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March 27, 2013

Tough time for NL third sackers

Maybe there's something going around, but National League third basemen seem to be getting more than their fair share of injuries of late. Fans and fantasy owners probably are a bit panicked right now as this plague spreads.
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Posted by: Greg Simons

September 14, 2012

Lasting impressions: Reviewing the Beckett-Hanley trade

So often, and of course in our Twitter-infused, must-have-it-now sports world, we want to know immediately what will be the impact of things like big trades. Who won the Josh Beckett-Adrian Gonzalez-Carl Crawford to Los Angeles fiasco of a trade? You couldn't listen to sports-talk radio the next day without being inundated with that question, and 25 different answers from 25 different talking heads.*

*Of course, if you're listening to sports-talk radio, you're kind of asking for that type of punishment, aren't you?

We obviously don't know who will end up winning that trade. Heck, it's still hard to tell who won the first big Beckett trade.

But with Beckett and Hanley Ramirez (the main player he was traded for the first time) coming full circle and ending up as teammates out on the left coast, it seemed like a good time to look back and check out the trickle-down effects from that deal that are still being felt.

The original deal was Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota heading from Florida to Boston for shortstop prospect Ramirez, young pitcher Anibal Sanchez and minor leaguers Harvey Garvey and Jesus Delgado. It took place during the offseason before the 2006 season.

Beckett was in the last year of team control and about to hit free agency for the first time after the 2006 season, but during July of that year, the Red Sox signed him to a three-year extension. This wasn't a given for the Red Sox when they made the trade, but the likelihood of them being able to come to a deal with Beckett had to have been pretty good for them to give up their top prospect in Ramirez and an arm like Sanchez's.

The deal worked out well for both sides.* Ramirez went on to post a 32.5 WAR over six-plus years before being sent to Los Angeles this season in a deal that was more about his moping than his abilities, while Sanchez earned the Marlins 13.4 wins above replacement during roughly the same time period before leaving this season in a separate deal.

*understatement alert

On the Red Sox side, Beckett turned in a WAR of 26.8 and they also got an unexpected 10.4 WAR out of Lowell, who was basically considered a salary dump by the Marlins.

From a strictly numerical standpoint, the Marlins won the WAR*, but no one has ever put a numerical value on winning a World Series, expect maybe the team owners who made a ton of money off the impending Red Sox dynasty that came with winning their second title in four years. Beckett and Lowell were key contributors on a World Series winning team, so that has to be worth the difference in WAR right? The Red Sox gave up a lot in Ramirez, but was it not worth a championship? You won't find too many people in Boston who regret that deal.

*sorry, I couldn't help myself

But the trade can't be fully evaluated based on just those four players. The Red Sox have turned Beckett into more prospects, as have the Marlins with both Ramirez and Sanchez.

Beckett was sent to Los Angeles last month, along with Gonzalez, Crawford and Nick Punto in a deal that returned James Loney, Ivan DeJesus Jr., Allen Webster and eventually Rubby de la Rosa and Jerry Sands, once they are able to be named later. Beckett wasn't the main draw for the Dodgers in that deal, but he's not chopped liver either, so he gets at least a little credit for part of the Red Sox return.

Soon after Boston acquired Mota, and before he ever suited up for the Sox, he was flipped to Cleveland, along with prospect Andy Marte, catcher Kelly Shoppach and minor leaguer Randy Newsome for Coco Crisp, Josh Bard and David Riske. Marte was probably the main part of that deal for Cleveland, but Crisp became a seven win player during his time with the Red Sox before being flipped to the Royals for reliever Ramon Ramirez. Ramirez was later traded to the Giants for minor leaguer Daniel Turpen, who never made it to the majors, but Ramirez was worth a half-win for the Red Sox during his time with the team. That's an additional 7.5 wins for the Sox, for which at least a portion of the credit goes to the Beckett trade.

On the Marlins side, most of their action came this season. After their all-in approach crashed and burned, the Marlins began to sell their players for parts, and the grumpy Ramirez was among the first to be put on the block.

After six-plus years of Ramirez, the Marlins turned him and reliever Randy Choate into pitching prospect Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. The book is still wide open on their contributions to the Marlins. The same goes for the three prospects the Marlins got back for Anibal Sanchez: Jacob Turner, Rob Brantly and Brian Flynn.

So what's the tally in the end?

The Red Sox got six mostly strong years from Beckett, a few good years from Lowell, some solid pay from Crisp, and whatever Webster, de la Rosa and Sands turn into in exchange for Ramirez, Sanchez, Marte (Crisp deal, who turned into nothing) and a couple of good seasons from Shoppach. Oh, and they got a World Series ring out of it, too.

The Marlins got six mostly good years of Ramirez, a few good years from Sanchez, and whatever Turner, Brantly, Flynn and Eovaldi turn into in exchange for one more year of Beckett (who wouldn't have re-signed in Florida) and Lowell, whose contract they couldn't afford anyway.

We still don't know who won the trade, which wasn't the exercise here anyway. Six years later, the Marlins have only a collection of prospects to show for their deals, but that could be better than what the Red Sox have left. The Red Sox, however, have the jewelry to claim a victory.

