Joe Borchard Traded to Seattle

[Balta1701]

If they can't find somebody who fits better, don't be shocked if Ozzie wants to bring Sweeney north, regardless of whether this board thinks it's a good idea or not.  Guillen is not afraid to bring anyone.  Again, do not automatically conclude the Borchard trade means Gload has a spot.  Lots of things can still happen.

I'm sorry, but I will be absolutely shocked if they start Sweeney's arbitration clock already, entirely based on his performance this spring, when he's still only spent 1 year at AA, is still very young, and still has a lot of development to do.

 

You're right on the Gload thing...but if anyone surprising winds up tagging along, it will not be Sweeney.

[SHAFTR]

I'm sorry, but I will be absolutely shocked if they start Sweeney's arbitration clock already, entirely based on his performance this spring, when he's still only spent 1 year at AA, is still very young, and still has a lot of development to do.

 

You're right on the Gload thing...but if anyone surprising winds up tagging along, it will not be Sweeney.

 

I have a sneaky suspicion that Blakely ends up on the team.

[SSH2005]

Who conducted the interview?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mike Mulligan.

[southsider2k5]

One more idea to chew on for those who think Ross Gload just made the team... The Sox could always switch plans now and keep 12 pitchers with Thornton making the team.

[NorthSideSox72]

I'm sorry, but I will be absolutely shocked if they start Sweeney's arbitration clock already, entirely based on his performance this spring, when he's still only spent 1 year at AA, is still very young, and still has a lot of development to do.

 

You're right on the Gload thing...but if anyone surprising winds up tagging along, it will not be Sweeney.

Gload's looked pretty decent defensively in the corner OF positions this spring, and I'm willing to be his hustle thus far has earned him some Ozzie points. If we need a CF, Mack and Pods are both capable of backing up (though you wouldn't want to start either one out there). Blakely and Sweeney will need more minors time, and Grieve has been useless.

 

Put all that together, and there isn't anyone in camp who has a shot other than Gload. Only way its someone else now is if a trade occurs (which is a possibility).

[watchtower41]

And to think people wanted Borchard to start in CF for us this year over Anderson.

 

 

Good riddance. He never had a good clubhouse or team attitude, and always put himself last when looking for excuses as to why he sucked. The Sox did hang onto him for way too long, mostly because of that ridicoulous 5 million signing bonus we gave him to leave Stanford.

 

 

 

Remember, Seattle wanted Borch in the Freddy Garcia deal, we said no because of the money invested in that signing bonus. Not that we lost much in Reed at all, but certainly a better player than Borchard ever will be.

[NorthSideSox72]

One more idea to chew on for those who think Ross Gload just made the team... The Sox could always switch plans now and keep 12 pitchers with Thornton making the team.

That's a good point actually, which I didn't mention in my last post. That is possible. But with so many days off early on, and BMac in the pen, I don't see it happening.

[klaus kinski]

Does this guy sound like Alan Embree?

[Iwritecode]

Hahahaa, only 5 pages until someone suggested this means Sweeney might make the roster.

 

We should put the "Does this mean Sweeney makes team post" over/under at 5 on all threads.

 

I only see two pages...

[The Critic]

You know, they could have an all-ex-Sox outfield if only that Suzuki guy was out of the picture.

Borchard - Reed - Everett......just imagine it.....

[Flash Tizzle]

Thornton,

 

Please be the next Francisco Liriano

Please be the next Francisco Liriano

Please be the next Francisco Liriano

 

Talk about a fair trade. This move is essentially Borchard for his pitching equivalent. Both are regarded as players with some astounding attribute (Borch-power, Thornton-fastball) which haven't been harnessed yet.

 

Honestly, even if Borchard reaches his potential--which probably won't be above .260/20/60 as a 4th OF--our minor leagues is adapt at producing replacements for those numbers.

[Iwritecode]

Good riddance.  He never had a good clubhouse or team attitude, and always put himself last when looking for excuses as to why he sucked.

 

 

I've never heard this from the people that were actually in the clubhouse with him...

[southsider2k5]

And to think people wanted Borchard to start in CF for us this year over Anderson.

