Aloha Kyle Lohse
By
Amanda
Posted at 8:14 pm
CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati Reds executive vice president and general manager Wayne Krivsky today announced the acquisition of LHP Matt Maloney from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for RHP Kyle Lohse.
Maloney, 23, this season at Philadelphia's Class AA Reading affiliate went 9-7 with a 3.94 ERA and 1 complete game in 21 starts. He allowed just 117 hits while striking out 115 batters in 125.2 innings. He leads the Eastern League in innings pitched and ranks fourth in strikeouts.
The Phillies' third-round draft pick in 2005, Maloney entered this season rated by Baseball America as the ninth-best prospect in the Phillies' organization. In 2006, in just his second professional season, he was named South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Year after going 16-9 with a 2.03 ERA and 180 strikeouts in 27 starts and 168.2 innings pitched for Lakewood. He led the SAL in victories, innings pitched and strikeouts.
Maloney will report to Class AA Chattanooga.
Lohse, 28, this season went 6-12 with a 4.58 ERA in 21 starts. In his 21 appearances, the Reds went 8-13.
I give this deal two thumbs up:
Thumb #1: If you compare Matt Maloney’s minor league numbers to those of Zach Ward (who the Reds traded to the Twins a year ago to get Kyle Lohse), it looks like the Reds end up with the better pitcher in what now amounts to trading Ward for Maloney. John Fay compared Ward’s Sally League stats this year to Maloney’s Eastern League stats this year in an article on cincinnati.com – but he didn’t mention what Maloney did in the Sally League last year. Matt dominated that league and was promoted to Class-AA. Ward’s still in Class-A a year later.
Thumb #2: There’s now a roster slot open for a pitcher. If they were planning to call up Dumatrait when they yanked him from the Bats’ game a few nights ago, it shows that the left hand knows what the right hand is doing in the Reds’ organization, even if they don’t tell us about it.
I expect more Wheeling And Dealing to come. Castro belongs on the 60-day DL. Gonzalez will presumably return from the restricted list eventually. The trade deadline isn’t until tomorrow and doesn’t rule out further trades anyway (just means the players involved have to clear waivers first). And I don’t think Krivsky for Cantu to improve the Bats’ infield depth.
oops…make that “I don’t think Krivsky traded [i]for[/i] Cantu…”
Cantu has been playing 1B in Louisville, FWIW.