Hot Stove Winners, 2011-2012

Most of the big names are off the board and the ones remaining on the market—Roy Oswalt, Edwin Jackson—aren’t going to change the landscape much, if at all.

Let’s look at the hot stove winners for this winter.

—

New York Yankees

This isn’t a matter of the Yankees opening their checkbook and buying stuff as it usually is when they’re considered the “big winners” of the off-season. This winter was dedicated to keeping CC Sabathia and bolstering their starting rotation—which they did.

The Yankees essentially held serve and got more assured production with the additions of Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda than the scrambling they did and luck they enjoyed last year when Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon surpassed any logical expectations.

They’ve also been helped by the Red Sox evident disarray; the Blue Jays failing to acquire any veteran lineup or starting pitching help; the financial constraints that continually bound the Rays; and the Orioles being the Orioles.

—

Texas Rangers

The Rangers helped their starting rotation in two ways. One, they signed Joe Nathan to take over as closer and are shifting Neftali Feliz into being a starter. Two, they won the bidding for Yu Darvish.

Some will point to the loss of C.J. Wilson and the above moves as canceling each other out. The case can even be made that because the Angels signed Wilson, the Rangers wind up as net losers because of Wilson’s departure for a division rival.

The money they spent on Darvish in comparison to what it would’ve cost to keep Wilson or sign Jackson or Kuroda is a viable argument of having overpayed, but Wilson is 31 and Darvish 25. With Darvish, they get a more talented pitcher and the ancillary benefit of worldwide marketing possibilities because of his Iranian/Japanese heritage, looks and personality.

I think Darvish is going to be a superstar.

—

Los Angeles Angels

Long term consequences aside for having to pay Albert Pujols $59 million past his 40th birthday, they signed the best hitter of this generation and immediately launched themselves to the top of the talent scale. Simultaneously, they supplemented their strength in the starting rotation by signing Wilson.

They also acquired a catcher with pop in Chris Iannetta and hired a more competent GM when they replaced Tony Reagins with Jerry DiPoto.

—

Miami Marlins

They wanted a proven, name manager to draw buzz heading into their new ballpark and traded for Ozzie Guillen.

They needed starting pitching and signed Mark Buehrle and acquired Carlos Zambrano.

They needed a closer and signed Heath Bell.

And they wanted to bring in an offensive force to strengthen both shortstop and third base offensively and defensively and signed Jose Reyes, shifting Hanley Ramirez to third base.

The big questions are whether or not petulant owner Jeffrey Loria, meddling team president David Samson, Guillen, Zambrano and an unhappy Ramirez light the fuse of this powder keg and if the fans decide to show up to watch after the initial novelties.

On paper in February, they look good.

—

Cincinnati Reds

Giving up a chunk of their minor league system to get Mat Latos is risky, but he fills the need at the top of their starting rotation.

Ryan Madson’s market crashed and the Reds got him for one year; they traded for a solid lefty reliever in Sean Marshall and signed Ryan Ludwick, who will benefit from being a background player and hitting in a friendlier home park.

—

Colorado Rockies

Michael Cuddyer will have a big offensive year in right field and can play first base if/when Todd Helton gets hurt.

Replacing the shaky Huston Street with the cheaper and better Rafael Betancourt is a step up. Getting Tyler Chatwood for Iannetta and signing Ramon Hernandez to replace Iannetta is a dual gain. They signed the underrated Casey Blake to play third and traded a journeyman righty Clayton Mortensen to get Marco Scutaro, immediately solving their problem at second base.

—

San Diego Padres

Yonder Alonso is a power bat and Rookie of the Year candidate at first base. Yasmani Grandal is a top catching prospect and Edinson Volquez is good if he’s healthy and will benefit from pitching in the cavernous Petco Park and having a deep bullpen supporting him.

They gave up Latos to get the above package, but it’s an even trade for both sides for short and long term needs.

Street is just as good as the departed free agent Bell and maintains the bullpen hierarchy with Luke Gregerson as the set-up man and Street closing.

Carlos Quentin will be looking to have a big year as he heads for free agency and the Padres acquired him for two minor league pitchers who’d fallen out of favor with the organization.

Josh Byrnes is a category above Jed Hoyer as GM.

—

The hot stove losers and clubs that made lateral maneuvers will be discussed in upcoming posts.

