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Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Wagner Not the Answer for the Red Sox
Last night, I first watched Brad Penny do a very successful impression of a batting practice machine (well at least for the Yankees it was a successful impression). Then I saw "top prospect" Michael Bowden equally look like a red and white pinata on the mound. As a result, I had to wonder if the Red Sox can do anything to stem the Yankee Tide, which right now looks like Hurricane Bill's effects on the north east coastline.
Then I was reminded that the Red Sox claimed Billy Wagner off waivers from the Mets yesterday before the 20-11 beat down at the hands of the Yankees. Wagner, a fourteen year veteran, out for the nearly past year with elbow ligament replacement surgery, is still valuable as he can still hit the mid 90's with his fastball and struck out two batters in his first outing back from rehab against the Braves Thursday night. Who couldn't use a flame throwing lefty who is sixth on the all time saves list with 385 saves?
Herein lies the problem. First, the Red Sox don't need a closer with Jonathan Papelbon and his 2.08 ERA and 29 saves. Well, the next easy observation is that Wagner could setup Papelbon. Well, that's not exactly what the Red Sox need either. With Ramon Ramirez (2.67), Hideki Okajima (2.77) and Takashi Saito (2.86), the Sox have four very good setup relievers. Throw in Josh Bard (3.50) and Manny Delcarmen (3.47), the Sox relief corps really don't need much help. So what's the Sox problem in keeping up with the Yanks?
Starting pitching. Only Josh Beckett (3.38) and Jon Lester (3.50) have been solid for the Red Sox lately. The jury is still out on Clay Buchholz, despite his 3.99 ERA. The jury came back with the verdict on Brad Penny, who was found guilty of not justifying his $ 9.2 million dollar salary with his 5.61 ERA and 160 hits and 17 HRs in only 131 innings pitched. John Smoltz was equally dismal in his short stay with the Sox and Michael Bowden may not be ready for prime time. Tim Wakefield and his 11-3 record should be back next week. But Wakefield is more of a back of the rotation pitcher and will be hard pressed to improve on his 4.31 ERA. Dice K may also be back soon but he is even more of a question mark. So much so, the Sox signed Paul Byrd to a minor league contract. Byrd, pitching at Triple A Pawtucket, might be up before Dice K gets back.
Originally I thought the Red Sox were winners at the trade deadline when they acquired Victor Martinez. But hindsight is 20-20 and for the Sox to compete with the Yanks, they needed one more dominant starter - Roy Halladay. The Sox may have overestimated the value of young pitchers like Buchholz and Bowden. Or perhaps, J.P. Ricciardi wanted too much from the Sox. The likely answer lies somewhere in the middle.
So why did Theo Epstein claim Wagner when the problem is clearly starting pitching? The best guess is that the Sox blocked the Yankees from getting Wagner. The Yankees were looking for a second lefty out of the bullpen, someone with a little more experience than Phil Coke. With Wagner and Hughes setting up Mariano, the Yankees would be unstoppable. The problem though is in the last five games the Yankees have won head to head, the Sox in general can't keep it close enough to get it to the late innings. Last night, the score was 15-4 going into the bottom of the fifth.
Another question was where were other teams on claiming Wagner? Yes, teams who claimed him might be responsible for his $3.5 million salary, but no team in the National League needed Wagner??? As you may or may not know, when a team puts a player on waivers, the teams in his league first get an opportunity to claim him in standings order worst to first. If no team claims him in the one league, then and only then can teams in the other league claim him worst to first.
Thus Wagner had to go through the entire NL first before going through the AL. Thus several teams who DESPERATELY need relief pitching passed up on Wagner. The first team that comes to mind is the Chicago Cubs, who recently switched from the awful Kevin Gregg to the often wild Carlos Marmol. But that shows the Cubs with the recent near sale of the team from the Tribune Company to the Ricketts Family can not add any payroll at this moment. The next team in NL standings order was the Florida Marlins. But the Marlins history of low payroll, Wagner was certainly not going to be claimed by them.
The Giants would be next on the list and surprisingly Brian Sabean didn't put a waiver claim in. Brian Wilson has not exactly been lights out as a closer and Wagner would certainly be an improvement. And Wagner's $8 million club option next season seems pretty reasonable for the market place considering Oliver Perez makes $12 million and Derek Lowe makes $15 million with their mediocre to awful statistics. But alas Sabean passed as did the Cardinals (they seriously must be out of payroll after adding Holliday and Lugo), the Phillies didn't seem to want a reunion with Wagner, despite how horrible Brad Lidge has been and the Dodgers have no need with the addition of George Sherrill at the end of July. Thus that's how Wagner got to the AL waiver claim list. Texas and Tampa Bay have their own payroll issues and neither really needed a reliever either. Thus came Boston.
