Transaction Analysis: July 6-11, 1999

When a guy like Greene–who fields like a DH–sees his OBP drop to .276, I
suppose even the Angels have to get frustrated with him. With Tim Salmon
gearing up for a return, and with Jim Edmonds perhaps five or six weeks
away, there wasn’t going to be much playing time for Greene anyway.

What’s strange about the move is what it leaves the Angels with: three
utility infielders (Andy Sheets, Jeff Huson and Tim Unroe), three catchers
(Matt Walbeck, Bret Hemphill and Steve Decker) and Reggie Williams and
Orlando Palmeiro playing a whole lot of outfield. Until Salmon returns,
some of the aforementioned guys get Greene’s ABs. That, friends, is just
one way to make a bad offense worse.

Acquired RHP Matt Mantei from the Marlins for RHPs Vladimir
Nunez and Brad Penny and a PTBNL; transferred RHP Todd
Stottlemyre from the 15- to the 60-day DL; optioned CF Dante
Powell to Tucson; purchased the contract of RHP Erik Sabel from
Tucson. [7/9]

We’ll leave the frying for later, in the Marlins’ section. I guess the
nicest thing you can say about the trade is that Buck Showalter now has a
very interesting closer comination. Normally, when we think of platoons, we
think of lefty-righty advantages. But with Olson and his still-good curve,
and Mantei and his blistering heat, will Showalter pick and choose his
moments for each, in what would be a really unconventional closer platoon?
I don’t think he will, but the opportunity is there.

Calling up Sabel seems a bit strange, even if it is only for middle relief:
he wasn’t pitching all that well, having given up 30 runs in 59 innings
this year at El Paso and Tucson.

Maybe I’m being melodramatic, but this sort move sort of sums of the ’90s
for me. Ripken’s being paid for who he is, or more appropriately, who he
was. He’s going to be paid an awful lot of money for it, sort of like
Sylvester Stallone in any flick he gets his mug into, and with about the
same level of usefulness.

The measure of the wealth he’s accumulated in this decade puts to shame any
notions of the ’80s being the decade of greed. Why is it the organization
has to make the sacrifice in this situation? Okay, maybe I’m being silly to
complain about how Peter Angelos spends his money, but Ripken’s been below
average for most of the decade, and while that may be good enough for
politicians or insurance companies, it chaws my hide to see it be
sufficient for ballplayers.

Assuming that the Angelos coffers are not the proverbial horn of plenty,
never to be emptied, every extra dollar spent on avoiding a possible
confrontation with Cal is that much money not spent on fixing this team’s
various problems.

Activated 3B John Valentin from the DL; designated UT Chad
Fonville for assignment. [7/11]

Wolcott didn’t get much of an opportunity, posting an 8.10 ERA in four
mopup outings. Given the state of pitching today, you’d think somebody
would claim him.

The interesting dilemma here is whether John Valentin really gets all of
his playing time back from Wilton Veras, or even Lou Merloni. The Sox are
already saddled with the weak offensive contributions of Damon Buford,
Darren Lewis and Jason Varitek, and Valentin has struggled terribly this
year. If the Sox didn’t also have some other problems–how do you keep Mark
Portugal around when he can only pitch well against the Devil Rays? If you
just leave Pat Rapp out in the sun, will he evaporate and go away?–they
might take the time to address a lineup that desperately needs improving,
especially with the Jays slowly regrouping from their early-season bout
with the sillies.

Garces is back for another spin, and while he has put up a nice 3.25 at
Pawtucket, the five home runs allowed in 27 2/3 innings should be reason
for fear.

The Cubs make a few tacit acknowledgements here. First, Benito Santiago has
been a disaster; second, Tyler Houston really is going to play third base
for the rest of the year, as threatened; and third, the end of Sandy
Martinez’ career as a Cub is on the horizon.

It’s very unlikely that the Cubs will carry three catchers–four if you
count Houston–and Lance Johnson is supposed to be activated at the end of
the week. So Martinez will be exposed to waivers, and to the shock of the
Cubs’ front office, will almost certainly go unclaimed. He isn’t
inexperienced, he’s almost 27 and he’s bad, not much of which has changed
for several years.