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Mets Downfall Is Somehow Appropriate

• Marlins 4-Mets 2:

It somehow fits that the Mets downfall was caused by their completely unreliable bullpen, a

lack of clutch hitting and almost no production from any part of the lineup other than the first four hitters....*

* I have to stop here for a moment because as I was writing this, the TV was on with the closing ceremonies of Shea Stadium and I got up to have a look at the players being introduced after hearing the names Nolan Ryan, Hubie Brooks, Mookie Wilson, Ray Knight etc.

expecting to see the former players walking out and waving and instead saw cameras panning the stands, the outside of the stadium, the bullpens and whatever as if it were the stock footage that used to fill the screen in the 60s and 70s while people onscreen were having sex. Can they do anything right?

...and any team that gets no performance from their bullpen and no production from half their lineup cannot expect to win. A gutty effort from the erratic Oliver Perez was wasted; a clutch homer by Carlos Beltran to tie the game was wasted; and a solid job of managerial mixing and matching by Jerry Manuel was wasted.
It can be argued that the Mets were lucky to get as far as they did with that bullpen; as far as they did with that patched together lineup laden with journeymen and rookies; as far as they did with only 2 1/2 reliable starting pitchers; but winning teams don't complain; nor do they find excuses as to why they lost. The Brewers had every reason to throw their hands up in the air with problems that were almost identical to those of the Mets, but they rode their courageous ace C.C. Sabathia and clutch hitting from Ryan Braun into the playoffs. Their current circumstances don't bode well for them to get past three or four games in the playoffs, but at least they're there; at least they're going to be able to say they made it and they'll give their young players that experience for however long it lasts.
There are hitters that it's acceptable to give up a home run. I don't consider Wes Helms to

be among their number and it's a testament to the Mets problems that Scott Schoeneweis was unable to retire a mediocre infielder with little power simply because he's right-handed. Then Luis Ayala, who did pitch well more often than not for the Mets, allowed another homer to Dan Uggla, effectively sealing the Mets fate.
There are many ways to dissect why the Mets didn't make the playoffs again. It could be said that they were too reliant on one superstar starting pitcher and their stars in the lineup; it could be said that they pushed the envelope too far and wasted too much money on ancient veterans like Moises Alou and Orlando Hernandez; it could be said that they waited too long to replace former manager Willie Randolph; but that might have been the case whether they made the playoffs or not. That they didn't make the playoffs and that fact being a direct result of a combination of these factors doesn't alter the reality; and that reality is they were outgunned

in the bullpen and tried to make do with pitchers and players who weren't able to handle their jobs and there were too many question marks in their lineup and on their bench. Some of that was due to a misreading of talent; some was due to injuries; but whatever the cause, the end result is that those faults cost the Mets a playoff spot.
The implications of similarities between the collapse of 2007 and the loss of 2008 are inaccurate and unfair. They played as hard as they could with what they had, but simply didn't have the performers to get the job done. Instead of whining about what might have been, they can move forward in their new ballpark and take steps to correct those issues so they won't be in that exact same position for a third year in a row in 2009.

• Brewers 3-Cubs 1:

There will be vitriol from Mets fans directed at Cubs manager Lou Piniella for his choice of pitchers in a game that meant nothing to the Cubs and everything to the Mets and Brewers. This would be

unfair...to a point. There are two ways of looking at the situation: A) Piniella owes nothing to anyone including the Mets or Brewers and all he's required to do is use the players he feels are available for the game and keep them healthy and manage to the best of his abilities to win with the players he intends to use; or B) since the Marlins were doing everything they could to win the game against the Mets, the Cubs should've followed their lead and used their best players to keep the integrity of the pennant race intact.
It would be a knee-jerk reaction to overtly blame Piniella for the Cubs loss, but it wasn't exactly sporting of him to treat the game as a spring training exercise and use seven different pitchers, none of whom are going to be relied upon heavily (if at all) in the playoffs during do-or-die situations. While it's understandable for Piniella to rest catcher Geovany Soto before the playoffs begin, Mark DeRosa, their best hitter this year, couldn't play? They couldn't use Kerry Wood? They couldn't use Carlos Marmol? Was one game going to bother them either way heading into the playoffs to maintain the integrity of the pennant race?
Sabathia's heroism probably would've been rewarded somehow no matter what Piniella did;