So whether Wagner will go to the Sox or not is in serious question. My guess is that Epstein will only take Wagner if the Mets take on part or most of the salary. Also don't expect much in return for Wagner if a deal is worked out. The Sox don't need Wagner and Epstein knows it. Thus if the Mets get anything, it will be similar to the haul (chuckle chuckle) the Pirates got for Adam LaRoche. If Billy could go five plus innings, that would be a different story.
Prediction - Mets can't work out a deal for Wagner and let him go to the Sox for nothing with the Sox footing the bill for the $3.5 million. I simply can't see the Sox and Theo Epstein giving up any Top 20 prospect for Wagner.
Then I was reminded that the Red Sox claimed Billy Wagner off waivers from the Mets yesterday before the 20-11 beat down at the hands of the Yankees. Wagner, a fourteen year veteran, out for the nearly past year with elbow ligament replacement surgery, is still valuable as he can still hit the mid 90's with his fastball and struck out two batters in his first outing back from rehab against the Braves Thursday night. Who couldn't use a flame throwing lefty who is sixth on the all time saves list with 385 saves?
Herein lies the problem. First, the Red Sox don't need a closer with Jonathan Papelbon and his 2.08 ERA and 29 saves. Well, the next easy observation is that Wagner could setup Papelbon. Well, that's not exactly what the Red Sox need either. With Ramon Ramirez (2.67), Hideki Okajima (2.77) and Takashi Saito (2.86), the Sox have four very good setup relievers. Throw in Josh Bard (3.50) and Manny Delcarmen (3.47), the Sox relief corps really don't need much help. So what's the Sox problem in keeping up with the Yanks?
Starting pitching. Only Josh Beckett (3.38) and Jon Lester (3.50) have been solid for the Red Sox lately. The jury is still out on Clay Buchholz, despite his 3.99 ERA. The jury came back with the verdict on Brad Penny, who was found guilty of not justifying his $ 9.2 million dollar salary with his 5.61 ERA and 160 hits and 17 HRs in only 131 innings pitched. John Smoltz was equally dismal in his short stay with the Sox and Michael Bowden may not be ready for prime time. Tim Wakefield and his 11-3 record should be back next week. But Wakefield is more of a back of the rotation pitcher and will be hard pressed to improve on his 4.31 ERA. Dice K may also be back soon but he is even more of a question mark. So much so, the Sox signed Paul Byrd to a minor league contract. Byrd, pitching at Triple A Pawtucket, might be up before Dice K gets back.
Originally I thought the Red Sox were winners at the trade deadline when they acquired Victor Martinez. But hindsight is 20-20 and for the Sox to compete with the Yanks, they needed one more dominant starter - Roy Halladay. The Sox may have overestimated the value of young pitchers like Buchholz and Bowden. Or perhaps, J.P. Ricciardi wanted too much from the Sox. The likely answer lies somewhere in the middle.
So why did Theo Epstein claim Wagner when the problem is clearly starting pitching? The best guess is that the Sox blocked the Yankees from getting Wagner. The Yankees were looking for a second lefty out of the bullpen, someone with a little more experience than Phil Coke. With Wagner and Hughes setting up Mariano, the Yankees would be unstoppable. The problem though is in the last five games the Yankees have won head to head, the Sox in general can't keep it close enough to get it to the late innings. Last night, the score was 15-4 going into the bottom of the fifth.
Another question was where were other teams on claiming Wagner? Yes, teams who claimed him might be responsible for his $3.5 million salary, but no team in the National League needed Wagner??? As you may or may not know, when a team puts a player on waivers, the teams in his league first get an opportunity to claim him in standings order worst to first. If no team claims him in the one league, then and only then can teams in the other league claim him worst to first.
Thus Wagner had to go through the entire NL first before going through the AL. Thus several teams who DESPERATELY need relief pitching passed up on Wagner. The first team that comes to mind is the Chicago Cubs, who recently switched from the awful Kevin Gregg to the often wild Carlos Marmol. But that shows the Cubs with the recent near sale of the team from the Tribune Company to the Ricketts Family can not add any payroll at this moment. The next team in NL standings order was the Florida Marlins. But the Marlins history of low payroll, Wagner was certainly not going to be claimed by them.
