67. Jim Ed Warden – RP – AAA/AA – 31/yrs.
Warden was drafted in the sixth round of the 2001 draft by the Cleveland Indians.
He spent seven seasons in the Indians organization, rising to AAA in 2007 with Buffalo (1-1, 7.33). His best season was 2006, in AA, going 5-2, 2.90, 1.08, in 55 relief appearances, 11 saves.
He was left unprotected in the 2007 Rule V and was picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies; however, he was returned to Cleveland on March 28, 2007.
From http://phuturephillies.com/: I think we’ve found Mr Warden’s niche…..he really can get out right handed batters. Having never seen him throw a single pitch, my guess is that he drops down in his motion, and creates very violent tailing motion in to right handed batters, and because of this, gets a lot of balls in on the hands and generates a lot of weak swings. He doesn’t strike out a lot of hitters, but has a nearly 2:1 GB to FB ratio, which is very impressive. Against lefties, like most sidearmers, he’s more prone to hard hit balls because of the natural tailing motion, this time the ball coming back across the middle of the plate. He probably has a decent changeup, which he throws to lefties, and when he makes his pitch, can generate plenty of swings and misses, but when he gets under the ball, he leaves it up in the zone. Couple that with the tailing motion away from a lefty, and you get a lot more solid contact against. So what does this mean? If Warden is used strictly as a situational righty, he can probably stick at the major league level. Bring him in to face Miguel Cabrera, but don’t let him face Mike Jacobs. Bring him in to face Ryan Zimmerman, but don’t leave him in to face Nick Johnson. Etc, etc, repeat. Now, does Charlie have the sense to use Warden in the proper spots? That’s left to be seen. If he is used in these spots, he can be successful. Warden will be 26 on opening day and turns 27 in May, so he isn’t really a “prospect”, but this is the way you build a solid bullpen, not by giving out free agent contracts to guys like Joe Borowski and Keith Foulke. The odds of Warren sticking are 50/50, the odds of him succeeding are 30/70, but with the Manuel Factor, probably more like 20/80, but who knows, Gillick may have caught lightning in a bottle here.
Warden spent the 2008 season in the Washington organization and was signed by the Mets for 2009. He split his time between Binghamton and Buffalo and was successful at both levels.
His combined record in 2009 was: 2-1, 2.12, 32 appearances, 47-K, 46.2-IP.
Forecast: The 6’7” Warden has always had control issues, but he made for a nice pickup for the Mets, playing for two of the worst teams in minor league baseball. Yes, his future is probably to never make it to the dance, but pitchers like Warden are great to have in the pen as an organizational player. He’s extremely hard on right hand hitters and will probably return to Buffalo in the spring to be a specialist there.
Warden was drafted in the sixth round of the 2001 draft by the Cleveland Indians.
He spent seven seasons in the Indians organization, rising to AAA in 2007 with Buffalo (1-1, 7.33). His best season was 2006, in AA, going 5-2, 2.90, 1.08, in 55 relief appearances, 11 saves.
He was left unprotected in the 2007 Rule V and was picked up by the Philadelphia Phillies; however, he was returned to Cleveland on March 28, 2007.
From http://phuturephillies.com/: I think we’ve found Mr Warden’s niche…..he really can get out right handed batters. Having never seen him throw a single pitch, my guess is that he drops down in his motion, and creates very violent tailing motion in to right handed batters, and because of this, gets a lot of balls in on the hands and generates a lot of weak swings. He doesn’t strike out a lot of hitters, but has a nearly 2:1 GB to FB ratio, which is very impressive. Against lefties, like most sidearmers, he’s more prone to hard hit balls because of the natural tailing motion, this time the ball coming back across the middle of the plate. He probably has a decent changeup, which he throws to lefties, and when he makes his pitch, can generate plenty of swings and misses, but when he gets under the ball, he leaves it up in the zone. Couple that with the tailing motion away from a lefty, and you get a lot more solid contact against. So what does this mean? If Warden is used strictly as a situational righty, he can probably stick at the major league level. Bring him in to face Miguel Cabrera, but don’t let him face Mike Jacobs. Bring him in to face Ryan Zimmerman, but don’t leave him in to face Nick Johnson. Etc, etc, repeat. Now, does Charlie have the sense to use Warden in the proper spots? That’s left to be seen. If he is used in these spots, he can be successful. Warden will be 26 on opening day and turns 27 in May, so he isn’t really a “prospect”, but this is the way you build a solid bullpen, not by giving out free agent contracts to guys like Joe Borowski and Keith Foulke. The odds of Warren sticking are 50/50, the odds of him succeeding are 30/70, but with the Manuel Factor, probably more like 20/80, but who knows, Gillick may have caught lightning in a bottle here.
Warden spent the 2008 season in the Washington organization and was signed by the Mets for 2009. He split his time between Binghamton and Buffalo and was successful at both levels.
His combined record in 2009 was: 2-1, 2.12, 32 appearances, 47-K, 46.2-IP.
Forecast: The 6’7” Warden has always had control issues, but he made for a nice pickup for the Mets, playing for two of the worst teams in minor league baseball. Yes, his future is probably to never make it to the dance, but pitchers like Warden are great to have in the pen as an organizational player. He’s extremely hard on right hand hitters and will probably return to Buffalo in the spring to be a specialist there.
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