“With almost any of our pitchers, we have to be ready to score four or five runs. At least that many.”
— Charlie Manuel, manager of the Phillies, on the quality of his rotation (Philadelphia Inquirer).
Back, and on time. I’m going with a new format this week.
Fantasy Trading
One of the highlights for some baseball fans is the possibility of big deals being made. Well, one of the biggest deals of the year (that no one knew about) is dead. According to Newsday.com, the Florida Marlins made a pitch to the Mets that would send Dontrelle Willis up the coast for David Wright, straight up.
Now let me play devil’s advocate: I think this deal would have been great for both side.
Florida would have given up the second to last piece of their World Series pie, but they would have gotten a player that will be the best third baseman in baseball. Wright, at age 23, is one of the centerpieces of the Mets team, and would have been the cornerstone of the Marlins. With Wright at third, Miguel Cabrera moves back to the left field, where he is a decent player; no matter where he plays, his impact is with the bat and not the glove. Josh Willingham would then move into platoon situations with Mike Jacobs at first and Miguel Olivio at catcher. Olivio hasn’t lived up to potential in the past, and Mike Jacobs will not be a long-term answer at first; limiting their playing time while also keep them fresh. They could have had a line up like this:
SS – Hanley Ramirez
CF – Eric Reed/Reggie Abercrombie
3B – David Wright
LF – Miguel Cabrera
RF – Jeremy Hermida
C/1B – Josh Willingham
1B/C – Mike Jacobs/Miguel Olivio
2B – Dan Uggla
Pitcher
Losing Dontrelle won’t hurt as much as one would think. While he was the Cy Young runner up last year, he is one injury away from being on the sidelines. His unique mechanics make trainers cringe and the slightest change is disastrous for his game (see the World Baseball Classic). The Marlins are stocked with young arms, including Scott Olsen, Josh Johnson, and Yusmeiro Petit, which will be ready shortly. With all of this and the added talent of Wright, the Marlins would be ready for their next title run 7 years after the past one.
SP – Scott Olsen
SP – Josh Johnson
SP – Jason Vargas
SP – Brian Mohler
SP – Sergio Mitre
The Mets would get blasted for this deal, but they could spin it in their favor. Every Mets fan was pushing for the team to make a deal for Barry Zito while knowing he was going to be a free agent at the end of the season. With Willis, they have a couple of years before free agency. They have to realize that Tom Glavine will start to show his age soon, that they failed with the Victor Zambrano Experiment, and Steve Tracshel should have been put out of his misery before now. If they scrapped Zambrano or Tracshel now, they could move Aaron Heilman to the rotation, where he belongs. They also have the flexibility to work around the opening at third. Xavier Nady played third in college, and part time last year for San Diego. He could slide right in and hold his own. For his spot in the outfield, they could get the fans excited with a promotion to Lastings Milledge, who is doing well in the minors. He is the Mets top prospect and should be replacing Wright’s productivity in time. They will still have Victor Diaz as their fourth outfielder. Their lineup could look something like this:
SS – Jose Reyes
LF – Lastings Milledge
CF – Carlos Beltran
1B – Carlos Delgado
RF – Cliff Floyd
3B – Xavier Nady
C – Paul LoDuca
2B – Anderson Hernandez/Kaz Matsui
Pitcher spot
Their rotation would be:
SP – Pedro Martinez
SP – Dontrelle Willis
SP – Aaron Heilman
SP – Brian Bannister (Zambrano while he is out)
SP – Steve Tracshel/John Maine
The Mets would have a better pitching staff and wouldn’t loose a ton in the line up. The Marlins would have another impact young bat, but they would have to go with a pretty young rotation.
Disaster in Durham
Now everyone knows the Devil Rays have some problems. Everyone knows about the Delmon Young incident. Here’s my take on the D-Rays Triple A situation and a run down of what has happened.
Young, the top prospect in baseball and little brother to Dmitri Young, got upset on a called third strike and was tossed from the game when arguing the call. Young started to walk away but promptly threw his bat at the umpire (Note: it wasn’t tossed, nor was is thrown at the ground and bounce up). The ump was hit in the chest protector and was more stunned than hurt. No penalty has been assessed yet, but Young hasn’t played since the incident. I would expect him to be gone for the year.
Not even a week later, outfield prospect and known hothead Elijah Dukes was suspended from the team for a week for conduct detrimental to the team. According to Baseball America, ” … Dukes was sent home to Tampa last week from Triple-A Durham after getting into several shouting matches with a teammate and coach, according to the Tampa Tribune. Perhaps trying to show some leadership, Dukes blew up at an unnamed Bulls pitcher when the pitcher left the dugout for the clubhouse after being taken out of the game. But after he got on the pitcher, he got into it with hitting coach Richie Hebner, and the Rays had enough. According to some reports, Tampa Bay has suspended him for a week. The Devil Rays did not return comment.” Dukes has a history of suspension and immature behavior in his tenure with the D-Rays.
