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A Questionable Lineup?
How do these three hitters look to you?
.156/.229/.188
.286/.286/.286
.232/.272/.436
Not too enticing, right? Now consider that those three are likely going to be in a lineup where the two main sluggers hit .245 and .240 last season. Just taking the names out of the equation, the histories of the veterans and the potential of certain youngsters, that’s five/ninths (55%) of a lineup that doesn’t look good.
But that’s what the Chicago White Sox are looking at this upcoming season.
Those first three represent the possible bottom third of the White Sox order for 2009. Josh Fields, first in the list, had great potential early on, but has fizzled lately. He’s probably the most important part of these three.
The second is Chris Getz. Sure, that’s a small sample size for the rookie, but the Sox will be counting on the rookie to produce. Maybe they’ll find a diamond in the rough amongst him, Jayson Nix, and Brent Lillibridge, but now you’re rolling the dice on production at third and second base.
Finally, you have Bryan Anderson. Even with only Jerry Owens as his main competition right now, you have to believe that his days are numbered with the offensive numbers that he puts up.
You’d think that with Alexei Ramirez, Carlos Quentin, and Jermaine Dye that they’d be able to hide those three at the bottom of the lineup. But their two biggest boppers in most recent history, Jim Thome and Paul Konerko, had relatively ugly seasons last year. Although they both put up 20+ home runs, they also hit .245 and .240 respectively.
Offensively, the White Sox were 11th in the AL in batting average (.262) last year, but a healthy .448 slugging percentage (2nd in the league) helped to propel them to the playoffs. But now Orlando Hudson and his .281 batting average and Joe Crede and his .460 slugging percentage are gone. Sure, neither of those are anything to “write home about”, but they both were better than the team average.
Yes, Fields and Getz have decent potential to be good replacements. They also have replacements behind them that may do well if they falter. You can even point out that Konerko hit .270 with a .909 OPS after the All-Star break. But you have to admit that a lot of things have to fall into place for this lineup to produce enough next season to be in contention for the AL Central crown again, even with the pitching this team has.
Rookies to Look For: David Price
If you watched the ALCS last fall and you don’t remember David Price’s performance, then you need to get your head checked. His gutty performance out of the pen for the Rays, who’s bullpen was clearly struggling at times, was really something to watch. In the ALCS, Price earned his first win and his first save in the post-season before earning either in the regular season. In 2.1 innings pitched, he didn’t give up a hit and struck out four.
The 6′-5″ lefty was the first overall draft pick of the Tampa Bay Rays out of Vanderbilt in 2007. Price has a wicked asensal of a low-to-mid 90s fastball, a nasty high-80s slider, a high 70s sluve, and a change-up that’s a work in progress. His fastball effectively tails away from right-handed hitters. He hasn’t used his slurve in the majors as it is not as effective as his slider. Although his change-up still needs work, it has improved while in the minors and it could become an effective off-speed pitch for him.
Oddly enough, David’s even drawn comparisons to President Barack Obama.
Baseball America projects Price to move past Scott Kazmir and become the Rays’ ace by 2012. He’ll definately have to refine his change-up to hold that spot, but he’s young enough and has the drive to do it.
Look for the Rays to make room for him at the back of their rotation and let him take his lumps as he refines his change-up. A run at Rookie of the Year isn’t out of the question at all.
Misc Signings: 01/12/09-01/22/09
Baltimore Orioles sign Gregg Zaun to a one-year contract.
With uber-prospect Matt Wieters essentially ready for the majors, Zaun will be more of a mentor to the young slugger. Zaun may start off the year as the starter at catcher, but Matt I can see Matt being called up about the same time as Evan Longoria was last season.
San Diego Padres sign Henry Blanco to a one-year contract.
Much like Zaun, Blanco will serve as a mentor to Nick Hundley. But Hundley’s ceiling isn’t near as high as Weiters and he’s less ready for the majors. We could see a decent amount of Blanco behind the plate in 2009.
San Diego Padres sign David Eckstein to a one-year contract.
With Kahlil Greene out of the picture, the Padres needed to add a veteran middle infielder. Eckstein’s .343 OBP last season was his lowest since 2004. If he can increase it to the .350s, he would be a good leadoff hitter for the Padres. Defensively, we will probably see Luis Rodriguez late in many of the games that the Padres have a lead. David’s defense has never been great.
New York Mets sign pitcher Tim Redding to a one-year contract.
Redding will eat innings at the back of the rotation and keep the Mets from rushing prospect Jonathon Niese to the majors. He’ll get lit up at times, but he’s still a decent addition for the back of the rotation.
Over Spilled Milk: Kotsay to the A’s
Back in December 2003 Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane traded for an outfielder, but it wasn’t a big bopper like the Matt Holliday acquisition he had earlier this off-season. Billy traded for Mark Kotsay that winter to improve his team’s center-field defense and give the A’s a potential leadoff hitter. At the time, Kotsay was with the San Diego Padres, Beane had to give up catcher Ramon Hernandez and outfielder Terrence Long to get him.