the Brewers were playing with a little more than destiny on their side as they overcame everything from a collapse that was worse than that of the Mets in 2007, a desperation managerial change and functioning with only one reliable starting pitcher, they deserve to make the playoffs; but Piniella didn't help the cause of competitiveness by not taking the lead of the Marlins and Nationals and fighting to the best of their abilities to keep the game pure. Might Piniella have had it in his mind that he'd rather face the Dodgers than the Mets and Johan Santana in a short series? It's certainly possible and he's well within his rights to try and manipulate the situation to his team's best possible advantage in the playoffs, but that doesn't mean that it's completely fair.
The Mets did lose their game, so if they wanted to avoid having to rely on another team and

another manager, they could've taken care of their own business and kept destiny in their own hands, but the situation is what it is. This isn't an accusation of any wrongdoing on the part of a great and honorable manager in Lou Piniella, and his team is heading to the playoffs so he has a justifiable argument for holding out his most imperative stars, but that doesn't make it appear any better in the box scores to see those names when there were the names Marmol, Wood and DeRosa available just as the Marlins were fighting to win the game as if they were the ones in the pennant race.

The Mets Quantum Leap

Theorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped

into the Quantum Leap accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in the past, facing mirror images that were not his own and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better. His only guide on this journey is Al, an observer from his own time, who appears in the form of a hologram that only Sam can see and hear. And so Dr. Beckett finds himself leaping from life to life, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home.

How many times is anyone given the opportunity to correct a mistake? To be put into the

exact same position they were at an earlier time and right what once went wrong? And how many seize that opportunity and redeem themselves? Tomorrow, at 1:10 PM on the last regular season game ever to be played at Shea Stadium, the New York Mets will have that chance.
It was the last day of the regular season last September 30th that the New York Mets, beginning the day tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the National League East and with a chance to avoid the most monumental collapse in the history of baseball, took the

field to play the Florida Marlins. Before anyone had a chance to sit in their seats and settle in to watch the game, the raucous Shea Stadium crowd was silenced as Tom Glavine, in his last start as a member of the Mets, allowed seven runs in 1/3 of an inning. The Phillies, emboldened by the gift bestowed upon them by both Glavine and the Marlins, defeated the Nationals 6-1 to claim the NL East crown leaving the Mets to sit in stunned silence from that first inning onward, wondering how everything fell apart so completely that their season came down to this.
It was no consolation that the Phillies were swept out of the playoffs before their hangovers from the division clinching celebration had subsided; nor did it matter that the Mets went out and acquired the best pitcher in baseball specifically to avoid the fate that befell them in 2007. Until they're able to exorcise the ghosts from that collapse----new manager or not; new

players or not----it will always be there. Now, in the midst of another collapse, a small glimmer of light is shining for the Mets. Receiving the help they needed today in the form of a masterful, three-hit shutout by Santana on three days rest and a Cubs 7-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers, tomorrow morning when they head to the ballpark, the Mets will be tied for the Wild Card lead and hold destiny in their own hands.
Facing that same Marlins team provides the Mets with a unique shot at a do-over; a chance to let the world know that they're not going to close Shea Stadium with a second consecutive collapse. Glavine is gone; manager Willie Randolph is gone, but the ghosts still remain. The ghosts that haunt the remaining players from last year's roster can be exorcised tomorrow. Oliver Perez, in what is likely his last regular season start as a member of the Mets, will have a chance to go out in the way Glavine wanted to; in the way that his former teammates will remember him fondly and say, "that guy came up big when we needed

him," instead of inspiring the head shakes and sideways glances that Glavine received with his indifferent reaction as he dismissed the devastation felt by the Mets and their fans and hustled back to Atlanta to rejoin the Braves as quickly as possible, a place he never truly left.
Last year at this time, the Mets were breathing a sigh of relief having been given a gift by the Washington Nationals as they beat the Phillies on that Saturday; the Mets had angered the Marlins with their excessive celebrations and a bench clearing fight marred a dominating performance from John Maine in a 13-0 Mets win. Now the shoe is on the other foot. The Marlins are the ones who have succeeded in making the Mets look sympathetic with their relentless yapping in the newspapers about how sweet it's going to be to knock the Mets out of the playoffs again. The circumstances are identical; will the Mets rise to the occasion, or will they be struck by that lightning for a second year in a row and

allow the Marlins to walk all over them and gloat about it for another year?
2008 is a mirror image of 2007, but the Mets are a year wiser; a year tougher and they've been presented with that Quantum Leap moment; a chance to put right what once went wrong and exterminate those ghosts that would haunt the site of the demolished Shea Stadium forever and they can close the place right, without leaving any ghosts, by seizing this rare chance at redemption.

