Friday, July 25, 2003
Take My Contract, Please.
If I were the Pirates, I'd hold onto and build around Brian Giles. But Dave Littlefield must believe trading him is the only way they're going to get rid of Jason Kendall. They almost got a sucker, eh, uh, I mean taker, for both earlier this month when the Padres were ready to part with a bevy of prospects to close the deal. Among the rumored were Josh Barfield and Khalil Greene, who has performed at every minor league level and appears ready for the big leagues. (So, naturally, the Padres are going to pursue a top-notch shortstop free agent this fall--did somebody say Tejada?)
Towers probably was drooling with the thought of featuring a lineup that included Phil Nevin, Ryan Klesko, Giles and Miggy. Add senior leadership like Trevor Hoffman and Jason Kendall, and blooming talent like Sean Burroughs, you'll have a team that can score a lot of runs. Pitching? Mmm, not so much. Towers has said that he'll have another $20m in revenue to play with next year. He apparently opted to not spend it all on Giles and Kendall.
The Pirates? They still need to get rid of money. Nothing is more ominous than Kendall's contract. He signed a six year deal in November of 2000 that is heavily loaded in the final three years. Next year his salary is a fairly overprcied $8m, but the Pirates will be on the hook for $34 million in the final three. This is for a guy who's slugging percentage is under .400, third worst amongst qualifying major league catchers.
Knowing the way Beane works, he probably had worked out a deal with the Pirates for Giles and was trying like hell to make it a three way, trying to sucker, eh, uh, i mean intice someone into taking Kendall and perhaps a top prospect. He found no takers. As it should be.
If I were the Pirates, I'd hold onto and build around Brian Giles. But Dave Littlefield must believe trading him is the only way they're going to get rid of Jason Kendall. They almost got a sucker, eh, uh, I mean taker, for both earlier this month when the Padres were ready to part with a bevy of prospects to close the deal. Among the rumored were Josh Barfield and Khalil Greene, who has performed at every minor league level and appears ready for the big leagues. (So, naturally, the Padres are going to pursue a top-notch shortstop free agent this fall--did somebody say Tejada?)
Towers probably was drooling with the thought of featuring a lineup that included Phil Nevin, Ryan Klesko, Giles and Miggy. Add senior leadership like Trevor Hoffman and Jason Kendall, and blooming talent like Sean Burroughs, you'll have a team that can score a lot of runs. Pitching? Mmm, not so much. Towers has said that he'll have another $20m in revenue to play with next year. He apparently opted to not spend it all on Giles and Kendall.
The Pirates? They still need to get rid of money. Nothing is more ominous than Kendall's contract. He signed a six year deal in November of 2000 that is heavily loaded in the final three years. Next year his salary is a fairly overprcied $8m, but the Pirates will be on the hook for $34 million in the final three. This is for a guy who's slugging percentage is under .400, third worst amongst qualifying major league catchers.
Knowing the way Beane works, he probably had worked out a deal with the Pirates for Giles and was trying like hell to make it a three way, trying to sucker, eh, uh, i mean intice someone into taking Kendall and perhaps a top prospect. He found no takers. As it should be.
Thursday, July 24, 2003
Running the Fast Break
How you play coming out of the All-Star break won't win you a playoff slot. But it can fully knock you out of one. The smart money was on the D'backs to body slam the Giants in the second half with their "varsity" returning, starting with Johnson and Schilling. It hasn't worked out that way. The Giants have put the pedal to floor post break and they're trying to make the NL West a laugher.
Today, they put a seven game win streak on the line as emergency starter Chad Zerbe (Chad Zerbe!!!!) goes up against first half surprise Brandon Webb. But don't bet against the Giants. Every start this week looked like it favored Diamondbacks, but somehow the Giants pulled every one of them out. A win would give them an 11 game lead over the D'backs with 59 to play.
How you play coming out of the All-Star break won't win you a playoff slot. But it can fully knock you out of one. The smart money was on the D'backs to body slam the Giants in the second half with their "varsity" returning, starting with Johnson and Schilling. It hasn't worked out that way. The Giants have put the pedal to floor post break and they're trying to make the NL West a laugher.
Today, they put a seven game win streak on the line as emergency starter Chad Zerbe (Chad Zerbe!!!!) goes up against first half surprise Brandon Webb. But don't bet against the Giants. Every start this week looked like it favored Diamondbacks, but somehow the Giants pulled every one of them out. A win would give them an 11 game lead over the D'backs with 59 to play.
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Walking The Plank
This is how bad it's getting for the Pirates. The Cubs wanted Kenny Lofton. Bad. How bad? Well, if you saw any of the Cubs Braves matchup yesterday it's become painfully obvious. Trinidad Hubbard nearly misplayed a routine pop in the outfield, and an inning later, turned a fairly deep popup in center into a double. With Tom Goodwin looking like he is going to be out a while, the Cubs had no centerfield options. None, nada, kaput.
But nothing in baseball is free, and since the Cubs really didn't want to give up any prospects for Bad Mood Kenny, they had to take on salary. Big salary. And that's what they did by taking on Ramirez. This is how little the Cubs wanted Ramirez: to make the deal happen, the Pirates kicked in cash to help with his salary next year. Think about it. The Pirates are a sinking ship with financial problems, yet they still kick in cash to one of America's richest media conglomerates to be rid of Ramirez. How will Ramirez do for the Cubs? Let me just say that Christian Ruzich points out that he's the 98th replacement for Ron Santo.