Demoting Myers may be a mistake, not because he has pitched well–he
hasn’t–but because it leaves the Cubs with the following bullpen: an
injury-prone Matt Karchner, a recuperating Terry Adams, a highly flammable
Rick Aguilera, and just one right-hander who you might leave out there for
two innings, Scott Sanders. Add that to two situational lefties (Felix
Heredia and Ray King), and that’s a bullpen that basically demands that
that starters get into the seventh every night.

Recalled LHP Todd Rizzo from Charlotte. [7/10]

Daneker isn’t really being demoted, just being sent back to make a start
during the All-Star break before being recalled.

What’s interesting is that by promoting Rizzo, the Sox are basically
running a competition for two spots in the bullpen among Rizzo, Scott Eyre
and Bryan Ward. Rizzo is probably the best bet to stick, since he’s shown
some effectiveness at retiring left-handers at Charlotte this year (.161
average, no home runs allowed), but his wildness can be daunting,
especially with runners aboard.

The hidden possibility here is that with James Baldwin scuffling along with
a 6.62 ERA, Eyre or even Ward might get a crack at a start or two. For
whatever reason–and he’s provided several–Ron Schueler seems reluctant to
call up Kevin Beirne or Carlos Castillo to take a spot in the rotation, and
Tom Fordham has been flattened at Triple-A this year. So should the Sox
decide to bump Baldwin back to the pen–since they can’t send him to the
minors–Eyre could get a look.

Wainhouse flopped again, but this time the call came for the Rox to get
that second left-hander that Jim Leyland has been coveting. What’s sort of
silly is that Porzio is wild (30 walks in 42 2/3 innings, to go with a 3.38
ERA, 44 hits allowed and 33 strikeouts), a situational relief role is a
terrible way to break somebody in. It’s already a waste of Chuck McElroy to
keep him in the role, but asking a rookie to do it is even more short-sighted.

Fired pitching coach Rick Adair, and named Dan Warthen
pitching coach. [7/9]

Like a sack of cats a farmer’s tossed into the lake, the Tigers start
tearing each other up. Well, maybe not. Warthen is another one of Randy
Smith’s Pad people, so Adair’s probably being fired just to make way for a
favorite more than he’s being canned because this team expects better from
Air Blair.

This basically makes up for the Mike Lowell trade over the winter, in which
Dave Dombrowski gave up three good arms for a guy not much better than the
third baseman he already had, Kevin Orie. It’s also a great move because of
the payoff it represents: in exchange for nurturing Mantei through several
injuries after making him a Rule 5 pick for in 1995, and with less than 100
good major league innings under his belt, Dombrowski converted him into two
good pitching prospects and potentially a third.

"Good" actually understates the case. Penny is the real prize,
and would have been worth Mantei straight up. Despite pitching in El
Paso–one of the worst places to pitch on the North American
continent–he’s put up a 4.70 ERA, allowing just nine home runs in 90
innings, while showing good stuff and control (25 walks, 100 strikeouts).
Moving to Portland, he should thrive. Nunez has a great fastball and a good
slider, which should make him a better reliever for years to come than
Mantei will be, plus he’s a Cuban, which helps the Marlins keep that local
flavor.

So the both of them, plus a PTBNL? Clearly, the mania that saves describe
talent is a triumph for the stats-over-sense argument that seems to rule
the roost nowadays. That all sorts of people can succeed in relief seems
besides the point: whether it’s Mantei or Dan Plesac or Matt Karchner or
Ricky Rincon, teams will give up too much for too little. And while it
ought to encourage teams to convert anyone who runs up a few saves (Mike
Williams, for example) into useful prospects, it would be hard to match or
even approach the payoff of a deal like this. As dumb as this was for the
Snakes, and as smart as it was for the Fish, masterstrokes like this just
don’t come along every day.

Placed RHP Joe Slusarski on the 15-day DL (strained groin); recalled
RHP Jose Cabrera from New Orleans. [7/9]

Placed SS Ricky Gutierrez on the 15-day DL (fractured hamate);
recalled INF Russ Johnson from New Orleans. [7/10]

The litany of injuries great and small continues. Tony Eusebio is hurting,
so Knorr comes up to platoon with Paul Bako for a week. Slusarski’s
comeback gets nipped in the bud, so as quickly as he left, Jose Cabrera
returns. He still has a good fastball, and may yet turn into a
middle-relief surprise.

