Braves - Claimed O’Flaherty

Atlanta Braves - Claimed P Eric O'Flaherty off waivers from the Seattle Mariners.

O'Flaherty was wretched this year - 16 hits in 6 2/3 innings was all it took for him to go from being an important member of the bullpen to pitching for Tacoma. He injured his back before the All-Star Break and that ended his season.

This was a good move by the Braves and a poor one by the Mariners. Terrible year aside, the Mariners still have some easy dead weight on the 40-man roster after adding the players they needed to protect from Rule 5. Unless you have an incredibly deep 40-man roster, you probably have room for a 23-year-old lefty with a 90 MPH fastball and some success (though limited) at the MLB level. I mean, is Zduriencik hanging onto Sean White just in case he got him confused with Sean Green? Does Randy Messenger make great pancakes or something? Are 37-year-old 3rd string catchers the new market inefficiency?

2009 ZiPS Projection - Eric O'Flaherty
-----------------------------------------------------------------
            W   L   G  GS   IP    H   ER  HR  BB  SO   ERA   ERA+
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Projection  2   3  45   0   55   60   29   4  24  38  4.75    91 
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Top Comps:  The Run Fairy, Jim Crawford

ERA     %
Top 1/3 8
Mid 1/3 29
Bot 1/3 63

ERA+    %       BB      %
>150    2       <9      0
>140    5       <12     0
>130    9       <15     3
>120    14      <18     18
>110    23      <21     32
>100    36      <24     59
>90     50
>80     70      HR      %
>70     88      <3      34
                <6      76
K       %       <9      92
>55     6       <12     99
>49     11
>43     22
>37     54