They also dealt Scott Sauerbeck to the Red Sox yesterday. Sauerbeck had a $1.5 million salary, so of course the Pirates spiced it up by adding a left handed reliever who throws 95 mph, Mike Gonzalez. He ranks number nine in Baseball America's Pirates top prospects list (meaning he'd be #3 on the Red Sox list) and seems almost ready to take a major league job. What's next: if you take Kendall's freight, we'll give you lefty Sean Burnett? For the burden of Brian Giles we'll include John VanBenschoten?
This, of course, is not Dave Littlefield's problem. It's a payroll issue. The Pirates have to dump salary. Now. Not later. Right this minute. Let's just hope they can hold onto their top cheap talent while doing so.
Also: We're adding a new blogger to the mix, Lev Kushner. He hails from Red Sox Natio..., ok, I refuse to say that. He follows the Red Sox and should add more asinine, biting, acerbic posts to our inanity. Welcome Lev.
This is how bad it's getting for the Pirates. The Cubs wanted Kenny Lofton. Bad. How bad? Well, if you saw any of the Cubs Braves matchup yesterday it's become painfully obvious. Trinidad Hubbard nearly misplayed a routine pop in the outfield, and an inning later, turned a fairly deep popup in center into a double. With Tom Goodwin looking like he is going to be out a while, the Cubs had no centerfield options. None, nada, kaput.
But nothing in baseball is free, and since the Cubs really didn't want to give up any prospects for Bad Mood Kenny, they had to take on salary. Big salary. And that's what they did by taking on Ramirez. This is how little the Cubs wanted Ramirez: to make the deal happen, the Pirates kicked in cash to help with his salary next year. Think about it. The Pirates are a sinking ship with financial problems, yet they still kick in cash to one of America's richest media conglomerates to be rid of Ramirez. How will Ramirez do for the Cubs? Let me just say that Christian Ruzich points out that he's the 98th replacement for Ron Santo.
They also dealt Scott Sauerbeck to the Red Sox yesterday. Sauerbeck had a $1.5 million salary, so of course the Pirates spiced it up by adding a left handed reliever who throws 95 mph, Mike Gonzalez. He ranks number nine in Baseball America's Pirates top prospects list (meaning he'd be #3 on the Red Sox list) and seems almost ready to take a major league job. What's next: if you take Kendall's freight, we'll give you lefty Sean Burnett? For the burden of Brian Giles we'll include John VanBenschoten?
This, of course, is not Dave Littlefield's problem. It's a payroll issue. The Pirates have to dump salary. Now. Not later. Right this minute. Let's just hope they can hold onto their top cheap talent while doing so.
Also: We're adding a new blogger to the mix, Lev Kushner. He hails from Red Sox Natio..., ok, I refuse to say that. He follows the Red Sox and should add more asinine, biting, acerbic posts to our inanity. Welcome Lev.
Monday, July 21, 2003
Giles-mania
With Jermaine Dye possibly out of the season, it looks like the Pirates are ready to accept a king's ransom of prospects to the Pirates for he-man Brian Giles. This would be a monster trade for the A's, but leads to many questions.
-Will Giles accept a trade to the A's?
It's clear that this trade would be a rent-a-player deal as the A's don't have the resources to sign someone of his caliber of offensive force long-term. So would Giles uproot his life for a three month gig in the East Bay, even if it's to a pennant chase?
-Why would the A's mortgage the farm for Giles?
Some of the names being passed around are Bobby Crosby, the A's future shortstop in waiting and Nick Swisher, one of the team's best hitting prospects. Does it make sense for the A's to give up these players for three months.
-Is this the end of the Beane era.
Sooner or later, you have to put a stake in the ground and decide that this is the year you are going to go for it. It's possible that Billy Beane has decided that this *is* the year. The pitching is maturing to their best level and Tejada won't be retained after this season. Every year after this one, a main cog of the team is going to walk because of free agency. Maybe Beane will give up some of the future right now to make this team a force. If that's the case, would anyone be surprised if Beane opted for greener pastures after the season?
With Jermaine Dye possibly out of the season, it looks like the Pirates are ready to accept a king's ransom of prospects to the Pirates for he-man Brian Giles. This would be a monster trade for the A's, but leads to many questions.
-Will Giles accept a trade to the A's?
It's clear that this trade would be a rent-a-player deal as the A's don't have the resources to sign someone of his caliber of offensive force long-term. So would Giles uproot his life for a three month gig in the East Bay, even if it's to a pennant chase?
-Why would the A's mortgage the farm for Giles?
Some of the names being passed around are Bobby Crosby, the A's future shortstop in waiting and Nick Swisher, one of the team's best hitting prospects. Does it make sense for the A's to give up these players for three months.
-Is this the end of the Beane era.
Sooner or later, you have to put a stake in the ground and decide that this is the year you are going to go for it. It's possible that Billy Beane has decided that this *is* the year. The pitching is maturing to their best level and Tejada won't be retained after this season. Every year after this one, a main cog of the team is going to walk because of free agency. Maybe Beane will give up some of the future right now to make this team a force. If that's the case, would anyone be surprised if Beane opted for greener pastures after the season?
