The Athletics acquired lefty David Purcey from the Blue Jays for minor league reliever Danny Farquhar, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. The deal is now official. The A's cleared a space on the 25-man roster by putting Dallas Braden on the DL, and gained a spot on the 40-man by transferring Rich Harden to the 60-day DL, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.
Purcey, 29 in a few days, was designated for assignment by the Jays last week. He drew "very strong" interest, according to GM Alex Anthopoulos. The former first-rounder is out of options, so the A's must keep him in the Majors or attempt to pass him through waivers. Purcey, who switched to the bullpen to start the 2010 season, has battled control problems for much of his career. He's always posted strong strikeout rates, averaging 92-93 miles per hour on his fastball since converting to the bullpen.
Though they sandwiched an elbow strain, Purcey's '07 and '08 stints in the minors did include good control. Purcey seemed to be on to something in '08, finishing the season in the Majors and tossing a couple of eight-inning gems. MLB.com's Jane Lee has a bit more on Purcey, after talking to A's assistant GM David Forst.
Farquhar, 24, returns to his old organization after a brief stint this year as a Sacramento River Cat. The A's had acquired him in November as part of the Rajai Davis deal with Toronto. He posted a 3.52 ERA, 9.3 K/9, 4.9 BB/9, and 0.8 HR/9 in 76 2/3 Double-A relief innings last year. Baseball America ranked him 22nd among A's prospects, noting that his "defining characteristic is his use of two different arm angles."
Former Jay no?
Yep involved in the Rajai Davis trade
Yep, former Jay Danny Farquhar.
Uhmm why?
That was my initial reaction, as well. But as much as I don’t like this move on the surface, it’s kind of hard to question their judgment when it comes to arms.
Purcey is frustrating, he has the arm, he has the stuff, he just lacks control.. but if he ever puts it together, he’d be a shut down, lights out reliever.
He showed glimpses of extended success last year out of the pen.
Danny Farquhar seems to have a bit of a control issue. But at least the Jays got something for Purcey.
“Danny Farquhar seems to have a bit of a control issue. ”
Sounds to me like a fair trade then, as Purcey “seems” to have controll issues as well, hah. Trading a 29 yr old potentialy dominant lefty whos out of options for a 24 yr old righty with potential and options sounds like a decent trade to me.
Decent to meh. Farquhar will probably not amount to anything. But you never know.
When all said and done, then, it’s Purcey + additional farm arm (who was it again???) for Davis?
Magnuson
Jays fans will ultimatley relaize that Davis is pure crap and this was a great move by the A’s to avoid paying him through Arbitration.
Its not like they are banking on him to be a longterm solution.
hes being paid 5.5 mill for two years lol they sure dodged that bullet.
He’s a warm, known body. Better than nothing. And ‘Lord’ may have some use in the pen later this year.
I thought the Astros wanted him?
Just cause the Astros wanted him, doesn’t mean they will get him.
Take the Yankees-Cliff Lee outcome for example. 😉
I’d love to hear Beane and Anthopolous on the phone.
Yeah. That’s gotta be a wonder to behold. They must be pretty comfortable with one another, though. That’s what? The third trade they’ve hammered out within 14 months?
4 if you count Encarnarcion waiver claim
Definitely 4
– Eveland
– Taylor
– Davis
– Purcey
5 if you count Encarnarcion waiver claim.
Interesting both Purcey and Eveland had similar circumstances.
If they keep trading with each other, eventually the MLB will just say “you guys seem to love each other. We propose contraction.”
Project arm. Maybe the change of scenery will do him good.
What does this mean for young Tyson Ross, I thought he was pitching well for the As.
He has been. But they probably want him back in the rotation, whether that means replacing Dallas Braden (who may have a serious shoulder problem), or going back to Sacramento for a while. He could turn into a darn good starter. But he needs to stay stretched out for that to happen.
Danny has a zero ERA in AAA this year (8 IP) and dominated the LV 51’s last week.
I’m thinking someone else is gonna be traded. I’m not sure who they could DFA to make room (although I guess they could always transfer Harden to the 60-day DL). And unless they option Cramer, then Purcey would make FIVE lefties in the bullpen.
I could be wrong. But I think there is more than meets the eye here. I never thought that they acquired Balfour and Fuentes just to create trade bait (like many others did). But with the addition of Purcey, I think they now might be planning to dangle Breslow or Fuentes this summer, as part of a package for a bat.
“Known for two seperate arm angles” would also mean two different release points and that prob explains why he has control issues. Seeing as this is the return for Purcey i’d say that there prob wasn’t as much interest in Purcey as AA tried to lead us to believe.
just because there was a lot of interest, doesn’t mean they would sell off Purcey for more than his value.
There was a lot of interest because his value is so low and they dfa’d him
Ya Lunchbox, no one is confusing Purcey with Adrian Gonzalez, no one was going to offer more then he was worth.
All I meant was that based on what we got its obvious that no one was fighting over Purcey. I’m glad we got what we got, but for a former first rounder its a far spot to fall from. There was a lot of interest because we Dfa’d him, but what I was refering to was that the return was weak because people seem not to expect much out of him. Oakland always takes a last chance on guys on there way out though.
Last I heard he had three different arm angles, not two – over the top, 3/4 and submarine.
tis true
i heard he throws low 90’s with the submarine… is that even possible?
Sounds logic defying.
I heard he has four and throws mid 90’s underhand….is that true?
I heard he bowls overhand too.
heard that too! He is a great bowler
I blame it on the Dotel signing, it is way too early to give up on Purcey
Players like Purcey, who is out of option can and should be hid in a major league bullpen to work things out. Give up on a guy like that after a couple of rough outings is just a knee-jerk reaction. AA will regret this in a couple of yrs
How many lefty out there can throw 94MPH?
Its not a couple rough outings. He’s been struggling with control since they drafted him. Hope can only go so far.
Dotel is pretty terrible.
He actually can’t pitch to lefties..
and not like he shouldnt, but in some situation its okay…
no no, like actually he should never ever be allowed to pitch to lefties
I think the Jays won this trade. Farquhar has pitched very well in AAA, not allowing any runs in 8 IP, while only allowing 7 hits. Not too bad if you ask me.
He has potential and is a young prospect. Even though I would have liked the Jays to get more out of Purcey, I think they got enough.
good job aa
had no use for purcey anyway, lets go Carlson and our new lefty set-up, alphabet soup
good job AA, always getting something for nothing, we will never miss him when Jessie C comes back and now we have our lefty set-up guy in alphabet soup. Go Jays!!!!!!!!