Once again this week, a few well known names found themselves on the transaction wire such as Pavano, Giambi and Milton Bradley. But as always on the weekend, this blog searches the same transaction wires for those obscure signings of marginal players just trying to keep their MLB dreams and careers going.
Claudio Vargas - Pitcher - Dodgers: One year contract
The six foot, four inch, thirty year old, Vargas was never drafted and didn't play any college ball. He comes from Mao and this will be his sixth team in seven career years. Mostly a starter, Vargas has started 114 games in his career and pitched in relief 50 times.
He has a winning record (46-40), which is surprising considering his less than stellar statistics. His lifetime ERA sits at 4.94 with a career WHIP of 1.45. That means that you are not going to see a whole lot of 1-2-3 innings from this pitcher. And that is not good news for this pitcher when looking at his situational stats. He has a lifetime ERA of 2.05 with the bases empty, but his ERA balloons big time as soon as someone gets on base. But the biggest problem for Vargas? The long ball. He has given up 121 homers in just 703+ innings.
That figure should be better with the Dodgers in that pitcher's park.
Royce Ring - Relief Pitcher - Cardinals: One year contract
Royce Ring, now there's a great name for you. And he was drafted with high expectations. A lefthander from San Diego State, the 28 year old Ring was drafted in the first round by the Chicago White Sox in 2002. He made his debut in the majors in 2005 and has 91 appearances in the big leagues in parts of four seasons with three different clubs.
A first round draft pick became one of those situational lefties and Ring has only pitched 65 and two thirds innings in those 91 appearances. The problem for Ring has been his control and he's walked 40 batters in those innings. Ring got away with that control problem in limited appearances in 2006 and 2007 and had decent ERA figures for those two seasons. But last year, he was dreadful for the Braves who ran him out there 42 times for a total of 22 innings in which he gave up 42 base runners good for an 8.46 ERA.
Despite that dreadful year, the Cardinals signed him to a major league contract. The Cardinals love these kinds of projects and who knows, they could turn Ring and his career around. Getting him to throw strikes consistently would be the first step.
The Hairston Brothers, Scott and Jerry Jr. - Padres and Reds respectively: One year contracts
It was a good week for the Hairston family as both brothers received one year contracts this week after nondescript careers. The sons of former big leaguer, Jerry Hairston, Senior, the family goes back to the former Negro Leagues and Sammy Hairston, one of the first African-Americans to play for the Chicago White Sox. Oh, and oddly enough, they are Jehovah's Witnesses.
Jerry Hairston, Jr., 32, is in his eleventh year and is listed as a shortstop, though he will play other infield positions. He only started one year of his eleven and has a lifetime BA of .260 to go with a .330 OBP.
Scott Hairston is an outfielder, who was first drafted as a second baseman in the third round in 2001 by the Arizona Diamondbacks. They brought him up in 2004 to play second, but he has played part time and mostly in the outfield since then. He has more power than his brother and has 41 homers in 900+ at bats. But his Batting Average (.246) and lifetime On Base Percentage (.303) don't give much to write home to dad about. But then again, Jerry Hairston Senior had a long and nondescript career himself.
One has to wonder sometimes how marginal players like the Hairston family members have such long careers.
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