Slowey moves on to Cleveland

Kevin Slowey was 39-29
with a 4.66 ERA in his
time with the Twins —
including 0-8, 6.67 in
2001.

When the Twins traded Kevin Slowey to Colorado, about the only good thing in it for the pitcher was that it got him out of what had become a poisonous situation in Minnesota.

Coors Field isn't a prime place to pitch to begin with, and it's particularly inhospitable for an extreme fly-ball pitcher such as Slowey. The Twins, if they were trying to punish him with the trade, picked the right destination.

But things change. The Rockies recently traded outfielder Seth Smith to Oakland for two starting pitchers, giving them a surplus of arms with which to fill out their rotation. Meanwhile, Cleveland starter Fausto Carmona turned out not to be Fausto Carmona. He's really Roberto Hernandez Heredia, and he's really 31, not 28.

There's some speculation that the Indians may seek to negate Carmona/Heredia's contract. At the very least, it's going to be a whole lot more difficult for the pitcher to get his visa.

So the Indians today traded for Slowey. And whereas the Twins netted a pitcher (Daniel Turpen) who didn't fare so well in Double A, the Rockies got Zach Putnam, who (a) has reached the majors; (b) pitched well in Triple A and (c) was ranked by Baseball America as Cleveland's No. 10 prospect.

This situation appears a whole lot better for Slowey. And it also appears, again, that the Twins found another way to mishandle him.