Source: LHP and all-around good guy Tony Sipp has been granted his release by the Padres and is signing a major league deal with the Astros.Lin covers the Padres for U-T San Diego, so there's likely something there.
— Dennis Lin (@dennistlin) May 1, 2014
Sipp was acquired by Arizona in the three-team trade with Arizona, Cleveland, and Cincinnati which featured Shin-Soo Choo going to the Reds.
Sipp will be 31 in July and sports a career 3.84 ERA/1.30 WHIP in 258IP - all out of the bullpen. Last season, for Arizona, Sipp threw 37.2IP with a 4.78 ERA/1.51 WHIP. This season with San Diego's Triple-A affiliate in El Paso, Sipp has thrown 14.2IP, 14H/7ER, but with 21K:2BB for a 4.30 ERA/1.09 WHIP (2.23 FIP).
This season, and we're talking about 61 total plate appearances, RHBs have hit .152/.200/.152 (36 PAs) while LHBs have hit .360/.385/.640 in 25 PAs. In 2013, across all levels, RHBs posted a .610 OPS off him while LHBs combined for a .779 OPS.
So if this report is true, and I'm Raul Valdes...I'm nervous.
UPDATE: Yep, looks like it's true. No update on the nervous condition of Raul Valdes. And maybe throwing him under the bus like that is a little hasty.
