The Weekly Rundown 08.01.08: The Trade Spectacular!

Posted by A.J. Stevens on 08.01.2008

I'm back after a week off, and I've got all of your trade deadline news and analysis right here! Come inside and join us, won't you?



I'd like to take a bit and apologize for the lack of a column last week. I was suddenly out of town to attend to a family emergency, and didn't have enough access to a computer or time to get anything posted or do much of anything else (like column research) on the intertubes.

One week and two 12+ hour drives later, it's a GREAT time to be back, as not only do I get to cover a whole bunch of news from last week, it's mostly CURRENT news, as the trade deadline has come and gone no less than eight short hours ago.

LEADING OFF
Mark Teixeira to the Angels

Mark Teixeira has moved once again at the trade deadline, this time to the Angels. In return, the Braves get Casey Kotchman. I honestly don't know that much about Kotchman, but one of my favorite memories this season is when the Rangers catcher got bowled over at a play at the plate, then threw Kotchman out at third. The look on Kotchman's face when he was being thrown out (and was admittedly dead to rights) was priceless. Watch the video here. (mlb.com)

Anyway, the second story surrounding the Teixeira trade is that the Braves, picked by many experts to win the NL East, have officially cashed in their season. Chipper Jones, once under close .400 watch, is on the DL again. Tim Hudson is out with a mysterious elbow injury that could lead to Tommy John surgery. The Bravos did get Mike Hampton back, but unfortunately he was shelled in his first appearance in over 3 years.

BATTING SECOND
Jorge Posada to have season-ending surgery

Yankees mainstay catcher Jorge Posada announced last week that he would have surgery to repair a torn right labrum. This is excellent timing, as the Bombers now have a few days to try to acquire another catcher before the trade deadline. Current catchers Jose Molina and Chad Moeller have been doing a serviceable job behind the plate, however, the Yankees might want to acquire another bat to supplement their lineup of DH's.

The Yankees certainly have been busy in both trade and non-trade acquisitions, acquiring Sidney Ponson, Richie Sexson, Damaso Marte, and Xavier Nady over the past few weeks. Everybody so far has contributed as well as or better than expected, so aside from another catcher, the Yankees seem pretty well set to make a serious run at the AL East pennant -- something that I wouldn't have expected myself to say a month ago.

...aaaaaaand no less than 5 hours after I type this section, the Yankees went out and traded reliever Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers for old batterymate Pudge Rodriguez. This is a great move for the Yankees, as they now appear to have all of the offensive pieces of their postseason puzzle together. I didn't pick the Yankees to go to the postseason, and without the acquisition of a back-end-of-the-rotation arm, I still think their chances are slim.

UP THIRD
Three 3-team pennant races

NL East: Phillies, Mets, Marlins.
AL East: Rays, Red Sox, Yankees.
NL Central: Cubs, Cardinals, Brewers.

Baseball is starting to really get exciting, as we are entering the final eight weeks of the season with no clear winner in sight in any of the divisions other than the AL West, where the Halos are destroying everybody else.

In the NL East, the Phillies did not do much besides picking up Joe Blanton, who will be a serviceable addition to their beleaguered rotation. The Mets should have picked up LF Adam Dunn from the Reds, as currently their "power" corner outfield spots are being manned by Fernando Tatis and Endy Chavez. The Marlins were in the Manny Ramirez trade discussions for almost a whole day before talks fell through. This led to the Marlins doing absolutely nothing at the trade deadline, which could prove disastrous if they don't pull off a miracle during the waver trading period. At this point, anybody the Marlins do manage to pick up is not guaranteed to help them in the postseason, so they are on shaky ground indeed.

