Billy Traber

From SoSH

Contents 1 Overall Career 1.1 College 1.2 Minor League 1.3 Major League 2 Moment in the Sun 3 Trivia 4 Transactions 5 External Links

Overall Career

College

Traber attended Loyola-Marymount University, where he was First-Team All-American and West Coast Conference Player of the Year. He set a single-season school strikeout record with 156 strikeouts (in 123 innings pitched).

Minor League

Traber entered the 2000 Major League Baseball Draft and was picked in the first round (16th overall) by the New York Mets. The Mets were prepared to offer Traber a contract worth $1.3 million, but after an MRI showed some damage to his pitching elbow, he signed a contract worth only $400,000. In 2001, the Mets traded Traber to the Cleveland Indians along with Matt Lawton, Alex Escobar, Earl Snyder, and Jerrod Riggan for Roberto Alomar, Mike Bacsik, and Danny Peoples. The deal to get Traber and the rest for Alomar ultimately beat out another that would have traded Alomar straight across for Gary Sheffield. There he was runner-up minor league pitcher of the year in 2002, going 17-5 for the Akron Aeros (Double-A) and Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A), and was voted by Baseball America as having the best control and curveball in the league. His numbers were also good enough to give him top-honors for Cleveland pitching prospects.

Major League

Billy Traber made his Major League Baseball debut on April 4, 2003. Although he started out well (1.59 ERA, 1-0 record in 7 games that spring) -- even pitching a one-hit shutout of the New York Yankees on July 8 -- Traber's season fell apart when elbow problems that haunted him in college and the minors came back to end his '03 campaign and ultimately the entire 2004 season when he needed Tommy John surgery, a procedure he would need again in 2007.

During the 2004-2005 offseason, the Boston Red Sox signed Traber. Before playing a single game, the Red Sox non-tendered him. On November 10, 2004, he was claimed by the Indians off waivers and was signed to a minor league deal on December 22, 2004. He was released in October of 2005, then signed with Washington on March 23, 2006, where he would pitch the following two seasons.

On January 5, 2008, Traber signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees and was invited to spring training. On March 15, he was added to the 40-man roster and he opened the season in the Yankee bullpen. He spent much of the season splitting time between the Yankees and their Triple-A affiliate before being designated for assignment on September 1. In December, he signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training to return to the Red Sox.

On August 5, 2009, Traber was called up by the Red Sox to bolster their undermanned bullpen. He would appear in one game, relieving John Smoltz against Traber's former team, the Yankees, giving up five runs in 3.2 innings on nine hits and two home runs. The first batter he faced, Hideki Matsui, grounded into a fielder's choice, beating the throw to first that would have ended the inning by inches. Traber was designated for assignment on August 7th and granted Free Agency in October.

Moment in the Sun

Pitched a one-hitter against the New York Yankees on July 8, 2003. As a Cleveland Indian.

Trivia

Transactions

• update

External Links

• Baseball-Reference.com - Career Statistics and Analysis