The Los Angeles Dodgers traded two minor leaguers to the Kansas City Royals for 2005 all-star Scott Podsednik.
The Dodgers gave up triple A catcher Lucas May and A-ball pitcher Elisaul Pimentel. The Dodgers will also pay Podsednik's remaining salary this year. In 73 triple A games, May has a triple slash stats line of .300/.356/.500. He turns 26 years old this year, however.
When I first heard about this trade on the radio, my first thoughts were, and I am channeling my inner Ned Colletti by the way, former All-Star (one time), rookie of the year runner up, former stolen base leader and owner of a shiny World Series ring.
Here's Colletti's take:
"He has been a World Series champion with the Chicago White Sox [in 2005]," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said. "He brings speed, he is a good hitter, he can play left field or center field if necessary, and he can drive in runs. With Reed Johnson and Manny being out and not knowing exactly when they'll be back and not knowing if they will have additional issues the rest of the season, this is a safeguard against them having any trouble staying on the field."
World Series champion is meaningless. Certainly the pitching, Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye had a much larger role. Podsednik played well for the Chicago White Sox during their World Series run, but in said World Series, he got on base 28.6% of the time--I know only 22 plate appearances but still meaningless to include that as the reason to trade for him.
He does steal a lot of bases, but he also gets caught stealing a lot too--leading the league in that category two times and the leader this season. For his career, he has stolen a base at a 75% rate. This year, he is at 71.4% and last year he was at 69.7%. He is 34 years old, so it isn't unreasonable to note that his speed has diminished somewhat.
Podsednik isn't a useless player, but it is a mildly useless trade. He fills in nicely as a bench player and an okay pinch runner. It's not as bad as giving up Carlos Santana for Casey Blake, but it's just a ho-hum typical Colletti move--trading away young players for old veterans who once upon a time played in a World Series or an All-Star game.
One more thing. The article ends with this pearl:
"Podsednik is expected to arrive in time for Thursday's game against the San Diego Padres, and the Dodgers will announce a corresponding move at that time. The club probably will do one of three things: (1) Option outfielder Xavier Paul to Albuquerque, (2) designate veteran outfielder Garret Anderson for assignment or (3) send a reliever to the minors, thus reducing the pitching staff from the 13 the Dodgers have carried for the past week to the more conventional 12."
If you had to rank those, wouldn't you rank them (1) designate veteran outfielder Garret Anderson for assignment, (2) designate veteran outfielder Garret Anderson for assignment and (3) designate veteran outfielder Garret Anderson for assignment?
While Anderson used to be an All-Star, he does own a .182/.206/.277 31 OPS+ stat line. While it is ridiculous that the Dodgers carry 13 relief pitchers, keep in mind Joe Torre goes through relief pitchers recklessly. Chad Billingsley pitched the Dodgers first complete game on July 21st since the 2008 season.
What did the Dodgers do? They designated pitcher Jack Taschner for assignment. Sure, that's not a bad idea, but somehow, someway Garret Anderson is on the roster.
Showing posts with label The Mustached GM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Mustached GM. Show all posts
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Garret Anderson
Somehow Garret Anderson has played played 62 games and have 132 plate appearances. He is used primarily as a spot starter and pinch hitter. His line this year:
.183/.198/.286 with a 32 OPS+
Not only is he not a good pinch hitter, but he's not even a pinch walker. Let's see if he is still on the Los Angeles Dodgers roster at the end of the season!
.183/.198/.286 with a 32 OPS+
Not only is he not a good pinch hitter, but he's not even a pinch walker. Let's see if he is still on the Los Angeles Dodgers roster at the end of the season!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
R. Ortiz is in the game
I had a new game: it was called figure out which R. Ortiz is pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles. How it was played was I would go on my blackberry and check out the Dodgers box scores. When checking out the box scores, the blackberry wouldn't have their full name (both pitchers were labeled R. Ortiz), thus giving the suspense. Since Joe Torre seemingly loves using the same relief pitchers every game, there would be at least one R. Ortiz (maybe both) pitching. I had to guess which R. Ortiz played. It was fun. Sadly, that game is now over. The Dodgers designated Russ Ortiz for assignment.
