Transaction Analysis, April 7-8, 2002
by Chris Kahrl
Signed C-R Pat Borders to a minor-league contract. [4/8]
The peregrinations of Pat Borders seem to have taken on an importance out of all proportion to their actual significance. You
know, sort of like the royal family, only this is baseball, so it actually pertains to something of redeeming social value.
Activated RHP Calvin Maduro from the DL; optioned RHP Rick Bauer to Rochester. [4/7]
This was pretty much scripted, as Calvin Maduro wasn't needed until his start on Sunday. He earned the fifth starter's job last
summer, and should hold it until John Stephens or Matt Riley makes enough noise in the minors that the Boids can't ignore the
two of them any longer. In the meantime, Rick Bauer was around for mop-up work. Rodrigo Lopez is, too, but Bauer is the guy with
options who will be better served starting every fifth day in Rochester.
Placed RHP Dustin Hermanson on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 4/4 (strained groin); recalled RHP Sun-Woo Kim from
Pawtucket. [4/8]
This is not bad news in my eyes, as regular readers might expect. Replacing Dustin Hermanson in the rotation will be Tim
Wakefield, and Wakefield was a better pitcher last year, and probably the year before that, too. As a knuckleballer, he seems to
be a lot less likely to get precipitously worse, unlike the way Hermanson has been trending in recent years. So overall, this is
good for the Red Sox. Wakefield will probably pitch better and should average longer outings as well, which saves the bullpen
incrementally. That makes Grady Little's job a little easier in each swing through the rotation, and that makes the Red Sox a
better team in ways that transcend just a simple "Wakefield is better than Hermanson" argument.
Meanwhile, the Red Sox also get the opportunity to use Sun-Woo Kim in their bullpen. Kim has tremendous stuff, and we've already
touted him as somebody who would do well in a long-relief role where he gets consisted reps to work on his command. The question
is whether the Sox will carve out that role for him, or whether they'll see-saw between mop-up and situational usage patterns.
Placed CF-L Ken Griffey Jr. on the 15-day DL (partially torn tendon - knee); recalled RF-R Ruben Mateo from
Louisville. [4/8]
The optimistic scenario is that Junior comes back sometime in the next four to six weeks. The lurking fear is that he's done for
the season, and the Reds just went from being a reasonable bet to finish fourth and possibly even sneak up on someone like the
Cubs to evening the division up into two trios: the three teams with visions of October baseball and the three teams armed with
Ralph Wiggum's driving ambition.
In those circumstances, it's in the Reds' interests to devote the playing time to Ruben Mateo. Mateo may not work out, or he may
only work out as well as Juan Encarnacion is ever going to work out, but with playing time to spare, the Reds may as well use it
to decide whether Mateo is going to bounce back and be a part of the next good Reds team, or if he's going to be Eric Owens.
Brady Clark has value, serious value, as a fourth outfielder, and while there's a good argument that he should start, I wouldn't
say that it should come at Mateo's expense. If anyone, it should come at Encarnacion's.
Before Mateo's broken leg, it was clear that between Encarnacion and Mateo, Mateo was the player with the better upside. Since
the broken leg, Encarnacion hasn't exactly done much to justify confidence, while Mateo... well, he broke his leg. Now that he's
healed, he deserves a long look, to see if he's going to force some interesting choices, because Austin Kearns should arrive by
2003. Almost no other organization will ever value Encarnacion, while Mateo might end up being more valuable than either Michael
Tucker or Alex Ochoa. The only way that's going to happen is if he plays. If he plays well, and Kearns struggles this year
and/or next, the Reds are still covered.
Purchased the contract of RHP Chris Nichting from Colorado Springs; optioned IF-R Brent Butler to Colorado
Springs. [4/8]
The Rockies are making an interesting adaptation, where they've decided to go with seven relievers during their home stands. I
like the notion that there's applied thought going on--what do we as a franchise have to do to win in our environment?--but am less
happy about the product. Given the overwhelming nature of the ballpark, an environment whose effects dwarf smaller concerns like
situational/platoon advantages, why focus on carrying multiple relievers? What you really need isn't a 20-pitches-and-out
reliever, but a horse in a middle relief or mop-up role, especially with three younger starters in the rotation.
