12/09: Twins Pluck Andrus From Yankees Farm
Posted by: James
I would have completely missed this story if Brian MacMillan over at Off The Facade hadn't picked up on it. It turns out that the Twins picked up Erold Andrus from the Yankees farm system on Thursday. Now, I'm not completely aware of the rules regarding players chosen in the "minor league portion of the draft" and if those rules are any different from the major portion of the Rule 5 draft, but Andrus isn't a huge loss. At the beginning of the year, John Sickels over at Minor League Ball rated Erold as the 15th best prospect in the Yankees system and gave him a C+. At this point, after the latest draft and Erold's performance this past year (.241/.311/.334 in his age 21 season at A ball), I personally wouldn't even put Andrus in the top 25.
Just as a comparison...and to see who the Red Sox picked up for their castoff Renteria...here's Andy Marte's line from last year, also his age 21 year but at the AAA level: .275/.372/.506. Yeah, I know. Wow - and all they had to do was give up Renteria, who didn't exactly set the AL on fire last year. In addition, all they really need is a stop gap at short to keep the spot warm for Dustin Pedroia, who will be starting next year at AAA. Honestly, I've always thought that Hanley Ramirez was overrated and that Pedroia was going to be the better player. Now, it looks like he'll have the opportunity to show what he's got and to prove me right. I gotta give the Sox credit for this deal as it looks great on paper right now. Time will tell, of course.
Just as a comparison...and to see who the Red Sox picked up for their castoff Renteria...here's Andy Marte's line from last year, also his age 21 year but at the AAA level: .275/.372/.506. Yeah, I know. Wow - and all they had to do was give up Renteria, who didn't exactly set the AL on fire last year. In addition, all they really need is a stop gap at short to keep the spot warm for Dustin Pedroia, who will be starting next year at AAA. Honestly, I've always thought that Hanley Ramirez was overrated and that Pedroia was going to be the better player. Now, it looks like he'll have the opportunity to show what he's got and to prove me right. I gotta give the Sox credit for this deal as it looks great on paper right now. Time will tell, of course.