The Mustached GM never fails to amaze me. He signed Russ Ortiz and Ramon Ortiz. What does The Mustached GM* like about these guys?
Russ Ortiz got the game ball during a World Series (despite the Giants losing the game in the end). He also won 21 games in a year and playing in an All-Star game. And he turns 36 years old this season.
Ramon Ortiz has a less impressive resume. He did actually win a World Series ring. In fact, Ramon's Angels played Russ's Giants in 2002. He won 15 and 16 games in back to back years in 2002 and 2003. He turns 37 years old this season.
Anyone who actually went to baseball-reference would predict that these were horrible signings. Russ Ortiz has a career 1.39 so/bb line, and he hasn't been adequate since his overrated 2003 season, in which he finished 4th in Cy Young balloting despite 4.3 bb/9 and meh 6/3 so/9 lines. Ramon Ortiz hadn't pitched since the 2007 season. He has a career 1.82 so/bb line, and he hasn't been adequate since 2002--his only okay season. Even in that year, he served up a league high 40 home runs to average 1.7 hr/9.
Of course it's not surprising that these two pitchers have struggled so far. Take a glance at Russ Ortiz's box score and Ramon Ortiz's box score. I was hoping that this game would last until at least the All-Star break, but even the Dodgers figured out that Russ Ortiz was horrible. When will they figure out that Ramon Ortiz is horrible?
*The Mustached GM also signed Garret Anderson
What does The Mustached GM like about Garret Anderson?
Anderson was a three time All-Star, won a home run derby, won a World Series with Ramon Ortiz in 2002 and he turns 38 years old this season.
Of course he is a guy who has never been a great on base guy. On top of that, he has little power these days. He hasn't been a good hitter since 2003. Any guess how this one will turn out?
The Mustached GM never fails to amaze me. He signed Russ Ortiz and Ramon Ortiz. What does The Mustached GM* like about these guys?
Russ Ortiz got the game ball during a World Series (despite the Giants losing the game in the end). He also won 21 games in a year and playing in an All-Star game. And he turns 36 years old this season.
Ramon Ortiz has a less impressive resume. He did actually win a World Series ring. In fact, Ramon's Angels played Russ's Giants in 2002. He won 15 and 16 games in back to back years in 2002 and 2003. He turns 37 years old this season.
Anyone who actually went to baseball-reference would predict that these were horrible signings. Russ Ortiz has a career 1.39 so/bb line, and he hasn't been adequate since his overrated 2003 season, in which he finished 4th in Cy Young balloting despite 4.3 bb/9 and meh 6/3 so/9 lines. Ramon Ortiz hadn't pitched since the 2007 season. He has a career 1.82 so/bb line, and he hasn't been adequate since 2002--his only okay season. Even in that year, he served up a league high 40 home runs to average 1.7 hr/9.
Of course it's not surprising that these two pitchers have struggled so far. Take a glance at Russ Ortiz's box score and Ramon Ortiz's box score. I was hoping that this game would last until at least the All-Star break, but even the Dodgers figured out that Russ Ortiz was horrible. When will they figure out that Ramon Ortiz is horrible?
*The Mustached GM also signed Garret Anderson
What does The Mustached GM like about Garret Anderson?
Anderson was a three time All-Star, won a home run derby, won a World Series with Ramon Ortiz in 2002 and he turns 38 years old this season.
Of course he is a guy who has never been a great on base guy. On top of that, he has little power these days. He hasn't been a good hitter since 2003. Any guess how this one will turn out?
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Baseball Headlines Going into Day One, Game One
Today marks the first set of games for the Major League Baseball playoffs. Besides watching great games, there are a few things I will be looking for.
Rockies vs. Phillies
This one is too obvious. Will the Phillies use Brad Lidge?
