Young Fernando Salas has seemingly become this year’s “Yo-Yo Man” for the Cardinals, bouncing back and forth often between Memphis and the big club. Mitchell Boggs and P.J. Walters have previously seen action as the Yo-Yo Man, being called up as an extra arm, to replace an injured pitcher, or just on TLR’s whims – only to be sent back down a few days later.
Using RotoWorld’s transaction register for Salas (for some reason MLB.com had holes where Salas was optioned twice without being recalled) – and an obviously flawed, but close enough for amusement’s sake, system of assuming that Salas left the city where his current team was playing on the day of the transaction and landed in the city where the team he was being sent to was playing on the same day – let’s see how many frequent flyer miles Fernando has racked up in the last four months (hat tip to the flight mileage calculator at WebFlyer):
Contract purchased May 27
Leave Redbirds in Fresno to meet Cardinals in San Diego – 313 miles.
Optioned May 29
Leave Cardinals in Chicago (assumed O’Hare) to meet Redbirds in Memphis – 492 miles.
Recalled June 8
Leave Redbirds in Albuquerque to meet Cardinals in Los Angeles (assumed LAX) – 675 miles.
Optioned June 25
Leave Cardinals in Kansas City to meet Redbirds in Memphis – 392 miles.
Recalled June 29
Leave Redbirds in Albuquerque to meet Cardinals in St. Louis – 932 miles.
Optioned July 2
Leave Cardinals in St. Louis to meet Redbirds in Memphis – 257 miles.
Recalled July 19
Leave Redbirds in Memphis to meet Cardinals in St. Louis – 257 miles.
*** Strangely enough, as much as the I-55 route joke is played, the above are the only two instances of Salas actually traveling between St. Louis and Memphis.
Optioned July 28
Leave Cardinals in New York (assumed La Guardia, closest to Citi Field) to meet Redbirds in New Orleans – 1180 miles.
Recalled August 4
Leave Redbirds in Las Vegas to meet Cardinals in St. Louis – 1370 miles.
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Whew! Those last two trips really tacked on the miles for Fernando, eh?
Grand total of actual mileage – 5,868 miles.
Given that most airlines will award a flat 500 miles for flights under that amount, adjusted miles total is – 6,657 miles.
Salas has a ways to go to get to the 25,000 threshold and qualify for status anywhere – but the nine segments are clutch – only twenty-one more to go!
Unless he’s flying Southwest, in which case, he’s probably already closing in on a Buddy Pass card.
As far as this blogger is concerned, he could stay wherever the Cardinals are for a while.
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Admittedly, I don’t know a ton about the Cards minor league system, but growing up with a step-mother from St. Louis, I do follow the big league club a bit.
What is his options status. Do the Cards like Salas, or do they view him simply as a stop-gap Quadruple-A type player?
They do like him, and I expect he will fit into their bullpen plans for 2011 and beyond.
If he continues to pitch the way he has in his limited time with the big club this season, they won’t be able to keep optioning him. 🙂
Travelin’ Freddy. He’s been pretty good every time up, too.
Indeed. Certainly has fared better than others before him who have bounced back and forth between Memphis and St. Louis.
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