...a guy like DLC (running out of options) or Hermann (worse stuff) would have been more appropriate for Slowey....who's got a career ERA over 5 on the road. And in 2010, arguably his best year, his ERA was 2 full runs higher away from Target Field (3.63 vs 5.63).


I definitely, definitely hope you're right...but I'd rather have Putnam than Slowey. Slowey didn't even hit 110 innings last year. If we are really relying on him as a starter late in the year we could be in big trouble. With so many 4/5 rotation guys in AAA (Huff, Gomez, McAllister, Barnes, possibly even Kluber) and just think this was overkill. What this deal does do is put a lot of pressure on CC Lee and Hagadone to step up IMO.

[MadThinker88]

IIRC, Slowey raised a stink during last season about being out of the rotation & moved to the bullpen. Does anyone recall for sure???

[indianinkslinger]

I really don't get the reaction...I LOVE this trade...people are too prospect happy around here

Just as a reminder...Slowey was a 2nd rounder, Putnam a 5th rounder...Slowey's a SP, Putnam a RP only

Never been a big fan of Putnam anyway (didn't even have him in my Top 20 list)...he was the typical "stuff" guy that never had the according results....somewhat the anti-Tomlin...he was a barely AVG to above AVG AAA RP...and got hit in the bigs...his 0/9 BB/K small sample size ratio presented perfect timing to turn him into a guy like Slowey who's still young and had a down season

Folks, this is a low risk (because of positions involved) BUY LOW-SELL HIGH kind of deal...I love it...what's not to like, really?

Some nugget for the prospect lovers out there: Slowey owns a 2.14 MiLB ERA with a sick BB/K ratio....Putnam an AVG RP with an arm...and not much more...his "upside" has always been a 7th Inn RP in my opinion...and those are dime a dozen

Good trade

Indians didn't really buy low though...the Rockies did. Tribe really gave up the better reliever to get the same pitcher. Sure they had to eat some money to do it but wasn't a lot.

Not sure why you are posting Slowey's minor league numbers....he's been in the bigs long enough that they are pretty irrelevant. From Baseball America after the first Slowey trade:

Slowey won the Triple-A International League's ERA title (and pitcher of the year honors) in 2007, going 10-5, 1.89 with 107 strikeouts and 18 walks in 133 2/3 innings for Rochester. But despite fine pitching at the outset of his Twins career, Slowey's 4.66 ERA over 532 2/3 big league innings checks in about 10 percent worse than the American League average, when adjusted for home park context. According to Baseball-Reference.com, that's the AL's fourth-worst showing since 2007 among pitchers with as many as Slowey's 90 starts. Slowey wore out his welcome with the Twins this season as he stumbled after a conversion to the bullpen, where he struggled to get loose on short notice. Moved back into the rotation on Aug. 19, he closed out the year by going 0-8, 7.25 in eight starts.


I don't hate the deal as much since we did get some cash...but still, you got a guy in Slowey that very well may end up as our long reliever if A) "Carmona" is able to get back into the country, or B) he's outperformed early by one of Huff, McAllister, Gomez, or even Barnes....which doesn't seem too far fetched to me. I'd rather have the 7th inning guy in Putnam than a long reliever in his arby years in Slowey. Not sure if you saw, but the Rangers traded some nice specs to get a few 7th/8th inning relievers this past summer. 7th inning guys are valuable.

Just think the Tribe overpaid too...a guy like DLC (running out of options) or Hermann (worse stuff) would have been more appropriate for Slowey....who's got a career ERA over 5 on the road. And in 2010, arguably his best year, his ERA was 2 full runs higher away from Target Field (3.63 vs 5.63).


I definitely, definitely hope you're right...but I'd rather have Putnam than Slowey. Slowey didn't even hit 110 innings last year. If we are really relying on him as a starter late in the year we could be in big trouble. With so many 4/5 rotation guys in AAA (Huff, Gomez, McAllister, Barnes, possibly even Kluber) and just think this was overkill. What this deal does do is put a lot of pressure on CC Lee and Hagadone to step up IMO.

I agreed with every word you said until the last sentence. I don't see any more pressure than usual and probably less since neither needs to be rushed with full complement in Cleveland along with some potentially serviceable RPs from the newbies. All things being equal, I would rather have Putnam as well. Have liked him since I watched him in Michigan. But this deal was in the works long before the Faustrophy. I heard about it on the 16th and I don't read the blogs. The Indians whole offseason has been about adding depth and experience. One thing for sure, if Slowey and Tomlin are in the rotation, the Indians will not have to worry about being overcommitted to ground ball pitchers.

