Thursday, July 23, 2009

Boston's Not Sporting a Bierd

As the Orioles prepare for a three-game set in Boston, now is a perfect time to revisit the off-season trade that brought David Pauley to Baltimore in exchange for Randor Bierd.

Pauley's name has come up in the discussion of potential Norfolk promotees given the recent struggles of Rich Hill and Jason Berken. Bierd's current prospects aren't quite as promising.

It's certainly not a Bedard-to-Seattle or Tejada-to-Houston type deal, but the Bierd-to-Boston trade could wind up being a wise move for the Birds.

Here's the rundown of the respective performances this season of Pauley and Bierd.



David Pauley is 7-8 in 17 starts for the Tides with a 3.73 ERA, 68 strikeouts, 23 walks, and a 1.372 WHIP. Pauley struck out eight and walked none in six innings on Tuesday in the Tides' 4-1 loss to the Gwinnett Braves. However, Pauley also committed three errors and gave up 11 hits in that outing.

Randor Bierd
is 1-0 with a 5.06 ERA in 15 games for the Pawtucket Red Sox. Bierd has struck out 20, walked 11, and holds a 1.688 WHIP. Bierd was recently placed on Pawtucket's temporary inactive list to make room for the promotion of T.J. Large from the AA Portland Sea Dogs.

Randor Bierd was a Roar from 34 favorite during his season in Baltimore, but it looks like the O's have done one better with this move. Pauley's been projected as a fifth starter in the bigs, and some day soon that's actually going to mean something more in Baltimore than journeyman or innings eater.


Image: Flickr.

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