Manny Delcarmen, no. 17

Birth Date: February 16, 1982 in Boston, MA

Height/Weight: 6'3", 195 lbs.

Contract: League Minimum ($390,000)

Manny Delcarmen threw 44 innings last season. He finished 5 games and was credited with 1 save. During those innings he faced 176 batters. He struck out 41 of those batters (23%). He walked 17 of them (almost 10%). And he gave up 28 hits (almost 16%). Of those hits, 4 were home runs (14%). He intentionally walked 1 batter and hit 2 of them with a pitch. His WHIP was a nice 1.023.

He's got a fastball that used to sit around 95 mph but since he had Tommy John surgery in 2003 has been able to get into the upper nineties. He has an excellent curve and an average changeup. He has just average control of his pitches, though, and struggles with consistency.

Last January, Delcarmen's name came up when the Sox were looking to trade the Rockies for someone to compete with Youkilis for the fullest-beard-in-the-clubhouse award. His name also came up last July in an exchange with the White Sox for Jermaine Dye. The feeling at the time was that the talks broke down because the Sox were unwilling to part with Delcarmen.

If he could improve his control and command, then with that fastball Delcarmen could be a force to be reckoned with. It's hard to tell if the Front Office was unwilling to part with Delcarmen because they thought he could fix those issues or if they were looking for a better deal for him. As a righty out of the pen, Delcarmen has great potential.