TRADE - 3rd Round Pick Brandon Lyon Sent Packing

The Baltimore Stouts traded future picks in 2002 in order to move up into the third round of the 2001 draft in order to secure the services of SP Brandon Lyon.  The young right-hander was brought in to occupy the 5th spot in the Stouts rotation, and serve as an insurance policy in the event Kevin Brown fell victim to injury.  But after failing to get into a single game through the season's first week of action, Baltimore traded Lyon along with catcher Geronimo Gil to the Pittsburgh Crawfords in exchange for lefty reliever Mike Myers and catcher Darrin Fletcher.

The acquisition of Myers was done in an effort to strengthen an already strong Baltimore bullpen.  Myers is a submarining left-hander who has good splits against righties and lefties.  In 2001, he had splits of .231/.317/.363 against left-handed batters and .216/.375/.275 against right-handed batters.  He carries an ON rating on his card with no deep drives.  Myers, along with Rich Rodriguez, now gives the Stouts two left-handers out of the bullpen.

Fletcher was brought over to serve as insurance in the event one of the other catchers on the roster falls victim to the injury bug that has derailed Ivan Rodriguez.  2001 was his last full season in MLB.  It was also one of the worst in his 14-year career.  Fletcher only managed to hit .226 with a meager .274 OBP.  He's better than Robert Fick defensively though so he may also serve as a late-inning defensive replacement in some games if he cracks the active roster.

Mike Myers career statistics:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fletcda01.shtml

Darrin Fletcher's career statistics:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fletcda01.shtml