In the AL East, the Red Sox and Rays both made moves to improve their teams -- one in the clubhouse, the other in the field -- while the Rays stood on the wall like a 5th grader who couldn't get any girls to dance with him. The Rays were in the very early Griffey rumors, as well as the Adam Dunn and Jason Bay talks, but wound up doing nothing. They may find themselves relying on the wonderfully-named, soon-to-return Rocco Baldelli, who has been out since the beginning of the season with a mitochondrial infection. The Rays are currently the division favorites, despite the changes made by the Sawx and the Yanks. The Rays currently have the best balance between pitching, defense, and hitting. Their only weaknesses right now are a power bat to protect Carlos Pena, and someone in the back of the bullpen to spell the aging Troy Percival.

The Cubs, Brewers, and Cardinals all know that they are in the race for the NL Central, and their activity on the transaction page over the past couple of weeks shows. Clearly, the Brewers have pulled off the most effective trade of the year, and supported that trade with the acquisition of 2B Ray Durham. Harden and Gaudin have been less effective for the Cubs, but the Cubbies' offense has exploded recently. Harden, if he remains healthy for the rest of the year, should be the least of the Cubs' concerns, as they are the most balanced team in the NL right now. They're hitting well, they're pitching well, and their defense isn't so bad, either. There was some question about whether or not they would get a left-handed power bat at the deadline, but Jim Edmonds has stepped up recently to hopefully plug that hole. Right now I would be concerned with their bullpen, especially with Wood's recurring blister issues. Still, at this point in the season, the Cubs are the team to beat in the majors.

THE CLEANUP HITTER
Sweet Home Chicago

In perhaps the most shocking trade of the past week, which arrived with no warning whatsoever, the Reds dealt future HOF RF Junior Griffey to the Chicago White Sox with cash for a relief pitcher and a AAA second baseman. This doesn't seem like the kind of return somebody trading for Griffey would get, but given the year that Junior's had so far (discussed in a previous Rundown), it's understandable. What isn't immediately understandable is what the White Sox are doing to *do* with Griffey. This trade would have made more sense if the White Sox had spun off one of their other pieces, but that didn't happen. Here's the situation right now: Carlos Quentin is in LF, Nick Swisher is at CF/1B, Jermaine Dye is in RF, Paul Konerko is at 1B, and Jim Thome is the DH and can play 1B when absolutely necessary. At first glance, the most obvious option is to bench the slumping Konerko, put Swisher at 1B, and play Griffey at the position he started at way back when: CF. Trouble is, Griffey doesn't have the range that he had 20 years ago, and would make an awful CF. You can't DH him, because then Thome sits, and Thome is doing well in the role assigned to him this year.

My suggestion? Bench Konerko, move Swisher to 1B, then rotate Dye to LF and Quentin to CF. Griffey can then be plugged into the open slot in right. Quentin is young and easily has the best range out of anyone right now, despite his lack of experience in center. Dye hasn't played a game at LF since 2003, but he at least has experience over on that side of the field. Plus, his appearance at shortstop for one game one inning one out in 2005 shows that he is, at the very least, flexible about where he plays.

BATTING FIFTH
Why isn't this first? Because I wrote most of this column yesterday, and this ties in with the next item.

It seems that for the past week or so, the most effort Manny has put forth has been showing that he wants to get out of Boston. After a couple of false starts at the past couple of trade deadlines, and even having been put on waivers a few times over the past few years, Manny and Fenway have finally parted ways, with Manny going to the Dodgers, the Pirates' Jason Bay coming to the Red Sox, and the Dodgers and Sawx shipping two players each to the Pirates.

This is a good move for the Red Sox and the Pirates. (See below for the Dodgers.) The Sox get the production of Jason Bay for not only the rest of this year, but also for next year at the relatively bargain price of $7.5MM. Bay gets to play for a legitimate contending team this year and next, and will probably improve because of it. Being that his contract was running through 2009, and the Pirates were absolutely not going to contend next year, it made sense to flip him for people that can help the Pirates win when it's their time -- assuming that they ever decide it's their time, of course.

OK, Sox fans, you've gotta tell me: how does it feel to have Manny, Garciaparra, and D-Lowe teammates again, but managed by Joe Torre on the West Coast? I'm curious to know.

