More on Hammond

Ryan Topp did a prospect analysis of the Brewers last offseason and had an interesting blurb on brand new Giant Steve Hammond and his best potential future role:

#19 Steve Hammond,, LHP
6'2” 205 lbs. Born 4/30/1982

Drafted in the 6th round of the 2005 draft out of Long Beach State University

Call me stubborn, but I'm not ready to give up on this personal favorite just yet. Drafted with an eye towards making him a reliever eventually, he performed so well in 2006 between High A Brevard and AA Huntsville that the team decided to keep him in the rotation for the foreseeable future. Things didn't go well in 2007 for Hammond in AA, a change largely driven by a 2.5 hits per 9 inning increase and a resulting .26 jump in WHIP. His K rate only declined slightly and his walks actually went down, which got me to thinking about a potential move to the pen. Sure enough, his K rate steadily declines as each inning passes all the way through the 5th, which would indicate some trouble holding his stuff deep into games. He did show trouble with walks in the first inning, which would be a problem were he to move into short relief. Still, I would like to see how he reacts to a move to the pen before writing him off as a prospect. If last years struggles as a starter persist into this season, I would expect that move sooner rather than later.

This predates Hammond's AAA debacle (in a very limited sample size) this season (0-4, 7.41 ERA in 17.1 innings) but it's still interesting to note.

Perhaps the Giants picked up him up with an eye towards replacing Jack Taschner.

It also turns out the Giants did kick in about half of Ray Durham's remaining salary. Although I hated on Darren Ford yesterday, the addition of Hammond to the trade, while clearing a spot for Manny Burriss to play every day, makes this deal pretty palatable.

Oh, in case you still care, the Brewers took the Giants' dignity as well as Durham, completing the sweep in a forgettable game.

Comment! What's next? In addition to Taschner and Omar Vizquel, should the Giants start aggressively shopping Bengie Molina and Randy Winn?