Gutierrez going down again means Russ Johnson comes back again. This also
isn’t a setback per se, since Tim Bogar can field the position and Johnson
is a handy on-base machine. What happens when Ken Caminiti returns?
Probably just a demotion for Knorr, since Eusebio will have had over a week
to rest.

I guess one of the small satisfactions of having awful pitchers in the
first place is that you can cut them without regrets. That the Royals would
ignore many years’ worth of results that should have spelled out that
neither Wengert nor Cookies are major league pitchers isn’t to their
credit, but it isn’t as if using them cost them a shot at the wild card.

Reichert’s been very effective in Omaha (9-2, 3.71 ERA, 92 hits, 50 walks
and 123 strikeouts in 111 2/3 innings) and will step directly into the
rotation. That should bump Mac Suzuki into the bullpen. Ken Ray hasn’t been
too special this year; in 50 innings between Wichita and Omaha, he’s given
up 52 hits, 16 walks, 30 runs and eight longballs. But he’s got 15 saves,
and that looks pretty good compared to spending another minute on Wengert
or Pisciotta.

Recalled INF Lou Collier from Louisville. [7/10]

This is almost a mercy move, in that it will hopefully encourage Eldred to
accept a rehab assignment. The Brewers aren’t happy that he’s refusing to
adapt to life without velocity, now that his fastball is a memory left
behind on a surgeon’s table. With the Brewers’ pen working well, they
didn’t need him to hang around and pitch mopup.

Collier will only pinch-hit for as long as the team keeps him around, but
his future is more dependent on how soon Sal Bando can get Fernando Vina
onto someone else’s roster than anything else.

Placed 1B/LF Fernando Seguignol on the 15-day DL (strained quad);
activated C/3B Michael Barrett from the DL; optioned 3B Jose
Fernandez to Ottawa; recalled 1B/DH Brad Fullmer from Ottawa.
[7/11]

Like Shane Andrews before him, Fullmer gets a chance to escape the
doghouse. And like Shane Andrews before him, don’t bet against his going
right back into it.

As much as Manny Martinez may not be a great player, he’s leaps and bounds
better than Terry Jones or Chris Stowers. Still, with a .307 OBP and a .396
SLG, it isn’t like Martinez is irreplaceable. With him or without him, the
problem remains the same: Fullmer doesn’t get on base, Barrett doesn’t get
on base, Jones never gets on base, Wil (Little Poison) Guerrero doesn’t get
on base and neither does Orlando Cabrera…there’s sort of a trend here.

Dotel’s only going back to Norfolk to make a start because of the All-Star
break, a decision treated as organizational genius by some, but it isn’t
exactly revolutionary, or even unique (see the White Sox and Pat Daneker
above, for one example).

Kinkade’s only up to ride pine while the Mets use the DH in some upcoming
interleague games.

Erdos can pitch, but the Yankees have a specific need–left-handed
relief–and Yarnall has been devastating to lefties this year. At Columbus
this year, left-handed batter have gone 20-for-100 with 43 strikeouts and
only five walks, with just one home run. Of course, his overall numbers are
good as well: 10-3, 3.29 ERA, 92 hits, 45 walks and 113 strikeouts in 109
1/3 innings, just three home runs allowed.

If Andy Pettitte continues to struggle, and should Yarnall succeed in
middle relief, there may be a switch down the stretch. The hope is that
Torre won’t use Yarnall as a situational lefty, instead letting him get his
innings to gain experience and confidence, after which they can turn
Pettite into a Cub or an Angel or whatever. The fact that the Yankees got a
guy who should end up being an above-average major league starter, plus two
other pitchers, for an average third baseman they weren’t going to use
(Mike Lowell) makes it all the sweeter if you’re one of those smug
Pinstripe-lovers.

This is a strange little deal. Cedeno can hit a little for a utility
infielder, but so could Flores, and neither’s fielding is going–to borrow
a phrase from Chicago Mayor Daley–"to be accoladed so much they get
‘laxed on dat". Is the difference between an adequate major league
utility infielder and an adequate Triple-A shortstop really such that the
Phillies needed to go out and make this deal, versus just calling up
Flores? The Phillies’ two utility infielders, David Doster and Kevin
Jordan, don’t really play much shortstop, so why not call up Flores to be
Alex Arias’ caddy?

