The Underground Insight 8.20.07: The Spray Takes Over

Posted by JD Koziarski on 08.20.2007

In a week when no one story, idea, or random annoying Four-Letter-Network writer has annoyed The Insight, this column takes a brief look at a number of baseball’s recent storylines.

The Show

This week is all about Spraying to All Fields, so let's get right to it.

Spraying to All Fields

Off the Market – Part One

In a move that would have seemed impossible a month ago, the Chicago White Sox re-signed Jermaine Dye to a two-year contract worth $22 million. The breakdown of the contract has Dye making $9.5 million in 2008, $11.5 million in 2009, and a 2010 mutual option that can earn Dye another $12 million with a $1 million buyout. All those numbers add up to the White Sox keeping another member of the '05 World Series team around for a little while longer. I'm not sure $22 mil-do for Dye is a wise move, but look at it this way. Two of the top five potential free agents this off season were going to be Mark Buehrle and Jermaine Dye. Kenny Williams managed to keep them both on the South Side. If a middle-to-big market team had signed both Dye and Buehrle in December, wouldn't people be talking about what a splash that team made in free agency? This is a big deal, even if it turns out to not be a very good deal. But with the performance of the White Sox outfield prospects, the Sox needed to keep someone who was good for 25+ home runs.

Off the Market – Part Two

One day before Dye decided to stick around Chicago, Carlos Zambrano inked a deal that will keep him pitching in Wrigleyville for the next half decade. That deal could reach up to as much as six years and $110.75 million if the 2013 vesting player option is activated. In my column on potential 300-game winners last week, I half-joked that Zambrano could only hope to reach that number if he left the Cubs. Well, he won't be going anywhere and this move was absolutely vital if the Cubs hope to contend in the near future. The Zambrano signing has a huge effect on the free agent market, too. With Buehrle and Big Z locked up, the pickings will be much slimmer than expected. Don't believe me? How does this list of some potential free agent starters look to you?

Matt Clement BOS
Bartolo Colon LAA
Josh Fogg COL
Freddy Garcia PHI
Livan Hernandez ARZ
Jason Jennings HOU
Kyle Lohse PHI
Rodrigo Lopez COL
Eric Milton CIN
Kenny Rogers DET
Curt Schilling BOS
Carlos Silva MIN
Kip Wells STL
Jaret Wright BAL
Victor Zambrano NYM

A Real Good Pitcher

On Sunday, a pitcher who appears to be more than willing to test the free agent market after the 2008 season, Johan Santana, set a franchise record when he struck out 17 Rangers. Here's the thing: Santana is absolutely amazing and all, but striking out 17 Rangers is kinda like dunking over a twelve-year-old. Earlier this year, the Rangers set a team record by striking out 19 times in a game. Then they beat that by striking out 21 times against Oakland. So really, striking out 17 Rangers should only count for something like 12 ½. But still, Santana's real good.

A Real Bad Pitcher

Ok, maybe it's not fair to call Eric Gagne "real bad" just yet, but Boston fans are ready to throw him off the Green Monster. In 8 games through Sunday, Gagne is 1-1 with a 12.86 ERA and 2 blown saves in 7 IP with the Carmines. Gagne had just 7 blown saves in his career before joining Boston. Since I don't exactly believe Gagne forgot how to pitch just because he went to an East Coast team in a pennant race like Joe Morgan does, I wonder why this is happening. More likely than the pressure of being on the Red Sox affecting him is his new role as a set-up man (I know one of his blown saves was in the 9th).

A Real Good Hitting Pitcher

Alright, this is going to be the last thing about pitchers for a little while. On Saturday, Micah Owings decided to hit two home runs, a double, and a single against the Braves. He had 6 RBIs. He's a pitcher. That's pretty awesome for any player, but when a pitcher has a game like that it's news. I applaud the man, but I still think forcing pitchers to hit in the National League is the dumbest relic from an age gone by in all of sports. Ya know, football players all used to play two ways, too. You don't see anybody demanding Tom Brady play some DB, do you?