The Giants would be next on the list and surprisingly Brian Sabean didn't put a waiver claim in. Brian Wilson has not exactly been lights out as a closer and Wagner would certainly be an improvement. And Wagner's $8 million club option next season seems pretty reasonable for the market place considering Oliver Perez makes $12 million and Derek Lowe makes $15 million with their mediocre to awful statistics. But alas Sabean passed as did the Cardinals (they seriously must be out of payroll after adding Holliday and Lugo), the Phillies didn't seem to want a reunion with Wagner, despite how horrible Brad Lidge has been and the Dodgers have no need with the addition of George Sherrill at the end of July. Thus that's how Wagner got to the AL waiver claim list. Texas and Tampa Bay have their own payroll issues and neither really needed a reliever either. Thus came Boston.
So whether Wagner will go to the Sox or not is in serious question. My guess is that Epstein will only take Wagner if the Mets take on part or most of the salary. Also don't expect much in return for Wagner if a deal is worked out. The Sox don't need Wagner and Epstein knows it. Thus if the Mets get anything, it will be similar to the haul (chuckle chuckle) the Pirates got for Adam LaRoche. If Billy could go five plus innings, that would be a different story.
Prediction - Mets can't work out a deal for Wagner and let him go to the Sox for nothing with the Sox footing the bill for the $3.5 million. I simply can't see the Sox and Theo Epstein giving up any Top 20 prospect for Wagner.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Ricciardi 0 for 2
The White Sox claimed Alex Rios off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday. The Blue Jays in return received...nothing. No compensation. Not even a lowly minor leaguer. Not even a bucket of balls and a few worn bats. Nothing. Yes, the White Sox are now responsible for the rest of Rios' entire large contract, which is $61.6 million over the next five years (with a $1.5 million buyout in 2015). But to allow Rios, a two time AL All Star, to go for nothing, well that's just another brilliant move by Riccardi. Yes, I am being facetious.
First, Ricciardi announces to the world that he will take offers for Roy Halladay, then decides the offers aren't good enough and holds onto him. It was obvious that he was trying to cut payroll, because in his next move, Ricciardi trades Scott Rolen and his hefty contract to the Reds for Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke and another prospect - I will give Ricciardi credit for getting a good return on Rolen. But then he allows Rios to go for nothing. I understand getting rid of a bad contract. But you couldn't even get some minor league filler? Hell at least Neal Huntington got two mediocre minor leaguers for Adam LaRoche!
Ricciardi even has the nerve to say it was NOT "a financial dump" but said they needed "more financial flexibility". Excuse me, you just let a player go for nothing. I have been in fantasy leagues for years, and JP that's called a "dump". By the way, in any fantasy league, that trade/move would be banned. :-)
So what does Ricciardi hope to gain by removing $72 million plus, which is what Rolen and Rios were signed for, from his payroll over the next several years? Signing Roy Halladay to a contract extension? If you're Halladay and you see in the past ten days that your seven time gold glove starting third baseman was traded and a two time AL All Star centerfielder dumped for "more financial flexibility", do you really want to stay on this team after next season? I think not.
By not trading Halladay or Rios by the trade deadline, Ricciardi greatly lost a chance to strengthen his team, especially his minor league system. Ricciardi is also the person who saddled the Blue Jays with the expensive contracts of Rios and Vernon Wells. It's time for a change in Toronto, otherwise it's more of the same disappointments for years to come.
I was in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire over the weekend for the Curious George Festival, so I missed out on most of the Yankees-Red Sox series. I was still able to catch some of the games though. First thought, perhaps I was too presumptuous to say the Red Sox were a winner coming out of the trade deadline. With Dice K and Wakefield hurt, the now designated for assignment John Smoltz and Brad Penny not getting the job done, and Clay Buchholz not ready to be the third ace in the staff, the Red Sox rotation is very shaky past Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.
The Red Sox perhaps overvalued their prospects when trying to deal with the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay. As a result, the roles with the Yankees are reversed. When the Sox won the first eight games against the Bronx Bombers, the Sox had the better starting staff and bullpen. Now as the season has progressed, the Yankees starting staff has improved, especially with the second half emergence of Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes finally giving the Yankees a legit setup man for Rivera. Meanwhile the Red Sox' staff, due to injuries and an overworked bullpen looks shaky.
Right now, it looks very difficult for the Red Sox to get back in the hunt for the AL East race with their injuries. Yes, they did need to add Victor Martinez to a team where the offense is getting old (Lowell, Ortiz and Varitek probably won't be on the Sox next year) and banged up (Jason Bay being out has really hurt their lineup). Even with Martinez, the Sox can't match the Yankee lineup. But as always, the difference comes down to pitching. If Michael Bowden was ready to contribute, he would be up by now. So perhaps trading Buchholz and other prospects to get Halladay would have been the smart move. Now they have to try to hold off the Rays, a team with better starting pitching right now, or the Rangers, a team playing in a weaker AL West for the wild card. It's not going to be easy.