If Charlie Manuel uses Brad Lidge in any meaningful situation at all, the game will be really interesting. We're talking high probability of walk-off action interesting. The Phillies will have to be down ten runs in the ninth inning to make me feel like, yeah, okay, Lidge can pitch. We know about the blown saves and the 7.21 ERA. The reason why he has the blown saves and high ERA are the result of three things. He strikes out 9.4 batters per nine innings (nothing wrong with that), but that is down from a career of striking out 12.1 batters per nine innings. He walks 5.2 batters per nine innings, which is up from walking 4.1 batters per nine innings. He is giving up 1.7 homeruns per nine innings, which is up from a career of giving up 0.9 homeruns per nine innings and way up from last year where he gave up 0.3 homeruns per nine innings. This tells me that he has some control problems and has lost some "stuff."
Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Which manager will micromanage their bullpen to the detriment of their team?
Joe Torre likes using relief pitchers. Jonathan Broxton has pitched in 68 games, Ronald Belisario in 66 games, Ramon Troncoso in 68 games, Guillermo Moto in 58 games, James McDonald in 44 games, the oft-injured Hong-Chih Kuo in 35 games. The mustached GM even traded for George Sherrill so Torre can use him in 30 games with the Dodgers. In fact, the Dodgers have used 25 different pitchers this year. Picked up Eric Milton for some games, signed Jeff Weaver, traded for Jon Garland and Vicente Padilla. He even used infielder Mark Loretta for a game. Even more telling, not one Dodgers starting pitcher threw a complete game.
For this game, I am not opposed to Torre going to the bullpen considering Randy Wolf is pitching in game one. Yes, Wolf has had a good season, but he is far from a dominating pitcher. At 32, he has pitched far better than the previous three seasons. The biggest difference is that he has cut down on the walks. He is averaging 2.4 walks per nine innings this year. The last two seasons, he averaged 3.4 walks per nine innings and he has a career average of 3.2 walks per nine innings. While he is walking less, he is striking out less. This year he is 6.7 batters per nine innings. The last two seasons, he struck out 7.7 batters per nine innings and 8.2 batters per nine innings. For his career, he has struck out 7.4 batters per nine innings.
Wolf is a solid number four pitcher starting the opening game in the series against the Cardinals. Should the series go five games, he will pitch, gulp, two games. Torre should use his awesome relief pitchers frequently for this game, but did he burn out those awesome arms from overuse in the regular season? I'm going to say no because The Mustached GM did keep acquiring more arms as the season went on.
Tony LaRussa has allowed his starting pitchers to pitch more innings and deeper into the game than Torre. And he should. LaRussa has two legitimate aces in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. LaRussa has used 20 different pitchers this season with five of them pitching in more than 60 games and two of those pitching in more than 70 games. Here's the thing though. If Carpenter and Wainwright are still going strong after eight innings and are not tired, will he relieve them for Ryan Franklin? Don't let the 38 saves and 1.92 ERA fool you. He's not very good. He strikes out 6.5 batters per nine innings and walks 3.5 innings per nine innings. This means that if the game is close and he is pitching, we're in for a great finish.
Twins vs Yankees
A-Rod and CC. The Yankees should win, but the teams that should win don't always win. Usually when the team that should win and doesn't win, it's because the other team has more heart and character which is stupid reasoning. If the Twins win tonight and Alex Rodriguez goes 0 for 4 and CC Sabathia gives up 4 in 5 innings, I can predict a columnists story:
-The gritty gutty Twins with no quit beat the $200 million Yankees. Stealing bases, getting dirty, diving for balls, the Twins trump the Yankees. The unclutch Alex Rodriguez did his part by going 0 for 4 with a strikeout in the 8th inning while CC Sabathia lasted 5 innings and gave up 4 earned runs. Dot dot dot...-
Smart people realize that we're talking about extremely small sample sizes. It's not about heart. Most baseball players have heart. It's not about clutch. Most players perform the same in the first inning as they do in the ninth inning. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. A-Rod and CC need to have a big game to prevent the dull columns from happening.
Rockies vs. Phillies
This one is too obvious. Will the Phillies use Brad Lidge?
