Sergio Santos traded to Toronto

[Marty34]

This is a very risky trade for the Sox getting only 1 prospect that wasn't even on the map until last season and has barely pitched above A ball. The reviews on him are mixed. Kenny gave up a sure thing in a young cheap successful big league closer for that.

 

Sergio Santos is not a sure thing. He's a middle-of-the-road American League closer.

[SOXOBAMA]

I'm just curious what everyone is gonna say about this trade if this guy can't hack it as a starter and ends up in about 3 years merely a solid set-up guy ?

 

This is a very risky trade for the Sox getting only 1 prospect that wasn't even on the map until last season and has barely pitched above A ball. The reviews on him are mixed. Kenny gave up a sure thing in a young cheap successful big league closer for that.

 

This team is not in a position to take gambles like that and not shop around to all teams for the best package of prospects. They are in a huge whole with the weakest minor league talent in baseball. He went about this in a very unprofessional way - which appears to be his habit.

 

Molina might end up being a solid starting pitcher for a long time but if he doesn't than KW f***ed up again.

 

What are you going to say if Santos sucks for the Blue Jays and Molina turns out to be a solid pitcher for the Sox?

[3E8]

What are you going to say if Santos sucks for the Blue Jays and Molina turns out to be a solid pitcher for the Sox?

He's not saying that wouldn't be great. But the probability of both of those occurring is slim. Using this research, the most likely outcome for a prospect like Molina is that he will make no meaningful contribution to the big league club. That's why this is risky. I'm also feeling KW shouldn't have traded Santos this early unless he could've gotten a better return.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Found this at SouthSideSox . No idea if it's been posted yet. 1. RHP Nestor Molina — This is the only place you’ll see Molina as Toronto’s No. 1 prospect. Sorry, folks, but I’m believing my own eyes and ignoring the grossly inaccurate scouting reports. The 22-year-old was Verlander-like in Double-A, dominating hitters to the tune of a 13.5 strikeouts/9 innings. Awesome stuff. Fastball (92-94-mph), devastating split, changeup. Pitching coach Pete Walker told me his stuff is “as good as I’ve seen at this level.” Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus once tweeted, “Not a ton of stuff, a finesse type without much upside.” Um, no.

[Marty34]

Can't vouch for the writer's cred, but another glowing scouting report on Molina.

 

White Sox Get Potential Ace in Nestor Molina

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Jonathan C. Mitchell

 

The Chicago White Sox have sent right handed reliever Sergio Santos to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for right handed prospect Nestor Molina. This was a trade that came out of no where and I love it for both teams but more for the White Sox.

 

Santos just signed a three year deal for $8.25M in September with three club options that potentially take Santos up to the 2017 season. That’s six years of relatively cheap cost control for a reliever with a career 3.29 ERA, 2.97 FIP, and 11.58 K/9 in 115 innings. Santos’ K/9 in 2011 was an insanely good 13.07 which was 2nd in the American League.

 

Santos will make $1M in 2012, 2.75M in 2013, and 3.75M in 2014 with a 750K buyout of each option. The options are for $6M in 2015, $8M in 2016, and $8.75M in 2017. In today’s market where closers are getting ridiculous money this is a luxury for Alex Anthopoulos but it did come at a cost.

 

Nestor Molina was a relatively unknown prospect until this year when he posted eye-popping numbers in 130.1 innings between High-A and Double-A. He has 148 strikeouts to only 16 walks and a 2.21 ERA. His Double-A stint was only five starts but he had a 0.41 ERA and 0.47 FIP while striking out 33 in only 22 innings and walking just 2 hitters.

 

Molina keeps the ball down in the zone and his fastball sits 89-93 mph and he compliments it with a plus change/split and fringe-average curve. He commands all of pitches well and should move quickly through the system. His approach reminds me a lot of James Shields but with the build of Mariano Rivera.

 

Molina easily becomes the top prospect in the White Sox organization and shouldn’t be more than a year away from the bigs unless he has a major setback in 2012.

