| The Trickle-Down Effect |
| Apparently the Mariners are peddling the story that Rafael Soriano had to be traded last winter because he was a bad dude. According to the Seattle Times Mariners blog, there's been "back channel whispering" about it all year. Sounds like classic CYA to me. But let's take this "whispering" at its word. Even if Soriano was some kind of clubhouse cancer and you absolutely had to exile him, you still have to get a much (much!) better deal than ... Horacio Ramirez. Even if he had the social skills of Joey Belle, Soriano was worth much more than an injury-plagued pitcher who's career-best K:BB ratio is an ugly 1.39, and who probably wouldn't have been offered arbitration by the Braves anyway and instead just released, which means the Mariners could have had him for free.
And Even if you didn't get full-price for Soriano, you still had to get a working part that adds value to your club. Instead, the Mariners got quite possibly the worst trade in team history. Yes, worse than the much-lamented Jason Varitek/Derek Lowe-for-Heathcliff Slocumb trade. Consider the unintended consequences (in addition to Ramirez's total worthlessness and that Soriano is now closing for the Braves) of this debacle:
No. 1 pick Brandon Morrow replaced Soriano in the bullpen istead of going to the minors to develop as a starter. Morrow now is slated to go to winter ball to learn the starting ropes, though word around the sowing circle says Morrow isn't keen on spending his winter in Venezuela with Hugo Chavez and at this point would rather just stay in the pen. But even if Morrow acquiesces, six weeks or so of winter competition and then a month of spring training isn't enough time as a starter to join the big league rotation.
So the Mariners won't have Morrow available to start in 2008, and they won't have anything to show for losing Soriano (unless you've lost your mind like this guy and actually think the M's might bring Ramirez back), meaning they have to either sign or trade for two starters or fill the spots with mediocre farmhands, in which case their 2008 is guaranteed to mirror their 2007. Well, no one wants that, so -- the free-agent cupboard bare and the M's not deft at unearthing diamonds in the rough -- they'll be almost forced to trade a couple of their top prospects -- Adam Jones, Wladimir Balentien or Jeff Clement -- for starting pitching.
So, to sum up, because they traded for Horacio Ramirez, the Mariners won't have Morrow next year and/or Jones, Balentien or Clement for forever, and they still have Soriano's hole in the pen to fill.
That's a heckuva trickle-down trade. You'd think that would certainly cost a GM his job, no? Well, no. The Mariners announced Thursday that Bill Bavasi will return to his post in 2008. Sweet fancy Moses indeed.
Posted by Jason Thornbury at 9/27/2007 4:26:00 PM |
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| Here's Your Worthless Stat O' The Day |
| Wednesday was the first time a team batted first in its own ballpark since 1913. Seattle was the "visiting team" at Safeco Field, and batted first, because the Indians and Mariners were making up a snowed-out game in Cleveland from April. So, in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader, the Indians were the home team, and in the second game, the Mariners were the home team.
This creates a sort-of messy situation with home/road stats. As far as I can tell, the stats were tallied as road stats for Cleveland and home stats for Seattle. Years from now, when some kid is looking at Ichiro Suzuki's stats on the back of his baseball card, he's going to think he's looking at a typo when he sees that for 2007 Ichiro played in 82 home games (assuming, of course, he doesn't take a day off this weekend).
Posted by Jason Thornbury at 9/27/2007 8:45:00 AM |
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| Has Ned Yost Completely Lost It? |
| Despite a large percentage of Brewers fans calling for Ned Yost's head most of the season, I was willing to cut him some slack because I know that a manager really isn't worth more than a few wins or losses during a season. But starting with some dubious decisions late in August, he's chipped away and tonight was the last straw. I'm really going to hate to see him back next season.
With the Cardinals leading 3-2 in the top of the eighth inning, Yost brought in Seth McClung to face Albert Pujols with one out and the bases empty. It was an odd choice since McClung is pretty low on the bullpen totem pole and Derrick Turnbow was warming up alongside him in the pen. Everything became clear when McClung hit Pujols with the first pitch intentionally, which was retaliation for Larussa hitting Fielder intentionally earlier in the game, which went back to the previous night's game. Now, I understand that you want to protect your players, but why on earth would put purposely put a player on base in a one run game with a chance to get within one game of the division leader? The Brewers bullpen is no where good enough to do that.
