“Geez, what are you guys all doing here? I thought I traded all of you guys.” — Allard Baird, Royals GM, joking while walking through the clubhouse just after the trading deadline
Mark Prior threw 135 pitches yesterday. It was worth it, though, because it pulled the Cubs to within 12 1/2 games of first place in the NL Central and to within 14 games of the Dodgers in the wild-card race.
Look, I’ve made this argument before, so I’m not going to waste a column on it again today. Letting your nominal franchise pitcher throw 135 pitches in a meaningless game is inconsistent with any kind of plan for success. Letting him bat in the bottom of the eighth having thrown 119 pitches is grounds for firing.
I got BP rolling many years ago in large part because of a forecasting system I had created called Vladimir. Vlad was basically a two-step system. The first step was categorization: What type of player is this? What is the shape of his performance? Is he a slow masher? A waterbug? A power-and-speed guy? How…
ANAHEIM ANGELS
Acquired OF-R Alex Ochoa and C-R Sal Fasano from the Brewers for C-L Jorge Fabregas and two PTBNLs. [7/31]
This was an elegant, if low-key, solution to the Angels’ need for some hitting help, depending of course on the likelihood that neither of the PTBNLs are significant prospects. Those odds are pretty low, since the Angels don’t have that many significant prospects in the first place, and they did only get a couple of journeymen. To purge Jorge Fabregas from the roster is a happy development in itself, and beyond that, they get the fourth outfielder they need and a third catcher who makes for a viable option to either of the Molina brothers.
I was thinking about writing about stupid umpiring decisions, having watched Dan Iassogna make an egregious error in judgment yesterday in the Reds/Dodgers game, but Rob Neyer beat me to that one as well. Suffice to say that Eric Gagne should not have been ejected.
I really miss the old midnight ET trade deadline. July 31 used to be a long, fun day of rumors and deals, all leading up to the before- and after-deadline "Baseball Tonight" shows. Now, with the deadline at 4 p.m. ET, it seems like there’s no drama. I’m sure it works better for the teams,…
MLB’s top management is not to be trusted, and needs to be overhauled.
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
Traded CF-L Kenny Lofton to the Giants for RHP Felix Diaz and LHP Ryan Meaux. [7/28]
Kenny Williams’ strategy with Kenny Lofton wasn’t unsound, at least the initial part of it. Sign a veteran down on his luck for a low price and a one-year contract. If you contend with him, that’s great, you have the financial flexibility to help yourself down the stretch. If you don’t, he’s cheap and therefore interesting to other contenders. If he doesn’t hit, then you didn’t spend all that much money.
The Texas Rangers selected Travis Hafner of Cowley County Community College (Arkansas City, Kansas) as a draft-and-follow in the 31st round of the June 1996 draft, and got his signature on a contract just before the 1997 deadline. Now 25 years old, the 6’3″, 240-pound Hafner has developed into one of the most feared hitters in the minor leagues. As of this writing, he is hitting .339/.460/.541 with the Oklahoma RedHawks and leads the Pacific Coast League in on-base percentage and major-league EqA (.302). He took time to speak with us before a recent game against the Tacoma Rainiers.
It’s 11:49 p.m. EDT, and I’m sitting here staring slack-jawed at a 13-inch television set. In St. Louis, the remnants of what was a crowd of 47,000 people are going nuts, and the Cardinals are jumping around as if they’ve won the World Series. Edgar Renteria has just hit a three-run home run to cap a six-run ninth inning, giving the Cards a 10-9 victory.
MONKEYS EQUALS WINNING
“You have to respect the monkey, that’s for sure. Every time he peeks his little head out, something happens for them. You got to respect him or kidnap him, one or the other.”
–Desi Relaford, Mariners infielder, on playing at Edison Field
ANAHEIM ANGELS
Activated RHP Troy Percival from the DL; optioned RHP Lou Pote to Salt Lake. [7/26]
With Troy Percival back, the Angels are in the happy state of having too many relievers doing well at once, with the additional good fortune that several of them have options. Lou Pote loses out not because he’s pitched badly, but because the current hot hands in the pen are Brendan Donnelly, Scot Shields and Ben Weber, and Al Levine just got back from the DL himself. The last slot in the pen is taken by lone lefty Scott Schoeneweis, at least until Dennis Cook comes back off of the DL. Unless Schoeneweis is made somebody else’s fourth starter, he has to stick around. Cook had been doing well as the pen’s left-hander, and Schoeneweis has not, which creates some impetus to make a deal.