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Bartlett Trade Finalized: Rays Receive Adam Russell, Cesar Ramos, Brandon Gomes, and Cole Figueroa

Rays will also be sending a PTBNL to SD along with Bartlett. From MLB Trade Rumors:

The Padres have acquired Jason Bartlett from the Rays, tweets Marty Caswell of XX1090 Sports Radio.  San Diego will also send a player to be named later to Tampa Bay in exchange for Brandon Gomes, Adam Russell, Cesar Ramos, and Cole Figueroa.  The Rays have scheduled a conference call for 6:45pm EST, presumably to discuss details of the re-worked trade, according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times (via Twitter).

Stats and profiles after the jump.

 

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Brandon Gomes - http://www.statcorner.com/pitcher.php?id=460156

Scouting Report from http://chickenfriars.com

 

Few Padres fans have heard of minor league reliever Brandon Gomes, who pitched for the Double-A San Antonio Missions last year.

However, he’s an interesting case study as a classic “performance guy that scouts ignore.”

Let’s take a quick look at Gomes’ positive and negative attributes.

On the Plus Side: Gomes was the only reliever in Minor League Baseball to record 100 strikeouts last year, and he did it in just 72 innings, for a 12.50 K/9 rate.

He has solid control, walking just 28 batters last year, for a 100/28 ratio.

Gomes also pounds the lower part of the zone, so he’s tough to lift. He allowed only four homers all season in 2009.

Stuff-wise, Gomes has an 88-95 mph fastball, a heavy splitter in the low-80’s that serves as his out pitch, and an average sweeping slider.

With average-plus stuff and great results, what could the problem be?

On the Minus Side: Gomes is a short righty, at 5′11″ 175.

His K/9 split was fairly drastic, as he posted 9.00 K/9 against lefties and 14.36 against righties; it’s possible that MLB lefties will be pretty successful against him.

And the big issue: He turns 26 in July and hasn’t seen Triple-A yet.

So, what does this add up to? Well, scouts look at Gomes and see him as a trash-time relief arm, while the numbers show him to be a closer-in-waiting.

I’d imagine the truth lies somewhere in between. It’s not like Gomes is an R.J. Swindle-style trick pitcher: he has legitimately above-average stuff. He was drafted at age 23 (2007; 17th round), so he can’t be expected to be young for his levels.

Gomes has succeeded everywhere he’s been since signing. He’s likely to post more earthly numbers as he moves up, but there’s no reason he can’t be an effective major leaguer.

I see Gomes as a solid strikeout-oriented middle reliever or setup man, and possibly a closer if everything breaks right. After all, nobody thought Mike Adams or Luke Gregerson would be dominant MLB relievers; why not Gomes?

 

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Cole Figeuroa - http://www.statcorner.com/batter.php?id=502676

Scouting Report from http://www.friarhood.com/

 

Lake Elsinore Storm 2B Cole Figueroa was born as Stephen Cole Figueroa on 6/30/87. His father, Bien Figueroa, played for the St Louis Cardinals in 1992 as an infielder.

Cole was taken in the 6th round of the 2008 player draft as a sophomore from the Florida Gators. He led the Gators his sophomore season in HR, RBI, multi-hit games, total bases and sac flies. He signed in July and was assigned to the Eugene Emeralds. A right handed throwing, left handed batting 2B/SS, the 5-10, 180 lb IF got off to a good start and played 32 games for the season. In 114 at bats he showed a .289/.410/.474 line with 23 R, 6 2B, 5 HR, and 16 RBI. Not a particularly fast runner, Cole has great base running instincts and stole 7 his first partial season and was caught 2 times.

The scouting report on Figueroa states he is adept at both short and second with good fundamentals at both positions. He is a natural leader with an above avg arm and sure hands. He is very sure-footed and quick in turning the double play from either position.

Cole began the 2009 season with Lake Elsinore but struggled a bit and hurt his meniscus in his knee during a double play. After rehab he was sent to Fort Wayne, the low A affiliate, and showed himself as an important member of that championship TinCaps team. With a .319/.408/.403 line in 70 games and 238 at bats, he scored 32 runs with 76 hits. He had 15 2B, 3B, HR, 34 RBI and 10 SB with 7 CS. He was named Midwest League player of the week on 7/13/09 for his efforts.

Many members of that championship team were promoted to Lake Elsinore this season with Cole playing primarily second base. He did fill in at short on occasion, especially when the first half SS, Drew Cumberland, was out of the lineup. He has hit primarily second in the line up with excellent on base skills. His line so far this season is .308/.416/.410 in 102 games and 393 at bats. His 121 hits, 76 runs, 22 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 57 RBI and 69BB/40 SO is tied with Catcher Robert Lara for tops on the team of regulars. He also has 22 stolen bases against 7 caught stealing. He has hit .336 with runners in scoring position.

Figueroa has a short, compact stroke with good plate coverage and great bat control. He is a contact hitter who is also able to hit with some power and has more RBI than most second hitters. He has a very level plane to his swing, which helps with making contact as his bat is in the zone for a longer period of time. As a natural leader he promises to be an excellent major league middle infielder who, with improved pitch selection, will be a valuable member of a major league roster soon. With his present success in the Padres system, it will be interesting to see how he fits into the plans of the San Diego Padres.

 

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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