We're rapidly approaching midseason and to be brutal, it hasn't been a vintage year on the diamond so far. Boston and Los Angeles look the class of the AL and in the NL mediocrity abounds. That said, there's still plenty of storylines to keep Karl Ravech staring incredulously at John Kruk and Steve Phillips. Here's a few that have caught my eye this week.
The hyped event of the weekend was the return of Roger Clemens to the scuffling Yankees. Pravda ... sorry, The YES Network was so excited a strand of Michael Kay's hair briefly strayed from its position and Al Leiter almost said something vaguely controversial.
As season openers go, Clemens was functional rather than spectacular. His outing of 108 pitches, 69 strikes, and 7 KOs wasn't bad, but he didn't look free-flowing in the mound and seemed to be wary of the groin. A less anemic team than Pittsburgh (13th in the NL in runs scored and 16th in OPS) might have got to him. That said, if he can keep the team in the game against the likes of the Angels, Detroit, Boston, and Cleveland, his signing was worth the outlay.
As recently as five years ago a Clemens/Andy Pettitte/Mike Mussina trifecta would have been the rock equivalent of Linkin Park headlining Woodstock. Nowadays, they're more of a Steely Dan reunion tour. Mussina looks as good as finished and Pettitte, though he sports a healthy 3.11 ERA, isn't striking enough out to make anybody other than Mrs. Pettitte confident that he can maintain it until September.
The Yankees will hit without Giambi, but if they can't pitch, they won't make the play-offs. Chien-Ming Wang and (hopefully) Philip Hughes will be just as important as the $46 million headliners.
Finally, on the subject of the Yankees, let's hear it for Mr. Alex Rodriguez, surely the most flogged whipping boy of all-time. I was guilty of some A-Rod baiting myself, but despite all the criticism, off-field garbage, and having a somewhat odd demeanor, the guy can rake and it's time to tip our collective hats to him.
The much-maligned Rodriguez has a line of .304/.407/.674, yet still he's hearing how he should be allowed to walk this offseason. Newsday says $25m could buy lots of arms. I haven't read a more stupid article since the last one by the same idiot, Soaring with Giambi on DL, that was written the previous day. Back-to-back drivel and this guy still has a job — there's hope for Jerry Narron.
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Speaking of Jerry (King of the Lineup Card) Narron, here's another smart move by the Cincinnati Reds, the team that traded for an injured reliever and paid bucket loads of money to Eric Milton. This week, the front office let it be known they'd take offers for Adam Dunn to "shake up the roster."
Is that what's known as smart-ball? Maybe the Devil Rays, stuck in last place in the AL East, should go the same route by trading Carl Crawford for Henry Blanco to "shake up the roster?" Or the Red Sox, mired in a one-game slump, should move struggling import Dice-K to Pittsburgh for red-hot Xavier Nady?
Dunn is apparently totally hopeless because he strikes out a lot. Dunn has also hit 40 or more home runs for the past three seasons, walked more than 100 times a season for the past three seasons, and has a career OPS of .891. All this despite the fact that his manager often sits him against lefties (his BA is a huge six points lower against lefties), pencils his name in at sixth on the lineup card (must be that awful career OBP of .377), and even as low as seventh on occasions.
The Reds have some truly mediocre players (Milton is earning $10,333,333 this year), but Dunn isn't one of them, despite his defense. He can't walk until the end of 2009, so there's absolutely no reason to dump him for bits-and-pieces and a rookie or two. Dumping injury-prone Ken Griffey, Jr. makes more sense while he has value, though they'd have to eat some of the $8.5 million per year he earns.
The NL Central is a poor division and, as the Brewers can testify, a small improvement in the roster can result in a jump up the standings. The Reds stayed in contention for a playoff spot to the final week of last season, so adding a couple of $4-5 million-a-year starters by GM Wayne Krivsky (the team is 11th in the NL in quality starts) might have pushed the team over the hump. Instead, Krivsky stood pat and it might cost him and Narron their jobs.
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With the evidence available so far, who's the worst free agent signing of the off season? J.D. Drew? Nomar Garciaparra? Jason Schmidt or Mark Mulder? No, for sheer pedestrian, one-dimensional ineptitude it has to be that out-making machine Juan Pierre.
Pierre is 30-years-old and has one positive in his repertoire. He can run quickly. He steals bases, though he often gets caught, and he can turn a double into a triple occasionally. So Dodger GM Ned Colletti saw fit to hand him a $44 million over five years contract, even though he already has a fine lead-off hitter in Rafael Furcal on the roster and the team needed somebody who could slug.
Pierre made a staggering 492 outs last year with the Cubs, who couldn't wait to run him out of town. If he has the same number of ABs he had last year (unlikely as he managed 699), he's on pace to record a truly mind-boggling 529 outs. His OBP is a paltry .305 and he's slugging at about the rate you'd expect from Niles Crane (.319). The 20 steals he's amassed have come at a hefty price.
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Sam Perlozzo is apparently a dead-man walking in Baltimore. Ho-hum — managing in the AL isn't rocket science. If Ozzie Guillen can manage a team to a World Series ring, then there must be hundreds of candidates out there who could do the job — if there's anybody left who'd work for Peter Angelos.
The interesting thing about Baltimore is that their pitching, despite the loss of three of their planned rotation (Kris Benson, Jaret Wright, and Adam Loewen) is second in the AL in starters ERA (3.73) and starters BAA (.240). The work Leo Mazzone is putting in with Erik Bedard and Daniel Cabrera is beginning to pay off. Former first-round pick (by the Indians) Jeremy Guthrie, a $380,000 re-tread, is sporting a 2.70 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP, statistics Kris Benson can only dream of.
The relief core, which had an expensive overall last season, hasn't been as effective. The team is 11th and 10th in the same categories. But the real problem is the offense, which has been nothing short of disastrous. 11th in runs and OBP and 12th in SLG won't cut it in the AL East. Jay Gibbons, Corey Patterson, Jay Payton, and Aubrey Huff represent $17.8 million of payroll, but have produced almost nothing. Melvin Mora and Ramon Hernandez aren't earning their combined $14.5 million, either.
The team is making noises about bidding for Mark Teixeira (a Maryland native), who would be a serious upgrade over Kevin Millar or Jay Gibbons, but who comes at a hefty price, being a Scott Boras client. If Baltimore is to take advantage of an improved rotation, the $95 million payroll will have to be jacked-up next year.
Finally, isn't it fun to watch Ozzie Guillen self-destruct in Chicago? Unless you're a White Sox fan of course, in which case you won't be reading this (or anything) because you'll be drinking beer at breakfast with Mom and Dad while watching wrestling. Last in the AL in BA, OBP and SLG, 49 different lineups, Joe Crede on the DL (is that an advantage?), Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye in a slump — it's a long way from the heady days of 2005. Things have got so bad Guillen has been bemoaning the loss of Darin Erstad. It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
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