Transaction Analysis, August 12-14, 2002
by Chris Kahrl
Placed INF-L Craig Counsell on the 15-day DL (neck),
retroactive to 8/9; activated C-R Damian Miller from the DL. [8/14]
Craig Counsell is sort of the Snakes' de facto utility infielder, playing
regularly but splitting his time between second, third and short. However, with
the Paycheck Twins--Matt Williams and Jay Bell--both back off of the DL, and
with Junior Spivey holding down second while Tony Womack keeps getting starts at
short, the Snakes can afford to be without Counsell for a couple of weeks while
his neck heals up. The way things are going, their lead in the NL West seems
more likely to go to ten games before Labor Day than come down to five or less,
especially with six of their next nine coming against the Cubs.
Meanwhile, in Counsell's absence, the Snakes will carry three catchers on the active
roster. This actually makes some small amount of sense, especially with the lead
they've built up in the division. Why risk wearing Damian Miller out,
or
reinjuring him? And why not take your time and review whether you'd rather carry
Chad Moeller or Rod Barajas as your backup catcher in the postseason? Neither
Moeller or Barajas hits well enough to make the decision easy, so the Snakes can
almost leave it up to the pitchers by seeing who likes to work with whom.
However, it makes plenty of sense to keep both of them on the active roster
between now and September 1, keeping them both eligible for the postseason
roster.
Placed RHP Juan Cruz on the 15-day DL (arm fatigue),
retroactive to 8/10; recalled RHP Francis Beltran from West Tenn
(Double-A). [8/13]
Juan Cruz has done some things adequately enough in the
bullpen since losing his rotation slot to Mark Prior, giving up only 24 hits in
34 relief innings, while striking out 33. Unfortunately, he's also challenged
hitters a bit too often, coughing up seven taters in that time. He's walked 19
batters, and he's allowed 20 runs, so he clearly could have done a lot better as
far as helping his claim on a rotation slot next season. Francis Beltran is
another one of the organization's Dominican flamethrowers, and he's an
equally worthwhile investment of a roster spot at this point of the season. The
Cubs need to be in the business of evaluating the people on the 40-man roster,
to see where everyone fits into the 2003 picture.
Placed CF-B Milton
Bradley on the 15-day DL (appendicitis), retroactive to 8/12; purchased the
contract of OF-B Covelli Crisp from Akron (Double-A); designated RHP
Jason Beverlin for assignment. [8/14]
The Tribe, bless them, have
taken this latest setback with Milton Bradley as an opportunity to conduct an
evil experiment. No, I'm not talking about the premature promotion of
the
just-acquired Covelli Crisp. With less than a full season above A-ball, and a
minor league performance that only translates to
a major league Equivalent
Average in the .230s, he'll struggle. He's a decent prospect, but it seems
strange to have him up instead of
bringing Chris Magruder back.
No, I'm referring to the experimentation with the all-large-mammal outfield, with Lee
Stevens in right, Karim Garcia in center, and Matt Lawton in left. This seems
like a deliberately strange alignment; Lawton doesn't throw well and doesn't
always take a great route to the ball, but he has been a very effective
flychaser in years past, while Karim Garcia... well, he's been a corner
outfielder from the start. I doubt the desire to make life even more difficult
for the Indians' starting pitchers is a component of the decision as much as
literal shorthandedness, but it's bold in an amusing sort of way. And if Garcia
actually plays a decent center? Then the Indians will have that much more reason
to keep him around for next season, either to compete with Bradley or to be a
pretty nifty fourth outfielder.
Released RHP Rick White
outright; claimed LHP Brian Fitzgerald off of waivers from the Mariners,
and optioned him to Colorado Springs; designated INF-R Casey Lambert for
assignment. [8/12]
Think on that. Rick White not only got released, he made
it through waivers unclaimed by anybody, at a time when several contenders might
want to give a righthanded reliever with a recent track record of success a
look-see. Rick White has even been one of the most underrated relievers
according to Michael Wolverton's
Reliever Evaluation Tools,
posting a positive Adjusted Runs Prevented. But a home ERA over eight (including his three-run
appearance in his final game, which did at least create a save opportunity for
Jose Jimenez) produces an overall ERA over six, and for most teams, those
superficially ugly numbers are enough to frighten them into keeping Willie Banks
or Mike Thurman or whoever. However, it is worth keeping in mind that claiming
him would entail assuming the remainder of his contract, but at about $250K for
the remainder of the season, that isn't a big chunk of change.
Placed RHP Julio Santana on the 15-day DL (partially torn muscle - elbow);
recalled RHP Fernando Rodney from Toledo. [8/13]
The good news is
that Santana will not require surgery. The bad news is that on a pitching staff
that's beginning to resemble a
Wacky Pack collector's set (Steve Sparks
"the Ignitor," "Lima Time"--official drink of the
Rockem
Sockem Robots; and Fernando!!!... Rodney), the Tigers just lost one of their
only effective relievers.
At least Oscar Henriquez has gotten an opportunity
and run with it. If it seems like we've been waiting for him to develop for six
years, it's because we have. Since first getting noticed for his high 90s heat
pitching in the Astros chain, he's been afflicted by a rare muscular disorder
(he's recovered), traded to the Marlins as part of the package for Moises Alou,
and then slowly fading from consideration. He failed to impress Jim Leyland in
1998, quickly going from prospect to project; he had to endure the indignity of
being swapped to the Mets for Jorge Fabregas, only to injure his shoulder in
spring training, which pushed him off of 40-man rosters and put him through a
cycle of spring training invites on NRI deals with the Mets, Padres, Korea, and
in and out of baseball. Seeing him make it back and finally show what he's
capable of is one of the few happy notes in an otherwise ghastly season in the
Motor City.
