Rockies acquire RHP Sean Smith to complete Carroll trade with Cleveland

Took long enough.

about 4 years ago Russ Oates 6 comments 0 recs |

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ahh....

That must be why Seth Smith’s entire name is spelled out in the boxscore today.

by DenverBears on Apr 25, 2008 8:09 AM MDT reply actions

no comments....

I don’t know much about this guy….what do those of you experts thing of Smith as a return for Carroll?

by DenverBears on Apr 25, 2008 12:51 PM MDT reply actions

I'm no minor league expert

but here’s a blog from the an Indians Fan from January of this year:

Want to see him warm up?:

Strikes me as we got an OK AAA pitcher. For Carroll? I think we got robbed. We could REALLY use a solid utility guy right now. BUT with our minor league starters struggles and injuries, Smith might be the first one we call if we had an injury to a starter right now.

What am going to do with all these "Jeff Baker for 2nd" bumper stickers?

by Redhawk on Apr 25, 2008 1:24 PM MDT reply actions

ouch...

I didn’t like what I read there so much. 89-91 MPH fastball (after gaining velocity the last few years), problems with command, low GB% and gives up too many homers. Not really a recipe for success in the PCL, much less at Coors Field.

by DenverBears on Apr 25, 2008 1:43 PM MDT up reply actions

Did

you guys get anything extra for Carroll’s bugeyes? That’s gotta be worth something….

"I was tied to a chair and he had a baseball bat. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do."

by DbacksSkins on Apr 25, 2008 2:16 PM MDT reply actions

Hey, guys … just visiting from LetsGoTribe. You may be interested to know (Redhawk in particular) that over on our side, some folks are annoyed that we gave up a young pitching prospect for merely a utility infielder.

I see both sides of it. On the one hand, we’ve had a number of meh utility infielders over the last few years, and Carroll so far looks like a solid notch above those bozos—I think we need to be a little careful not to under-value a player like him who effortlessly fills holes as they arise, wherever they arise. On the other hand … yeah, it is just a utility player.

As for Smith, on the one hand, he’s a soft-tossing Triple-A guy, weak K rates and couldn’t crack our 40-man roster. On the other hand, our 40-man roster is really overstuffed and includes nine other starting pitchers already—Smith was behind Sowers and Laffey on the depth chart, but on most teams that would make him the #6 starter, just not on the Indians. He isn’t necessarily that much lesser of a pitcher.

The bottom line for me is that he put together a pretty good full season in Triple-A at age 23, which makes him sort of inherently a decent prospect, a potentially useful guy. Don’t be fooled by the 16th round pedigree, either - Smith was a draft-and-follow guy and got a $1 million bonus - serious money in 2002. Smith also has never been on a 40-man roster, and you may get through 2008 without using up an option on him. That means he may not be out of options until 2012, and that flexibility is valuable, too.

All in all, it looks like a fairly even deal, and if both sides have a few fans who are annoyed by it, that probably just means it was a good deal.

by Jay on Apr 28, 2008 9:55 PM MDT reply actions