As you are all unfortunately aware, Bobby Bonds died this past Saturday after a long battle with cancer. Bobby came before my time, and I’m not fit to eulogize him. But perhaps I can honor his memory in some way by looking at players of the sort that Bobby exemplified: power-speed sluggers.
A lot of analysts are fond of disparaging the value of speed (this Web site has been no exception). Speed is perceived as a scouty thing, a tool that looks impressive, but has little practical value on a baseball diamond. The one definitive advantage that speed would seem to provide–the stolen base–is rightly considered an overrated tool. Even within mainstream circles, speed seems to be losing currency. As ballplayers bulk up, and deeper lineups grow ever more capable of scoring runs with the bat alone, stolen base attempts become less frequent. Entire teams are willing to put together their rosters without so much as giving speed the once-over.
Well, I think speed has gotten a raw deal. Certainly, speed isn’t as important for a position player as the Big Three skills–hitting for contact, hitting for power, and controlling the strike zone–and to list it alongside those three, implying that it is of equal significance, is confusing. But speed is still plenty important for a number of reasons…
In part one of this series on the roster-building woes of the Pirates–most of them self-inflicted as the organization careens from crisis to crisis like an inebriated pachyderm with a stuttering problem pirouetting through a mine field while trying to recite key scenes from Finnegan’s Wake–it was alleged that the Pirates have a long history of making disastrous trades, and that in fact the list of good trades barely existed. Herewith, the evidence.
David Eckstein’s miserable season for the Angels runs into injury. The White Sox add Scott Sullivan to a good-looking bullpen. The Expos grab Todd Zeile in their desperate attempt to fill the third base void. Cliff Floyd’s injury allows the Mets to look at Jeff Duncan. The Giants could get crushed if they start Dustin Hermanson in the playoffs. These and other transaction news and Kahrlisms in this edition of Transaction Analysis.
Boy, that was kinda cool. The Expos, down 8-0 in the bottom of the fifth inning, scored 14 runs in their next four ups to overtake the Phillies 14-10 and move to within two games of the wild-card slot. The win was the second-largest comeback in Expos history, the biggest comeback in the majors this season, and the biggest blown lead in Phillies history. It was just another night in the National League, where all but four teams are within nine games of a playoff spot, and just 2.5 games separate eight teams battling for the Wild Card and the NL Central title.
Phillies 70-61 —
Marlins 70-61 —
Astros* 69-62 —
Diamondbacks 69-63 1.5
Cubs 68-62 1.5
Cardinals 68-63 2
Expos 69-64 2
Dodgers 67-63 2.5
Those eight teams are 98-89 in August, by the way. Remember, it’s not necessarily a great race, just an interesting and fun one. I’ve been saying for weeks now that I’m going to get to an analysis of this zoo, but every time I sit down and try to do so, the situation changes. The Phillies had control. Then the Diamondbacks made a run. The Marlins tried to become America’s darlings. The NL Central’s lead changes hourly on some days. The Expos lost a bunch of heartbreakers on the West Coast and seemed ready to join the Rockies in the bleachers, but have battled back to start a season-defining 17-game stretch 2-0. These next two-and-a-half weeks are the whole ball of wax for the Expos, who play no one but the Phillies and Marlins through Sept. 7, then host the Cubs in their last four Puerto Rico games. It will be the Expos’ last crack at teams ahead of them in the Wild Card chase, and it’s essential that they come out of this stretch no worse than second or third in the group and a couple of games back. Any further behind, and it may be too hard to climb over multiple teams who will be playing many, many head-to-head games in September. If they can somehow climb to the top of the pack, however, their lack of games against other contenders will make them hard to catch in the season’s last two weeks.
Maybe I’ll get a scoop on Milton Bradley this weekend as I make my first trip to the Jake, but in all likelihood, I won’t get to see him play. Bradley continues to have problems with his lower back, and if things don’t improve quickly, the Indians have made noise about shutting him down. Bradley is an interesting case–a player who had something of a breakout, but someone who could be forced out by a crowded outfield next season, and the economics of a suddenly fiscally conscious franchise. I still see Bradley as Albert Belle Lite, in both the positive and negative senses. On the other hand, I will probably get to see Omar Vizquel play. After months recovering from knee problems, Vizquel will be back in the lineup for the last month, filling in where many thought Brandon Phillips would be entrenched now.
The recently re-signed Scott Hatteberg is dealing with chronic lower back pain. Now there’s a sentence you really don’t want to see as an A’s fan. Hatteburg has back spasms from time to time, usually treatable and not serious in the long-term, but this situation hasn’t gone away or even gotten significantly better for any extended period of time. I know many people are at a loss to explain the A’s re-upping the star of Moneyball, but from a medhead standpoint, I can’t help them with that.
Like always, some good stuff from the reader e-mail, as Richard Dansky checks in with his report on Billy Koch and his first outing at Triple-A: “I saw Billy Koch throw an inning last night against the Durham Bulls. He topped out around 94 mph, but really didn’t have a lot of movement on anything he threw and got cuffed around. When Jorge Cantu can get around on a Billy Koch fastball and pull it, it’s not because Cantu’s suddenly been possessed by the spirit of Vern Stephens.” Hey readers–quit being funnier than me. Isn’t being smarter enough?
The Orioles played one of the worst games of the year against the Yankees; Rockies farmhand Brad Hawpe has steadily moved up the ladder; and Steve Trachsel showed his annual flash of brilliance against the Rockies. All this and much more news from Baltimore, Colorado, and New York in your Wednesday edition of Prospectus Triple Play.