Saarloos Traded to the Reds
According to reports the A’s official website, Kirk Saarloos and a player to be named later have been traded to the Reds for David Shafer and a player to be named later.
Saarloos will join former A’s Scott Hatteberg and Aaron Harang in the Queen City.
It appears that the 5th starter job is now down to Joe Kennedy and Brad Halsey.
From the A’s press release:
Shafer, 25, was 1-2 with a 2.36 ERA (13er in 49.2ip) with 26 saves in 44 appearances for Double-A Chattanooga last season. He struck out 52 batters in his 49.2 innings of work, issued just 16 walks, allowed just two home runs and limited hitters to a .204 batting average. His 26 saves were tied for second in the Southern League. Over the past two seasons, he has limited hitters to a .207 average (77-207).
Originally selected in the 32nd round of the 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Shafer has posted a 14-16 record and a 2.59 ERA (71er in 246.1ip) to go along with 63 saves in 169 minor league appearances, including seven career starts. He has struck out 269 batters in his 246.1 innings of work while walking 74 batters and limiting opponents to a .219 (200-915) batting average.
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So we know that David Shafer is a 25 year old right-handed pitcher from Flagstaff, Arizona. He’s posted a career 2.60 ERA in the minors, and was groomed by the Reds as a closer. He’s out of Central Arizona College, where he won the 2002 Junior College National Championship.
Through his minor league years, he has a career K:BB ratio of 269:74, while his K/9 rate is 9.84 and he has a WHIP of just 1.11.
It looks like by most accounts, he’ll be a solid pitcher. More likely to end up as an effective reliever than a starter, I see him filling a Justin Duchscherer role for the A’s. He’s a killer set-up man who can close games out when needed.
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Baseball America had a piece on him back in June of 2006, which I’ll excerpt here:
Shafer’s fastball, which sits in the 89-92 mph range, is not overpowering and his slider is his out pitch.
“He throws it a lot and gets a lot of strikeouts off it,” [assistant director of player development Grant] Griesser said.
His numbers show how difficult he is to hit. In 24 innings in the first half, he struck out 28 and allowed only 15. He had walked seven and allowed only one home run.
A 32nd-round pick in the 2001 draft out of Central Arizona Community College, Shafer signed as a draft-and-follow the next spring and opened some eyes by going 6-2,1.64 with five saves between the Rookie-level Gulf Coast and Pioneer Leagues in 2002. He has a live, loose arm and has the durability to be a stalwart in the bullpen.
Raising Reds profiled him in early June of last year:
David Shafer is a 24 year old right handed pitcher drafted by the Reds in the 32nd round (966 overall) of the 2001 draft. He is 6′3, 170 lbs and went to school at Central Arizona College.
He doesn’t show up as a hot prospect until Baseball America’s 2005 Prospect Handbook, where he was ranked 13th.
He went 16-5 in two years as a starter for his college team, where he played for the Juco Championship. He throws a 88-92 MPH fastball that works well with his slider. He throws them both for strikes. He has advanced command of both pitches. He is working on a changeup.
The Reds have used him as a starter on occasion but projects as a reliever. He could be a closer, which is what is he is doing in AA this year.
He dropped doing to 26 in the 2006 Prospect Handbook.
He is holding batters to a .188 average this season. He is currently second in the league in saves and would be second in WHIP if he had pitched enough to qualify. He could be in our bullpen before too long, either as the closer or setup man to [Todd] Coffey.
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I’d guess Shafer will play in Sacramento most of this year, get a September call-up, and then try to make the team as a set-up man out of Spring Training in 2008. As much as I liked Saarloos, this trade will make the team stronger. While Saarloos performed admirably in an intermittent 5th starter’s role, I’m more comfortable with Joe Kennedy there. Shafer stands a chance of being a contributer in 2008 and beyond, possibly helping to solidify one of the best young bullpens in the majors.
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Shafer projects to being an average middle reliever this season, with the following numbers:
| projection | ERA | SO | BB | IP |
| ZiPS | 5.17 | 37 | 24 | 47.0 |
| PECOTA | 4.63 | 38 | 18 | 47.2 |
| CHONE | 4.68 | 46 | 25 | 54.0 |
However, given another year in the minors, I think he’ll put up better numbers than that.