Transaction Analysis, September 11-15, 2002
by Chris Kahrl
Recalled RHP Lou Pote from Salt Lake; purchased the contract of RHP
Francisco Rodriguez from Salt Lake. [9/15]
Something old, something new, so the Angels are both rewarding someone who
already deserves to be here on the basis of his contributions earlier this
summer, but they also have the fortitude to bring up a talented young
flamethrower to give him a look-see in the midst of a pennant race. Lou Pote is
already a known quantity, having done good work as a middle reliever for the
Angels earlier this season. Although he pitched well, he was outpitched by both
Brendan Donnelly and Scot Shields, and in the crunch for roster space,
was
banished to the starting rotation in Utah, getting smacked around while filling
innings.
Before this season, Francisco Rodriguez had been touted as one of the best
arms in the Angels' organization. Between his high-90s heat and a working
slider, it's not hard to see why. But in response to persistent trouble with
his elbow and shoulder, and given his youth (he'll be 21... next year), the
Angels adapted, moving him out of the rotation and into a long "super
closer" relief role, ensuring he'd get innings instead of situations.
Between Arkansas and Salt Lake, Rodriguez tossed 83.1 IP over 50 games,
allowing only 62 hits and 28 walks while striking out an incredible 120, and
giving up only 26 runs (2.8 runs per nine). And he got 15 saves, although
hopefully the Angels won't let that distract them. So it seems pretty
apparent that he's got the physical talent to be a useful big league
reliever. And if he manages to build up his arm strength in a multi-inning
relief role, who's to say that he can't go into the rotation in four or five
years? It isn't an "ordinary" career path, but mimicking other
people's successes with the aged and infirm isn't a script for how you
should get the best possible work out of real talent. Rather than take a
page from what the Dodgers seem intent on doing with Eric Gagne, here's
hoping that the Angels instead mimic what the Diamondbacks did with Omar
Daal.
Signed C-B Raul Casanova; activated OF-B Gary Matthews Jr.
from the DL. [9/11]
You can sort of understand why the Orioles picked up Raul Casanova, even if
he's a 30-year-old with career rates of .233/.301/.370. Geronimo Gil is
already 27, so he's as good as he's going to get. Gil's .244/.280/.377
season smacks of Jeff Tackett more than it conjures up visions
of a new Rick Dempsey. Brook Fordyce's contract is unfortunately locked in
through 2003, so unless the Orioles eat the money (a totally defensible
option, given that Fordyce is 32 and looks done), they've got the same
problem they had when they were fooling themselves into carrying Fernando
Lunar on the 40-man roster for far too long. There's still no catching in
the system, so what you see is what you get for a couple of years, unless
they get uncharacteristically bold.
Recalled C-R Miguel Olivo from Birmingham (Double-A). [9/14]
Some good moves work both ways. The White Sox took a reasonable risk
in taking
Miguel Olivo from the Athletics in exchange for Chad Bradford. Yes, Bradford has
been one of the best relievers in the American League this season, so it's
worked out for Billy Beane's club as well, but the price is looking tastier and
tastier for Kenny Williams's crew. Now, admittedly, Olivo is 24 and was
repeating Birmingham, but when you've got a catcher who hit .306/.381/.479
(translating to a .251
Equivalent Average
in the majors), you have to feel
pretty good about it. He also hit solidly in 2001, and he's shown adequate
patience in both seasons as well as solid power. After swiping 29 bases in 42
attempts, he might be the best basestealing catcher since the immortal John
Stearns, or John Wathan. Defensively, he's got a strong arm, and apparently made
some strides as a receiver. He shouldn't push past Mark Johnson and Josh Paul in
camp, but he should be in a position to win the job before the end of next
season.
The interesting contest in the AL Central is among the young catching all
five teams can boast. The Tribe probably gets to claim the top slot with
Victor Martinez and Josh Bard, the Sox have Olivo, and the Twins have A.J.
Pierzynski already with Matt LeCroy nearby and Joe Mauer far off. The Tigers
talk up Brandon Inge and also have Mike Rivera, while the Royals picked up
Mike Rose on the sly, and harbor big dreams for Mike Tonis. No, it isn't
Piazza and Posada, but all five teams have interesting choices to make in
the next couple of seasons, and most of these guys are plausible starters or
prospects.
