Saarloos traded to the Reds for prospect and player to be named later

Hat Tip to Athletics Nation diarist oak1:

MLB radio reported that Kirk Saarloos has beentraded to the Reds for minor
league reliefpitcher David Shafer and a player to be namedlater. Saarloos is
making an appearance onMLB radio later on today. Shafer is a minorleague AA
pitcher with a 2.60 ERA and 26 saves.

Some notes on Shafer from the comments in the same diary:

Shafer, 25, was 1-2 with a 2.36 ERA (13er in 49.2ip) with 26 saves in 44
appearances for Double-A Chattanooga last season. He struck out 52 batters in
his 49.2 innings of work, issued just 16 walks, allowed just two home runs and
limited hitters to a .204 batting average. His 26 saves were tied for second in
the Southern League. Over the past two seasons, he has limited hitters to a .207
average (77-207). Originally selected in the 32nd round of the 2001 First-Year
Player Draft, Shafer has posted a 14-16 record and a 2.59 ERA (71er in 246.1ip)
to go along with 63 saves in 169 minor league appearances, including seven
career starts. He has struck out 269 batters in his 246.1 innings of work while
walking 74 batters and limiting opponents to a .219 (200-915) batting average. A
native of Flagstaff, Ariz., Shafer attended Central Arizona Community College.
He will be placed on Oakland's 40-man roster.

Here's his stats, etc from The Baseball Cube. I like his WHIP, K/9, and K totals.

It will be interesting to see who the player-to-be-named-later is. I was not too surprised, but a little sad, to see Kirk Saarloos go. While he certainly wasn't an ace, he was extremely versatile, filling in rotation spots and a multitude of bullpen duties with little griping or whining and decent performance. I definitely think he deserves a rotation spot on somebody's team and hope the Reds give him that chance. I think eventually he'll develop into a pitcher somewhere between Saarloos v.2005 and Saarloos v.2006, which isn't too shabby.

Update: The Pastime has these comments:

I’d guess Shafer will play in Sacramento most of this year, get a September
call-up, and then try to make the team as a set-up man out of Spring Training in
2008.