The Atlanta Braves are keeping their options open with regards to triple-A starting pitcher Chris Resop. The team has until June 15th to either call him up to the Major Leagues or offer him his release. Here is the note from the Braves Minor League site:
The Braves are still evaluating the trade market for Chris Resop. But if they don't gain an attractive offer soon, they will certainly promote the right-handed pitcher before the June 15 deadline that contractually obligates him to request a trade.
With Jesse Chavez struggling mightily, there's a sense that Resop could be promoted within the next few days to assume Chavez's bullpen spot.
But the Braves will certainly wait to make this move until other organizations get a chance to get another look at Resop during Thursday night's start against Triple-A Norfolk.
Resop has gone 4-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 12 starts with Gwinnett this year. Opponents have hit .200 against the 27-year-old right-hander and he has recorded 73 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings.
If the Braves don't receive an attractive trade offer, they also could opt to keep Resop around in case they eventually opt to remove Kenshin Kawakami from their starting rotation.
It's clear that Atlanta's preference is to trade Resop. They have had several opportunities to call up the right-hander for the Atlanta bullpen, but have instead opted for Cristhian Martinez and Craig Kimbrel, while still keeping the struggling Jesse Chavez on the 25-man roster.
If they choose to trade him, there's no telling what the Braves may get for Resop, who up until this year was a journeyman middle reliever who spent the last year in Japan. While he seems to have turned a corner, there may be a doubt that Resop can translate his triple-A success into Major League success. But he does posses an above average fastball and has been able to locate it this season. He is especially tough against right-handed batters, which he has held to a .177 batting average this season. Resop makes what could be his final start tonight in Norfolk.
0 recs | 57 comments
I’d take a mid-range position prospect for him. We seem set with pitching, both prospects and established guys, and he’s clearly not going to get us a big league bat that is superior to what we have now.
BrockSamson - June 10, 2010
This is true, but if he can perform even remotely close to average out of the ‘pen, his value to us over Chavez is tremendous. I’d prefer Resop over Chavez+ prospect in the minors.
frozendesert - June 10, 2010
I’m with you on this. I could certainly see moving Resop and a prospect or two for an impact ML roster addition, but dumping Resop and keeping Chavez on the 25 man roster would seem to make no sense at all.
fandave - June 10, 2010
Kawakami?
Howzabout about Lowe?
Lowe taking long relief
Chavez to Gwinnett.
Drom John - June 10, 2010
huh?
dunnytwogloves - June 10, 2010
16 million for a long reliever sounds like a sound financial move.
10-4 - June 10, 2010
I don't like this logic
We pay that salary anyway, if management thinks he’d help us more in relief then you make the move. With Lowe’s recent success he should be a lock to remain in the rotation when JJ returns. The sound financial move would have been to never sign him to that awful contract to begin with.
Cracker! - June 10, 2010
The contract is a sunk cost
Since you can’t change it, no decision made afterward is a “financial” one. What this decision should be based on is the most effective use of resources, not who makes the most money.
I personally think Lowe would thrive in the pen. We could use a RH set up guy right now, don’t you think? Not saying it should happen, but if it did, I think it’d work out OK.
Jacob Peterson - June 10, 2010
Without JJ, he needs to start
and I felt that way about letting Lowe take over closer duties before signing Wagner. As of now though, let him start. He’s doing well, and if he keeps that up, we might actually be able to trade him in the winter if he can finish with a mid 3s ERA, 15-20 wins (the guy already has 8), and 200+ innings.
Mr. Sanchez - June 10, 2010
Accounting!
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought “Sunk Cost!” when I read his post.
RichmondBraves - June 10, 2010
Don't like it...
He’s been quite good since he made his adjustments, and you shouldn’t take a 200+ IP workhorse out of the rotation.
MichaelProcton - June 11, 2010
It’s tough to move Lowe due to his personality. He reacted very poorly when he was in trade talks this winter and I doubt he would take well to a demotion, nonetheless to the most useless spot on the roster. Baseball wise, it is probably the right move. Clubhouse wise it could cause problems and controversy which is something Bobby likes to keep out.
