If I were making even the major league minimum, I would think an off-season visit to a woodworking group and a couple hundred bucks investment in various types of stock would be worth the risk. The cost difference between a bat made out of Padauk and a bat made out of maple really wouldn’t be all that great, and if it can get you 2% more velocity off the bat, that might be the difference between a multi-year deal that sets you up for life and running the produce department at Giant Eagle. After all, gaining an advantage by going against the rules is called cheating. Gaining an advantage by working around the rules to an area not previously considered by the rulemakers is innovation.
Vlad Guerrero and Zach Day go down, adding to the Expos’ injuries woes. Jerome Williams gets his chance with Kurt Ainsworth on the DL. Carlos Delgado is crushing everything in sight. Plus other news and notes out of Montreal, San Francisco, and Toronto.
If you’ve followed any of the media coverage surrounding Sammy Sosa’s corked bat, you’re probably already tired of it. If you’ve seen Rick Reilly on ESPN, looking as if his head might explode with anger at any moment, while implying that it’s a short step from corking a bat to being hopped up on steroids, you’re probably dog tired of it.
So I’m going to leave Sosa out of this for a while.
The Expos got about the worst possible news Thursday, regarding Vladimir Guerrero. Early thought that his back pain was the result of the hard turf in Montreal and would clear up once he got to grass turned out to be incorrect. An MRI showed a mildly bulging, herniated disk but significant nerve impingement. The likely course of action is a DL stint and epidural injections to control the inflamed disk and attempt to reduce the impingement. This is a relatively easy injury to come back from in a matter of weeks, if not too severe. But reports on the severity of Vlad’s injury have varied. The Montreal Gazette reports that “Guerrero probably will be sidelined for an extended period of time.” Vlad will likely see renowned spine surgeon Robert Watkins for a second opinion. The loss of their superstar not only hurts the Expos on the field, but also reduces the potential trade value for Vlad.
There’s been some confusion regarding Randy Johnson, but I spoke to team sources yesterday afternoon and got a bit more clarity on the situation. Johnson and the staff are discussing using Synvisc, an artificial lubricant, in his knee, but this is more a long-term solution. Johnson fully intends to pitch for several more years and does not want to undergo a series of “scrape and tape” knee scopes or have the same type of arthritic degeneration seen in other players. The Synvisc injections should not affect his injury timetable.
Tom Glavine went only one inning yesterday with uncharacteristic wildness. Leaving the game after 54 pitches, Glavine reported “severe stiffness” in his pitching elbow. Reader Greg Sigountos wrote in to let me know that Glavine said in a postgame interview that the problem was caused by adjustments he made as a result of his recent blister. Look–cascading! Since loss of command often is a sign of UCL problems, this bears watching and any injury would be just another nail in the coffin for Steve Phillips.
Last week, Joe Garagiola Jr. made the latest in a long series of heavily-criticized trades in which he gave up young players developed by the Diamondbacks for older talent. While the Byung-Hyun Kim-for-Shea Hillenbrand deal doesn’t quite fit the pattern of his other swaps, it does share one important characteristic: it was largely panned by outside performance analysts.
I’m with them. While I can see a scenario in which the Diamondbacks win the deal, I think that they gave up too much talent for a player who is likely to be average or maybe a little above. The deal is especially problematic because the Snakes have third-base prospect Chad Tracy available, and Tracy is a comparable player to Hillenbrand right now, and comes with a lower price tag and a higher upside.
What keeps me from emptying both barrels on the deal is Garagiola’s track record. This isn’t the first time he’s made a trade that left me shaking my head, and yet, the Diamondbacks have been one of the most successful franchises in baseball since they entered the league.