Good riddance.  He never had a good clubhouse or team attitude, and always put himself last when looking for excuses as to why he sucked.  The Sox did hang onto him for way too long, mostly because of that ridicoulous 5 million signing bonus we gave him to leave Stanford.

Remember, Seattle wanted Borch in the Freddy Garcia deal, we said no because of the money invested in that signing bonus.  Not that we lost much in Reed at all, but certainly a better player than Borchard ever will be.

 

Dude this post is so wrong, I don't even know where to start.

 

#1. Everyone has always loved Borchards attitude. Despite not panning out, he has shown up everyday, worked hard, and blamed no one but himself. Yeah, the kid has mentioned wanting to play, but who doesn't. He has never, ever, said that this is anyones fault but his own. I'd like to see some links to quotes pointing to anything different.

 

#2. Seattle NEVER wanted Borch in the Garcia trade. They wanted Joe Crede and Miguel Olivo, and we placated them with Jeremy Reed and Mike Morse instead. We told them we would not do a deal that involved two starters. The only time Joe Borchards name was ever mentioned was by those in fantasyland who thought KW gave up too much for Garcia and that they should have gave up Borchard instead of Reed. It has never been suggested anywhere credible that Seattle asked for Borch and we offered them Reed instead.

[SSH2005]

Gload's looked pretty decent defensively in the corner OF positions this spring, and I'm willing to be his hustle thus far has earned him some Ozzie points.  If we need a CF, Mack and Pods are both capable of backing up (though you wouldn't want to start either one out there).  Blakely and Sweeney will need more minors time, and Grieve has been useless.

 

Put all that together, and there isn't anyone in camp who has a shot other than Gload.  Only way its someone else now is if a trade occurs (which is a possibility).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Blakely is 29 years old. He needs more time in the minors because he's a career minor leaguer.

[NorthSideSox72]

Blakely is 29 years old.  He needs more time in the minors because he's a career minor leaguer. 

Seems likely.

[SSH2005]

Here's a nice biased opinion on the trade from a Mariners blog...

 

http://ussmariner.com/2006/03/20/bye-bye-matt-thornton/

Bye Bye Matt Thornton

Filed under: Mariners— Dave @ 8:49 am.

 

The M’s have traded Matt Thornton to the Chicago White Sox for Joe Borchard.

 

There’s almost no way to not like this move, in my opinion. Thornton was, and still is, essentially useless. Yes, he throws 95, but big whoop-de-doo. He’s basically pitched well as a pro for all of one season, back in A-ball, pre surgery, and been mediocre to bad the rest of his career. He throws straight, without command, and has no real secondary pitches to speak of. He doesn’t hide the ball well, and hitters tee off on his hittable fastball, especially when they’re sitting on it 2-0. He didn’t deserve to be on the team last year, and he certainly didn’t deserve to be on the team this year. Removing him from the roster almost certainly guarantees George Sherrill a spot on the team, and he’s a vastly superior pitcher who was squeezed off the team by Thornton’s presence last year. Simply removing Thornton from the equation is a net positive.

 

Then we come to Borchard. He was one of the best college players of his time, earning a then-record $5.5 million signing bonus when the White Sox took him in the first round of the 2000 draft. He battled injuries, but showed promise in his first exposure to Triple-A pitching at the age of 23, hitting .272/.349/.498. He’s stagnated since then, failing to improve at all at the plate and losing agility and fielding prowess.

 

The guy has flaws that aren’t easily fixed. He has a poor approach at the plate, the main factor being a problem with pitch recognition. Borchard, essentially, has turned himself into a guess hitter. If he gets a fastball, bravo, the ball may go 400 feet. If he doesn’t, well, he’s screwed.

 

I’ve seen a lot of Borchard the past few years, and I remain convinced that there’s a good hitter hiding inside of the player he is now. His approach needs work, but it’s a fixable flaw. If he can improve his theories of hitting and turn himself into a .270/.330/.450 guy, that’s a valuable reserve, giving the M’s a legitimate major league hitter coming off the bench who swings the bat from the right side.

 

Borchard has the potential to fill a need; right-handed power hitting reserve outfielder. The M’s options for OF are currently all left-handed. If the team brings in a lefty to face Reed, Ibanez, or Everett, your options are essentially to let them hit or to replace them with Willie Ballgame.

