By James Bailey
David Aardsma has blossomed into one of the top relief pitchers in the American League this year. The righthander has recorded 16 saves and a 1.49 ERA for the Mariners, striking out 46 in just 36.1 innings while holding opposing batters to a .160 mark. This is what the Giants envisioned when they drafted him in the first round in 2003. But no one forecast the bumpy road ahead of him back then.
The Mariners are Aardsma’s fifth organization. Each was enticed by his live arm, though the results never matched his stuff. The closest he came was 2006, when he posted a 4.08 ERA in 45 games for the Cubs. They moved him across town in a deal for Neal Cotts after the season and he lasted a year with the White Sox before moving to Boston. Though he struck out 49 batters in 48.2 innings for the Red Sox last year, he also recorded a 5.55 ERA. When Boston needed roster space over the winter they designated him for assignment. Five days later he was dealt to the Mariners for Rookie-league lefthander Fabian Williamson.
Aardsma isn’t the only low-budget find to turn in an outstanding first half. Here are ten other productive players who were picked up for next to nothing.
Ronald Belisario, rp, Dodgers. One of the many reasons the Dodgers are running away with the NL West is their tremendous bullpen. Belisario has been a key component there, working in 40 games and holding the league to a .200 average. He’s posted a 1.97 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP while striking out 43 in 45.2 innings. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t good enough to climb past Double-A with either the Marlins or the Pirates. The 26-year-old righthander was 4-4 with a 4.74 ERA for Double-A Altoona last year and Pittsburgh let him walk as a minor league free agent. He signed with the Dodgers just before spring training and has blossomed into a setup star.
Todd Coffey, rp, Brewers. Coffey once showed the Reds enough to earn consideration as a closer candidate back in 2006. He worked in 81 games that year, posting a 3.58 ERA in 78 innings and converted 8 of 12 save opportunities. The next two years were not nearly so successful, and Cincinnati finally ran out of patience last September. The Brewers claimed him on waivers and it was like he was a whole new man, tossing 7.1 scoreless innings for Milwaukee to finish out what had been a miserable season up to that point. He’s already pitched in 37 games this season, recording a 2.77 ERA in 39 innings. Though he’s allowed 42 hits, he’s only walked nine and has surrendered just two home runs.
Nick Green, ss, Red Sox. With Julio Lugo and Jed Lowrie on the depth chart at shortstop the Red Sox couldn’t have guessed Green would be so valuable when the signed him as a minor league free agent on January 5. Lugo began spring training on the DL and Lowrie landed there shortly after the season opened. That left Green as the starter. With a potent lineup already in place all the Red Sox needed out of Green was steady play, and that’s what he provided. In 177 at-bats he’s hit .271 with four home runs and 26 RBIs. Lugo is back and Lowrie’s not far off, but Green has shown enough that he may stick in a utility role the rest of the way.
Adam Kennedy, 2b, Oakland. After two seasons in St. Louis the 10-year veteran found himself out of a job this February when the Cardinals released him and ate the last year and $4 million on his contract. The Rays inked him as insurance and he opened the year at Triple-A Durham. A month into the season Tampa Bay traded him to Oakland, whose starting second baseman Mark Ellis was on the DL. Kennedy got off to a scorching start for the A’s. A 4-for-4 game against the Mariners on May 25 boosted his average to .441. He has cooled down to .292, but has six home runs, better than any of his full season totals since he hit 10 in 2004. Ellis is back and Kennedy has shifted to third base, but his bat won’t be coming out of the lineup.
Casey McGehee, 2b/3b, Milwaukee. The Brewers were on the lookout for depth at third base last fall and when the Cubs placed McGehee, the team’s 10th-round pick in 2003, on waivers in October, Milwaukee snatched him up. McGehee made his big league debut last year for Chicago, hitting .167 in 24 at-bats. He spent most of the season at Triple-A Iowa, where he batted .296 with 12 homers in 497 at-bats. An injury to Rickie Weeks opened the door for McGehee this season and he’s making the most of it, batting .325 with five homers and 21 RBIs in 114 at-bats. He never hit better than .297 in the minors, so he’s unlikely to keep this pace up, but he’s helped spark the first-place Brewers over the last couple of months.
Dan Meyer, rp, Marlins. Meyer was a piece of the deal that sent Tim Hudson from Oakland to Atlanta back in 2004. He was a highly regarded prospect as a starter then, having reached Atlanta for two innings that fall after rocketing through Double-A and Triple-A. Injuries curtailed his effectiveness in the A’s system until last year when he recovered to go 10-5 with a 4.48 ERA in 22 games for Triple-A Sacramento. He was hammered in Oakland, putting up a 7.48 ERA in 27.2 innings. When the A’s waived him in November the Marlins claimed him with the idea of making him a reliever. It’s been a success so far. The lefty has appeared in 37 games, posting a 1.99 ERA and 0.85 WHIP while striking out 30 in 31.2 innings.
Fernando Nieve, sp, Mets. New York was on the verge of Fernando-mania until the Brewers pounded Nieve on Monday to bring him back to earth. In his first three starts for the Mets he allowed just three runs in 18.2 innings to start off 3-0. He’s now 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA. The Mets picked the 26-year-old righthander up on waivers from the Astros in mid-March. In Houston’s defense, he pitched nothing like this last year, when he logged a 5.72 ERA in 72.1 Triple-A innings. He was even worse in 11 big league relief appearances. Has his good fortune already evaporated? Who knows, but he’s already matched his career total for wins coming into the year.
Russ Ortiz, sp, Astros. Ortiz hasn’t had a successful major league season since winning 15 games for the Braves back in 2004. Injuries have led to brutal ERAs and lost time over the last four seasons, and he missed the entire 2008 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery. The Astros couldn’t have expected much when they signed him to a minor league deal on January 13. He’s been more than a pleasant surprise, however. Over the first two months he served as a swingman, starting four games and relieving in 11 others. He earned a start against the Cubs on June 11 and threw 5.1 scoreless innings. That was enough to move him into the rotation on a regular basis. He’s pitched well enough to win, but hasn’t had enough support to do so. He’s 0-1 in those four starts despite a 2.45 ERA in 25.2 innings. On the year he’s 3-3 with a 3.36 ERA.
Scott Podsednik, of, White Sox. Coming off back-to-back disappointing seasons, Podsednik looked like he had reached the end of the line. He failed to land a major league free agent deal and had to settle for a minor league contract with the Rockies, who wound up releasing him at the end of spring training. The White Sox, with whom he played from 2005-07, signed him in mid-April and assigned him to Triple-A Charlotte. Though he hit just .262 in 42 at-bats there, the Sox were desperate enough that they took a gamble on him at the end of April. He’s been in the lineup ever since, hitting .313 with 26 runs in 214 at-bats. His 12 stolen bases already match his total for both 2007 and ’08 and his 20 RBIs are his best since 2006.
Delwyn Young, of, Pirates. Young has been highly regarded as a contact hitter for several years, but the Dodgers were so deep in outfielders they didn’t have any at-bats to spare him. Last year he managed to find 126 at-bats, frequently in a pinch-hitting role. He hit .246 with nine doubles and only seven RBIs. A week into the 2009 season LA designated him for assignment, shortly thereafter dealing him to the Pirates. He’s worked his way into semi-regular PT, hitting .318 with two homers and 15 RBIs in 107 at-bats. Young was one of the best hitters on the team in June, batting .353 in 51 at-bats.
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