The last problem in Durham is the defense of B.J. Upton. Through May 4th, Upton has committed 13 errors this year, including 3 that night. Tampa Bay even brought in defensive wiz Ozzie Smith to work with him in Spring Training. Upton is a gifted player, but a stubborn one; when the D-Rays approached him about changing positions, he countered with a trade demand if that were to happen. It’s one thing for an established player (aka Alfonso Soriano) to do this, but Upton has a handful of Major League at bats and hasn’t had enough time for his arbitration clock to start.
How the D-Ray got new owners is beyond me, but they need to fix things fast. They are on the right track with Joe Maddon as the manager, and they have changed the front office; but they are in one of the toughest divisions in baseball. They are so far behind the Diamondbacks in terms of direction it’s not even funny. They are also working to solve the minor league problem; they hired the Cubs former farm director, who was responsible for some of the top pitching prospects in baseball. This year’s draft will be a good indication of where they are going.
Prospect Profile
Name: Jason Hirsh
Position: Starting Pitcher
Team: Round Rock Express (Triple A)
Organization: Houston Astros
Born: 02/20/1982
Drafted: 2nd round (59th overall) in 2003
School: California Lutheran University
Honors: Texas League Pitcher of the Year, 2005; Astros Top Prospect, 2006 by Baseball America, John Sickels, SportsBlurb (John Franco), RotoJunkie, Inside The Dugout.
Ranks: Baseball America=49, Roto America=34, Baseball Analysts=32, Fox Sports/Dayn Perry=5, USA Today Pitchers=68, Warm October Nights=14, Inside The Dugout=60, Roto World=24, Sports Illustrated=70
Career Stats:
Yr Team League Age Level W-L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H ER HR BB K
03 Tri City NY Penn 21 Lo A 3-1 1.95 10 8 0 0 32.1 22 7 0 7 33
04 Salem Carolina 22 Hi A 11-7 4.01 26 23 0 0 130.1 126 58 8 57 96
05 Corpus Christi Texas 23 AA 13-8 2.87 29 29 1 1 172.1 137 55 12 42 165
Totals 27-16 3.22 65 60 1 1 335.0 287 120 20 106 294
Hirsh was an unknown coming out of high school and went to Division III Cal Lutheran. The Astros saw the potential and took him in the 2nd round in 2003. He struggle in pro debut, but rebounded nicely in 2005 while showing he can handle a starters workload. He has a low-mid 90s fastball, a plus slider, and an average changeup. He has good control numbers (K/BB) and above average H/9 and K/9.
Hirsh has had a rough start at Triple A this year (through 05/04):
W-L G GS IP H HR ER BB K ERA
1-2 6 6 31.2 28 2 17 13 27 4.83
He is still showing decent command, but may not be anything more than a 3rd starter. He is still young enough that he could develop more, but time will tell. One thing in his favor is he arm is fresh; he didn’t have an over worked college career. He will be the first pitcher called up if another one of Houston’s starters goes down with an injury.
Injury Report
It’s back, just like Todd Helton this weekend…Mark Mulder went back to St. Louis to have his back checked; he is cleared to play, but the Cardinals could be cautious…The Royals have expressed interest in Mike Sweeney retiring; it could rid the team of the injury prone start since no one will take him in a trade…Billy Wagner is pitching through pain, which is affecting his grip on the ball; he could be shut down if it gets worse…David Wells is supposed to begin rehab starts again; he is still experiencing some pain but wants to pitch through it…Kerry Wood will be starting rehabbing in the Minors soon…Mark Prior had a bout of food poisoning that set him back a few days; he is next for the Cubs to have rehab starts…Wade Miller is still battling shoulder trouble; his last throwing session went well, but he felt the pain a couple of days later…Darin Erstad took a cortisone injection for his ankle; look for Chone Figgins to play center and possibly Howie Kendrick to play third…The White Sox will let Jermaine Dye get a few extra days off to help his injured leg…The Yankees are doing the same with Gary Sheffield’s wrists…Look for Coco Crisp in the next couple of weeks…
Other News and Notes
Carlos Silva is back on track; his pitching coach noticed his head was slightly tilted to first base while he pitched…Scott Rolen is back…With the Cubs having 2 of their best pitchers out, they need more from Carlos Zambrano; he’s been looking like Victor Zambrano this season…The Roger Clemens saga will really heat up now; apparently the Astros have begun the bidding at $18 million…Oliver Perez and Ryan Doumit have been offered to the Phillies, but for whom is unknown…The Cubs are interested in Jeff Conine and Kevin Millar as fill ins for Derek Lee…Kansas City’s front office may get an overhaul soon…The Twins, in the middle of one of the worst starts in baseball, could move Kyle Lohse, Torii Hunter, Shannon Stewart, or Rondell White if things don’t turn around soon…
Finding the Pulse
Daniels looks at contraction and expansion in baseball.
IP Radio has post-draft football talk.
Patrick compares the draft to The View.
Baseball Power Rankings
Check out everything else too.
There you have it. Let me know what you think or anything you want me to cover. I’ll be back next week with the most updated rankings.
