Big names have been moving all over the place recently. Jim Thome signed with the Twins, Ben Sheets signed with the Athletics, and Rick Ankiel signed with the Royals. Ah, but who cares. Here’s the real important stuff.
One of the most interesting moves of this past week involved a guy who hasn’t even played since 2006, retiring after appearing in only eight minor league games that season. Dave Berg is his name. Anyone remember him? He played in the majors from 1998 to 2004 for the Marlins (1998- 2001) and Blue Jays (2002-2004). In addition, he spent 2005 in the Red Sox organization, and his 2006 season (all eight games of it) in the Rangers organization.
He was recently released by the Rangers, and then reinstated off the voluntarily retired list. Or maybe it was the other way around. News results are few and conflicting. Nevertheless, to see his name mentioned was quite a shocker, and a real blast from the past. What’s next, former Marlins Bruce Aven and Kevin Orie are going to unretire?
Over the course of his seven year career, Berg hit .269 with 430 hits—91 of which were doubles, six of which were triples, and 21 of which were home runs. Perhaps his best year was 1998—his rookie year. He hit .313 in 182 at-bats. He was versatile defensively, playing in over 100 games at second, third and shortstop, as well as a few at first base and in the outfield.
But, the downside is he is now 39 years old. Age is definitely not on his side, especially considering he has not played in a few seasons. I don’t see him doing too much to benefit a team, but you never know—he may be the feel good story of the year.
While some players are coming back, others are leaving—well, sort of. Brian Bocock is leaving the Blue Jays and heading to Philadelphia, who claimed him off waivers. Though I normally laud small moves like this, I have to be honest: I am sort of puzzled by this move, mostly because Bocock’s career batting average is only .228. That is, his career minor league average is .228. In the big leagues, his average is almost 100 points lower than that—.143. Furthermore, he’s played more games in A-ball than in all other leagues combined, having seen scant success at that level.
That said, it’s not all bad with Bocock. He has some good speed, stealing as many as 41 bases in a minor league season (though that may be an aberration—he’s never stolen more than eight in any other season). As well, he has shown some flashes of offensive success. For example, he hit .292 in 39 games with the Augusta Greenjackets in 2007, and he’s hit as many as 28 doubles in a season. I imagine his role will be as “filler.”
And a quick note: the Reds signed Miguel Cairo. Last year, he did not walk once in 45 at-bats, a fairly amazing “feat”. I thought such an accomplishment would be rare, but since 2000, there have been 16 instances of a non-pitcher having 45 or more at-bats in a season and not walking once. If you include pitchers, it’s happened 86 times since then.