Yapping So Much While Accomplishing So Little

• Admitting mistakes is not a sign of weakness:

With the way Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi is treating a two week hot streak as a validation

of his handling of the organization, one would think he not only had two World Series titles in his trophy case, but that he was somehow treated unfairly on the road to those two titles. Now that the Blue Jays have secured a record above .500 for the season and Ricciardi's job has likely been spared (again), he's seen fit to start defending his record not in a matter-of-fact way, but by blustering and crowing about all the good things he's accomplished during his mediocre seven year run as the team's architect.
In an article on Canda.com----Link----Ricciardi isn't shy in crediting himself for the relatively few big league players his drafts have delivered; that the team hadn't "had to go the route [like] the Minnesotas or the Tampas, lose those 100, 90 [games]; eight, nine years of losing in a row" (as if that's some great accomplishment); and deflects the

blame for the team's relentless status as an also-ran by citing "circumstances" (whatever that means).
If the team had spent eight or nine years losing 100, 90 games, then Ricciardi would absolutely have reason to say that things are improving and the future is promising; but they haven't. This is the third year in a row in which they were expected to finally jump into contention and the third year in a row that they were an average team with an average record before a late-season hot streak made them appear as if they were on the rise. I'd say that it's a safe bet that the same thing's going to happen next year; the one question I keep asking is how long before the Blue Jays ownership wises up to this fact.
Perhaps Ricciardi's obvious and insistent attempts to depict himself as an alpha-male are preventing him from looking at the team and his mistakes objectively and saying that he screwed up, but it's no sign of strength to continually flap one's mouth without reason and expect those that know better to buy it. After seven years and repeated embarrassments and mistakes on and off the field, Ricciardi's still displaying an arrogance that is beyond comprehension; a record of 86-76 is not an accomplishment for someone who claims to have all the answers, it's a failure; what's worse, it's a failure that he repeats over and over again without anyone willing to pull the plug. And next year, with the Red Sox being as good as they are; the Yankees going to spend tons of money to fill their holes and the Rays still young and supremely talented, the Blue Jays aren't going to be in any better position than they're in now unless they make some drastic changes in the front office, but that's not going to happen because a bad start and solid finish only gives the illusion of success and it's an illusion that is going to happen again and again until the organization wakes up and sees it for what it is, much to their detriment.

• Marlins 8-Astros 1:

The Astros have a legitimate gripe with the way the hurricane-induced cancellations were handled essentially taking two home games away from them and sending them to Milwaukee

to face the Cubs in a stadium loaded with Cubs fans, but that can't account for them continuing to lose after they went to Florida to play the Marlins. Anger is one thing, but once the game starts, the players aren't in the batter's box or on the mound thinking about how they were wronged. Their hot streak that launched them back into contention had to end sooner or later and it just happened to end at a time in which they had a convenient scapegoat. The three losses to the blazing hot Marlins aren't accountable to anything that happened over the weekend.
Speaking of the Marlins, is Fredi Gonzalez going to steal the Manager of the Year award from other deserving candidates like Tony La Russa, Lou Piniella and Joe Torre as he leads the Marlins on this eight game win streak and onto the outskirts of contention? I don't see the Manager of the Year award as one in which the voters are doing too much deep thought, so La Russa's peformance in keeping the Cardinals in contention as

long as he did; Piniella's underappreciated work with the Cubs (every Lou Piniella team from the start of his managerial career has played the game the right way, advancing runners and performing the fundamentals----it's no accident); and Torre's calm leadership of the Dodgers, might be forgotten as the Marlins end over .500 with a bargain basement payroll. With each passing day, the job Gonzalez has done with the Marlins, along with the growing pains Joe Girardi is having with the Yankees and their $210 million payroll, diminishes Girardi's 2006 season all the more and lends credence to the Marlins claims about the organization being more responsible for their success than any manager could be. (I'd give the Manager of the Year to Piniella.)