Activated DH-R Dean Palmer from the DL; placed RHP Danny Patterson (elbow inflammation) and 2B/SS-R Damian
Jackson (lacerated finger) on the 15-day DL; recalled CF-B Andres Torres from Toledo. [4/7]
Dave Dombrowski fired manager Phil Garner and GM Randy Smith, and named Luis Pujols interim manager
and himself GM. [4/8]
Well, it took a week into the season to get there, but the Tigers are starting to do some good things. Not great things, not
franchise-changing things, but things that essentially needed doing.
First, they got rid of the management leftovers of the Randy Smith era, starting with Randy Smith himself. There may be no
better illustration of the Peter Principle in baseball today than Smith. Once upon a time, he was arguably a good farm director,
and he could probably do a good job for somebody else in that role. He's been a disaster as a GM, doing all of the things you
don't want a GM to do. He failed to properly evaluate the personnel he inherited, so he let guys like Frank Catalanotto slip
through his fingers. He failed to spend money properly, making people like Todd Jones and Brian "Speedy" Hunter rich.
He made bad, convoluted deals that always seemed to involve Brad Ausmus. His drafts, which in theory should have reflected his
skills as a talent maven, didn't turned out particularly well. Like Bill Bavasi and Cam Bonifay, he was one of the poster boys
for a generation of boy wonder GMs who, at the end of the day, didn't seem to have given enough thought to how to really
build an organization over the long haul. If there is a unifying quality beyond their dramatic failures, it is their affability.
That's great for their chances of future employment, but as far as the Tigers in 2002, it seems strange that Smith made it even
this far.
Smith and Garner were casualties going into the year, it was simply a question of when Dombrowski decided to kevork the two of
them. Did Dave Dombrowski keep them around as fall guys? What good is having fall guys if you throw them off of the boat after
one week? With this team, you may need another fall guy by June. It's worth asking, but I think Dombrowski did what had to be
done. Better to admit that it was a mistake to retain Smith and Garner even this long, and try to change the tenor of the season
ASAP, instead of waiting for some more suitable moment that doesn't offend anyone's sense of decorum.
What's troubling is that Dombrowski might be trying to associate the deals of last winter
(Craig Paquette?) with Smith, instead
of making it clear whether or not he was in charge from the start. If Dombrowski let Smith sign Paquette, then you have to ask
why, and if Dombrowski signed Paquette, then you have to worry.
As for Phil Garner, there are probably worse managers, but there are also better ones, and his time was long overdue. Luis
Pujols has the track record with Dombrowski, stretching back to 1987 when he was a player-coach in the Expos' organization, that
indicates he'll get a serious look-see. He did well managing Double-A Erie last season, although he had the advantage of
fielding a team with plenty of Double-A experience. His bullpen was unsettled for most of the year, so he relied heavily on just
two relievers, journeyman Terry Pearson (now a Tiger) and a gargantuan lefty, Eric Eckenstahler. Whether that means he'll rely
more heavily on his best relievers, or whether he just had the advantage of a relatively stable rotation in Erie, we'll have to
see.
At least the roster now features an actual center fielder. Andres Torres is a great glove by reputation and performance, he gets
on base relatively well, and he can run a bit. He's not a top prospect, but he's good enough to play for this team, and that may
turn into a nice little career. That should mean Jose Macias is back into a utility role, but even on a team filled with utility
men, he will still end up playing more than he should, including regular time at second base in the absence of Damion Easley.
Dean Palmer's return matters only insofar as the Tigers have to hope he has a good enough run to convince somebody to take on
his contract. It's more likely that he's going to be their DH through 2003. Losing Danny Patterson is a blow to the bullpen,
especially considering his elbow has been hurting for weeks, and the Tigers are using high-falutin' jargon like "he's got a
hot nerve in his elbow." Break out the leeches, I guess they need to get the evil humors out of that joint.
Activated C-R Charles Johnson from the DL; optioned IF-R Pablo Ozuna to Calgary. [4/8]
Charles Johnson's return from his sprained thumb was expected, but the decision to send Pablo Ozuna down was not. Now that he's
gone from prospect to journeyman with one brutal correction to his DOB, Ozuna is the sort of guy who has to worry about
losing his job to a nice minor-league veteran like Marty Malloy. It does make for a slightly strange roster, in that both backup
infielders (Malloy and Andy Fox) bat left-handed, and the team is carrying three catchers. The three-catchers part is
unworkable, because all three have value and should play. Charles Johnson is one of the league's best, Mike Redmond is one of
the best backup catchers--and by that I mean a guy who should be a backup catcher, not a starter stranded on the bench--and
Ramon Castro should be playing every day for some team.
