forks off the moment: great trade

Showing posts with label great trade. Show all posts

Cliff Lee's Trade is the Sequel to the Mark Langston trade

The Mariners went into the season with some optimism and some solid talent... but a slow start took them out of the race early and not even the presence of Ken Griffey Jr. could turn things around.

So Seattle took their left handed ace who was in his walk year and traded him off. It seemed like New York, looking for another October run, was the likely landing spot, but instead sent him to a team that had never won a pennant before and despite financial troubles was going all in.

The Mariners fell apart after the trade but some good solid talent came back giving them some optimism for the future.

Meanwhile the ace flourished at first, but then came back down to earth.

Which Mariners team am I talking about?
This year's team? Or the 1989 team?

Which left handed ace am I talking about?
Cliff Lee? Mark Langston?

In 1989 there was some optimism with the arrival of manager Jim Lefebvre and rookie Ken Griffey Jr. And a quick glance sees there was some talent on that team.

An infield of Jim Presley at third, Harold Reynolds at second and Alvin Davis at first is nothing to sneeze at. And oh yeah, they had a young shortstop named Omar Vizquel.

Griffey anchored the outfield that had Hac Man Leonard and a young Jay Buhner.

Plus pitchers who had some success in their careers like Billy Swift, Erik Hanson, Scott Bankhead and Mike Jackson were all on the staff.

But they fell into 5th place well behind the A's when it was clear that Mark Langston, their best pitcher and a legit #1 starter, wasn't coming back.

The Mets looked like the likely landing spot as they had tons of young pitching talent they seemed ready to move. (They ultimately would trade Rick Aguilera, Kevin Tapani and David West that summer to the Twins for Frank Viola... a move that helped clinch a World Series for Minnesota, not New York.)

Instead they found a partner with the Expos who were jammed packed with talent and had their eyes set on unseating the Mets.

Langston dominated the Padres in his first start, striking out 13 and giving up 1 earned run over 8 innings.

He began his Expos career with a 10-3 record and people declaring him the second coming of Steve Carlton. The Expos were in first by the All Star break and at the height of Langston's winning ways, the Expos built up a 3 1/2 game lead and remained in first place by themselves as late as August 4.

When Langston threw a complete game shutout on July 25th against Philadelphia, the Expos were riding a 6 game winning streak and matched their 3 1/2 game lead for the widest margin of the year.

Then the roof caved in.

The Expos lost 40 of their last 62 games. Langston lost 6 of his last 8 decisions and the Expos, who seemed to have everything in line to win the National League East for the first time in a non Strike Shortened season, finished the year at .500, 4th place and 12 games behind the Cubs.

Langston left Montreal for the Angels.
Meanwhile one of the players in the haul from Montreal became a more fearsome pitcher than Langston ever was... future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson who did indeed lead the Mariners to their first ever post season berths.

Which brings us to 2010.

The bookends of Ken Griffey's career has him see aces dealt from the Mariners.
Cliff Lee is sent not to the Yankees but to the Rangers, who like the Expos, are pushing their chips to the center of the table.

Like Langston, Lee came out smoking but has slowed down considerably.

Now with an 8 1/2 game lead heading into the last day of August, it is safe to say the Rangers aren't going away. But can Lee turn things around to help deliver a pennant?

And there seems to be little doubt that, like Langston in Quebec, his stay there is temporary.

I wonder who in the haul back be the future Hall of Famer? I've got my eye on you, Justin Smoak.

By the way... there's another part to this analogy of the Mariners dealing ace left handed starters.

Remember when the Mariners had to deal Randy Johnson when HE was facing free agency?

Once again they found an unlikely trading partner looking to finally win a pennant (The Astros)... the ace pitched well but fell short of a pennant (Johnson lost to the Padres twice in the Division Series)... and left town (to the Diamondbacks)... and the Mariners got back a nice haul (Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen were big parts of the 2000 and 2001 playoff teams.)

What I am saying is... the Mariners are good at this whole "trading a left handed ace away" thing.

Beating Cardinals with Cardinals

The first thought I had when I heard the Reds picked up Jim Edmonds from the Brewers was "I wonder why the White Sox didn't deal for Edmonds when the trade for Adam Dunn fell through.

But next of course I thought of the Cardinals of the 2000s. In the 2004 NLCS, Pujols may have been the Series MVP, but it was Edmonds and Rolen who supplied the dramatic homers.

Edmonds hit the walk off homer in the 12th inning of game 6 to tie the series and Rolen's 2 run homer off Roger Clemens in the 6th inning of Game 7 gave the Cardinals the lead that they wouldn't give up.