The Dynamics Of A Bench Clearing "Brawl"

• Marlins 4-Mets 3:

After Aaron Heilman's atrocious ninth inning tonight, it's clear the duel between the Mets and the Phillies down the stretch is going to come down to which team's bullpen coughs up

the fewest games; right now it's a coin flip and that's with the Phillies getting such a stunning comeback year from Brad Lidge. Lidge has had his own issues with blowing big games and having it affect him for an extended period (see Pujols, Albert; 2005 NLCS). That's neither here nor there in the story of tonight's game because of the bench clearing dance the teams exchanged after Mets starter Mike Pelfrey drilled Marlins outfielder Cody Ross.
I have great respect for Cody Ross. He's rung every single ounce of ability out of his small frame; has bounced from the Tigers to the Dodgers to the Reds to the Marlins trying to find a place where he was going to get a chance to play; he got his chance with the Marlins and has proven himself to have surprising (though streaky) power, a penchant for getting big hits and a toughness that's hard to find. This is a player who was hit in the mouth by an Oscar Villareal fastball two years ago

and insisted on getting right back into the lineup. With that, it's hard to believe that even Ross thinks that Pelfrey was throwing at him in the second inning of tonight's game. Pelfrey also hit Ross on August 10th and does hit a greater than usual number of hitters, but that's only because he tries to pitch inside and gets a lot of natural movement on his pitches.
After Ross was hit, he cussed loudly and slammed his bat and elbow protector to the ground; Mets catcher Brian Schneider was watching Ross closely to see if anything was going to happen and sure enough, as he was walking to first, Ross let Pelfrey know what he thought of him and from reading his lips and due to the circumstances, he certainly wasn't wishing Pelfrey "luck". Pelfrey responded in kind and the next thing everyone knew, both benches cleared and there was the general milling around that goes on during a bench clearing "incident". There were no punches thrown, but even when there are actual fights on a baseball diamond, they always end up pretty much the same way.
There's the one guy who got angry at the other guy and the two wind up screaming at each other; then the benches empty and the players start holding their teammates back; then there are the guys who started charging in and try to appear as if they want to fight whether they really do or not. Tonight, that character was played by Marlins first baseman Mike Jacobs. Jacobs ran onto the field, got spun around and held back in what looked like an audition to make sure he got as much face time on SportsCenter as humanly possible to show how tough and great a teammate he is because he wants to "fight" for his comrade. Then the bullpens come charging in and things cool down...until someone says something and the teams start moving toward one another again. Then order is restored and everyone returns to playing the game. It's the same script just about every time and it's tiresome; if these guys want to fight, then

get on with it. None of this running around and charging in and yelling and screaming, and it's always the loudest ones who go crawling out of the pile of bodies during the fight

and head for the nearest exit; it happens every time.
I was involved in a bench clearing fight when I was nineteen, playing on the sandlots and still harboring delusions of being able to play professionally. This was a legitimate fight with guys actually throwing punches, but for the most part, everything else played out predictably with guys holding each other back, trying to protect teammates from getting hurt and showing some solidarity so they look like they're willing to fight even if they're not. In this particular incident, I was holding back one of the main participants along with a couple of players on the other team. (Much like "The Most Interesting Man In the World" with his ice cold Dos Equis, I'm a lover, not a fighter; but I'm a fighter too, so don't get any ideas.) One guy on my team----the biggest guy as it turned out----got knocked to the

ground and had a cut lip after he yapped long and hard to one of the opposing players during the festivities. This was a prime example of what goes on during these things. (I joined the team we were fighting with the next season.)
In general, a baseball team and it's rosters work out this way when it comes to fighting: there are four or five guys who can actually fight, but don't do it unless they have to; six to eight guys who think they can fight, act like they can fight and charge around like they can fight, but get a brutal beating when they do fight. (I'm not suggesting that Mike Jacobs is one of those guys----he could be the best baseball player/fighter since Billy Martin, but he sure was acting like one of those guys.) Then there are the rest of the players who try to keep the posers and the fighters from hurting themselves or anyone else and keep guys from getting suspended. The number of times in which actual punches are thrown in comparison to the number of times benches clear can't be very good considering that a potential fight is the reason that the players ran out onto the field in the first place.
This also doesn't suggest that there haven't been some genuinely tough baseball players; guys you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley. Ray Knight was the former Golden Gloves boxing muscle behind the 1986 Mets; Dave Parker was called "Cobra" for a reason; and of course, there was Billy Martin; but then there are the guys who think they're tough, yell like they're tough, but never do much of anything like Josh Beckett and Roger Clemens. The main thing is that these incidents never amount to much because the dynamic is almost always the same, as are baseball players. Sometimes pretense is the better part of valor and it's better to look and act like a guy who's ready to drop the gloves than to actually be a guy who's ready to drop the gloves. Stay thirsty my friends.