 

The Blue Jays received a high strikeout reliever who has no problem pitching in high-leverage situations and got him at a very reasonable cost making this a solid trade for them. But the White Sox received a future top-of-the rotation starter that is not far from Major League ready.

 

Like I said, I like the deal for both teams but when you turn a reliever into a prospect like Molina it is hard to call the trade anything but a win.

 

-Jonathan C. Mitchell can be found writing about the Tampa Bay Rays at DRaysBay and you can follow him on twitter at @FigureFilbert. Be sure to follow MLBdirt at @MLBdirt

 

http://mlbdirt.com/2011/12/06/white-sox-ge...-nestor-molina/

[caulfield12]

Maybe Verlander like numbers, but all the scouting reports have him at 89-93 and the HIGHEST at 96.

 

That's basically the same repertoire Zach Stewart has...so we'll just have to wait and see what he actually shows us.

 

Of course, it all depends on movement and location (as we quickly learned with Billy Koch or Jenks in his later years)...mixing in the offspeed stuff with a 10+ MPH variation on at least one of his secondary pitches.

 

The most interesting number is always how many times he throws a pitch and the batter swings and misses the ball entirely. That's stuff, at least to me.

 

No matter how hard Zumaya or Aroldis Chapman throw, Paul Konerko will eventually get to their fastballs if you keep chunking them up there.

[Jake]

Found this at SouthSideSox . No idea if it's been posted yet. 1. RHP Nestor Molina — This is the only place you’ll see Molina as Toronto’s No. 1 prospect. Sorry, folks, but I’m believing my own eyes and ignoring the grossly inaccurate scouting reports. The 22-year-old was Verlander-like in Double-A, dominating hitters to the tune of a 13.5 strikeouts/9 innings. Awesome stuff. Fastball (92-94-mph), devastating split, changeup. Pitching coach Pete Walker told me his stuff is “as good as I’ve seen at this level.” Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus once tweeted, “Not a ton of stuff, a finesse type without much upside.” Um, no.

 

Where are you seeing this?

[3E8]

Where are you seeing this?

Here's the original article: http://graymatter123.blogspot.com/2011/11/...s-scouting.html

 

 

[EvilMonkey]

Maybe Verlander like numbers, but all the scouting reports have him at 89-93 and the HIGHEST at 96.

Buehrle is lucky if he can sniff 93, yet people here wanted to sign him for boatloads of cash. Location, location, location.

[southsider2k5]

Buehrle is lucky if he can sniff 93, yet people here wanted to sign him for boatloads of cash. Location, location, location.

 

Buehrle hasn't hit 93 in 5 years at least.

[Springfield Soxfan]

It's one thing to read Phil Rogers rip this trade, but on the Score right now, I have never heard him be so critical......................

[Balta1701]

Buehrle hasn't hit 93 in 5 years at least.

Pitch FX has him getting up to 92-93 once in 2009 and a couple times in 2007.

 

You can decide yourself whehter that is simply the effect of the margin of error on the radar gun.

[flavum]

Anyone speak spanish?

 

What's Molina saying?

 

[ScottyDo]

Anyone speak spanish?

 

What's Molina saying?

 

I haven't had Spanish since high school, but I'm pretty sure the first part is "I'm sorry to leave and change teams to the White Sox, but I believe I will have a chance this year to play" or something along those lines.

 

Then he says how he thinks this change will give him a chance to make an important impact.

 

Later he says he's feeling sad and happy about the trade, and he's proud of the job he did in Toronto, but knows that he might have a starting job in the future with the White Sox.

 

Also, he said something about how he talked to the GM of the White Sox and that he said he was happy to have Molina. I also think he mentioned that the GM said he would have a better chance to start with the Sox than otherwise.

 

That's about all I got out of it. He said something about being invited to the league towards the end, and then I couldn't catch anything at the VERY end. Very rough translation, my Spanish es muy mal these days. Doesn't sound like anything earth-shaking in the interview, though.

