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January 12, 2007

Meyer DFA'ed To Make Room For Trade Acquisition

Texas traded pitcher JOHNNY LUJAN to the Chicago White Sox for catcher CHRIS STEWART. Stewart joins the 40-man roster, and Texas has designated infielder DREW MEYER for assignment.

Stewart was Chicago’s 12th rounder in 2001. He’ll start in AAA with a chance to back up Gerald Laird in Texas. Stewart batted pretty well in AA as a 23-year-old (.286/.341/.460) but backslid to .265/.314/.393 in AAA last year. Lujan is two years younger and hit a big wall in high-A Bakersfield last year after gliding through lower levels in 2004-2005. So Texas gets the sure thing, albeit a drab one, in exchange for a longshot.

To clear space for their shiny new fourth catcher, the Rangers designated the tenth-overall pick on the 2002 draft. Drew Meyer depended heavily on a high batting average in college and has yet to develop much patience or power in five years in the minors. He never posted better than a .789 OPS except during a brief return to the Rookie League in 2004.

I loathe the “We drafted X when we could’ve have Y!� game because no team survives it. The best GMs on the planet routinely pass up future studs. However, I would note that the subsequent seven picks were Jeremy Hermida, Joe Saunders, Khalil Greene, Russ Adams, Scott Kazmir, Nick Swisher and Cole Hamels. On the other hand, Picks 1, 3 and 5 were Bryan Bullington, Chris Gruler and Clint Everts. It’s a tough racket, the draft.

Posted by Lucas at January 12, 2007 07:03 PM