Alberto Callaspo traded for Jason Bulger

by Sulla on Feb 28, 2006 3:44 PM EST Comment 27 comments

From BA:

Bulger, 27, was a 2001 first-round pick out of Valdosta State (Ga.), where he was primarily an infielder for the first three years of his college career. Two of his brothers pitched professionally last year, Brian in independent ball and Kevin in the Royals system. Jason struggled as a starter in his first two pro seasons and had Tommy John surgery in 2003, but has moved quickly as a reliever since returning. He made his major league debut in late 2005, going 1-0, 5.40 in nine games. He spent most of the year at Triple-A Tucson, going 3-6, 3.54 with four saves in 56 outings. He had a 55-27 K-BB ratio in 56 innings, while opponents hit .244 with three homers against him. Buldger throws hard, sitting at 93-96 mph and reaching 98 with his sinker. His curveball shows signs of being a good second pitch, but he needs to refine his command and resist the temptation to throw harder when he gets in jams. He has a career 10-21, 4.28 record wiht 23 saves in 127 minor league games.

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hmmmm

is Bulger more valuable than J.C. Romero? Nah. Maybe Mark Bulger.

Wonder why the Twins preferred Casilla over Callaspo...

"I may not be a class act, but I'm an American." Ron Artest on wanting to play for the Olympic team

by natsfan2005 on Feb 28, 2006 3:47 PM EST reply actions

Here Here....

As a Twins fan this makes me scratch my head.

Maybe Casilla will end up being the next David Ortiz that they heist from another organization just to let him go to another.

by Terry Ryan Jr on Feb 28, 2006 7:43 PM EST up reply actions

Link

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/news/060228callaspo.html

by Brickhaus on Feb 28, 2006 3:48 PM EST reply actions

BTW

Seems like not that great of a deal to me for the Angels. Is this really a guy they want to keep around their roster all year? I feel like if they had waited until closer to the ST cut date, they could have picked up someone with a better track record or more potential from a team having a tough decision on which reliever to give the 25th spot to.

by Brickhaus on Feb 28, 2006 3:51 PM EST up reply actions

Trade

Callaspo going from the Angels organization to the D'Back organization? Seems like being moved from one infield logjam and into another to some degree, no?

by roboz on Feb 28, 2006 3:51 PM EST reply actions

to a lesser extent

callaspo is likely to be a big leaguer this year, probably as the backup infielder. if counsell gets hurt, he could end up starting a lot of games at shortstop while drew gets his AA/AAA seasoning; and hudson has also missed a handful of games every year, too. long-term, yeah, it's crowded in arizona, but at least callaspo is no longer the fourth-best MI prospect in his organization. he's up to a solid 3rd-best. :) and maybe 2nd since upton might not stay in the infield.

by jpahk on Feb 28, 2006 3:58 PM EST up reply actions

interesting

I just read a report today that Callaspo was being used at 3b so he and Kendrick could both play at AAA, interesting that Callaspo apparently has the better glove. I think alot of teams could have used Callaspo as a starter in the very near future, maybe this will give him that opportunity, but I doubt it with Drew and Upton hanging around. However, they could use him for 2 seasons until both are ready(it will take at least that long for Upton to reach the show)

by gashousegang on Feb 28, 2006 4:03 PM EST up reply actions

Question

Do you guys think Callaspo will make the team as the top backup infielder out of camp? Or is it more likely that he starts '06 out in AAA playing everyday? Any word on that?

by roboz on Feb 28, 2006 4:20 PM EST up reply actions

AAA

I think it would be unwise to start Callaspo in the majors as a reserve...however, with Hudson at 2b it might be best for him to concentrate on playing these new positions at come up at a later date to fill in at 3b,SS,or 2B...i think Cintron or Green is fine for now

by gashousegang on Feb 28, 2006 4:49 PM EST reply actions

Ugh...

