Seattle Mariners Trade Steve Delabar to Toronto Blue Jays for Eric Thames
In another late Monday transaction, the Seattle Mariners shipped reliever Steve Delabar to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Eric Thames. Neither player qualifies as a prospect for our normal purposes here at Minor League Ball, but neither is a fully-established player, either, so let's take a look.
The 25-year-old Thames is a left-handed hitting outfielder, drafted out of Pepperdine in the seventh round in 2008. He had a solid rookie campaign in 2011, hitting .262/.313/.456 with 12 homers in 362 at-bats for the Blue Jays, but got off to a slow start in 2012 (.243/.288/.365 in 148 at-bats) and ended up back in Triple-A. He's killed the ball in Triple-A over parts of two seasons (.342/.415/.570) and, while he's played in the friendly environs of Las Vegas and the Pacific Coast League, he doesn't have much left to prove at that level. He profiles as a role player in the majors, being limited defensively to left field, but his bat is interesting.
The 29-year-old Delabar has a 4.17 ERA in 37 major league innings this year, with a 46/11 K/BB and 23 hits allowed, but has been touched for nine homers. His fastball has been clocked as high as 97 MPH and he works consistently at 93-94, mixing in a changeup and rare slider. Considered a minor league journeyman before this year, he's performed well enough to stay in the major league picture and is a perfectly competent middle relief arm. Delabar isn't likely to see action as a closer outside of a roster emergency, but most teams could use arms like this to fill out the pitching staff.
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