The Red Sox today traded relief pitcher Manny Delcarmen and cash to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for minor league pitcher Chris Balcom-Miller. MDC is a Boston native and a product of West Roxbury (MA) High School. He was the Sox 2nd round pick in the 2000 MLB Draft, and made his major league debut 5 years later. Over the past 6 seasons he has appeared in 289 games, going 11-6 with 3 saves and a 3.89 ERA. In 2007 he helped the Red Sox win the World Series by sweeping the Rockies team he is now set to become a member of. That season was arguably Delcarmen's best, when he posted a 2.05 ERA over 44 appearances. The last 3 years have seen a steady decline in performance however, with his ERA jumping to 3.27 in 2008, 4.53 in 2009 and 4.70 this season. He leaves Boston tied for 11th in career games pitches with Mel Parnell. MDC was always a class act on the field and somebody who gave back to the community off of it. Despite his inconsistency at times, and the fact that he never blossomed into the dependable setup man (ala Daniel Bard) that many hoped/envisioned, I will miss Delcarmen on the Sox. It is also a shame that the Red Sox will now be without a true Bostonian, something I always enjoy on the local teams. Thanks for a job well done Manny, and best of luck in Colorado!
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Good article on Balcom-Miller from GoUpstate.com.
GREENVILLE – If you thought the race for the second half Southern Division Championship couldn't get any more dramatic, think again. On Tuesday, the Red Sox sent reliever Manny Delcarmen to the Colorado Rockies for right-handed pitching prospect Chris Balcom-Miller.
The 21-year-old will join the Drive in Charleston on Wednesday, from none other than the Asheville Tourists, the team trying to catch Greenville atop the divisional standings.
Fans will recall that Balcom-Miller recently pitched against the Drive on Monday night in the series finale at Fluor Field. Despite giving up five runs in 5.2 innings, three of which came in his final frame, Balcom-Miller was extremely effective as he struckout 9 batters while only walking one.
On the season, Balcom-Miller is 6-7 with a 3.31 ERA (40 ER/108.2 IP), 117 strikeouts and 19 walks in 19 starts with Asheville. He ranks seventh in the South Atlantic League in ERA and ranks among the circuit's starters in strikeouts per nine innings (1st, 9.69), opponents batting average (2nd, .214), fewest walks per nine innings (2nd, 1.57) and fewest baserunners per nine innings (2nd, 9.77).
In 2009, Balcom-Miller was named the Pioneer League Pitcher of the Year after posting a 4-0 record with a 1.58 ERA (10 ER/57.0 IP) and 60 strikeouts in 11 starts for Short-A Casper.
Selected by Colorado in the 6th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, he is 10-7 with a 2.72 ERA (50 ER/165.2 IP) and 177 strikeouts, compared to 29 walks in 30 career starts in the Rockies farm system.
First sign the Sox know it's not THE year.
Agree - this is definitely raising the surrender flag. I bet limiting Bard is going to be the next move.
After last night, clearly Dubront is not going to be the answer in the future.
There was an interesting article in the Boston Globe a couple of weeks ago about Medford's own Mike Pagliarulo. He's running a scouting service out of Florida that examines the throwing motion of MLB pitchers and evaluates who is at risk for an arm injury.
According to his reseach, the kid from the Nationals was listed as one of the top candidates for an arm injury. (This was before he got hurt).
The player from the Red Sox who was determined as being at high risk for an arm injury was MDC.
Since Theo and the gang in the Red Sox front office are big into statitical analysis and quantifying anything they can to make decisions about personnel it seems likely that Pagliarulo's report played a part in dealing MDC.
MDC wasn't having a great season, but he had a lot of great outings for the Sox and will be missed.
I certainly hope Pag's data is wrong and MDC has great success and health with the Rockies.
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