The Pirates lost out on the bidding for Jeff Reed, which left them calling
up the infamously non-dangerous Tremie. That means lots and lots of playing
time for Keith Osik.

Meanwhile, RIch Loiselle’s out for the year after reconstructive elbow
surgery; like John Ericks before him, he’s come and gone, exciting roto
sensibilities but little else. This year’s flavor is Mike Williams, and two
years from now, will probably be Jose Silva. None of it will make much of a
difference in terms of winning or losing, but it will make for a neat
parlor game of "Pirates’ closers since Kent Tekulve".

Activated UT Shawon Dunston from the DL; optioned RHP Mike
Busby to Memphis. [7/9]

I never thought I’d see the day when a team needed Shawon Dunston back
because he’s an outfielder, but the Cardinals are that team, especially
with more madcap Thomas Howard antics than I can regale you with on a
family-oriented Web page.

Talk about your nifty little steals. Giron’s had his problems this year,
but he’s a young pitching prospect (21) with good velocity who’s still
learning to pitch. Juan Melo’s a great glove who couldn’t hit a cantaloupe
with a tennis racket, although he’d be happy to take his hacks trying.

One of those subtraction-by-addition deals, because Mirabelli’s a better
hitter than Servais at this point, and probably a better catcher too, now
that Servais’ mobility is almost gone.

Traded INF Domingo Cedeno to the Phillies for INF Jose
Flores. [7/7]

One of the most bizarre things about baseball today is the
existence–mostly theoretical–of Gene Budig. Now, maybe I have this overly
romantic notion about what a league president is supposed to do. Perhaps I
am being unfair in my expectation that the league president should review
roster moves to verify their validity. Certainly Budig was happy to tackle
the Orioles a couple of weeks ago when they wanted to call up Gabe Molina,
but that’s probably more of the "get Angelos" spirit that
motivates some people in baseball today.

Jordan Zimmerman’s "injury" strikes me as one of the more
outlandish phony DL moves I’ve seen in awhile. The convenient excuse is
that he sprained his ankle during an altercation with a suitcase in his
hotel room at 4 a.m.-an incident sure to be featured on Fox’s next
"When Luggage Attacks!"–thus making room for Gil Meche, who was
already guaranteed a callup to start that day’s game. While announcing this
fortuitous accident, the Mariners happily chirped about how great this
would be for Zimmerman, because he’d get a couple of weeks to work with the
major league pitching coach on his breaking stuff before having to try it
out live.

Maybe I’m overly suspicious, but I smell a rat, because this just seems far
too convenient. Maybe if the AL had a real league president, as opposed to
the Gene "I’ll shorten any suspension" Budig, a team would get in
trouble for pulling this sort of stunt. It might even encourage Lou
Piniella to grow up and start using the people he has wisely, as opposed to
trying to expand the roster to make room for 16 pitchers, all of them
alternately loathed or abused.

Another demotion for a rotation starter because of the All-Star break,
although Glynn may not get his job back, as the Rangers may instead hand it
to Esteban Loaiza. The Rangers are mum on the subject of who’s going to get
to be their fifth starter next Monday, but given the money they’re paying
Mark Clark to be on the DL, I doubt a deal’s in the works.

Meanwhile, Mateo gets his crack at the center field job; I have little
doubt that if they continue to struggle, the kid will get blamed by this
veteran team, which will lead to a campaign to get Tom Goodwin back ASAP.

Activated CF Jose Cruz from the DL; placed DH Geronimo Berroa
on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 6/30 (pulled oblique). [7/9]

The Blue Jays managed to survive Jacob Brumfield’s feeble contributions,
and even picked up a couple of games on the Red Sox. There are other good
signs: Jim Fregosi has finally stumbled onto the idea that was obvious in
March, that Willie Greene really ought to be his DH, and the bullpen is
stronger now than it was at season’s start with the additions of Billy Koch
and Paul Spoljaric. Tony Batista’s an improvement on the ill-fated Alex
Gonzalez, so the Jays should be well-poised to take the lead in the
wild-card race.