Either way, one of Kawakami or Lowe will be pitching on another team next year, in my opinion.
BenDuronio - June 10, 2010
So if he starts Thursday...
you figure Friday and Saturday are rest. Outside chance he’s up Sunday, or they may wait until after the off day and bring him up on the deadline day Tuesday.
And Gondee, I think the following quote is why he’s still down…
If we bring him up, and he struggled, that could destroy any value he may or may not have in a trade. May as well leave him down, see if he can show out tonight, and if no one makes a suitable offer he replaces Chavez, Martinez, or Kimbrel at the back end of the pen. Perhaps since he’s been here before, Bobby would be more willing to use him in a critical situation than the other 3 mentioned above, alleviating some of the pressure on Moylan to do it day after day after day.
Mr. Sanchez - June 10, 2010
Roy Oswalt
then we’ll flip him for Strasburg
a hooter's baby - June 10, 2010
I say trade Resop, Kawakami, and Lowe to WSH for Strausburg, Zimmermann, and Willingham… No brainer
HansonManCrush - June 10, 2010 via mobile
Are you kidding?
No way they throw in Willingham.
10-4 - June 10, 2010
we throw in Jojo to sweeten the deal
Smoltz's Beard - June 10, 2010
Giving up too much on our end now. Do you want this to be another Teixera disaster?
10-4 - June 10, 2010
We should throw in Heyward just to ensure it gets done in a timely manner
HansonManCrush - June 10, 2010 via mobile
Or, and I'm going out on a limb here...
Gress could tip the tables?
MichaelProcton - June 11, 2010
I dont see why you dont call him up
at the deadline and give him a spot 5th start or just use him in long relief.
DrB - June 10, 2010
I'm
with you on that one.
frozendesert - June 10, 2010
Don't think we're too high on him.
I don’t believe the Braves organization is too high on this kid or else he would be up in the majors right now. The way I see it is they’re keeping him in the minors to keep his value high because they know, or at least have a bad feeling, that if he comes up to the majors he will be exposed and then his value will be gone.
Or something like that…
mattlanta - June 10, 2010
Get ready to get pissed off at the lineup!
Prado
HEYWARD
Chipper
Glaus
Esco
Infante
Ross
Melky
Hanson
Still no off day.
Scott Coleman - June 10, 2010 via mobile
He’ll get one soon, but we need a W today. I’m ok with it.
10-4 - June 10, 2010
This. That disaster in the outfield turns tonight into a must win game.
Smoltz's Beard - June 10, 2010
Jason can't get the day off today, sadly.
With McLouth hurt and Hinske unable to hit lefties (and Bobby unwilling to start Blanco at all for some reason), Jason basically had to play.
Jacob Peterson - June 10, 2010
"Some reason?"
How about he’s an awful hitter?
MichaelProcton - June 11, 2010
how can I be pissed off when I see MVP in the lineup?
bpk228480 - June 10, 2010
Who knew we’d be happy to see him over McLouth…
Smoltz's Beard - June 10, 2010
I’ve never seen a guy fall off the map from all star (while probably not deserved) gold glover (also not deserved) to a complete and utter waste of cap and roster space so quickly.
bpk228480 - June 10, 2010
and by cap I mean budget of course
bpk228480 - June 10, 2010
After Saito went down
they should have called him up. Chavez isn’t consistent and needs to go back to the minors. If Resop comes up and does good then maybe we should be able to trade him and get something descent in return.
Chapel420 - June 10, 2010
Scott Proctor
In related news, on Monday, 6/7, Proctor assigned to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans from the GCL Braves. Tuesday night, he worked 1.0 inning: 0 H 0 R 1 BB 1 K.
Perhaps the Braves are thinking he’s almost ready
fandave - June 10, 2010
I would certainly
much rather have a healthy Proctor than Resop (or Martinez or Chavez). Here’s hoping Scott is back in form.
Jacob Peterson - June 10, 2010
here's a question
proctor or mike dunn?
atl192485 - June 10, 2010
I've liked what I've seen out of CM.
