Shouse, Hudgins, and Sinisi Traded

I’m delaying the third part of the Rangers Hall of Fame ballot review to analyze the two trades that happened this week.

Trade 1 - The Rangers traded John Hudgins and Vincent Sinisi to the Padres for Freddy Guzman and Cesar Rojas.

John Hudgins:

John was a third round pick for the Rangers in 2003 after pitching in the College World Series.

In ’04 (his first full season), John looked great and like he might be a real prospect. He had his career year and pitched best in Stockton. Here are his lines for the 2004 season.

2004:
Oklahoma:
0-1, 7.50 ERA, 3 games, 2 starts, 12 IP, 8 SO
Frisco:
5-3, 3.13 ERA, 12 games, 12 starts, 69 IP, 64 SO
Stockton:
3-1, 2.35 ERA, 15 games, 11 starts, 65 IP, 73 SO
Combined:
8-5, 3.14 ERA, 30 games, 25 starts, 146 IP, 145 SO

In ’05, he had a major downfall and had to go back down to Frisco before getting injured with a sore right forearm, which had to have surgery.

2005:
Oklahoma:
3-7, 5.87 ERA, 19 games, 19 starts, 102.2 IP, 77 SO
Frisco:
1-2, 4.67 ERA, 3 games, 2 starts, 17.1 IP, 11 SO
Combined:4-9, 5.70 ERA, 22 games, 21 starts, 120 IP, 88 SO

So far in 2006, he has really struggled with a 6.38 ERA in 7 games. He has pitched more in relief than as a starter but looks like he will become a starter in the Padres organization.

2006:
Oklahoma:
1-1, 6.38 ERA, 7 games, 2 starts, 18.1 IP, 16 SO


Vincent Sinisi:

The Rangers selected Sinisi in the second round in 2003.

In 2004, Vincent got off to a great start and put up these numbers:

2004:
Stockton:63 games, 248 AB, 7 HR, 40 RBI, .310 AVG, .383 OBP, .472 SLG

During the 2004 season, Sinisi ran into Joaquin Arias on a short fly ball and broke his forearm. It required seven surgeries and he was out until May 2005.

Sinisi started off the year in Bakersfield and played great, earning a promotion to Frisco where he was on fire for the 1st week but then fell apart for the rest of the season.

2005:
Frisco:
65 games, 248 AB, 4 HR, 29 RBI, .258 AVG, .300 OBP, .343 SLG
Bakersfield:
35 games, 135 AB, 6 HR, 22 RBI, .363 AVG, .438 OBP, .600 SLG

So far in 2006, Sinisi has struggled in Oklahoma but played well in Frisco, even though he has hit for almost no power.

2006:
Oklahoma:
14 games, 50 AB, 0 HR, 7 RBI, .220 AVG, .298 OBP, .300 SLG
Frisco:
18 games, 68 AB, 0 HR, 9 RBI, .309 AVG, .373 OBP, .368 SLG


Freddy Guzman:

In 2004, Guzman hit .283 with a .359 OBP for the Padres’ AA team and was promoted to AAA, where he batted .292 with a .365 OBP. This earned him his major league debut.

In 2005, he was competing for the starting center field job before he blew out the elbow on his throwing arm, making him undergo Tommy John surgery to end his season.

So far this year, he struggled in April but has really performed well so far in May.

Here are his career stats.

Minor league career stats prior to this year:
5 seasons, 369 games, 1434 AB, 7 HR, 106 RBI, .272 AVG, .355 OBP, .352 SLG, 253 stolen bases

Major league stats:
1 season (2004 with San Diego), 20 games, 76 AB, 0 HR, 5 RBI, .211 AVG, .250 OBP, .250 SLG, 5 stolen bases

2006 AAA stats:
30 games, 124 AB, 2 HR, 14 RBI, .274 AVG, .348 OBP, .411 SLG, 11 stolen bases


Cesar Rojas:

Cesar signed with the Padres out of Venezuela in 2002. He is only 19 years old. He has pitched one year in the US (2005) and struggled in the Arizona Rookie League with the following stats:
2-4, 6.75 ERA, 13 games, 11 starts, 49.1 IP, 33 SO


Trade Evaluation:

John Hudgins looked like a great prospect in 2004 but then started struggling and does not seem likely to make the majors anytime soon.

Vincent Sinisi would have good potential if he was a center fielder, second baseman, or shortstop but since he plays first base and left field, his potential is limited because he doesn’t have enough power for those positions. If he can move to those positions and field them well enough, he might be able to make a starting lineup someday.

Freddy Guzman seems to be a pretty good prospect with a lot of speed that could become the Rangers’ center fielder in a couple of years and may make the Rangers as a fourth outfielder and pinch runner this year.

Cesar Rojas looks like he might be a good pitching prospect if he can get his ERA down.

Overall, I think we gave up two players who probably won’t do much in the majors for a player that will probably help us soon and a player that might help us in a few years.

Grade: A-


Trade 2 - The Rangers traded Brian Shouse to the Brewers for Enrique Cruz and a player to be named later.

Brian Shouse:

Shouse made his MLB debut with the Pirates in 1993 but didn’t pitch in the majors again until ’98 with the Red Sox.

Major League career stats prior to 2006:
6 seasons, 5-4, 3.98 ERA, 215 games, 185.1 IP, 128 SO

He joined the Rangers in 2003 and put up the following stats last year:

2005:
Texas:
3-2, 5.23 ERA, 64 games, 53.1 IP, 35 SO

Shouse made the team out of Spring Training but got injured early in the year and has been on rehab since. Here are his 2006 stats.

2006:
Texas:
0-0, 4.15 ERA, 6 games, 4.1 IP, 3 SO
Oklahoma:
0-1, 5.40 ERA, 5 games, 5.0 IP, 3 SO
Frisco:
0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 games, 2.0 IP, 1 SO


Enrique Cruz:

Enrique has spent one year in the majors and that was in 2003 with the Brewers, but it was only because he was taken in the rule 5 draft from the Mets.

Here are his major league totals:
60 games, 71 AB, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .085 AVG, .145 OBP, .099 SLG

In 2005 at AA, he hit .300 with a .354 OBP and .466 SLG, with 14 HR.


Trade Evaluation:

Brian Shouse has performed well in the past but has struggled lately. He might be struggling because he is becoming a veteran and his arm might be thrown out from throwing underhanded so much. I think that it was good to trade him now before his value drops even more. Brian is a situational lefty, so he usually only pitches to one batter at a time, making it hard to keep him on the roster.

Enrique Cruz seems to be one of those players who would surprise you if he ever bats over .280 in the majors and probably does not have a great chance of making the MLB.

This sounds worse than it is because Shouse had been designated for assignment so it’s good that we got anything for him.

Grade: B+


Come back next week for the last part of the Rangers Hall of Fame ballot analysis.