Kid Catcher Impressing in Indy
After losing Aaron Stone to Vancouver green, the YS9 executive suite took a late-spring dive into the Free Agent market to sign 33-year-old Luis Barrera to a 1-season $16M overpay. That deal appears to have paid off so far as Berrera has provided a respectable defensive upgrade along with a .279/.392/.570 slash. The six homers are icing on the cake. At this pace, Barrera could well wind up posting something close to those career best 4.8 WARs he dropped in Huntsville before they became Bluesburg. He was looking like a great compensation candidate, assuming he wasn’t resigned, said one insider.
Now, however, some are wondering if the development status of young Jesus Rodriguez might have the front office thinking about Barrera and the trade deadline a bit differently.
“At 33, and on an expiring deal, Barrera could wind up being a great rental,” said Gayle Combs, Analyst at Combs Sports Commentary, Inc. She says this is because the 21-year-old Rodriguez is posting some solid numbers in AAA Indy (.319/.372/.389), and has scouts buzzing about how his framing skills are coming in. “Rodriguez won’t have Barrera’s pop, but I’m certain that the Nine brass would love to see his glove behind the plate to augment the arms they’ve gathered up in Ohio,” Combs said. "He's the kind of guy who can change a game just by walking onto the diamond, and Barrera could bring something of value on the trade market in the right circumstance. Time will tell."
AARON STONE’S DEPARTURE DUE TO TIMING
The fact of the matter is that Rodriguez’s status was likely one of the reasons Stone was let free to sign that gluttonous deal in the first place. “We would have loved it if Aaron would have picked up that last year on his option, but with guys like J-Rod and Bruce (AA prospect Bruce McKinley) nearing ready, we couldn’t commit to him full time,” explained GM Ron Collins at the time of Aaron’s departure.
Stone’s signing gained the Nine an extra pick in the 2041 draft, which they’ve now used on mercurial outfielder Sazui Kawashima.
VALLE PLEASED EITHER WAY
Rotation ace Carlos Valle’s face lit up like a kid on their birthday when asked about the situation. “One of the reasons I signed my deal is that this team has so many options, right?,” he said. “Luis is a great catcher, and he’s helping the team—but he knows where the future is, and having thrown to both Jesus and Bruce this past spring training, I can say that things are just going to keep rolling along.”