 

Borchard, at least, has the chance to offer a bat with some juice from the right side and the ability to play all three outfield spots, though he’s a bit of a liability in center at this point. He’s essentially a slightly different version of Mike Morse; better defense, less contact, more power. I’m sure some folks would prefer Morse to make the roster, since he hit .800 for a few weeks last year, but the fact is that the team doesn’t have to choose.

 

If they deem Borchard able to help them in the role Morse was penciled in for, they get both Borchard and Morse. Morse goes to Tacoma, giving the team something they badly lack; depth. This team has been dangerously thin for several years, leaving them one injury away from playing a replacement level player at pretty much every position on the diamond. Having Borchard in Seattle and Morse in Tacoma gives the M’s one more layer to go through before resorting to Willie Bloomquist, starting left fielder, or rushing Adam Jones to the big leagues prematurely.

 

In the end, the team gets a few weeks to see if Borchard can fill a hole on the roster. If he can’t, no loss, because we didn’t want Matt Thornton on the team either way. If he can, well, congratulations Bill, you just got more free talent. These are the kinds of moves Bavasi has specialized in, getting potentially useful parts for nothing. Make enough of these moves, and you’ll eventually hit a home run.

 

Thumbs up. Good move for the club, and adios to Matt Thornton.

[The Critic]

That's a lot of "ifs", there, Mariner Dave.

If a frog had wings, it wouldn't bump its ass.

[Soxbadger]

Some one elses trash is anothers treasure.

 

I think the Sox will give Thornton a shot at the MLB roster for the first few weeks, see if change of scenery does him any good.

 

As for Borchard, it sucks to get nothing for him, but it was hard to trade a guy that we gave so much money to. I hope that he can get his shot at the Majors.

[SSH2005]

This trade makes sense for the Mariners because Matt Lawton still has to serve a 10-game suspension for testing positive for steroids at the end of last season. Borchard will probably be their fourth outfielder to start the season. So the Mariners will use the rest of Spring Training and the first 10 games of the season to see if Borchard is worth keeping on their roster as their fifth outfielder. If he stinks, they will probably try to send him down to AAA and hope he clears waivers.

[AirScott]

this is the type of trade where both guys weren't going to produce where they were at, so hopefully a change of scenery will do the trick.

[SouthsideBlitz]

Borchard, essentially, has turned himself into a guess hitter. If he gets a fastball, bravo, the ball may go 400 feet. If he doesn’t, well, he’s screwed.

 

That's the truth right there.

[elrockinMT]

I don't like the trade at all and I think Joe Borchard was going to be a good 4th outfielder for the Sox. This almost looks like a desperation trade to get another lefty reliever into the mix. I think Joe B had more upside and versatility than Gload or Pablo Ozuna.

 

Hopes that Don Cooper can turn Thornton around can only lead one to assume that you don't have to have talent to pitch at the big league level only a miracle worker for a pitching coach. But, the trade is apparently done so we can only hope for the best.

[Felix]

I don't like the trade at all and I think Joe Borchard was going to be a good 4th outfielder for the Sox. This almost looks like a desperation trade to get another lefty reliever into the mix. I think Joe B had more upside and versatility than Gload or Pablo Ozuna.

 

Hopes that Don Cooper can turn Thornton around can only lead one to assume that you don't have to have talent to pitch at the big league level only a miracle worker for a pitching coach. But, the trade is apparently done so we can only hope for the best.

Thats basically how I feel. I thought Borchard would be a good 4th outfielder here, and he's a class guy from everything I've read. Oh well.

[YASNY]

My first impulse is a negative reaction to this trade as well. This Thornton dude sounds like six other guys we just sent down.

[chitownsportsfan]

I agree that this trade makes little sense for the Sox and much more for the Mariners. The stakes are so low however that there isn't much risk for either side, however the Mariners get a guy likely to make their club, and the Sox got a guy likely to be pumping gas come April 1st.

 

I thought the Marlins were showing interest in Borchard? Surely they have someone better Thornton laying around... Doesn't sound like there was any market for Borchard, or KW failed to create one.