Bulger might end up being a decent reliever, but I wish the Angels had gotten more for a solid middle infield prospect.

by rallymonkey1982 on Feb 28, 2006 5:59 PM EST reply actions

I guess this says alot about Collapso's value

a 28 year old AAA reliever?

by PooNani on Feb 28, 2006 6:18 PM EST reply actions

D'Backs

Just adding to their minor league position player depth...

Rays in '08....

by youALREADYknow on Feb 28, 2006 7:03 PM EST reply actions

Good Trade for Both Teams

Some folks seem to be overrating Callaspo.

Personally, I disagreed with Baseball America ranking Callaspo the Angels' #8 prospect this year. Some people have bashed Jeff Mathis for supposedly having a mediocre year in 2005 at Triple-A, but the fact of the matter is that Mathis had an AVG/OBP/SLG of .276/.340/.499 while Callaspo was .316/.345/.448. Callaspo is only one month younger than Mathis.

For me, the issue with Callaspo is that he's yet to manifest an increase in power. Most of his 2005 power was on the road, as Salt Lake is a high-altitude ballpark. The same goes for Tucson, so he'll have inflated numbers there, and people will have to pay attention to his road numbers to get a more legit impression of whether or not he's going to be more than a singles slap hitter, which is pretty much what he is now.

As for Bulger, I don't claim to know anything about him, but the entry in BA's Prospect Handbook is interesting. He had Tommy John surgery in 2003; normally it takes about two years for a pitcher to come back, so he's at that point now.

Someone said he's 28. In actually, his DOB is 12/6/1978 which means he turned 27 three months ago. Writing off the lost time due to surgery, it's not that unusual for him to be emerging now.

BA says "he fits the profile of a classic power reliever. His plus-plus fastball features plenty of sink, sits at 93-96 mph and touches 98. His curveball shows promise and he can throw it for strikes." The main question seems to be control, but how much of that was due to recovering from the surgery?

In any case, this helps the Angels' bullpen for the foreseeable future. On the back-end, both Donnelly and Yan are not that good. If something happened to Frankie Rodriguez, or if Scot Shields had to move into the rotation, they'd be in trouble. So this move provides them with solid bullpen depth while getting something decent for Callaspo while he still has value?

Could Callaspo surprise? Of course.

Could Bulger surprise? Of course.

Nothing is guaranteed.

by FutureAngels on Feb 28, 2006 11:02 PM EST reply actions

If Callaspo's power was all on the road...

... that would be a good thing, yes? Or did you mean that his power was all at home? In context, the Stingers have the second best hitters' park in the PCL, and by far the best in their division, which features principally pitchers' parks. (The data in that link is a couple years old, and I think the Edmonton franchise may no longer exist.)

The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

by scareduck on Feb 28, 2006 11:14 PM EST up reply actions

Callaspo's Power on the Road

I misspoke. Most of his power was at home in Salt Lake. For example, he hit 13 doubles in Salt Lake, eight on the road, despite having 86 AB in Salt Lake and 126 AB on the road.

Franklin Covey Field has enormous alleys in left-center and right-center. Someone like Callaspo would slap balls up those gaps and ring up the doubles.

by FutureAngels on Mar 1, 2006 12:09 AM EST up reply actions

More on Callaspo Overrated

To further demonstrate the point that Callaspo's numbers are skewed by playing in a high-altitude ballpark ...

I did some calculations and found these are his Triple-A home/away splits for AVG/OBP/SLG (OPS):

Home: .337/.374/.512 (.885)
Away: .302/.328/.405 (.733)

But that doesn't tell the whole story.

The PCL has a number of high-altitude ballparks. So I calculated his splits, separating high-altitude ballparks from "normal" ballparks. The high-altitude ballparks include Salt Lake, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, and Colorado Springs. (Tucson would also be included but he didn't play there.) Here are the numbers:

High: .356/.382/.514 (.895)
Normal: .227/.271/.303 (.572)

This is just further proof that people are giving Callaspo more credit than he's earned.

by FutureAngels on Mar 1, 2006 8:41 PM EST up reply actions

holy crap

You've really gone above and beyond to belittle Callapso. What's the deal? Did he turn down an interview request? Or is it just SOP to dismiss park effects when talking up a hitter still in the organization but use them to belittle anyone traded out of the org?

