By Jim Callis
June 23, 2003

The Indians and Red Sox exchanged Triple-A prospects whose status had slipped within their organizations. Boston acquired righthander Jamie Brown on June 23, and sent infielder Angel Santos to Cleveland on July 2 to complete the deal.

Santos, 23, was a 1997 fourth-round pick out of a Puerto Rican high school. Offense had been considered his strong suit, as he showed some switch-hitting pop and drew a healthy amount of walks, but he regressed when he returned to Pawtucket this year. Seeing time at second base, shortstop and third base, he hit just .239-5-20 in 69 games and his strikeout rate (50 in 213 at-bats) was higher than ever before. He's stiff defensively, so he'll have to hit to get a shot in the majors. He played briefly with Boston in 2001, going 2-for-16 (.125) in nine games. Santos became Buffalo's regular second baseman after the trade.

Brown, 25, was taken in the 21st round from Okaloosa-Walton (Fla.) CC in 1996 and signed as a draft-and-follow in 1997 after transferring to Meridian (Miss.) CC. His low-90s fastball is his best pitch. He reached Double-A in his first full pro season in 1998 but stalled there for the next four seasons as he was bothered by shoulder and back problems, then required Tommy John surgery in 2001. Brown went 4-4, 3.52 in 13 games (10 starts) with Buffalo this year, limiting opponents to a .206 average but posting a mediocre 26-17 strikeout-walk ratio in 61 innings. He has shifted to the bullpen full-time since joining Pawtucket.