[petes999]

But this deal was in the works long before the Faustrophy. I heard about it on the 16th and I don't read the blogs. The Indians whole offseason has been about adding depth and experience.

Don't know if this is true or not as it sounds like Fausto's thing has been going on for a while -- comments of Fausto's real mother (mother of the guy Heredia bought the identity from) made the radio comment a while ago and the officials were just waiting for Herredia to come into the embassy to get his VISA. So what did the Indians know and were they doing some legwork just in case things hit the fan like they did?

Not a big fan of the trade as the value of Slowey went up significantly in just over a month and a half. Rockies made out well and Twins got rid of him for a reason. But, the real reason for the trade is that Carmona isn't coming back for a long-time this season if at all (one ESPN analyst put the odds of him playing this season at 10% or less) and Cleveland got desperate to have experience for a playoff run this year.

[Chip Davis]

Put me in the "would rather have Putnam" crowd. Admittedly I am projection minded. With that said Slowey reminds me more of Yohan Pino than Josh Tomlin. I like Putnam's power stuff compared to Slowey's ho-hum arsenal and there are more talented options ready to contribute. Pitchers like Barnes, McCallister, Huff, and Gomez bring more to the table IMO. Hopefully I'm way off base here, but I think at best this is nothing to get excited about.

[indianinkslinger]

But this deal was in the works long before the Faustrophy. I heard about it on the 16th and I don't read the blogs. The Indians whole offseason has been about adding depth and experience.

Don't know if this is true or not as it sounds like Fausto's thing has been going on for a while -- comments of Fausto's real mother (mother of the guy Heredia bought the identity from) made the radio comment a while ago and the officials were just waiting for Herredia to come into the embassy to get his VISA. So what did the Indians know and were they doing some legwork just in case things hit the fan like they did?

Not a big fan of the trade as the value of Slowey went up significantly in just over a month and a half. Rockies made out well and Twins got rid of him for a reason. But, the real reason for the trade is that Carmona isn't coming back for a long-time this season if at all (one ESPN analyst put the odds of him playing this season at 10% or less) and Cleveland got desperate to have experience for a playoff run this year.

Not sure when the Indians knew either but from what I have heard, the Indians were trying to make a deal with the Twinkies for him but Minnesota did not want him in the division and jumped at the Rockies offer so he would not become a FA. Nothing but gossip but we probably won't know the whole story for a while, if ever. Cleveland kept its steroid situation hid as long as they could.

[OhioBaseball]

I think this is a great trade for the Indians. I always thought the Indians overpaid on Putnam in the draft. I saw him at Michigan a handful of times and actually thought the guy had more upside as a 3b than as a pitcher, b/c I never thought he was a legitimate major league SP prospect. Saw his upside as Chad Qualls. Putnam is just a middle relief prospect, whereas Slowey could make a greater contribution.

I don't know why Slowey struggled last year but I've always liked him b/c is command is so good. His stuff is always going to be hittable but this is a guy that could legitimately be a nice #4 starter in this rotation. Gomez and Huff are young and unproven. I've always liked Slowey -- his K/BB ratios have always been downright excellent. This is a good buy low on Slowey. Very nice trade. Putnam is a dime-a-dozen middle relief prospect. The Indians still have a few others.

[TonyIBI]

I understand what the Indians are doing with this trade as Slowey has had some ML success and is relatively inexpensive. If he pitches well the next two years, he would be well worth it no matter what Putnam becomes as a reliever.

That said, I don't go out and trade one of my top three bullpen prospects and a guy a lot of people believe becomes a ML setup man for a fringe average ML starting pitcher that has health concerns and may be in decline. Seriously, is anyone really confident in what to expect out of Slowey this year? I actually feel more confident in what I can expect out of Gomez or Huff. That's the big problem I have with the trade as it was not a clear, significant addition to the starting staff.....it just muddied up the waters and added another like pitcher to the 5th starter mix. Blah. I hope I am wrong on this and Slowey pitches well for the Indians....but to me it is more of a lateral move and they did not improve all that much but at the same time dumped one of their best bullpen arms.

