Reacting To The Alex Torres Trade

By Bobby DeMuro
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Updated: April 2, 2015

(Image via Twitter)

The Padres on Monday traded left-handed reliever Alex Torres to the New York Mets in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Cory Mazzoni.

The trade comes as no surprise to anyone who has been following the Mets; the team has been looking for left-handed relief help for some time, and they made a move to pick up lefty Jerry Blevins from the Washington Nationals on the same day, too.

But from the Padres perspective, what should we think about the trade, and what did the Friars get in return for Torres?

Well, Torres puts up some good numbers coming out of the pen. He has a 2.55 career ERA and 3.05 career FIP in 120 innings, allowing only 86 hits. He has, however allowed 60 walks (4.5 per 9 innings), including 33 last year (5.5 per 9 innings), leading to a measly 1.55 K:BB ratio in 2014.

I suppose it depends on how the Mets use him; in Tampa Bay in 2013, Torres threw 58 innings across 39 games and put up great numbers (including a 0.897 WHIP) while being extended to one and two-inning relief roles.

In San Diego last season, Torres threw just 54 innings across 70 appearances, and struggled a little bit with control and results (including a 1.463 WHIP) facing, often times, one left-handed hitter per game.

Or… maybe he won’t just get left-handed hitters out each game. In his career, Torres has actually had better success against righties, who have slashed .186/.281/.259 against him, while lefties are doing slightly better at .216/.335/.270.

Apparently, considering the Padres now only have two left-handed pitchers and only four left-handed throwers on their entire 40-man roster (and Cory Luebke isnât going to start too many games this year), the club seems to be ridding themselves of all weird and creepy lefties.

Just kidding. But seriously, this paves the way for Frank Garces to be the bullpenâs token lefty, despite having just nine big league innings to his name.

Thatâs a big responsibility for a guy, and a team, who will see left-handed bats in the division like Adrian Gonzalez, Joc Pederson, Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier, Carlos Gonzalez, Corey Dickerson, Charlie Blackmon, Justin Morneau, Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford.

As for the return on Torresâ departure, minor league right-hander Cory Mazzoni reached AAA Las Vegas for the first time in 2014, throwing 52 innings and allowing 54 hits and just 12 walks while striking out 49 and going 5-1 with a 4.67 ERA.

Heâs a former second round pick out of NC State who holds a career 24-12 minor league record with a 4.11 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 300.1 innings. Not world changing. Heâs also dealt with injuries, missing partial seasons in 2014 and 2013, so take that for what itâs worth.

In the end, this trade wasn’t so much about the Padres as it was about the Mets; New York desperately needed a lefty going into the season and Torres will headline their haul. But itâs interesting to see the Padres couldn’t get a different (better?) return on a Major League quality left-handed reliever.

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