A Nothing on the Wrist

Some people speculated that Bud Selig would suspend Jason Giambi for admitted steroid use. Maybe a few games as a slap on the wrist or even a hefty fine for his transgressions would certainly suffice. But, in typical spineless Selig fashion, Giambi skated. Alright, whatever. I'm over that because I have no reason to believe that the puffy again Giambi isn't currently using something he shouldn't. What I want to know is how would Roger Goodell handle a situation like this? Yeah, the NFL has their HGH problem, too, but I have a feeling that he wouldn't take kindly to Giambi.

Old Enough to Be Their . . . Grandpa?

Alright, so it's a bit of a stretch to think that the guys playing for the Braves' Single-A affiliate in Rome are calling 48-year-old Julio Franco "Gramps," but it shows what dedication Franco has to the game to accept the assignment. And it's nice to see that the Braves have agreed to bring Franco back to the big leagues in September. At this point, I wouldn't want Franco taking a roster spot on a team for which I root, but as a baseball fan I would like to see him stick around until he's 50.

The Future is Now in Detroit!

Earlier this year I talked about how Cameron Maybin was the real deal for Detroit. In my column almost four months ago, I said:

Maybin is injured right now, but so far this year he has been tearing up the Florida State League with a .396 OBP and .466 SLG. He was just as good last year in the Midwest League where he hit .304/.387/.457. A recent mlb.com article on Maybin promotes him as a five-tool player who is sure to make an impact before long. And they're right, but it's not the "five tools" that excites me. Lots of players have been five-tools guys who actually were bad at baseball. Corey Patterson is one of those guys.

Maybin gets on base and in just one year has already developed some pop in the bat. He has also grown an inch and put on five pounds since his first pro season last year. He's only 20 and might not be ready for the Tigers outfield for a couple years, but Maybin looks like one of those sure things who could be ready to roam the spacious Comerica outfield sooner rather than later.

I'm man enough to admit when I'm wrong, and I was wrong. Maybin isn't a couple years away. He's ready now. In just a couple games, he already has his first Major League home run. Maybin's arrival also marks the end of the Tigers road for Craig Monroe, who had turned into a decent player the last three years but totally fell off the map in 2007.

In a Year of Milestones . . .

Bonds, Thomas, Biggio, Glavine, and others have all attained various milestones this season, but none is stranger than the milestone the Oakland Athletics reached when Jeff Davanon pinch ran for Travis Buck the other night. Davanon became the 50th player to enter a game for the A's this season. That's a team record. That's not a record you want to set, but it's definitely a fantastic excuse. Injuries usually aren't an excuse. If you lose a guy or two, you need to overcome that. But the A's have used fifty players! That's two rosters. Look at it this way: The A's have essentially gone through a major league roster and a Triple-A roster in one season. And, somehow, they're only 3 games under .500. That's pretty amazing.

Random Fun with Changing Teams

In my spare time I think of ridiculous things like this. On August 15, the Diamondbacks designated for assignment pitchers Joe Kennedy and Byung-Hyun Kim. What do these two have in common? Well, they've both pitched for three of the four most recent expansion teams. In fact, Kim has pitched for three of them (Florida, Colorado, and Arizona) this season. A few other players have played for three of the four. Charles Johnson played with Florida, Colorado, and Tampa Bay. Craig Counsell has played for all but Tampa Bay. The same is true for Jorge Julio. Quinton McCracken only needed to play for Florida to appease my hunger for useless knowledge. So, faithful readers, I want all six of you to do some research for me. Find out which players, if any, have played for all four of those teams. I need to know!

Enter the Sandman

While writing this column, I missed out on an eBay auction I really, really wanted to win. It was a 2007 Topps Allen & Ginter Mini Bazooka Aaron Rowand card, hand serial numbered to 25. Yeah, pretty rare. And pretty cool. And pretty expensive. And I need it to help complete my collection. I am one of those people who actually collects cards, but I only collect a handful of players and I do a decent job of selling cards I don't want to fund this hobby. I'd like to dedicate an entire column to sports card collecting, so if you have any cool stories of cards pulled from backs, won in auctions, or whatever, e-mail them along and I'll try to put something together for a slow week, perhaps in the