A little about Mr. de la Vara:
24-year old lefty reliever in the Kansas City system (big shock: Easy Eddie takes more pitching from Dayton Moore. We're not providing relocation expenses from Royals Cul-de-Sac to Astros County).
2.76 ERA for the Royals AA team. 2 saves. 21 Ks/15 BBs in 32 innings. Started 2007 in A+ ball, bumped up to AA. Sent back to A+ in 2008, and bumped back up to AA. Total K:BB in 2008 was 52:27. WHIP in the low 1.10s. Only gave up one homer in 77 innings last year.
Update:
For the Surprise Rafters (which sounds like a terrible fantasy football team name) in the Arizona Fall League, de la Vara was 0-0 with a 6.16 ERA in 12 games, 22 Ks in 19 innings (12 BBs) and a .316 BAA. He gave up runs in 5 of his last 10 appearances.
Another Update:
Easy Eddie said this: "He's a two-pitch left-hander," Wade said. "He has an average fastball and good secondary pitches. We see him as a middle reliever, situational left-hander. Anytime you can add more left-handed pitching into the mix, it behooves you to try."
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
