The saga of Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton continues today as is has been reported that the Yankees have actually convinced the Padres to offer up a pair of warm bodies and cash for the DFAed Quantrill. The two players acquired, former Royals lefty Darrell May and former Astros righty Tim Redding, are not much to write home about, but it's always nice to get something in return for a player you were planning to release anyway.

Both pitchers will report to Columbus, but it seems to me that May would be a much better choice than Wayne Franklin to fill the roll of second lefty/long man/spot starter with the big club. May, who just turned 33, is almost two years older than Franklin and just as susceptible to the long ball (1.65 HR/9 in nearly 600 major league innings prior to this year to Franklin's 1.61), but he has far better control (2.86 BB/9 through 2004 to Franklin's 4.58), a league average career ERA (5.04, 97 ERA+ to Franklin's 5.47/80) and superior splits.

Franklin has pitched well at Columbus this year (4.13 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 10.74 K/9, 3.03 BB/9, 0.83 HR/9, 3.54 K/BB), but when he was called up it was reported (forgive me, I can't find where I read it) that he had held right handers to a very low batting average. As his opponents were hitting .242 against him overall, that would mean that lefty's are getting to him pretty well. In his major league career, Franklin has a proper split, but not a very strong one:

vs. L: .261/.329/.468 (.265 GPA)
vs. R: .270/.369/.483 (.287)

May's career splits are not available, but here are his splits since 2002, when he returned to the majors after four years pitching in Japan (two as Hideki Matsui's teammate with the Yomiuri Giants):

vs. L: .263/.300/.447 (.247)
vs. R: .280/.332/.518 (.279)

May has a bigger split and lower GPAs against both lefties and righties. What's more there's this split from his time with the Padres thus far this year:

As Starter: 6.94, 1.69 WHIP, .318 BAA
As Reliever: 3.52, 1.39 WHIP, .278 BAA

In addition, while May has indeed been terrible as a starter this year, he did have a strong outing against the Twins less than two weeks ago in which he allowed just one run (a Matt LeCroy homer) in six innings while striking out four and allowing just two other baserunners (both on singles).

So, while the Yankees would still be better off giving that final bullpen slot to a younger player such as Alex Graman or Colter Bean, they've already given themselves the opportunity to improve upon their current roster with the acquisition of May (which is a pretty damning statement now that I think about).

Incidentally, May, who was acquired by the Padres from the Royals in the Terrence Long trade, is making $3.2 million in this, the final year of his contract. As Redding is making $750,000 (some of which is being paid by the Astros) and Quantrill is making just $3 million, the Padres are sending some cash to New York to even things out, making this a classic "my problem for your problem" trade.

As for Redding himself, the Rochester, New York native has been absolutely terrible this year (9.10 ERA, 1.79 WHIP, .328 BAA) and was on the Padres 15-day DL with shoulder problems at the time of the trade. At the same time, those shoulder problems could explain away the terrible line. Here are some interesting snippets from his ESPN.com scouting report:

During an impressive rise through the minors, he was expected to one day be one of the [Astros'] best pitchers, with a two- and four-seam fastball, hard-breaking curve and slider. . . . Astros officials still believe he has great stuff and can be a strong No. 4 or 5 pitcher.

Redding turned in a solid season for Houston in 2003, posting a 3.68 ERA and 5.94 K/9 in 32 starts at age 25, and he holds a minor league career K/9 of 10.80. The problem is his control of both his pitches (career 3.71 BB/9 in the majors, 4.45 BB/9 in the minors) and his emotions (think Jeff Weaver). Still, at age 27, having now passed through two organizations in a matter of months after spending his entire career in the Astros system, there is hope that Redding can put it all together. Certainly the Yankees haven't risked anything to find out if he can. Credit to Brian Cashman for pulling this one off, meaningless as it may seem.