Trading Places: Pieces from Cole Deal Swap Roster Spots
by Valerie Davies
After seven starts in the Brewster, Pete Hulett has been sent down for another one the pieces in the Phil Cole to Nashville trade, Ted Neill. Neill will be making his major-league debut in place of Hulett, giving McMonigal a second chance not to completely strike out on that deal.
Hulett, still young at just age 24, has had three bites of the big league apple and none have worked out well so far. In 2061, he started 5 games, going 0-2 with a 6.12 ERA and FIP- of 155 in a September cameo. He got another 5 starts in 2062 and didn't do much better. This time he was 0-3 but with a lower 5.14 ER and FIP- of 126. A small improvement. This year, in 7 starts, he was 3-3 with a 5.11 ERA.
Meanwhile, Ted Neill holds a 5-5 record on a wretched Indianapolis team, with a 3.00 ERA. He was promoted at the beginning of the year to AAA despite being only 22, and looks ready to see what he can do on a major league club. Given the team's complete collapse after the All-Star break, with entire weeks of winning one game (or sometimes even none at all), the Nine are once more in experiment mode, so adding Neill now instead of waiting for September makes perfect sense.
I asked McMonigal about all this, as I often do, and he told me this.
"Look, we still like Pete, but he's just not showing us enough," said McMonigal. "I'd hoped he was finally ready, after being 4-2 with an 1.93 ERA with the Downforce, but it looks like he's still struggling with his control of his pitches. One game he walked 4 guys. Four. We just can't have that. Not when he's also giving up 6 or seven 7 hits, too. That's how the runs pile up and put the team behind the eight ball before we even get out of the 5th inning."
Why Neill?
"I think he's got the potential to be a very good BBA pitcher. He's got five pitches which keeps batters on their toes. He's above average in movement and control, and his stuff is coming along nicely. He doesn't give up a lot of home runs, which is huge. One of our biggest problems is we've let too many balls get out of the park this season. Neill doesn't do that."
What's most interesting about all this to me is that while Hulett had no trouble progressing from level to level, succeeding everywhere until he hit the Brewster, where he appears to be stuck, Neill almost fell of the prospect board entirely. Hulett's career WAR across the levels (3.2 in Rookie, 22.6 in 6 seasons of A ball driven mostly by the logjam of good players in Nashville, 2.9 WAR in AA, and 5.8 in AAA) should indicate a player rising to the occasion, but it hasn't worked out that way. He seems destined to be an AAAA type who will eventually float his way across the ocean to the GBC.
Meanwhile Neill's WAR in the minors had fits and starts. He had 2.0 in Short A, then 3.7 in A. But at AA, he struggled with only .9 in his first year here, including a 6.06 ERA in 2061 that put him in danger of being a release candidate. He improved to 4.8 in AA and then has a 1.2 right now in AAA. These aren't exactly eye-popping numbers, and yet he seems to be the more likely candidate to stick.
We see it all the time but it's always a bit surprising when players dominate the minors but come up and struggle. Former Nine first rounder Edgar Barron might be the poster child for this. He had 7.4 WAR in A, 6.8 in AA, and 5.0 in AAA before coming up to the Nine and managing just 1.4 WAR in 282 games with Yellow Springs. Barron, now in the minors again, this time within the Des Moines organization, has had nothing but negative WAR with two other BBA teams.
What path will these two young men take? It's a bit early to tell, but the signs aren't exactly pointing to greatness or even just okayness for either of them. Still, in a lost season (again), seeing what Neill can do isn't a bad idea. Given the 5+ ERA for Hulett, it would be hard to be worse.
2063.55 Trading Places: Pieces from Cole Deal Swap Roster Spots
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2063.55 Trading Places: Pieces from Cole Deal Swap Roster Spots
Rob McMonigal
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Re: 2063.55 Trading Places: Pieces from Cole Deal Swap Roster Spots
Ted had a rough go of it... there's always spring ball next year to see what he can do.
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Re: 2063.55 Trading Places: Pieces from Cole Deal Swap Roster Spots
All those walks don’t align with Neill’s 6 control. Although his league average FIP in AAA gives me pause. I’m still optimistic about him but he’s not a slam dunk.
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Re: 2063.55 Trading Places: Pieces from Cole Deal Swap Roster Spots
Given the circumstances on the ground I think he's going to get a real shot to be at least my number 5 guy. He did improve when he came back end of season. They both did but I still like Neill better long term.BaseClogger wrote: ↑Wed Jul 30, 2025 11:45 amAll those walks don’t align with Neill’s 6 control. Although his league average FIP in AAA gives me pause. I’m still optimistic about him but he’s not a slam dunk.
pitching seems to be the most random part of the BBA. so we'll just see how they do while they can be optioned back and forth.
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Re: 2063.55 Trading Places: Pieces from Cole Deal Swap Roster Spots
Most random part of baseball.
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