Kotsay paid immediate dividends as he hit .314 with a .370 on-base percentage for the A’s in 2004. He also played great defense for the team in center. His numbers gradually tailed off over the next three seasons as injuries and age took their toll. Kotsay’s back was always (and still is) a problem.
Beane traded him away after the 2007 season for Atlanta Braves pitchers Joey Devine and Jamie Richmond. Devine pitched great for the A’s out of the pen in 2008, posting a 0.59 ERA. Richmond, on the other hand, had a 4.79 ERA and a 7-11 record for Single-A last season.
Kotsay’s still well known for his defense, even at first base, and the Red Sox have resigned him for the 2009 season.
Hernandez was a decent catcher who’s power was emerging as he hit 21 home runs in 2003. Ramon continued to hit well for the Padres, but he played in less games each season with the Padres than the Athletics. As a result, his overall statistics dropped a little from his time with the A’s. After two seasons with the Padres, Hernandez signed a long-term contract with the Orioles. He’s tailed off recently as age has crept up on him, but the Cincinnati Reds have been interested enough to trade for him this off-season.
As compensation for Hernandez signing with the Orioles they received a supplemental round pick and a second round pick from Baltimore in the 2006 draft. They spent those picks on outfielder Kyler Burke (who they traded for Michael Barrett), and third-baseman Chad Huffman. Huffman has provided very good OBP while in the minors, but hasn’t grown the power expected of a corner infielder.
Long hit .295 in limited action for the Padres in 2004, but his home run total dropped from 14 to 3. Although he was a salary dump for the Athletics, Long and Ryan Klesko gave the Padres an average in the .290s out of left field. They didn’t provide that much power, but at least they hit for a decent average. Terence then bounced around a little bit and hasn’t seen action in the majors since 2006.
In the end, it was nearly a wash for the two teams. Kotsay did see the playoffs with Oakland though in 2006, including hitting an inside-the-park 2-run home run to help the team win Game 2. But overall Mark’s numbers dropped off in 2006 and 2007 as injuries hit. Hernadez left the Padres for greener pastures after two years and Long served as only a fourth outfielder for one season with them. Although it may be plausible that you can say that the Athletics won the trade based on the 2006 ALCS series win alone, Beane also capitalized on Kotsay by grabbing a power-pitching reliever for his pen.
Trade Bait: Pie for Olson
There had been rumors that the Chicago Cubs and the Baltimore Orioles had been in discussions about a trade involving Garrett Olson for some time. That trade has now come true. The Cubs will get lefty Garrett Olson from the Orioles for outfielder Felix Pie.
Olson and fellow lefty Sean Marshall will aparently vie for the fifth spot in the Cubs rotation, with the loser becoming the primary lefty out of the pen for the Cubs. He has a low-90s fastball with good movement, but his calling card is a hard-breaking curveball. He’s also working on improving a changeup that has decent downward movement to make him more viable against right handers.
Felix is the second top Cubs prospect centerfielder turned sour that the Orioles have taken on. Recently they tried to see if they could turn around Corey Patterson, but to no avail. Pie is somewhat in the same mold as Patterson, but the Orioles think they can turn him into a decent hitter. With Pie in left field, the Orioles will have one of the better defensive outfields in the majors. His acquistion will move Luke Scott to DH and Aubrey Huff to first base.
There is some speculation though that the Cubs will flip Olson to the San Diego Padres as part of a large package for star pitcher Jake Peavy. But it sounds like the Padres are content with keeping Peavy around.
This trade looks to be marginally better for Cubs GM Jim Hendry as Pie may end up nothing more than a fourth outfielder type, whereas Olson may be a decent addition to the Cubs’ pen.
Braves Fill Out their Rotation
After a horrid start to the off-season that saw them lose out on Jake Peavy, lose out on A.J. Burnett, and lose icon John Smoltz, the Atlanta Braves are trying to pick up the pieces and move on. They now have Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami in the fold to round out their rotation.
Lowe will likely take the ‘ace’ position in the rotation after signing a four-year contract with the Bravos. No one wanted to go to a fourth year, but the Braves were desperate for a staff ace. Lowe is not a true ‘ace’, but he’ll keep the team in games with a chance to win.
Kawakami is the Braves first dip into the Japanese market. He projects as a solid, middle-rotation starter and will likely land in the three hole. Kenshin was signed to a very affordable three-year contract that will pay him supposedly $23 million over three years.
So the rotation will aparently be Lowe, Javier Vazquez, Kawakami, Jair Jurrjens, and Jorge Campillo. It’s not a great one, but it’ll eat innings until uber prospect Tommy Hanson is ready and even possibly Tim Hudson comes back.