Acquired RHPs Mike Nannini and Travis Anderson from the Astros
to complete the Flash Gordon trade. [9/11]
Keeping in mind that
it was
only the dregs of Flash Gordon's career, the
Cubs got what they almost always seem to shop for in these sorts of deals:
live arms. Mike Nannini was a first round pick in 1998. He spent most of the
summer in Round Rock's rotation, and got pasted for his troubles, posting a
5.81 ERA and allowing 6.2 runs per nine. In 141 IP, he allowed 151 hits, but
posted a 121:64 strikeout to walk ratio, reflecting his good velocity. He's
not exactly the sort of guy you normally think of Jim Hendry taking a shine
to; Nannini is another one of the Astros' under-six footers, and although
this year looks ugly, because of the vagaries of affiliation politics, he
had to jump up to Double-A without pitching in a high-A league. At 22 and as
a high school draftee, he could be anything. Right now, he isn't on a 40-man
roster, but will have to be added to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Whether or not he gets added will be a tough call, although no tougher than
another team's decision to risk a Rule 5 pick on a short righty with good
talent and little success above A-ball.
Travis Anderson is your more traditional big college pitcher. He went to the
University of Washington, and was a second-round pick in 1999; pitching in
relief at Lexington--that's right, the Sally League in his fourth pro
season--he posted a 4.46 ERA, and showed a lot of wildness for somebody
who's supposed to be a little bit more of a finished product.
The contrast is fascinating. Who are the Astros keeping? Basically, the guys
they dug up out of Venezuela or the late rounds of the draft or their
draft-and-follows. Who are they trading? Their top draft choices. Think
there's a lesson there?
Activated RHP Scuffy Moehler from the DL. [9/13]
He's back,
and he'll be turning a few of his old tricks, working over virgin
balls for cash. He's balancing his desire for a bigger score against trying
to decide if Cincinnati isn't such a bad place to be.
Recalled LHP Alex Herrera from Akron (Double-A). [9/12]
Recalled 1B/LF-L Ben Broussard, RHP Ryan Drese and 1B/3B-R
Earl Snyder from Buffalo; purchased the contracts of SS-R Brandon
Phillips and LHPs Cliff Lee, Dave Maurer and Brian
Tallet from Buffalo; placed OF-L Matt Lawton on the 15-day DL
(shoulder cyst); transferred RHPs Chad Paronto, Jason Phillips
and Jake Westbrook from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [9/13]
Yes, Ben Broussard should get some more time at first, left and DH to see if
he can stick or if he has to compete with Karim Garcia for a job. Yes, Earl
Snyder should get a look at third, if only because this team needs somebody
to put there next season. Yes, gangly and effective LSU star Brian Tallet
should get a look to see if he can give the rotation a low-velocity
command-and-control lefty to mix into a rotation that doesn't have one of
those. But the name to notice in all of this is Brandon Phillips, and the
decision that having him around forces on them. Is he going to have to move
to second to appease Omar Vizquel's vanity in his golden years? Considering
that refers both to Vizquel's extension and his dotage, it won't be an easy
choice for Mark Shapiro. It would be nice to see Phillips get to play his
natural position at short, with Vizquel making the move, but organizations
generally take the path of least resistance as a matter of course.
Vizquel's
thrown tantrums before, so it isn't hard to imagine that he'd go ballistic
over the mere suggestion that he isn't what he once was at short, let alone
being replaced at the position.
Activated RHP Josh Beckett from the DL; announced that RHP Donnie
Bridges cleared waivers and was outrighted to Portland (Double-A).
[9/11]
Activated RHP A.J. Burnett from the DL. [9/14]
Is it good news that the Marlins are going to ease up on Josh Beckett and
avoid working him too hard in the last couple of weeks, monitoring his pitch
count and simply giving him some exposure? The decision is akin to the
stubborn refusal to shut down A.J. Burnett, who will be similarly monitored,
and in an equally unimportant situation. I'd like to be optimistic, but
these are the same people who oversaw running Donnie Bridges into the ground
when they were all Expos. I doubt they claimed Bridges as a Jiminy Cricket
as much as a guy to let the kids know "see, it ain't all bad."
