The Week in the Ones that Got Away

For Jim Bowden's first two years here, he established a virtually unbroken record of giving up young players for old, improving for declining, cheap guys under team control for expensive soon-to-be FAs, and more players for fewer in return. As a service to our readers, we provide a regular update on how some of the young 'uns that Bowden gave away are faring lately.

• Armando Galarraga (traded with Brad Wilkerson and Terrmel Sledge for Alfonso Soriano): Galarraga continued a very good rookie campaign with two quality starts against Seattle and Minnesota. In all on the week, he went 12 innings and gave up 4 ER on 14 H, 4 BB and 5 Ks.
  
• Daryl Thompson (traded with Billy Bray, Gary Majewski, Brendan Harris, and Royce Clayton for Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez): In his third MLB start Thompson was knocked around for 7 ER in 4.1 IP. With Josh Fogg coming off the DL, Thompson was sent back down to the minors. "He'll be back," Baker said. "Hopefully, when he comes back, he'll be back for a long time. He's part of our young guns."
• Bill Bray: In 4 appearances and 2.1 IP, the lefty reliever gave up 2 ER on 2 H and 1 BB, but notched 5 Ks. His ERA on the year now stands at 2.77.
  
• Brendan Harris: Playing SS and 3B for the 50-38 Twins, Harris went 5 for 22, including a 2-RBI base-hit last night.
• Gary Majewski: The mulleted one pitched 2 innings in 2 appearances and gave up 1 ER on 1 H and 1 BB to lower his ERA on the year to 5.02. He also talked a little about his old team, as the Reds dropped their grievance against the Nationals claiming that we hid Majewski's shoulder injury.
  
• Darrell Rasner (claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees): After getting hit hard by the Pirates, the Yankees sent him out to do battle with the Mets and Red Sox this week. Ouch and ouch, to the tune of 18 H, 8 ER, 6 BB and 5 K in 10 IP.
• Scott Downs (released): For two months, no reliever in baseball was better than Downs and his 0.00 ERA for April and May. This week, he came back to Earth a bit, giving up 3 ER, 5 H, and 3 BB with 4 Ks in 3.1 IP.
  
• Maicer Izturis (traded with Juan Rivera for Jose Guillen): That wacky, wild Mike Scioscia installed Izturis and Erick Aybar in the #3 hole in the batting order this week. They seem to think it's working. Izturis went 4 for 15 with an RBI.
  
• Juan Rivera: Rivera came to life this week, as Scioscia finally opened up some consistent ABs for the just-turned 30-year-old. In three starts, he went 3 for 10 with a game-winning HR and 3 RBI.
  
• Val Pascucci (released, November 2004): Between Pascucci's very good performance in AAA and Carlos Delgado's rapid decline, the 29-year-old 1B/LF has become the darling of the Mets blogosphere. Why? Well, there would be those 16 HR in 218 ABs this year at AAA. And the .412 OBP. This week he cooled off, going 3 for 19 with 4 BB and a homer.
  
• Alejandro Machado (selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Twins in November 2006): Machado is a smooth-fielding 26-year-old second baseman. This year he's hitting .300 in AAA ball. This week he went 2-5 with an RBI in 2 games.