Placed SS-R Julio Lugo on the 15-day DL (broken
wrist); recalled SS-R Adam Everett from New Orleans. [8/12]
Signed 1B/OF-L Orlando Merced to a contract extension. [8/13]
Losing Julio Lugo for the year is bad news for Lugo, but I'm not ready to see this as a
setback for the Astros. The team was always going to have problems on the deuce
as long as they were relying on a keystone combo of a post-'sploded knee Craig
Biggio and Lugo. Adam Everett is back after hitting .275/.331/.380 for the
Zephyrs (first the Zephs and now the Hornets, doesn't anybody change their name
anymore when they move, or does New Orleans have sort of exemption?), stealing a
dozen bases in fifteen attempts, and playing his usual outstanding defense.
Everett gives them an alternative to Jose Vizcaino that allows Jimy Williams to
use vaunted pinch hitter Orlando Merced (or Daryle Ward, or Jason Lane, or Alan
Zinter) for his shortstops. I'd prefer to see Everett get the majority of
starts, while keeping Vizcaino in the utility role, since it would also sort of
force Williams to use his quality pinch-hitters in any high-leverage situation
after the sixth inning. It looks good on paper, but this is Jimy Williams, and
barring the introduction of Halcyon, I no longer expect rational, predictable,
or defensible decision-making.
Whew, that was close, I mean, if Orlando
Merced hadn't had the good fortune to get this totally unexpected $1.7 million
offer from this team that's supposedly losing money hand over fist, he might
have had to be a Devil Ray or something. Thank goodness a fate so awful as that
hasn't befallen yet another innocent. Among the god-fearing, that's what we call
good works. Bless the Astros for their compassion and charity.
Activated 1B-R Mike Sweeney from the DL; purchased the contracts of
2B/SS-R Luis Ordaz and 1B/3B-R Kit Pellow from Omaha; outrighted
1B/OF-R Chan Perry to Wichita (Double-A) and INF-L Mike Caruso to
Omaha. [8/13]
Sorry, nothing snarky
about getting Mike Sweeney back.
This is a godsend for the Royals' big push to... well, stay ahead of the Tigers. The
third-place Indians are six games ahead of Kansas City, which makes them about
as accessible to the Royals as Mars. But they've got their best player back, and
maybe they'll dare to shoot past the moon. If a cow was willing to give it a try,
why not the Royals?
The interesting choices are the more minor ones. Luis
Ordaz has always been a slick fielder; bringing him up to share the second base
job with Luis Alicea is a decent enough short-term patch. But just as clearly,
the Royals should treat this as merely a two-week expediency,
and bring back
Carlos Febles when rosters expand to give him a month to make a case for next
spring. The Alicea-Ordaz combo wouldn't be an asset for 2003, and if Febles
can't stake a claim now, the Royals need to go into the winter thinking about
where they're going to dig up a second baseman. I could point out that they
could have claimed Marcos Scutaro on waivers this spring as easily as they could
have claimed Ramon Castro on waivers last year to fix their catching problem,
but that would be cruel.
The final component is the decision to bring up Kit
Pellow. He can't really play third, so he's just the latest audition for
the Dave McCarty role as Raul Ibanez's platoon partner in the DH job (with some
added responsibility for backing up to Sweeney at first). Pellow is sort of a
poor man's Phil Hiatt, a right-handed slugger without a lot of patience. At
Omaha, he was hitting .289/.350/.562, which sounds great until you let out some
air for the PCL, so overall he's hit well enough to post a .258 Equivalent
Average in the majors. The OBP sounds decent, but keep in mind he's drawn only
twenty walks in 446 plate appearances, ratcheting up his on-base by getting
plunked 18 times. I have no idea if that's a skill that will carry over when he
isn't facing Triple-A retreads pitching for their lives in a PCL bandbox.
However, Pellow does come up after hitting .354 and slugging .833 against
lefties (13 homeruns in 96 at-bats... tasty), so he could give them an
outstanding complement to Ibanez to produce one of the best DHs in the league.
Activated OF-R Tsuyoshi Shinjo from the DL; placed UT-R
Shawon Dunston on the 15-DL (sprained thumb, hip pointer), retroactive to
8/9. [8/13]
It took acquiring Kenny Lofton
and losing Shawon Dunston to do
it, but in a constellation of interdependent events that not even Sidney Omarr
could defy, I am forced to conclude that this is the way to get Tsuyoshi
Shinjo back and be able to say with a straight face that it is absolutely a Good
Thing [tm]. Reduced to a role as a platoon mate and defensive replacement,
Shinjo goes from being arguably the worst outfield regular in the game to a
modestly worthwhile fifth outfielder. Of course, this is still the team that has
Tom Goodwin on it,
so in Marvin Benard's absence
they still don't have a fourth
outfielder, but the Giants need to accept whatever sort of progress they can
get. Sort of like J.T. Snow's recent hot streak--don't ask why, just keep your
fingers crossed, and keep thinking hateful things about the Dodgers.
Purchased the contract of RHP Gabe Molina from Memphis; optioned RHP
Matt Duff to Memphis. [8/14]
Gabe Molina has been having an
outstanding season as the Redbirds' co-closer, notching a 2.22 ERA while
allowing only 58 hits and 23 unintentional walks in 69 IP. He's missed in the
strikezone to righthanded hitters a little more often than you'd like (six
homeruns allowed in ~180 PA), but he's always had decent velocity, and the
Cardinals should give him a look for postseason roster consideration. Matt
Duff's indy league experiences and minor league vagabondry makes him an
interesting story, but eight walks in 5.2 IP was no way to make a favorable
impression on Tony LaRussa and Dave Duncan.
Chris Kahrl is an author of Baseball Prospectus. You can contact him by
clicking here.
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