Kudos to the White Sox for going for it by adding Rios and Jake Peavy. If all goes well, within 10 days to two weeks, both will be on the White Sox roster. The White Sox are too far back in the Wild Card hunt (seven games behind Boston with four teams in front) but they are only three behind the Tigers. Blowing a late lead to Seattle last night while Detroit lost to Boston didn't help. But adding Peavy to Buehrle, Floyd and Danks makes the White Sox staff comparable to Detroit's. Rios gives them lineup flexibility (while maybe not "financial flexibility"). Should be a fun last month and a half in the AL Central.
First, Ricciardi announces to the world that he will take offers for Roy Halladay, then decides the offers aren't good enough and holds onto him. It was obvious that he was trying to cut payroll, because in his next move, Ricciardi trades Scott Rolen and his hefty contract to the Reds for Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Roenicke and another prospect - I will give Ricciardi credit for getting a good return on Rolen. But then he allows Rios to go for nothing. I understand getting rid of a bad contract. But you couldn't even get some minor league filler? Hell at least Neal Huntington got two mediocre minor leaguers for Adam LaRoche!
Ricciardi even has the nerve to say it was NOT "a financial dump" but said they needed "more financial flexibility". Excuse me, you just let a player go for nothing. I have been in fantasy leagues for years, and JP that's called a "dump". By the way, in any fantasy league, that trade/move would be banned. :-)
So what does Ricciardi hope to gain by removing $72 million plus, which is what Rolen and Rios were signed for, from his payroll over the next several years? Signing Roy Halladay to a contract extension? If you're Halladay and you see in the past ten days that your seven time gold glove starting third baseman was traded and a two time AL All Star centerfielder dumped for "more financial flexibility", do you really want to stay on this team after next season? I think not.
By not trading Halladay or Rios by the trade deadline, Ricciardi greatly lost a chance to strengthen his team, especially his minor league system. Ricciardi is also the person who saddled the Blue Jays with the expensive contracts of Rios and Vernon Wells. It's time for a change in Toronto, otherwise it's more of the same disappointments for years to come.
I was in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire over the weekend for the Curious George Festival, so I missed out on most of the Yankees-Red Sox series. I was still able to catch some of the games though. First thought, perhaps I was too presumptuous to say the Red Sox were a winner coming out of the trade deadline. With Dice K and Wakefield hurt, the now designated for assignment John Smoltz and Brad Penny not getting the job done, and Clay Buchholz not ready to be the third ace in the staff, the Red Sox rotation is very shaky past Josh Beckett and Jon Lester.
The Red Sox perhaps overvalued their prospects when trying to deal with the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay. As a result, the roles with the Yankees are reversed. When the Sox won the first eight games against the Bronx Bombers, the Sox had the better starting staff and bullpen. Now as the season has progressed, the Yankees starting staff has improved, especially with the second half emergence of Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes finally giving the Yankees a legit setup man for Rivera. Meanwhile the Red Sox' staff, due to injuries and an overworked bullpen looks shaky.
Right now, it looks very difficult for the Red Sox to get back in the hunt for the AL East race with their injuries. Yes, they did need to add Victor Martinez to a team where the offense is getting old (Lowell, Ortiz and Varitek probably won't be on the Sox next year) and banged up (Jason Bay being out has really hurt their lineup). Even with Martinez, the Sox can't match the Yankee lineup. But as always, the difference comes down to pitching. If Michael Bowden was ready to contribute, he would be up by now. So perhaps trading Buchholz and other prospects to get Halladay would have been the smart move. Now they have to try to hold off the Rays, a team with better starting pitching right now, or the Rangers, a team playing in a weaker AL West for the wild card. It's not going to be easy.
Kudos to the White Sox for going for it by adding Rios and Jake Peavy. If all goes well, within 10 days to two weeks, both will be on the White Sox roster. The White Sox are too far back in the Wild Card hunt (seven games behind Boston with four teams in front) but they are only three behind the Tigers. Blowing a late lead to Seattle last night while Detroit lost to Boston didn't help. But adding Peavy to Buehrle, Floyd and Danks makes the White Sox staff comparable to Detroit's. Rios gives them lineup flexibility (while maybe not "financial flexibility"). Should be a fun last month and a half in the AL Central.
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