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March 28, 2008
Nippert Obtained
Texas traded minor-league reliever JOSE MARTE to Arizona for pitcher DUSTIN NIPPERT.
In 2007, Arizona was 80-46 in games in which Nippert didn’t appear, so clearly, the answer is to limit him to about five innings all year. Anyway…
The soon-to-be 27-year-old had a 5.56 ERA in 45 innings, but his opposing line was a tolerable .267/.327/.417. That indicates some ugly baserunner-clumping, and sure enough, Nippert allowed 30% of his season’s 30 runs in two consecutive appearances. His minor-league stats are all over the place, though he’s maintained a fine strikeout rate. Is he an improvement over Robinson Tejeda? Maybe. Probably won’t make much difference one way or the other. Both players are out of options.
Marte is big, hard thrower. Only two years younger than Nippert, he has yet to clear A ball. In 2007, he struck out 27% of opposing batters… and walked 17%. Neither Jamey Newberg nor I ranked him among Texas’s top 72 prospects.
Posted by Lucas at March 28, 2008 10:04 PM