And in the 2006 World Series, Rolen batted .421 with an OPS of 1.213 and Jim Edmonds got a key go ahead double in the critical Game 3 of the World Series.

Now these huge Cardinals heroes have one duty... take down the Cardinals.

It is an ingenious strategy... get guys who are not intimidated by the Cardinals.

"Am I afraid of the Cardinals recent success? We ARE the Cardinals recent success."

It will be interesting to see the Cardinal fans reaction. The supposed nicest fans in the game will see some of their own trying to beat them.

If the Reds get Pujols, I'll be impressed.

Hey Bryce Harper... put away the catchers gear

The trade deadline flurry is continuing in baseball and one of the most interesting moves took place between the Twins and Nationals tonight.

Minnesota trails the White Sox by a game and a half and looked to make their pitching staff deep. The Twins strengthened their bullpen with Nats All Star closer Matt Capps. Granted he was an All Star simply because Stephen Strasburg wasn't selected... but the Capps deal may affect Strasburg and his fellow #1 pick overall Bryce Harper in the long and short term.

The Twins shipped off Wilson Ramos, one of the best catching prospects in baseball, to Washington and frankly that is much more interesting than the Twins pen getting deep.

The Twins have no room for Ramos with Mauer signed to a long term deal and he was worth more as a trade chip. (They tried to use him to pick up Cliff Lee.)

The Nationals got a major league ready catcher who can move right into the big club and learn from Pudge Rodriguez, one of the best ever, for this season and next.

By the time the 2011 season ends, he'll have a season and a half under Pudge's wing and be only 23 years old.

When 2012 rolls around (assuming the world won't be ending) Ramos will probably be the starting catcher. Stephen Strasburg will be at full strength.

And maybe Bryce Harper will be ready.

Now Harper, who was drafted as a catcher, doesn't need the tools of ignorance. Forget learning to catch and handle a pitching staff... just learn to hit and be as advertised at the plate.

If Harper is as good as promised (or even remotely as good) then the development of Ramos might add 5 years to Harper's career.

It's a ripple effect and Washington could very well be an exciting baseball town in 2012 when Obama is up for reelection.

And all of this because they signed Matt Capps, a non tendered free agent from Pittsburgh, who cost the Nationals no draft pick compensation.

Not a bad off season move.

Now all Strasburg, Ramos and Harper have to do is be awesome and Hall of Fame caliber in their career.

No pressure.

5 Reasons why the Pujols for Howard trade is a good thing

1. It's a good old fashioned blockbuster deal that will put a spark in Spring Training!

Seriously, is this a Fantasy Baseball trade? I mean this is a deal I would make in June when the Fantasy League is getting stale and I think "Heck, let's shake this up!"

It's not a salary dump... it's not a Johan Santana like "deal away a superstar for spare parts" fiasco. It's not a "We need to get Manny Ramirez off the team" trade. It's a pair of contenders swapping former MVPs, former NLCS MVPs and guys who have delivered a World Series title to their home towns. We don't see enough of these trades.

2. It kind of makes sense baseball wise

The Phillies have too much left handed hittting... throw Pujols into that line up and not only will it be more balanced, but he'll see quite a few more fastballs.

Put Howard in St. Louis with Matt Holliday batting behind him and you'll have the deadliest lefty/righty combo in baseball.

3. It will add a nice plot turn in Albert Pujols' legend

As I wrote the other week, Pujols doesn't owe the Cardinals nor their fans anything. They've had MVPs, playoff heroics and a World Series title with Albert in the lead. He could play the next 10-11 seasons in St. Louis, pile up numbers and work on his Cooperstown speech.

OR he can bring his act to a new city and give him some new challenges. Maybe it will be like when Pete Rose came to the Phillies... or Mike Piazza, seemingly a Dodger for life, brought his legend to Queens (by way of the Marlins) and will probably go into Cooperstown with a Mets hat.

Sure Pujols can be a Cardinal forever and be fawned over by the passionate yet friendly Cardinals fans... or he can jump into the cauldron of the Northeastern baseball and be loved in two different cities.

4. It is an ideal place for Ryan Howard

Ryan was born in St. Louis.
He grew up rooting for the Cardinals.
He went to High School at Lafayette High in St. Louis County.
He went to college at Missouri State University.

He was born to play for the Cardinals. And yes, he is replacing a beloved legend... but Cardinal fans are loving fans (just ask Mark McGwire.) And a few bombs into the right field seats will have Cardinal fans saying "Welcome home!"