Seems like a steal off of waivers.
MichaelProcton - June 11, 2010
Maybe...
But I’d be willing to bet they’ll move him up from A+ before he gets called up.
MichaelProcton - June 11, 2010
What the Braves should do
Is to adjust their rotation and give Resop just one spot-start in the Majors. Maybe push back KK’s next start, or Medlen’s. Just show off your wares for at least one start against a Major League team, and see if that gets you any trade offers for him.
Bronn - June 10, 2010
I like this idea
MBL1 - June 10, 2010 via mobile
Let him start for KK or Medlen...
and if he struggles, you could always just bring them in from the bullpen to replace him early.
Mr. Sanchez - June 10, 2010
Not sure about this one...
If Medlen is healthy enough to make his next start, I don’t like the idea of starting Resop just to show him to potential suitors. Medlen and KK have been solid for the last couple of weeks.
ducheneaux13 - June 10, 2010
I do.
But not yet…
We play some poor teams coming up, kc et al. Why not throw Resop in a game he can manage better to boost his stock further.
I still think he ends up in KC as part of a Podsednik deal to clear up our CF issue. KC won’t retain Podsednik (a certain # of ABs gives him the chance to opt out), so it’s a situation where we can get a guy that fits our needs for the time being while giving up someone that we don’t feel will thrive on our major league roster. Maybe we can keep Podsednik another year, maybe not. Either way, he’d only be blocking an already struggling and oft-injured Schafer.
-C
cthabeerman - June 10, 2010
I'd be a little ill if we added Podsednik
The man is seriously nothing other than a more expensive, white Gregor Blanco. At this point, he’s below average in CF, so he’d actually be a downgrade because I trust Blanco’s range more. We might as well put Blanco in CF if we’re looking for a guy like that.
Bronn - June 10, 2010
Podsednik makes just over 1.5 mil. He’s not at all expensive right now.
Next year could be another story, but he’d have to opt out of his deal. He’s set to make $2M on a club option if he doesn’t opt out.
-C
cthabeerman - June 10, 2010
I still don’t like the idea of running a guy out there when you don’t know what to expect out of him. I know KC is an awful team, but Arizona isn’t much better, and they’ve found ways to beat us in back to back games. Even if it’s only one start, we need to give ourselves the best chance to win, and Resop doesn’t give us that.
ducheneaux13 - June 10, 2010
We have to trade him or play him, there’s no way around that. If we’re going to trade him, then we need to try to maximize value. You can’t do that by tossing him on the bench and never pitching him because you’re afraid to lose a single game against an inferior opponent.
If we were planning on playing him, he would have been up already. It’s pretty obvious that he’s not in our long-term plans.
-C
cthabeerman - June 10, 2010
I feel fairly confident that he can give us one start, 6 innings, and be pretty effective. The component stats at Gwinnett are pretty damn good, and regardless of who he faces, no one will have seen him very much before. That’s usually an advantage for the pitcher.
Bronn - June 10, 2010
that’s a good idea.
Braves24 - June 10, 2010
TRADE FOR STRASBURG
MBL1 - June 10, 2010 via mobile
The
question is, does he currently have enough trade value, even after his one-third season of dominance, to trade him over keeping him in our Bullpen? To that, I may offer a few points:
1. He is a 27 year old pitcher who cannot go deep into innings in Triple-A, and projects to be nothing more than a reliever.
2. He has had his fair share of MLB experience (as a reliever, with 61 innings pitched scattered over four years), and currently has a 4.83 MLB FIP and 5.38 MLB xFIP, suggesting that he has not only been ineffective, but he probably should have allowed a few more HRs than he has.
3. He maintains a 1.11 K/BB ratio, while providing 5.31 BB/9 innings, not the type of effectiveness you’d want out of any reliever.
4. In Japan, he did not play for the Hanshin Tigers of the Central League, but for the Tigers of the Western League- which is the farm system of the Central League. Also, these were his statistics: 19 IP, 20 hits allowed, 21 strikeouts, 6 walks allowed, 1 wild pitch, 11 earned runs, and a 5.21 ERA.