"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." - Henny Youngman

by TINSTAAPP on Mar 1, 2006 8:50 PM EST up reply actions

I think...

hes just pointing out that this isnt the one sided deal that everyone thinks. IT looks pretty even to me.

by nms on Mar 1, 2006 10:54 PM EST up reply actions

Troll Is As Troll Does

Wasn't it interesting that the guy couldn't argue the facts so he stooped to name-calling? The oldest trick in the book. But thanks for the backup.

by FutureAngels on Mar 2, 2006 12:03 AM EST up reply actions

gotta admit

I was a little surprised to see you all of a sudden vehemently adamant about the effects of the Salt Lake park and all the other high altitude parks on Salt Lake's schedule. You didn't seem to care about them in the "Jeff Mathis Potential" diary when you compared Mathis' raw untranslated #s directly to other catchers who didn't play in the PCL.

"I may not be a class act, but I'm an American." Ron Artest on wanting to play for the Olympic team

by natsfan2005 on Mar 2, 2006 7:14 AM EST up reply actions

Mathis' Power

Actually, I did discuss that earlier. You must have missed it. More of his 2005 homers were away (13) from Salt Lake than at home (8).

If the subject interests you, please, by all means, I encourage you to research it myself. Don't just sit there waiting for me to do it. I have things to do with my life.

by FutureAngels on Mar 2, 2006 8:35 AM EST up reply actions

re: Future Angels has things to do with his life.

Like going out of his way to parse the batting line to isolate 66 poor ABs for Callapso and promote the findings with fantacism. That's not even a meaningful sample size.

"I may not be a class act, but I'm an American." Ron Artest on wanting to play for the Olympic team

by natsfan2005 on Mar 2, 2006 9:30 AM EST up reply actions

Infantile Behavior

If all you're going to do is engage in more name-calling, then I'm moving on ... as I'm sure will all the other adults on this board.

by FutureAngels on Mar 2, 2006 11:45 AM EST up reply actions

puh-lease

I've done no name calling. Your results are just based off 66 Abs. A small sample. A sample size that if Kendry Morales hit one HR in 66 AFL ABs you'd write off. But with Callapso it's supposedly damning evidence. And my second comment did have some 'sass' in the subject line - but it was quid pro quo to your comment.

You have been very "Boy who cried Wolf" with this troll/infantile labeling. Fact of the matter is you only show up when there is a Angels related diary to present a biased opinion.

"I may not be a class act, but I'm an American." Ron Artest on wanting to play for the Olympic team

by natsfan2005 on Mar 2, 2006 12:18 PM EST up reply actions

Not overrated, still not an even deal.

I don't see what his power numbers have to do with overrating him; nobody here is claiming he's a slugger. I agree that his .132 ISOP in Salt Lake City was a bit above what he normally does and what we should expect from him, but I don't think it's relevant because I don't know anybody who is expecting him to become more than a 20 doubles/5 HR guy in the big leagues.

Callaspo is a solid defender, however, and excellent contact hitter who could hit .290 while filling in at second base or in a utility role with some team. I think that kind of player is much more valuable than a 27-year-old reliever who can't pitch to lefties and walks a batter every other inning.

by FI on Mar 4, 2006 5:01 PM EST up reply actions

Callaspo's Power on the Road

I misspoke. Most of his power was at home in Salt Lake. For example, he hit 13 doubles in Salt Lake, eight on the road, despite having 86 AB in Salt Lake and 126 AB on the road.

Franklin Covey Field has enormous alleys in left-center and right-center. Someone like Callaspo would slap balls up those gaps and ring up the doubles.

by FutureAngels on Mar 1, 2006 12:08 AM EST reply actions