5. It will embolden every yahoo calling up WFAN and XM Radio with trade theories

You know those guys who call up, especially late at night, to sports talk stations? They usually have outrageous trade proposals. Usually it is something like "I think the Mets should trade for Derek Jeter... maybe we can send them Luis Castillo, Daniel Murphy and some prospects."

And then Steve Somers would shoot them down.

But now whenever someone has a crazy trade proposal that is dismissable, they can reply "Hey! You never would have thought the Pujols for Howard trade would have happened!"

Yes, it is a good thing to give those looneys some ammo... it makes listening sports talk radio so much more interesting!

Now this trade is probably not going to happen. For what I understand it was an internal conversation among Phillies scouts... and who knows? Maybe some scouts left a spring training game and wandered over to Meg O'Malley's bar in Melbourne Florida, and got hammered.

And one of the scouts just blurted out "Heck, why don't we just trade Ryan Howard for Albert Pujols?"

Next thing you know it is front page news.

It isn't going to happen.
But it would be cool if it did.

Jason Bay... we hardly knew ye

So it is official... Jason Bay is a Met and his days as a Red Sox left fielder are over.

And even though the signing was announced less than 24 hours ago, it has already been declared a bust by SI.com, Yahoo Sports, The Post, and many bloggers.

Tough crowd.

And while as a Red Sox fan I would rather see him break down on someone else's dime (and pick up a few draft picks from the Mets) I think Bay is worth a nice salute before he leaves.

He played well for the Sox (with a few slumps here and there) over a year and a half.
And to the morons who say that the Red Sox lost the 2008 pennant because they had Bay instead of Ramirez, please do a little homework.

Bay would have been the MVP of the Division Series in 2008 if they gave out that award. (I do.)

He batted .412 in the (and a 1.356 OPS) in the Division Series, including a key home run in Game 1 amd doubling in the 9th inning of Game 4 and scoring the series ending run.

And the Red Sox didn't lose the ALCS to the Rays because of Bay (and his .927 OPS.) They lost because Beckett got crushed in Game 2, Lester got crushed in Game 3, Wakefield got crushed in Game 4 and the Red Sox couldn't hit Garza nor Price in Game 7.

It's always about pitching.

Oh and lest we forget Bay's home run against Mariano Rivera last spring. (Doesn't that seem like a lifetime ago?)

So the Sox aren't being sentimental... they are piling up draft picks and hoping to make the next big smash.

But Bay, while still ringless (and will probably remain that in Flushing) he is still worth a Red Sox fan salute.

Nobody knows who the big trade deadline winner is!

The trade deadline came and went and of course it is always one of the coolest days of the year for a baseball fan.

It's the sports equivalent of Randolph and Mortimer Duke trying to corner the frozen concentrated orange juice. And of course rumors flew, trades were analyzed, and some stunning deals took place.

Some teams decided to go for it, like the Mariners when they acquired Jack Wilson and Ian Snell.

Other teams decided to cash it in, like the Mariners who dealt Jarrod Washburn?

Confused?

So was I when I saw the Rangers had stockpiled prospects and were within striking distance of the AL West and the Wild Card...and stayed pat.

So was I when I saw the Yankees with a glaring need for a starter and a lefty reliever saying "We're fine with Jerry Hairston."

So was I when I saw the White Sox say "We don't care if he is hurt and clearly doesn't want to play for us... we NEED Jake Peavy!"

So was I when I realized the Red Sox felt they didn't have ENOUGH first basemen.

So was I when I saw Riccardi say "Nah... we think it's best to deal Roy Halladay when his value dips!"

But now EVERYONE is writing up their "Winners and losers of the trade deadline" articles. And the funny thing about every one of those write ups is they are all meaningless now.

We don't know!
Sure, it looks like the Phillies are a big winner with Cliff Lee throwing a complete game victory in his first game for the Phils. But what if he slumps? Or what if he doesn't throw well in Philadelphia?

I made fun of the Yankees picking up Jerry Hairston, but what if he gets some big hits down the stretch?

Sometimes what looks like a big time move at the deadline can look downright rotten when the season ends.

Just taking Red Sox deals as an example, in 2007 I celebrated the pick up of Eric Gagne.

There wasn't a lot of reasons to crow after the deadline.

I remember in 2002, Cliff Floyd came over to the Sox in what was supposed to be a tide turner.

And in 2003, when the Red Sox acquired Jeff Suppan and Scott Sauerbeck from the Pirates, it looked like they got the pitching depth they desperately needed.

How did those turn out?

And in 2004, who noticed the Red Sox picked up Dave Roberts? NOBODY! And now he is a beloved Red Sox icon.