I'm going to do this exercise once a week with a major trade from some time in the last decade, not in an attempt to determine a winner and loser (although if there is an obvious one, I'll point it out), but rather to look at the dominoes that continue to fall today from the trades we remember from years back.
Posted by: Jeff Moore

April 23, 2012

Ivan Rodriguez career highlights

It was recently announced that veteran catcher and current unsigned free agent Ivan Rodriguez intends to officially retire in Texas on Monday.

When a great player like Rodriguez retires, it’s nice to look back over his career, what his highs and lows were, his career milestones, and the best (and oddest) games he ever participated in where. That’s what’s listed below, the career highlights of Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez.

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Posted by: Chris Jaffe

April 16, 2012

Enough with the blowhard managers

Bobby Valentine, being Bobby Valentine, spouted off about Kevin Youkilis' game prep to the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham:

I don't think he's as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason.

Anyone expecting him not to say things like this doesn't understand Valentine's M.O. He's bombastic, confrontational and publicity-seeking. In other words, he's Boston's version of Ozzie Guillen. You know Guillen, the guy who recently said he loves and respects Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

I get that these two managers enjoy stirring the pot. They love to be the center of attention. They prefer to call our their players in the media instead of addressing their issues face-to-face in the privacy of the clubhouse. What I don't get is why, at least regarding that last point.

Sure, generating controversy boosts their notoriety and helps land them broadcast gigs when they're not in the dugout. That's smart (if annoying) business, helping set them up professionally and financially when their managerial schticks finally wear out their welcome.

But embarrassing their players in public, as Valentine just did and Guillen often did in Chicago, serves only to create a divide between themselves and their players. Who wants to listen to a manager who questions your integrity in public? Who wants to play for a manager who doesn't have your back?

I know these antics bring attention to a team, and as the old saying goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity. And plenty of people seem to revel in these controversies. But it seems the negative impact of this behavior in the clubhouse—and by extension, the playing field— would outweigh the positive impact of a few more ears and eyeballs focused on the team.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I wish Valentine and Guillen would just shut up.
Posted by: Greg Simons

April 10, 2012

Ozzie gets five days for Castro comments

Anybody seen Jack McKeon?

Apparently much to the surprise of the Miami Marlins, Ozzie Guillen firmly put his foot in his mouth in a recent interview with Time magazine. A Latino manager hired to manage a team in a city that has a neighborhood call "Little Havana" can't say:

"I respect Fidel Castro. You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that [expletive] is still there."

The reaction to Guillen's comments in Miami was less than favorable, in particular from Cuban refugees who fled their home country because of Fidel Castro. The Marlins gave Guillen a five-game suspension today.

Guillen has drawn attention from the commissioner's office for his comments in the past. In 2006 he was fined and order to take sensitivity training for using a gay slur toward Jay Mariotti, a Chicago sportswriter.

He has apologized for his Castro comments and people who know him say he is about as upset as they have seen him, but the hard fact is that Ozzie and the Marlins are in a difficult position.

It should be interesting to see if Guillen has lost the clubhouse or, at least, the respect of many of his players for his comments. I will admit to not understanding the full depth of Guillen's comments until I talked to a few people from the Miami area. For Guillen, who has called the area home for over a decade, to not understand is quite unbelievable. It may be very hard to Guillen to get his team to completely trust his sincerity in his apology.

But now the Marlins have a larger issue at hand.

The Marlins have a new publicly funded stadium. A stadium, in Little Havana, that will cost the city $2 billion over the next 40 years. The Marlins have lavished millions of dollars on payroll. About the worst thing that could happen to them, in a city where the Cuban community is politically powerful, is for their manager to praise Castro.

Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria had to work with that community to get the new stadium. The pressure on the Marlins from a community of people driven from their homeland by Castro is going to be immense. I am sure the commissioner's office, which lobbied to the same groups for a new stadium, is going to apply further pressure to make sure the Marlins don't have a full blown taxpayer revolt on their hands. One idea of the intensity of the issue can be found here:

“We strongly disagree with the opinion of Ozzie Guillen, and consider it a provocation against the Cuban and Venezuelan communities,” said Miguel Saavedra, head of Vigilia Mambisa. “Tomorrow starts a boycott. We are asking for the resignation of Guillen.”

Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez has called for "decisive steps" to end the controversy.

The five-game suspension gives the Marlins a bit of time to find the full scope of the damage Guillen has done. It gives the Marlins time to figure out how, exactly, to free themselves of Ozzie.

The Marlins, though, hold some blame here. Guillen also has waverd between supporting and not supporting, Hugo Chavez, president of Ozzie's country of birth, Venezuela, and a Castro supporter. They should have taken this consideration before hiring Guillen.

I am sure they will take it into consideration when they decide his fate. If, before the suspension is up, the Marlins announce Guillen was fired in part because he lost the trust of players in the clubhouse I wouldn't be surprised but it won't be the full reason.
Posted by: Mat Kovach


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