IN THE SIX-HOLE
Nomar out with strained MCL

...or as I like to refer to him, "No-arm Garcia-pop-up."

The Dodgers needed a shortstop. Neeeeded a shortstop. Traded for Casey Blake, who played one -- one! -- game at shortstop this season. Instead, they get a left fielder to add to their glut of outfielders, in the process trading away a third baseman (Andy LaRoche) who could at the very least play 3B while Blake covered short. I guess the best part of this deal is it keeps Juan Pierre and Andruw Jones out of the lineup. Regardless, some people are calling the Manny trade a move which will lock up the weak NL West for the Dodgers, who are currently 1 game out of first and starting a series with division leaders Arizona. While that may be the case, I think the Dodgers currently have enough liabilities defensively that if they do make the playoffs, they are not going to advance past the first round.

BATTING SEVENTH
Somebody please tell me what the Astros are thinking

Houston is currently 14 games out of first in the NL Central. The NL Wild Card is more likely than not going to come out of the NL East, especially given the Cubs' recent sweep of the Brewers. So, please tell me why the Astros are buying at the trade deadline instead of selling? The moves they made - acquiring RP LaTroy Hawkins and SP Randy Wolf - make absolutely no sense. There is no way on Earth the Astros are going to win anything this year. So... that would mean rebuild, or at the very least put themselves in a position to contend next year. So, why go out and get a mediocre reliever who will more likely than not be a free agent at the end of the season, and a starting pitcher who comes with a $9MM option for 2009? Especially one with a .272 BAA and 1.45 WHIP this year (leading to a stellar 6-10 record, I might add.

BATTING EIGHTH
Number 12... Catcher... number 12 (with apologies to Bob Sheppard).
While I was putting the finishing touches on this column, I hunkered down on the couch and turned on a couple of baseball games. First, I watched the Angels-Yankees, as I wanted to see how newcomers Mark Teixeira and Pudge Rodriguez would benefit their teams.

Rodriguez came to bat for the Yankees for the first time in the third inning, and was greeted with cheers. Four pitches and a strikeout later, there were faint boos scattered throughout the cheers. Talk about a bad welcome.

The boos for Pudge were nothing compared to what was rained down on the White Sox catcher, A.J. Stevens Pierzynski, who is currently playing in Minnesota. It's no secret that A.J. is a bit... well, difficult to get along with. Boos echoed throughout the Metrodome for AJP's AB. Seriously, we're talking Ashlee Simpson at the Orange Bowl levels.



BATTING NINTH
Or, The Pitcher.

The Diamondbacks, while standing (mostly) pat at the trade deadline (not for want of trying, however: they were in the running for Adam Dunn), did make some changes to their pitching staff over the past few days. First, they added to the flexibility of their bullpen, as well as the average height of their roster, by acquiring 6'11" setup man Jon Rauch from the Nationals in exchange for infielder Emilio Bonifacio. I never thought that Randy Johnson wouldn't be the tallest man on the roster. Rauch is already proving to be a good pickup for the Snakes, slotting in nicely into the 8th inning and occasional closer role, spelling workhorses Chad Qualls and Brandon Lyon.

The other change the D-Backs made was sending pitcher/slugger Micah Owings to AAA Tucson. Owings hadn't been doing much of either recently, and after a strong start, it was decided that the rotation couldn't support a pitcher with a 9.00 ERA. Hopefully Owings can get his mechanics back in Tucson, otherwise, he might want to consider taking the same career path as pitcher-turned-slugging outfielder Rick Ankiel. The D-Backs have had a revolving door in right field this year; maybe the solution has been under their nose all along.

CLOSING IT OUT

That's it for me this week. The trade deadline has passed (and my column deadline is fast approaching), and the contenders have all tried to mold themselves into Series-winning material. Got a question, comment, or just want to talk some baseball? Drop me a line in the comments or at [e-mail].

See you next Friday! -AJS