We don't know how any of these trades will pan out and we won't for a few years.

When the Tigers traded for Doyle Alexander on August 12, 1987, Detroit was 1 1/2 games behind the Blue Jays.

He went 9-0 for the rest of the season for the Tigers.
Not only did he win all 9 decisions (and the Tigers clinched the division on the final day of the season, so needed every win) but he pitched remarkably in crucial games.

He beat the eventual World Champion Twins twice. He outdueled the eventual Cy Young winner Roger Clemens. He got a no decision pitching into the 11th inning of a 13 inning win against the Blue Jays on September 27th. And finally on October 2nd, he pitched 7 strong against the Blue Jays as the Tigers tied them for the Division Lead... only to clinch 3 days later.

The Tigers got all of that production and did have to sacrifice a single player from their major league roster.

And this writer calls THAT trade one of the worst of all time FOR THE TIGERS.

Of course that's because the minor leaguer the Tigers parted with was John Smoltz.

But the trade won the division... and what else can the GM do besides give the manager the horses he needs to get into October.

Writers should be banned from analyzing this years trade deadline and instead breakdown the deadline from 5 years ago.

I'd do it, but I need to go to bed.
Perhaps tomorrow.

Roy Oswalt of the Astros... for some reason

Roy Oswalt shut down the Giants yesterday.

He looks like he is only getting better.

In fact he looks like that most rare of commodities... AN ACE!

So why haven't the Astros traded him yet?

Seriously, I wrote about this last week and with each win, I am more and more convinced I am 100% correct!

Come on Astros! You are one bad season away from being what the post Cal Ripken Orioles turned into... a team with a great new ballpark and old players and empty seats.

And like the Orioles (who should bring back the smiling bird) the Astros need to bring back the orange rainbow unis.

It's like the Red Sox made a great trade

The Red Sox had a rotten DH going into the Yankees series on June 9.

He had 2 homers, was batting .197 and had an OPS of .596.
It was a hole in the lineup who left the equivalent of a small county on base.

His very name in the lineup made Red Sox fans squirm.

Then they swapped that DH for a new DH...

Suddenly the new DH blossomed! He homered twice against New York.

Since June 9th, the new DH has batted .342 with 5 homers and 11 RBI... including a go ahead 3 run bomb tonight.

It's a great deal... crappy David Ortiz for awesome David Ortiz!

Man, that Theo is good!

Keep doing that Papi... you might pull something

People think I am kidding when I say we need to fake an injury with David Ortiz.

I couldn't be more serious. At this point, if he knicks himself shaving, I want Papi on the 60 Day DL!

Papi on the disabled list I think will start a great domino effect for the Red Sox that could put the Sox in great shape for the long haul.

STEP ONE:

David Ortiz, one of the great sports heroes in Boston history, is on the 60 Day Disabled List.

Official reason:

He had a bad dream last night.

STEP TWO:

Clay Buchholz (Remember him? Our next ace?) is summoned from Pawtucket where he is 3-0 with a 1.30 ERA.

He is inserted into the rotation.

(I always have to check if it is two C's or two H's!)

STEP THREE:

Brad Penny is dealt. Yes his 5-1 record looks sexy but his 5.96 ERA and Larry Bowa's rant about his work ethic paint an uglier picture.

However the Sox are in a unique position. His last few starts haven't been bad and it seems like every single team is drooling for pitching.

Peavy is out there (but he's evidently a smidge picky.)

And there is Cliff Lee as well.

Other than those two, who else is really up for grabs? How many people have a pitcher that in 2007 finished third in the Cy Young vote available?

Plus with Peavy not going to an East Coast team, maybe the Red Sox can get the Phillies and Mets scared of each other and pry away a quality minor leaguer.

(Brad Penny is better than Victor Zambrano. I wonder if they have another Scott Kazmir down there!)

STEP FOUR:

Trade for a young position player.

Imagine swiping a good young position player from, say, the Mets.

Let's say a young third baseman... or a swift outfielder...

Then imagine that player joining the young nucleus with Ellsbury and Pedroia et al.

And then imagine shifting Mike Lowell or J. D. Drew to the DH slot where they can just concentrate on hitting rather than risking injury in the field.

STEP FIVE:

Activate John Smoltz and have him scare the Bejesus out of the young pitchers.

It's always a good thing to have a future Hall of Famer hanging around who was a Cy Young caliber starter AND reliever.

Boom!

You've shored up the rotation, the line up and keep either Drew or Lowell healthy all year.

And all you need is Big Papi to pretend he's hurt!

Come on! The checks will still clear!

Latest News