New York Yankees Trade for Chad Gaudin, End Coming for Sergio Mitre?
August 7, 2009 · Doug Rush · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
On Thursday night while the Yankees were beating up on the Red Sox 13-6, they may have finally found an option for their fifth starter spot.
During the game, it was announced that the Yankees acquired Chad Gaudin from the San Diego Padres for a player to be named later.
It shows even during a crucial Yankees-Red Sox game, Brian Cashman was not done searching for players to make the Yankees stronger for the rest of the season.
A lot of the Yankee fans might not know a lot on Gaudin, so let’s get you caught up on the newest Yankee.
Gaudin is 26-years old and originally came into the league with Tampa Bay in 2003, mostly as a reliever.
After a stint with the Blue Jays, Gaudin moved on to the Oakland A’s, where he became a starter in 2007 and had a pretty good season, going 11-13 with a 4.42 ERA in 34 starts with 154 strikeouts.
In 2008, Gaudin was included in the trade that sent Rich Harden to the Cubs and he moved to the National League, where he was used as a reliever during the Cubs run to the playoffs, earning a 4-2 record to go along with his 5-3 record with Oakland, so he finished 2008 with a 9-5 record.
In 2009, he had been a starter with the Padres. He’s 4-10 with a 5.13 ERA, which might set off alarms that he’s not a good starter.
Don’t let either one of those numbers fool you, because everyone’s numbers on the Padres look terrible, because, quite simply, the San Diego Padres are absolutely horrible. After being playoff contenders in 2006 and 2007, they have done a complete 180 degrees and are just dreadful.
Gaudin has pitched 105 1/3 innings in 19 starts with 105 strikeouts. So Gaudin has shown he can be durable and strike out hitters, even on one of the worst teams in baseball.
During the season, there have been games where Gaudin looked really impressive.
Back on May 31 against the Colorado Rockies, Gaudin went 6 1/3, allowed seven hits and two runs while striking out nine and picked up the win.
On June 23 against the Seattle Mariners, he went seven innings, allowed four hits, two runs and struck out 11 batters and won the game.
His next start following on June 28 against the Texas Rangers may have been his best of the season, as he went eight innings and surrendered only one hit and no runs while striking out nine and won the game. Throwing a one-hit game in the Ballpark in Arlington, which is known for offense, and against a great-hitting team like the Rangers is very impressive.
Now put an offense like the Yankees behind him, his 4-10 record may improve.
With Gaudin now on the team, this may be the sign that Sergio Mitre’s rotation spot is definitely in jeopardy.
Joe Girardi said after the third start against the White Sox, “We are basically stuck with what we have and have to make it work.” Meaning: We are stuck with Mitre, which means Girardi doesn’t have confidence in him to win games.
In Mitre’s fourth start on Wednesday night against the Blue Jays, it wasn’t his finest performance.
Mitre pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowed eight hits, three runs, walked two and struck out three.
So for the second straight start, Mitre did not get into the fifth inning and made the Yankees bullpen work more than they probably wanted to.
The only reason why Mitre is still 1-0 is because the Yankee offense has bailed him out of trouble in every single game he’s pitched in. He should have lost to the White Sox, but Eric Hinske saved him. He could have easily again lost to Toronto, but Nick Swisher saved him with his game-tying home run.
Nobody trusts Mitre, and the Yankees trading for Gaudin proves this point.
With Gaudin on the roster, Anthony Claggett will probably be sent back down to AAA Scranton/Wilks-Barre and Gaudin could start out as a reliever in the Red Sox series.
But if he isn’t brought in to relieve games, Gaudin could be taking Mitre’s turn in the rotation; Mitre is penciled in to start Monday night at Yankee Stadium against the Blue Jays. But, a lot can change between now and Monday.
If Gaudin gets into the rotation, it could all but signal that Mitre’s days in pinstripes might be numbered.
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