Recalled 3B-R Morgan Ensberg from New Orleans. [9/11]
Ensberg only hit .288/.401/.422 for the Zephs (good for a .261 Equivalent
Average), or less than you'd like to have seen if he was going to push his
way back up this summer. Fortunately, Geoff Blum ended up doing a solid job
offensively. You could ask yourself if the problem was whether or not Blum
shouldn't have been playing second, as Craig Biggio's decline became more
and more obvious. I suppose you can't blame the Astros for riding the
broken-down member of the B&B Boys to the grim conclusion, but looking
forward to next season, they've got to cough up $8 million to an average
player, and that isn't going to help them push past the Cardinals or stay
ahead of the Cubs and Reds.
Acquired LHP Mike Matthews from the Cardinals to complete the Jamey
Wright trade, and activated him from the DL; transferred RHP Chad Fox
from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [9/11]
The vicissitudes of fate can really leave you muttering at times. On the one
hand, the Cardinals are not so wealthy in pitching talent that they
couldn't use having Mike Matthews around. So why couldn't the Cardinals have
worked something out with the Brewers, something to induce them to let
Matthews pitch for a contending club into October, with appropriate
compensation should anything bad happen to Matthews? Why bum the guy out and
make him a Brewer, the NL's pinnacle of irrelevance? As far as deliberate
acts of cruelty, this has be one of the nastiest things to be done to
anybody on any roster in the last several weeks.
Recalled RHP Pat Strange from Norfolk. [9/12]
Pat Strange is the Mets' latest talented young pitcher. Sort of like Grant
Roberts, he's a good young arm, but he's been over-touted. He's got the
usual assortment that gets scouts over-excited: he's big, and he throws in
the low 90s; weak command of his breaking stuff leaves him reliant on a
changeup to get people, and that's not the profile of someone who's going to
be a great starting pitcher. As a rotation regular for Norfolk, he allowed
4.2 runs per nine, allowing a hit per inning and a 109:57 strikeout to walk
ratio in 165 innings. He's a decent option for a fourth or fifth starter
right now, or, like Roberts, he could be an asset as a middle reliever.
Recalled RHPs Dewon Brazelton, Jesus Colome and Delvin
James from Durham. [9/13]
You don't need to be named Kurtz to ponder the horror; the horror here is
that the Devil Rays don't die, they're just perpetually dying. Is Dewon
Brazelton up too soon? He didn't exactly blow the Southern League away,
having allowed 4.25 runs per nine. To his credit, he allowed only 129 hits
in 146 IP. A 109:66 strikeout to walk ratio is nice, but less than
dominating. His fastball came up a bit short of advertised in his big league
debut. In this organization and on this team, casting him as a starter can
produce all sorts of bad things, and until he gains command of his breaking
stuff, he will not be a good starter. Sadly, he got a big league contract as
the third pick in the draft, so he's on an accelerated timetable pitching
for an organization with no track record for successfully developing young
pitchers and a manager with little sense of his responsibilities to the
young pitchers in his charge.
You can take Mike Veeck cheezy-jinks out of the organization, but bringing
back Delvin James for another promotional stunt reveals that beneath the
proud aqua, green and black facade of this organization still beats a
cornball heart. In case you missed it,
James was shot less than two weeks
ago, and now he's back and pitching in the majors... well, giving up runs
and demonstrating that he'll compete. Watch for the Hallmark afternoon
theatre special, co-hosted with fellow stunt Jim Morris. Don't blame the
players; they're playing their guts out. The judgment issues belong
upstairs, and as long as this organization shirks its responsibilities to
itself, the permanent cycle of losing will never end.
There's some happy news, however. Jesus Colome did well in his brief stint
at Durham this summer, so there's some hope he can be a relief asset next
season. These last two weeks will give him a chance to... well, impressing
Hal McRae probably shouldn't be important, but unfortunately it has to be
for the time being.
Activated OF-B Jose Cruz Jr. from the DL. [9/15]
Cruz Junior returns from the DL
and goes straight back into the lineup as
the regular right fielder. In his absence, the Jays did get to take an
extended look at DeWayne Wise. Wise didn't do so hot (.186/.217/.314,
"good" for a .191 Equivalent Average), calling into question Gord
Ash's judgment (again) as to why Wise was worth a 40-man roster spot for the
last couple of seasons. But the Jays got to watch and evaluate and
move up into third place, and they get another couple of weeks to look at
Cruz again to decide what they want to do with their outfield in the
offseason.
Chris Kahrl is an author of Baseball Prospectus. You can contact him by
clicking here.
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