Azru: I received this post in an e-mail and it’s about a former and perhaps future Cardinal prospect. Stats are as of 3/19. FR welcomes well-written posts as guest submissions.
Is Luis Perdomo coming back to the Cards?
As most of you know the Cardinals received relief pitcher Luis Perdomo from the Indians last season in exchange for Anthony Reyes.
Perdomo will be 25-years-old next month, has a big sinking fastball and a good slider. He has racked up over 10 strikeouts per 9 innings in his minor league career, but has never pitched above AA and was older than most of his opponents at each level.
Chone and ZIPS both project Perdomo’s 2009 big league numbers to be around a 4.85 ERA with 30 walks and 45 K’s in approximately 60 innings. Not an eye popping projection, but Perdomo could certainly outperform those numbers and be a valuable cost controlled asset over the next few years.
The Giants obviously think the Perdomo has some value because they picked him in the Rule 5 draft this winter. This looked like a solid pick for a rebuilding team, but the Giants front office took something of a “win-now” approach in free agency. Now it’s unclear if the G-men will be able bring Perdomo north with the big club. Further complicating matters the Giants are considering an 11-man bullpen, meaning Perdomo could be facing an uphill battle for one of the teams last roster spots.
Perdomo hasn’t set the world on fire this spring, but has kept his head above water posting a 4.91 ERA with 7 K’s and 4 BB’s in 7.1 IP (small sample size but these numbers are similar to his Chone and ZIPS projections).
To get a better idea of where Perdomo stands I decided to email two Giants insiders to find out.
When asked if he thought Perdomo would make the Giants, Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News responded saying “I think Perdomo will be traded or offered back to the Cards — especially if the Giants are serious about keeping 11 pitchers.” Baggarly also added that he’s been told the Cardinals want Perdomo back. Henry Schulman of the San Fransisco Chronicle thinks it’s still up in the air saying, “I don’t even think the team knows yet. I know they like him. We’ll have to wait til the end of camp to find out.”
If Perdomo misses out on a shot with the Giants due to a roster crunch, then it appears that the Cardinals will have a good chance of getting him back. While the Cardinals bullpen already has plenty of right handed arms, there is still some upside to a player like Perdomo who could go to Memphis and offer insurance in the event of an injury and provide even greater organizational depth.
Entries (RSS)
if the giants lack space, i guess the question is who needs basic currency like middle-of-the-road, unpolished right handed relievers like perdomo, and who has the roster space that would make the Rule 5 encumbrance not a big deal.
san diego jumps out as a team desperate for right-handed relievers (as well as almost anything else), especially now that worrell’s headed for TJ surgery. the question is, I guess, whether such a team poor in just about everything would have anything to trade for perdomo. the nats would fall in this category since their bullpen is on the whole horrendous, but they have little more to offer and might do better sniffing around for position players who aren’t outfielders.
I’m guess I’m not following how the Giants could trade him. Does that mean if they traded him and he didnt stay on that team’s roster, that team would have to give him back to us and then they’d get what they traded to the Giants back?
not quite. the giants could trade perdomo to another squad — for this example, let’s say the padres. the padres would get perdomo, but would have to keep him on their roster under the exact same terms as the giants would. the giants would get to keep the player they won in the trade, regardless of whether perdomo finished the season in memphis, in san diego, or even in texas (because the padres could trade him on again). the giants would be trading not perdomo, but their rights to perdomo. the padres would be trading for the opportunity to develop perdomo.
The Cardinal want him back? If that’s so, can someone please explain why he wasn’t protected on the 40- man (except for the Cardinals it’s more like 35-man) roster in the first place? There was plenty of room, even after the dubious decision to protect Scherer.
I guess Brian Sabean has sampled some of the smokable materials that can be purchased in many a San Fransisco head shop, and decided in his drug addled state, that his team apparently can contend this year.
That is fine with me. The Cardinals can never have enough power arms in their minor league system. And I would like to see what Perdomo could do with a full season in Triple A.
Seriously, though how even if they do want to contend, why could they not find a place in their bullpen for a young power reliever? If the Cardinals could find a place for a 25 year old outfielder with little power, than the Giants could find room for Perdomo. Who do they have besides Wilson and Affeldt that could be better?
Gregerson gone, Perdomo in?
I would take that trade if that does indeed happen, one thing is for sure if the Cards are going to make a trade RH setup guys they can spare to part with.
When you factor in what you already have in terms of RH late inning arms and then add in the RH starters who will probably end up there, RH relief is very deep.
Probably too deep, which means they need to stop drafting 1 and 1.5 pitch starting pitchers so early in the draft.