M's roster crunch again becomes Rockies' gain

By Jim Callis
December 20, 2004

After signing free agents Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, plus re-signing Ron Villone, the Mariners had a crunch on 40-man roster spots. Rather than risk losing relief prospect Aaron Taylor for nothing on waivers, Seattle traded him to Colorado on Monday for Double-A righthander Sean Green. The clubs made a similar deal a year ago, with the Mariners sending Allan Simpson to the Rockies for Chris Buglovsky.

Taylor, a 27-year-old righty, signed with the Braves as an 11th-round pick in 1996 out of Lowndes High (Valdosta, Ga.), which also produced the Drew brothers. Taylor did little in four years in the Atlanta system, and the Mariners acquired him for $4,000 in the Double-A phase of the 1999 Rule 5 draft. He began to blossom after quitting baseball briefly in 2001, and he has made 20 major league appearances over the last three seasons, with no record and an 8.86 ERA. Both his size (6-foot-8, 240 pounds) and fastball can be intimidating. Taylor threw his heavy heater at 94-97 mph before having surgery to repair a small tear in his rotator cuff in 2003, and he pitched at mostly 92-93 mph last year while he rebuilt his arm strength. He's still trying to develop consistency with his slider and splitter, which show flashes of being plus pitches. If one or both of those pitches come around, he could be a late-innings weapon in a big league bullpen. Taylor spent most of 2004 at Double-A San Antonio, going 3-1, 2.89 in 30 games. He had a 37-14 strikeout-walk ratio in 37 innings, while opponents batted .200 with two homers against him. His career minor league record is 22-43, 4.91 with 50 saves in 237 games.

Green, 25, was a 12th-round pick out of Louisville in 2000. He has a 92-94 mph fastball but little else beyond arm strength. His slider and changeup are below-average pitches, and his command wavers. He went 4-3, 3.03 with two saves in 52 games at Double-A Tulsa last season, with a 50-29 K-BB ratio, .223 opponent average and five homers in 77 innings. He has a 13-20, 4.72 mark and four saves in 215 career games.