Colyer, Ginter change addresses again

By Jim Callis
April 2, 2005

Steve Colyer and Matt Ginter both have tantalizing arms, but neither has been able to harness his potential. They'll try again with new clubs after being traded for each other Saturday, when the Mets got Colyer from the Tigers straight up for Ginter.

Both pitchers were traded at the end of spring training last year as well. The White Sox sent Ginter to New York for Timo Perez on March 27, while the Dodgers shipped Colyer to Detroit for outfield prospect Cody Ross four days later.

Colyer, 26, throws harder than most lefthanders. He works at 93-98 mph and also generates plenty of movement on his fastball. However, he never has thrown his heater or slider for strikes on a consistent basis. In 41 games for the Tigers in 2005, he went 1-0, 6.47 with a 31-24 strikeout-walk ratio in 32 innings. Opponents batted .270 with eight homers against him. Colyer, whom the Mets assigned to Triple-A Norfolk, has a career big league record of 1-0, 5.05 in 54 games.

Ginter, a 27-year-old righty, projected as the White Sox' closer of the future after they made him a first-round pick out of Mississippi State in 1999. But he hasn't been able to translate his Triple-A success to the majors, and that didn't change when the Mets made him a full-time starter in 2004. He went 1-3, 4.54 in 15 games (14 starts) for New York. He had a 38-20 K-BB ratio in 69 innings, while opponents touched him for a .289 average and eight homers. For someone with a low-90s fastball and a hard slider, Ginter should miss more big league bats. He'll open the season as a long reliever in Detroit. Ginter has a career 4-3, 5.32 mark in 78 games (14 starts) in the majors.