Edited December 12, 2011 by ScottyDo

[southsider2k5]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,6718709.story

 

Sox like Molina's upside potential

New acquisition described as superior athlete making seamless switch to pitcher

 

By Mark Gonzales, Chicago Tribune reporter

 

8:15 p.m. CST, December 17, 2011

There was no fuss when Nestor Molina was asked to make a switch from an unsuccessful minor league position player to pitcher.

 

"When do I start?" Molina told Blue Jays minor league pitching coach Ozwaldo Peraza nearly four years ago.

 

White Sox fans might be asking the same question, as Molina fell under the microscope after the Sox acquired him Dec. 6 for closer Sergio Santos.

 

"He wasn't afraid or upset," recalled Marco Paddy, the Sox's new head of international operations who had similar duties with the Blue Jays for five seasons. "He took the chance."

 

The Sox are hoping that Molina, 22, will continue his ascent as part of the Sox rotation in the future. He spent his first two seasons in the Blue Jays' system as a third baseman and outfielder but batted only .227.

 

"He struggled with the bat in his second season," Paddy recalled. "But the conversion (to pitcher) came easily because he played everywhere. He's athletic, and he took to pitching the right way. He wasn't scared."

 

Molina has a 27-7 record with a 2.21 ERA in four minor league seasons as a pitcher, punctuated by his 2-0 record and 0.41 ERA with 33 strikeouts and two walks in 22 innings for Double-A New Hampshire.

 

Paddy said Sox general manager Ken Williams liked Molina long before Paddy's hiring, and that Paddy's endorsement of Molina's makeup as a pitcher intensified Williams' efforts to trade for him.

 

"There's no doubt he throws hard, and he had the ability to throw strikes from the get-go," Paddy said. "He also has grown from 5 foot 11 to almost 6-2. He has great athletic ability. The tools are there."

[Whitewashed in '05]

I haven't had Spanish since high school, but I'm pretty sure the first part is "I'm sorry to leave and change teams to the White Sox, but I believe I will have a chance this year to play" or something along those lines.

 

Then he says how he thinks this change will give him a chance to make an important impact.

 

Later he says he's feeling sad and happy about the trade, and he's proud of the job he did in Toronto, but knows that he might have a starting job in the future with the White Sox.

 

Also, he said something about how he talked to the GM of the White Sox and that he said he was happy to have Molina. I also think he mentioned that the GM said he would have a better chance to start with the Sox than otherwise.

 

That's about all I got out of it. He said something about being invited to the league towards the end, and then I couldn't catch anything at the VERY end. Very rough translation, my Spanish es muy mal these days. Doesn't sound like anything earth-shaking in the interview, though.

That's about right.

 

Said he's happy about the opportunity to possibly play at the major league level this year.

 

It's a change for him, but he's going to benefit from it because he's possibly going to get a shot of playing with the White Sox this year.

 

That he's already been preparing for the season for a month to get ready to endure the long season. He's been throwing off the mound for a week and the most important part is being ready physically.

 

He's preparing himself the best he can, because he believes this is the year that he will be called up and wants to be in the best shape for it.

 

He got a call from Alex, the Toronto GM, that he did a great job in their system and he was very happy with his performance while with them.

 

Kenny called him and said he was very happy to acquire him and congratulate and welcome him to the sox. That he knows he's going to perform well with the white sox like he did with the jays.

 

He's getting the invite to ST with the sox.

 

Reiterates he's training and preparing to join the white sox.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Kevin Goldstein was on The Score last night, and he said Molina would be #8-10 on Blue Jays top10 prospect list. That's better than what he was saying before. Maybe it's just because he knew Sox fans were listening and wanted to make the deal sound better for the listeners, but regardless.

 

Also, he was gushing over Addison Reed. Said some scout friend of his saw Reed at A-ball last year and said "This kid could be mowing down major leaguers right now. He is ready".

Edited January 6, 2012 by JoeCoolMan24