[indianinkslinger]

I understand what the Indians are doing with this trade as Slowey has had some ML success and is relatively inexpensive. If he pitches well the next two years, he would be well worth it no matter what Putnam becomes as a reliever.

That said, I don't go out and trade one of my top three bullpen prospects and a guy a lot of people believe becomes a ML setup man for a fringe average ML starting pitcher that has health concerns and may be in decline. Seriously, is anyone really confident in what to expect out of Slowey this year? I actually feel more confident in what I can expect out of Gomez or Huff. That's the big problem I have with the trade as it was not a clear, significant addition to the starting staff.....it just muddied up the waters and added another like pitcher to the 5th starter mix. Blah. I hope I am wrong on this and Slowey pitches well for the Indians....but to me it is more of a lateral move and they did not improve all that much but at the same time dumped one of their best bullpen arms.

My sentiments as well if they know Tomlin is healthy but that would make a difference to me. If he is, I would prefer Gomez in Cleveland and Slowey in Columbus to start the season but doubt that will happen.

[ClevelandBlues]

I agree that Slowey is not really an upgrade over Gomez, but I still like the trade. Every year we go through 10-12 starters over the course of the season. It is better to get depth before the season starts, because if a rash of injuries hits, and you don't have depth then guys like Ginter, Ohka and Germano are suddenly in the starting rotation. I mean spring training hasn't even started and we are already down one starter to visa issues. I haven't heard if Tomlin will be ready to start the season yet either. I like Gomez quite a bit, but he is still young and extra AAA time might do him some good. I am sure he will get his chance at some point this season. Losing some of our bullpen depth hurts, but we have some starters that could be converted if need be such as Kluber, Espino, Mcfarland, Packer and Adams. Cody Allen could move through the system fast also. Though at this point, I would be a little more hesitant to trade Chris Perez after losing so many minor league bullpen arms.

[jellis]

Everyone talk about Huff/mac/Gomez, they are still pretty unproven and If tomlin has a set back we have a total of 3 proven starters. Slowey was a need and they traded from a Strength using a 6/7 inning guy to me to get an SP plus cash. Putnam was behind Hagadone and Chen in line and there aren't any openings in that pen yet. He was going to spend the year in AAA. Slowey should be able to do at worst what carmona did last year

[homerawayfromhome]

Theres still no shortage of bullpen options IMO. The Tribe has signed several options, and the club still has arms like Tyler Sturdevant, Kyle Landis, Bryce Stowell and Rob Bryson who all could make some noise as well. Thrown in any starter who struggles or is blocked like Corey Kluber and there's still plenty of arms that could emerge as options throughout the yr for the pen.

I too, would be hesitant to deal Chris Perez now, Raffy Perez ($$$) would still be on the table. I'm fairly certain the Tribe feels Nick Hagadone is ready.

[Hermie13]

Everyone talk about Huff/mac/Gomez, they are still pretty unproven and If tomlin has a set back we have a total of 3 proven starters. Slowey was a need and they traded from a Strength using a 6/7 inning guy to me to get an SP plus cash. Putnam was behind Hagadone and Chen in line and there aren't any openings in that pen yet. He was going to spend the year in AAA. Slowey should be able to do at worst what carmona did last year

Disagree a bit here. Agree Putnam was probably behind those two, but there was a very good chance that Putnam could have opened the season in Cleveland IMO. It was Hags, Putnam, and Hermann for the last 2 spots (plus the NRI guys). I don't think it'd have been that big a stretch to think Putnam could have beaten out Hermann or Hags (if the latter had a bad spring). Sure Hermann is a better fit as a long-guy but Putnam can go 2-3 innings if needed as well. Right now, we may not have a single 40-man bullpen arm in AAA. Yes, you can add Lee for Carrassco's spot (once he goes on the 60-day) or one of the NRI guys, but seems overkill to me still to add Slowey. We are now arguably 5-deep in Columbus with ML starting pitching talent. IMO all of Huff, Gomez, McAllister, Barnes, and Kluber are ML capable starters, even if it's only an emergency start here or there (Kluber is a bit of a stretch). We now have more starting pitching depth than bullpen depth. And still don't see how Slowey was a need. He couldn't even win a rotation job out of camp last year with the Twins, despite having a decent 2010 season. I do agree that Huff/Gomez/etc aren't proven....but really the only thing Slowey has proven is that he can't stay healthy for a full season and is simply not that good.