For some reason, whenever a hitter or pitcher return from a Japan and is suddenly effective, people go out and say that the player ‘figured something out’ over there. This is not the case with Chris Resop. In fact, in Triple-A, this is the norm for Chris Resop. In three stints in the classification over the last four years, these are his numbers:
2006 FLA 49.2 IP 3.48 FIP
2007 LAA 45.1 IP 3.69 FIP
2008 ATL 18 IP 2.76 FIP
And every one of those times, he’s had disastrous results after his promotions. So I don’t think that Resop is all that different from the pitcher that he was in the past, and the results will show.
I’m pretty sure opposing GMs know this information, and will not be willing to give up even a B or B- prospect for the guy.
But let’s consider the scenario currently. We have one part of our bullpen (Chavez) who is completely ineffective at the moment. We have a cure that may or may not fix the disease in Resop. We have a few courses of action, and the results of that action:
1. Resop replaces Chavez, is ineffective.
2. Resop replaces Chavez, is effective.
3. Resop is traded, Chavez stays in the Bullpen, mid-grade prospect flames out.
4. Resop is traded, Chavez stays in the Bullpen, mid-grade prospect makes the show in two, three years.
5. Resop is released, Chavez stays in the Bullpen. No prospect.
I personally don’t like options 3, 4, and 5, for they do absolutely nothing for our current situation. Also, given his history, I believe that 3 is more of a probability than 4, and 5 is more of a probability than 3 and 4 combined. That only leaves us with 1 or 2. Keep Resop, promote him, and hope to catch lightning in a bottle.
frozendesert - June 10, 2010
The current situation is fine though. Yea we could use a CF but Resop not going to get us that. Chavez is not effective right now but has been effective this year. Resop is not a major upgrade over Chazez. Options three or four are the best because we are trading Resop while is trade value is high even if the prospect doesn’t pan out.
Braves24 - June 10, 2010
I think you're seriously short-changing what Resop is doing.
You point out those minor league numbers, but those are tiny samples of innings there, each under 50. He’s already thrown more innings this year than he threw in a full season of 2007 and 2008. He’s at the point where he’s stretched out well enough to go 6 and 7 innings. Excluding his rain-shortened outing, over his past 5 starts he’s gone 6.2, 5.0, 6.0, 7.0, and 5.0. And each of his component statistics look much better, even promising.
In those above seasons you point out, even in AAA he was never a guy who could maintain a K-rate of even 8 (aside from the tiny, 18 inning sample from 2008). He’s got a K rate over 10, and he’s doing it as a starter. Relievers tend to post higher K-rates than starters, so to have a significant increase in his K-rate while making the transition lends even greater weight. In 2009, the ratio of reliever K/9 to starters was 1.145:1.
He’s also adjusted the type of contact he’s inducing, generating fewer fly balls in favor of more ground balls-3% more groundballs against his career average, and groundball/flyball rates for pitchers stabilize really quickly. What this means is that we’re seeing a significant difference. His ERA isn’t aided by a lucky HR/F rate, which is right at his career average. Maybe there’s just a tad of luck involved in his pop-up rate, but if you want to regress that, he’s still pitching well above average.
He’s not just pitching well in AAA-he’s been arguably the best pitcher in the International Leauge. 2nd in ERA, 3rd in in Ks, 4th in WHIP. This is completely different from what he’s done in previous AAA season, which you reference.
I definitely would like to see what he can do starting a game for us in Atlanta before we trade him because I think there’s some real value there. If he’s even just effective as a replacement level starts, that’s a ton of value to get out of him because the team he’ straded too will control his rights up until about 2013.
Bronn - June 10, 2010
wat?
I said I like the idea of giving Resop a spot start when you asked what the braves should do.
Braves24 - June 10, 2010
Wasn't responding to you
Click the up button on a post and you’ll see where that reply is responding.
Bronn - June 10, 2010
my b
Forgot about that
Braves24 - June 10, 2010
Trade
Resop, Blanco and Matt Young for DeJesus.
drumzalicious - June 10, 2010
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