Turnbow then came in, got a quick out, allowed a hit then walked two guys in a row to walk in a run (the last was Kelly Stinnett on four pitches, but Turnbow should be another whole rant). After that it fell apart and the Cardinals scored three more runs.
How can a manager feel that intentionally hitting a batter and soothing his ego is more important than keeping a game close while in a pennant race?
Posted by Herb at 9/26/2007 8:44:00 PM |
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| Eckstein News Update ... |
| "Manager Tony La Russa may pull Eckstein in games this weekend to protect his .300 batting average, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
"Eckstein, who is hitting .307, has never finished a season over .300. He doesn't seem to care about the mark, but La Russa is insistent on getting it for him, even to the point that he may bench Eckstein on the last day of the season to protect it. Our condolences if this move costs you a place in your final standings."
That's weak sauce. If you want to bat .300, go out and get it. Don't "protect yourself" by sitting. Ted Williams must be turning over in his ice cube tray.
Posted by Jason Thornbury at 9/26/2007 4:38:00 PM |
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| San Diego Slides Away |
| Four days ago, the San Diego Padres were riding a seven-game winning streak and cementing their playoff hopes. Now, they have lost four in a row and are clinging to a wild card tie with Philadelphia as the Rockies and Braves lurk within striking distance. It's only a matter of time before the Padres are eliminated, in my opinion. Milton Bradley's eruption on Sunday led to one of the most bizarre sports injuries in recent memory, as manager Bud Black's tackle tore Bradley's ACL and could sideline him for all of 2008. Starting center fielder Mike Cameron is also out for the rest of the regular season after colliding with Bradley earlier in the game. The Padres' problems, however, started long before Sunday. Since June 7, the team is only 49-48. No. 2 starter Chris Young hasn't won since July 19, No. 3 starter Greg Maddux's back is acting up and the team's Nos. 4 and 5 starters are Brett Tomko and Jack Cassel. How did the Padres let this happen? General manager Kevin Towers started playing roster roulette in late July, dealing important set-up man Scott Linebrink and angering many veterans in the process. Towers later designated David Wells for assignment -- perhaps he'd like to take that one back now? He brought in a revolving door of cast-offs, including the volatile Bradley and Michael Barrett, plus spare parts like Scott Hairston, Brady Clark, Morgan Ensberg and Rob Mackowiak. Towers has made a lot of good trades over the years, but he will end up costing the Padres a 2007 playoff spot. Not only did his frequent additions fail to help the team, but they seriously disrupted the club's chemistry. San Diego isn't a very good team right now, partially because of injuries but partially because of bad decisions. Where is this team going? It has two glaring holes in its rotation heading towards 2008 and its lineup is awful. Cameron will probably leave as a free agent, which means that the only starting position players under contract for next year are Josh Bard, Brian Giles, Adrian Gonzalez, Khalil Greene and Kevin Kouzmanoff. The bullpen has uncharacteristically struggled during the second half and all-world closer Trevor Hoffman is showing signs of slowing as he approaches 40 years old. San Diego's farm system is a wasteland, so don't expect much help there, and the Padres' roster is getting old in a hurry. I don't think the Padres will make the playoffs this year and they could find themselves looking up at the entire NL West next season if they don't overhaul their roster this winter.
Posted by Ted Rossman at 9/25/2007 9:44:00 AM |
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| Devil, be gone |
They've broken up the Devil Rays. It's almost official; starting next season, Tampa Bay's American League franchise will just be called the "Rays", and they'll have new uniforms next season, as you can see here. Since Stuart Sternberg has taken over control of the franchise, he's pursued re-naming the club, both to break from years of losing tradition and (reportedly) to get rid of any bad luck caused by having the word "devil" in the name. The new uniforms are ... well, simple. Yeah, that's one way to put it. Thoughts?
Posted by Gus Papadopoulos at 9/25/2007 6:44:00 AM |
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