Red Sox Acquire Van Buren from Cubs

[kenberman]

ok, normally I wouldn't post about a relative unknown being picked up for the proverbial PTBNL.

but this one seems strange. 25 years old, AAA pitcher of the Year for the Cubs. .118 BA against in his 6 MLB appearances. and the Red Sox pick him up for basically nothing (unless the PTBNL turns out to be a prized prospect, which I doubt).

what's the deal here? I know that the Cubs needed to make roster space, but is this really the best deal they found? Here is the story:

BOSTON -- In their constant quest to add depth to the bullpen, the Red Sox on Thursday acquired right-hander Jermaine Van Buren from the Cubs for a player to be named later or cash.

The 25-year-old Van Buren made six appearances for the Cubs last season, posting a 3.00 ERA over six innings. Opponents hit just .118 against him in his brief Major League stint.

He was the club's pitcher of the year at Triple-A Iowa, posting a 1.98 ERA and setting a franchise record with 25 saves.

With the Rule 5 Draft coming up next week, the Cubs likely made the move to clear a roster spot, as Van Buren was on their 40-man roster.

After making the deal, the Sox put Van Buren on their 40-man roster.

Van Buren was drafted by the Rockies in the second round in 1998. He signed with the Cubs before the 2004 season, converting to a reliever at that time.

The native of Laurel, Miss., is 42-26 lifetime in the Minors, with 47 saves and a 3.57 ERA. Of his 219 Minor League appearances, 93 were starts.

Van Buren will try to earn a spot in a bullpen that includes Keith Foulke, Mike Timlin, Guillermo Mota and Chad Bradford.

[sam h]

That is one weird delivery. I don't think I've ever seen somebody drop down quite like that.

[Toro]

This one makes no sense. The guy must have a physical problem. Or maybe the Cubs are parking him with the Sox for a while and will get him back in some kind of deal once they clear a space on their 40 man roster.

[JTG51]

[cokehead]

Van Buren ain't Tom Seaver. his mechanics suck. A lot people consider his ceiling to be a AAAA player, good enough to dominate AAA but suck in the majors. had major control problems in the during his short stint in the majors last year. He may prove to be a useful middle reliever, but it wasnt going to be on the Cubs in 2006. Hopefully the PTBNL is somewhat useful.

I'm not going to fault Hendry on this deal yet unless the PTBNL is complete crap. most likely it is a decided upon player not on Sox 40 man so his name cannot be announced until after the Rule V draft.

[bugstud]

PTBNL = manny

[TheRover]

Who would want a useful reliever around when you can keep guys like Mabry and Macias on the 40-man? Why pay league minimum for something when you can pay 3-4 million for it?

Their roster is a mess. I think they finally have more outfielders than catchers on it now, at least. Van Buren has two or three option years left. You'd think it would make more sense to just release or send crap like Koronka or Soto to the minors. I don't think anyone would claim them and if they did, who cares? Wellemeyer and Mitre are also out of options and will probably be dumped for a PTBNL or some crappy corner outfielder.

Anyone remember when Mitre threw one of the best games of the Cubs' season a bit before the trade deadline and had a ton of value in a trade? Now he's borderline waiver bait.

[censored] Jim Hendry.

[Jack of Arcades]

[ QUOTE ]
This one makes no sense. The guy must have a physical problem. Or maybe the Cubs are parking him with the Sox for a while and will get him back in some kind of deal once they clear a space on their 40 man roster.

[/ QUOTE ]

Um, no, the Cubs do this [censored] all the time.