Attention readers
Please proceed in an orderly fashion to your nearest bookstore, newsstand, or magazine-carrying outlet and purchase a copy of Asimov’s. It’s one of those science-fiction digests the size of a trade paperback but a lot thinner. That is all.
Game 108, Mariners at Rangers
5:05
M’s almost had an Ibanez deal
Nice bit of reporting work by Baker here.
And… that’s it
The trade deadline has come and gone, and it looks like the only move the M’s made was the high quality Rhodes-for-Hernandez swap this morning. They didn’t budge on their ridiculous demands for Jarrod Washburn, so he’s still here, and no one was willing to offer a package that could compete with the draft picks they’ll get for letting Ibanez walk at years end.
Pelekoudas gets an A for the Rhodes trade – he did quite well. He gets an incomplete for the Washburn and Ibanez situations, as both are still somewhat unresolved. The Mariners need to keep trying to move Washburn, putting him on waivers tomorrow and lowering their demands, now that the Yankees called their bluff. If they can dump him before end of August, not dealing him today won’t matter. If they keep him for the rest of the season and risk getting stuck with him, he gets an F for not taking advantage of dumping Wash when he could.
Overall, we have to be happy with the Rhodes trade, fine with them not trading Ibanez in lieu of getting the picks instead, and rooting like crazy for them to dump Washburn in the next 30 days.
One Hour To Go
New thread for the last little bit of the deadline rumors. Is Bay going to Tampa? Will Manny end up in LA? Will the M’s come to their senses and just give Washburn away?
We’ll find out soon enough.
M’s Trade Rhodes to Marlins
The M’s have traded Arthur Rhodes to Florida for RHP Gaby Hernandez. This is about as good a haul for Rhodes as you could expect. Hernandez isn’t a prime prospect, but he’s got a decent arm and there’s some potential there. He was the Mets 3rd round pick in ’04, went to Florda in the Paul Lo Duca deal, and has split time between Triple-A Albuquerque and Double-A Carolina.
His ERA isn’t good, but that doesn’t matter – his walk, strikeout, and ground ball rates are all right where they’ve been his entire career. The ERA is inflated by a high BABIP, which is probably just a combination of park effects (Albuquerque is a great place to hit), bad defense, and luck.
He throws 90-93 with a four seam fastball and uses a cutter, has a curve and a change that are both average-ish, and okay command. He’s just 22, and there’s room for growth, but right now, he projects as a #5 starter or good reliever.
Nice pickup by Pelekoudas.
Griffey trade to non-Mariners team rumored
Wow, because what the White Sox need is less defense and less offense? Kenny Williams strikes again.
Hey, Team Executive
From Hickey’s piece today:
“Lee has been talking to everybody about making a deal,” one member of the Mariners front office said Wednesday. “He’d like to get something done if it make us a better team.
“But I think he’s prepared to not do anything. He isn’t going to give anyone away. We aren’t a club that has to do things based on money. I’m not sure everyone knows that, but that’s the way it is.”
You’re not a club that has to do things based on money? Then please explain to me why you didn’t try to sign Vladimir Guerrero when he was a free agent. I asked Bavasi that question personally, and you know what he told me? “I was out of money.”
Or, if you don’t have to do things based on money, why didn’t you sign Miguel Tejada (thank God, but that’s not the point) or Barry Zito (ditto) or Carlos Lee (again, phew) or Carl Pavano (holy crap you guys tried to sign a lot of bad players) or Carlos Delgado (this is getting tiresome) or Hiroki Kuroda (hey, someone who isn’t totally awful!). Why did you go into this season with Brad Wilkerson in right field?
Why didn’t you keep Jose Guillen? Or Alex Rodriguez? Or Randy Johnson?
I’d keep going, but these are rhetorical questions. I already know the answer. You do make decisions based on money, just like every other franchise in baseball. You have a budget, and you don’t get to spend whatever you feel like spending on any player you want. Any money you spend on players is money you can’t spend on other players. If you’re giving $10 million to Jarrod Washburn, that’s $10 million you can’t give to C.C. Sabathia.
So, Mr. Team Executive, stop patronizing your fan base. We’re smarter than that. We understand cost/benefit analysis – do you?
The Manny Deal
In case you’re curious, I’ve written up my take on the rumored Manny Ramirez deal over at fangraphs. The long and short of it – the Marlins are making an unbelievably horrible deal. This is worse than the Bedard trade. This is the worst deal any team has made since the Bartolo Colon for Cliff Lee/Brandon Phillips/Grady Sizemore debacle. Okay, I take that back – the Scott Kazmir for Victor Zambrano deal was worse. But this is up there.
The Marlins are reportedly giving up three years of Jeremy Hermida, solid pitching prospect Ryan Tucker, and one or two more minor leaguers in exchange for Manny Ramirez. The problem, though, is that Manny Ramirez isn’t appreciably better than Jeremy Hermida. He’s a great hitter, but a horrible fielder, and Hermida’s a pretty decent player in his own right.
At absolute best, this move will add a couple of runs to the Marlins ledger over the rest of the season, and that won’t be enough for them to leap over the Phillies and Mets. Manny’s going to leave at years end, and they’re going to have given Hermida and some good young talent away for nothing.
If Theo Epstein can really turn Manny and some cash into Jason Bay, he should go right into the hall of fame. The deal makes sense for Pittsburgh, too, with the Marlins just taking it in the shorts.
Hopefully someone in Miami wakes up and realizes that they’re about to make a franchise crippling move, because this deal is awful from their perspective.
Game 107, Mariners at Rangers
5:05