TRADE/TRANSACTIONS - Kelly Stinnett Stay Short-Lived

Kelly Stinnett didn't even make it to the active roster of the Baltimore Stouts before he was shipped to his third Millennium League team in less than three weeks.  Stinnett was swapped to the St. Louis Sliders of the Western Division in exchange for SP Bryan Rekar.  The move was not so much a reflection on Baltimore not wanting/needing Stinnett, but more of a chance for the Stouts to improve their shaky starting rotation.  In essence, Baltimore traded Todd Stottlemyre for Rekar, which is an upgrade on paper (Stottlemyre was traded for Stinnett last week).  Rekar was currently on the St. Louis minor league roster, having started one game for the Sliders before his demotion.  His start wasn't a pretty one as he lasted only three innings, allowing five earned runs and getting tagged with a loss.  He brings his stat-line to a Baltimore rotation in need of some help.  Stouts starters currently have a 5.83 ERA through the first 18 games of the season, ranking in the bottom third of the league.  Rekar has a very shaky 2001, so it's now or never for the right-hander as far as the Stouts are concerned.  He is slotted to slide into the 4th spot in the rotation going forward.  Depending on how he pitches, he's likely to stay in that spot.  Jason Bere and Joe Mays wait in the wings in case he falters.

The move did leave the Stouts back in the same boat though at the catcher position - still in need of a compliment for Ed Taubensee, who is replacing the injured Ivan Rodriguez in the Stouts lineup for eight weeks.  Into the fold from the waiver wire comes Brian Schneider.  Known mostly for his defensive ability, he'll provide Taubensee some rest against left-handed pitchers.  Schneider's best years are a couple years away.  He was a 23 year-old rookie in the year 2000.  He is very limited in ABs so his time with the Stouts may be short lived as well.  He is a left-handed hitting catcher though who was stellar defensively in both 2003 and 2004, season's which saw him throw out more than 50% of runners trying to steal against him.  Not likely the Stouts, or any other Millennium League team for that matter, will be able to stash him away for the next couple years waiting for him to become an MLB regular.  He's likely to be back in the draft in 2001.

In another move, the Stouts cut loose both Rey Ordonez and Charlie Hayes and replaced them with Donnie Sadler from the waiver wire.  This was a move based solely on roster numbers.  Sadler will basically replace both Hayes and Ordonez, a two-for-one swap.  While Sadler is not the fielder either of the other two are, he is quite adequate with the glove.  His hitting leaves a lot to be desired (so did Ordonez), but he is a demon on the base-paths.  His role will be emergency backup at the two positions mentioned as well as an excellent pinch-runner.