If Charlie Manuel uses Brad Lidge in any meaningful situation at all, the game will be really interesting. We're talking high probability of walk-off action interesting. The Phillies will have to be down ten runs in the ninth inning to make me feel like, yeah, okay, Lidge can pitch. We know about the blown saves and the 7.21 ERA. The reason why he has the blown saves and high ERA are the result of three things. He strikes out 9.4 batters per nine innings (nothing wrong with that), but that is down from a career of striking out 12.1 batters per nine innings. He walks 5.2 batters per nine innings, which is up from walking 4.1 batters per nine innings. He is giving up 1.7 homeruns per nine innings, which is up from a career of giving up 0.9 homeruns per nine innings and way up from last year where he gave up 0.3 homeruns per nine innings. This tells me that he has some control problems and has lost some "stuff."
Cardinals vs. Dodgers
Which manager will micromanage their bullpen to the detriment of their team?
Joe Torre likes using relief pitchers. Jonathan Broxton has pitched in 68 games, Ronald Belisario in 66 games, Ramon Troncoso in 68 games, Guillermo Moto in 58 games, James McDonald in 44 games, the oft-injured Hong-Chih Kuo in 35 games. The mustached GM even traded for George Sherrill so Torre can use him in 30 games with the Dodgers. In fact, the Dodgers have used 25 different pitchers this year. Picked up Eric Milton for some games, signed Jeff Weaver, traded for Jon Garland and Vicente Padilla. He even used infielder Mark Loretta for a game. Even more telling, not one Dodgers starting pitcher threw a complete game.
For this game, I am not opposed to Torre going to the bullpen considering Randy Wolf is pitching in game one. Yes, Wolf has had a good season, but he is far from a dominating pitcher. At 32, he has pitched far better than the previous three seasons. The biggest difference is that he has cut down on the walks. He is averaging 2.4 walks per nine innings this year. The last two seasons, he averaged 3.4 walks per nine innings and he has a career average of 3.2 walks per nine innings. While he is walking less, he is striking out less. This year he is 6.7 batters per nine innings. The last two seasons, he struck out 7.7 batters per nine innings and 8.2 batters per nine innings. For his career, he has struck out 7.4 batters per nine innings.
Wolf is a solid number four pitcher starting the opening game in the series against the Cardinals. Should the series go five games, he will pitch, gulp, two games. Torre should use his awesome relief pitchers frequently for this game, but did he burn out those awesome arms from overuse in the regular season? I'm going to say no because The Mustached GM did keep acquiring more arms as the season went on.
Tony LaRussa has allowed his starting pitchers to pitch more innings and deeper into the game than Torre. And he should. LaRussa has two legitimate aces in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. LaRussa has used 20 different pitchers this season with five of them pitching in more than 60 games and two of those pitching in more than 70 games. Here's the thing though. If Carpenter and Wainwright are still going strong after eight innings and are not tired, will he relieve them for Ryan Franklin? Don't let the 38 saves and 1.92 ERA fool you. He's not very good. He strikes out 6.5 batters per nine innings and walks 3.5 innings per nine innings. This means that if the game is close and he is pitching, we're in for a great finish.
Twins vs Yankees
A-Rod and CC. The Yankees should win, but the teams that should win don't always win. Usually when the team that should win and doesn't win, it's because the other team has more heart and character which is stupid reasoning. If the Twins win tonight and Alex Rodriguez goes 0 for 4 and CC Sabathia gives up 4 in 5 innings, I can predict a columnists story:
-The gritty gutty Twins with no quit beat the $200 million Yankees. Stealing bases, getting dirty, diving for balls, the Twins trump the Yankees. The unclutch Alex Rodriguez did his part by going 0 for 4 with a strikeout in the 8th inning while CC Sabathia lasted 5 innings and gave up 4 earned runs. Dot dot dot...-
Smart people realize that we're talking about extremely small sample sizes. It's not about heart. Most baseball players have heart. It's not about clutch. Most players perform the same in the first inning as they do in the ninth inning. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. A-Rod and CC need to have a big game to prevent the dull columns from happening.
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