The questions this leaves are, 1) Does this leave Tom Glavine out? 2) Will they fill their left-field hole as well?
Trevor Hoffman a Brewer?
The world is coming to an end. John Smoltz is now with the Red Sox and storied Padres closer Trevor Hoffman is now with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Although this is a good signing by the Milwaukee Brewers, this is more about the fate that has befallen the San Diego Padres. Trevor has been with the Padres for 16 seasons. He’s only pitched for one other team while in the majors, the Marlins for half a season. Trevor saved 554 games while in a Padre uniform and was the face of the franchise for many years. Every time the song “Hells Bells” came on during a Padres game, you knew who was coming out of the pen.
Trevor is a humble man who deflected attention away from him whenever he could. A great guy to have as a team icon. But a budget crunch caused by owner John Moores’ recent divorce has ruined what could have been a great ending to a relationship between the team and the player.
In a recent article, the attorney for John Moore’s wife stated:
“Everybody’s got the best interest of the Padres in mind,” said Sandra Morris, Becky Moores’ attorney. “They will do everything they can to protect the Padres. Both people care about it a lot. The family cares about it a lot.”
Best interest of the Padres…..REALLY?
Cubs fill Right Field with Bradley
Wanting to add some more power to their lineup, the Chicago Cubs have signed Milton Bradley to a three year deal worth $30 million. The much maligned outfielder had a great season in 2008 for the Texas Rangers as he hit .321/.436/.563 with 22 home runs.
That type of production is great, but it would have earned him more if he didn’t get injured so much. Only once in his career has he topped 500 at-bats in a season. In 2008, he did have 414 at-bats, but little of that was spent in the field as he DH’d for a significant amount of the time that he was with the Rangers. Even with all that DH time, he was still hampered by injuries throughout the season.
He’s also well known for his volatile personality. He got into a tussle with Indians manager Eric Wedge in 2004. He also got into an altercation with first base umpire Mike Winters while with the Padres. He even tried to go after Royals television announcer Ryan Lefebvre last season.
Now he’s in Chicago with manager Lou Pinella, who doesn’t hold back his words. Remember the infamous Rob Dibble vs. Pinella wrestling match? (Local12.com). You know reporters are going to have their video crews rolling the entire time that they are in the Cubs’ clubhouse.
“Let’s get rrrrrrrrrready to rumble!!!”
Bo Sox Sign Four
The Boston Red Sox continued to busily add depth after loosing out on Mark Teixeira. First, they signed John Smoltz, but they have also now signed outfielders Rocco Baldelli and Mark Kotsay, as well as former L.A. Dodgers pitcher Takashi Saito and Brad Penny.
Now that Baldelli has been correctly diagnosed for his ailment, he’s been seen as more than just a fifth outfielder and some teams were pursuing him to be a starter. But Rocco settled in with the Bo Sox and will likely become their fourth outfielder.
Kotsay is starting to near the end of his career. Injuries have put a drag on his body and full-time duty for a full season should cannot be expected. But he’s still a great fielder and he still makes good contact. When Mike Lowell went down with an injury late last season, Kotsay stepped in at first base with Kevin Youkilis moving over to third and played amazing defense. His ability to play not only first base, but every outfield position well makes in a very useful player for the Sox.
Saito is also an injury risk, but when he was healthy with the Dodgers he was a very good closer. The Red Sox were supposedly encouraged enough by his medical records to sign him to a contract with a few incentives. If healthy, he adds even more depth to an already good bullpen.
Brad Penny has fought injury problems lately and they’ve reduced his effectiveness. After a season where he provided the Dodgers with a 6.27 ERA in 94.2 innings, you have to wonder if he has anything left. The Red Sox have the payroll flexibility to check him out and see if there’s anything salvageable.
Although they have lost out on Teixeira, these signings make them one of the deepest teams in the majors. They still need to settle the catcher spot, but the Red Sox are a solid team that should be in the thick of it throughout the 2009 season once again.
Smoltzie Signs with the Bo Sox
John Smoltz has left the Atlanta Braves after 20 seasons to pitch for the Boston Red Sox. The 42 year old pitcher signed a $5 million deal with $5 million in incentives. Recovering from a shoulder injury Smoltzie isn’t expected to pitch again in the majors until May.
This move makes an already deep Boston rotation even better if Smoltz can return to near the form that he had before the injury started bothering him. The Sox may even put him into the pen if his arm can’t handle starting every fifth day. Smoltz followed by Papelbon at the end of a game?
For the Braves, it just makes the winter ever-colder as they have not been able to get Jake Peavy for a decent price, lost out on the A.J. Burnett sweepstakes, and now lost one of their most legendary pitchers to another team. This just twists the dagger a little more in the hearts of Braves fans.
Braves fans, does this hurt more than Tom Glavine or Greg Maddux leaving?