What do the Marlins need that they could use this depth to repair? They're the last team that needs to trade for pitching.
Assuming they aren't about to cut bait on Derrek Lee or Alex Gonzalez right now this instant, they could arguably use an upgrade
in right field, where Kevin Millar will have a hard time repeating his astounding 2001.
Look again at what the Marlins need: they need Alex Gonzalez and Derrek Lee to develop. They need a better right fielder. They
need these things if they're going to contend, but on the one hand they should wait and see what happens with Gonzalez and Lee,
and on the other hand they have to do something about their catching situation right now. Castro will only go stale on the
bench, lowering his value, and trading Redmond won't fix their problems, which leaves trading Johnson, which would be bold,
controversial, and unpopular, even for Jeffrey Loria.
Optioned RHP Jeff Austin to Omaha. [4/7]
Recalled RHP Nate Field from Omaha. [4/8]
Roberto Hernandez was re-evaluated, only to discover that he's out for another month. Leave it to the Royals to screw up and
prematurely option Jeff Austin in the expectation that Hernandez was going to be ready, and now they can't bring him back until
ten days have passed. Nate Field isn't the end of the world; last year was the first really good year in his minor-league
career, he was pretty effective as Wichita's closer, and he throws hard. What's frustrating is that jerking Austin around was
unnecessary, and constitutes a good example of sloppy roster management.
Granted CF-L Tom Goodwin and RHP Mike Trombley their outright releases. [4/8]
Joe has already said what needed to be said here.
Now that they're only making the minimum for their next employers, I suspect
both Tom Goodwin and Mike Trombley will get picked up. The Tigers will hopefully avoid Goodwin, but he would give them a guy
with major-league experience who can cover center field, while Trombley might be a match for somebody suitably desperate, like
either Chicago team, the Royals, or maybe the Expos.
Activated RHP Ramiro Mendoza from the DL; optioned RHP Jay Tessmer to Columbus. [4/7]
Getting Ramiro Mendoza back gives the Yankees an interesting balance in their bullpen. They have three lefties and three
righties. They have got the end-game trio, with Mariano Rivera fronted by Mike Stanton and Steve Karsay, a fine situational
lefty in Randy Choate, and a pair of long relievers capable of spot starts in Ramiro Mendoza and Ted Lilly. That's about as
self-contained as a bullpen gets, and Yankees fans won't have to worry about the kind of routine reshuffling other teams resort
to have four or five fresh arms on any/every given night.
Placed 1B-L Mo Vaughn on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 4/6 (broken bone - hand)); recalled OF-L Timo Perez from
Norfolk. [4/8]
To be fair to the extra-beefy Mo Vaughn, this wasn't an injury he could have avoided (unless of course, he stopped crowding the
plate), so let's not chalk this up as another example of his ongoing bout with the fragiles. It doesn't look like he'll be out
for much longer than the two weeks, which gives Mark Johnson and John Valentin the playing time in his absence. The good news
for Mets fans is that at least they didn't call up Jorge Toca and continue trying to foist him off as a prospect.
Placed UT-R Randy Velarde on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 4/4 (fractured hand); recalled 2B/SS-R Mark Ellis from
Sacramento. [4/7]
The Athletics hoped that Randy Velarde wasn't that badly hurt, but with Mike Colangelo doing well in a reserve outfield role and
Frankie Menechino holding his job at second base, Velarde's primary value may end up being as a reserve for Eric Chavez at third
base, and getting at-bats against left-handed pitching at whatever position.
In his absence, Mark Ellis gives the A's something else, which is arguably their first real utility infielder since Jorge
Velandia early on in 2000. Ellis can play shortstop and second base, which might get him a chance to stick sometime in the
future, whenever the A's decide they want to rest Miguel Tejada. But if, as Earl Weaver said, his backup shortstop was in
Rochester, Ellis is more likely to have to go back to Sacramento so that the A's retain room for the various bats they want to
keep around. Ellis can hit and would be taken more seriously as a prospect in another organization; with Oakland he's sort of a
theoretical organizational bridge between Menechino and Esteban German at second, and insurance for Tejada at short.
Chris Kahrl is an author of Baseball Prospectus. You can contact him by
clicking here.
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