Tom Haudricourt reports that the Brewers traded for workhorse pitcher Salomon Torres from Pittsburgh for minor league relievers Marino Salas and Kevin Roberts.
Melvin said that he was hoping to get one more arm in the bullpen before Spring Training, and he got exactly what he was looking for: a workhorse veteran with closing experience. Last year, Torres started as the closer for the Pirates before losing his job mid-season. He appeared in 56 games, and he went 2-4 with a 5.47 ERA and 12 saves in 18 chances. He was on the DL twice last year with elbow inflammation, and it was the only year he did not appear in at least 78 games.
The Brewers gave up Marino Salas from Triple-A Nashville and Kevin Roberts from Class-A Brevard County. Haudricourt says these two are very good arms from Milwaukee. I know Salas had a future in the Milwaukee system, as he posted a combined 2.77 ERA in the minors last season. He was being groomed as a closer, and probably was the centerpiece of the trade. Roberts was relatively new to the Brewer farm system, but put up a very respectable 3.44 ERA in Brevard ast year. But as we all know, prospects do not always turn into Major League players.
I'm a little tentative about completely praising this deal because of Torres' struggles and injury history last year. He was brilliant between 2004-2006 (2.64, 2.76, and 3.28 ERA, respectively), but that was before elbow troubles. If he is able to bounce back, he will be a vital part of our bullpen and Doug did a tremendous job adding him to the roster. If he is not able to bounce back, it will not hurt too much, as we did not give up much to get him. Salas is a very good prospect, but the BrewCrew will not miss him too much will all the power arms we have. Overall, I like this move, and if Torres can bounce back after a down year, I will REALLY like this deal. Nice job, Doug!
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From what I understand, it sounds like Torres had problems with the Pittsburgh organization stemming from miscommunications concerning renting his training facility in the Dominican Republic. That's why we got him so cheap. Anyone who pretends that we had to give up a lot here is sadly mistaken.
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