Padres - Acquired Ross

San Diego Padres - Acquired C Dave Ross from the Pirates for SS J.J. Furmaniak

Furmaniak is potentially a pretty useful player - either a utility infielder with a little pop or a stopgap starting shortstop for a few years.  He’s never gotten much attention as a prospect since he doesn’t really stand out in all areas - he plays OK D at short, hits for a bit of power, but is taller than most teams like their shortstop prospects and not a good enough bat to move.  The Pirates have a lot of fair-ish middle infielders, so Pittsburgh’s not a good fit for Furmaniak, though Ross-for-Furmaniak is a good trade and for reasons of talent.

Ross will split time with Fick based on when they want the hitter and when they want the guy who’s actually played catcher regularly in the last few years.  Nevin was taking up catching also, but the Padres didn’t want to go down the stretch with 2 catching experiments.  They were this close to picking up Benito, too. 

2005 ZiPS Projection - J.J. Furmaniak
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Period       AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG 
——————————————————————————————————-

Actual ‘05* 380  48   96  16  3  13  42  28  90   6  .253  .314  .413

Rest ‘05    178  24   47   9  1   6  22  13  40   2  .264  .321  .427
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* - Includes MLE

2005 ZiPS Projection - David Ross
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Period       AB   R    H  2B 3B  HR RBI  BB  SO  SB    BA   OBP   SLG 
——————————————————————————————————-

Actual ‘05* 127  10   28   9  0   3  15   9  31   0  .220  .272  .362

Rest ‘05     72   8   16   3  0   2   9   7  22   0  .222  .300  .347
——————————————————————————————————-

* - Includes MLE