• The 2008 Yankees are ready for the coroner (figuratively):

In a reference from The Sopranos to quote Carmine Lupertazzi from when he decided to shut down the construction of the Esplanade in retaliation during an ongoing back-and-forth

between the Lupertazzis and the Sopranos: "I haven't wanted to do this..." but he did do it because it was necessary; now, I must do the same thing and declare the Yankees dead.
After today's latest bullpen meltdown and series of mental and physical errors, the Yankees had to sit and watch both the Rays and the Red Sox win to increase their respective leads over the Yankees to 11 1/2 for the Rays and seven for the Red Sox. It's going to be all but impossible for the Yankees to catch up to either team especially with the wounded and journeyman-laden starting rotation and woeful bullpen. Add in that Robinson

Cano is playing like a guy whose head is everywhere but on his job; that Johnny Damon can't play center field; that Alex Rodriguez is hitting poorly in the clutch and in bad luck; that Joe Girardi is learning on the job; etc, etc, etc.
It was bound to happen eventually and it might have happened had Joe Torre been managing the team instead of Joe Girardi, but their luck has run out and the Yankees of 2008 are officially being taken off of life support, at least in my hospital. Speaking of Torre...

• Dodgers 6-Diamondbacks 2:
  

As terribly as the Dodgers have played during the last week in which they lost eight in a

row including three straight to the Washington Nationals, their win tonight over the Diamondbacks puts them 3 1/2 games out of first place with a record of 66-70. By season's end, no one's going to care if either team makes the playoffs with a record of 81-81 or 80-82 or whatever.
As difficult as I was finding it to diagnose what was wrong with the Dodgers after their flashy acquisitions of Manny Ramirez, Greg Maddux and Casey Blake, it's just as hard to diagnose what's wrong with the Diamondbacks who acquired a power bat/on-base machine in Adam Dunn; a set-up reliever who can close in Jon Rauch and a respected veteran in Tony Clark; they also have the best 1-2 punch of starting pitchers in baseball in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren and they still can't put the Dodgers away.
Some say that it's better to be lucky than good, but Joe Torre's luck from the Yankees seems to be following him to Los Angeles because no matter how awful the Dodgers look, the Diamondbacks are bent on matching them and with that, they're well on their way to blowing this division that they should have wrapped up already given the talent on their roster, how they've augmented it and how far the Dodgers have gone in an attempt to eliminate themselves; but they're still there and the Torre-luck is something that the Diamondbacks aren't going to want to tempt because if they do, they're going to lose.

Ivan Rodriguez For Kyle Farnsworth; The Manny Rumors

• Brian Cashman pulls another deal out of nowhere in getting Ivan Rodriguez:

This reminds me of the David Justice trade that Yankees GM Brian Cashman pulled off with

the Indians in 2000 in which it just struck like lightning from a clear blue sky. In acquiring Ivan Rodriguez from the Tigers for Kyle Farnsworth, Cashman fills the empty lineup spot that had been Jose Molina and dumps Kyle Farnsworth before he reverts back into what he really is. Getting Rodriguez is a far cry from the laughable offers that Cashman received for Farnsworth over the past year. Most teams wanted the Yankees to just give Farnsworth to them and pay his salary; but Cashman replenished the pitcher's value to a certain point and made an advantageous deal for both sides.
Even with the way he's pitched since replacing Joba Chamberlain as the eighth inning man, Farnsworth has always been a pitcher who is going to give up the big homer in a big game; it's not a matter of if, but of when; to get rid of him now when the Yankees have viable replacements for him----Damaso Marte pitches well enough to righties that he can be used as

a set-up man; Jose Veras deserves a chance; and Chamberlain could conceivably be moved back into the role for the playoffs----and to get a veteran catcher was a smart move and they didn't even have to dip into the system to get it done.
Rodriguez's power has "mysteriously" deserted him in recent years (although I don't think, given all the factors of his vastly diminished size and power and the timing of the decline, that it's all that much of a mystery), but he's still hitting .295; has extensive post-season success and experience; is a well-liked leader in the clubhouse; plays good defense and calls a good game for his pitchers. He's a free agent at the end of the year and I wouldn't discount the possibility of the Yankees bringing him back to split time with Jorge Posada at catcher and first base; no one knows what Posada's situation is going to be when he gets back and having a backup who can provide both offense and defense isn't a bad idea.
The Tigers and Braves are two of Farnsworth's former employers who liked him enough to want to bring him back and I don't think that this is a short-term idea for the Tigers either; my

guess is that they'll try and keep Farnsworth. Their bullpen is in tatters; Todd Jones is unreliable; Joel Zumaya is always one false step from another DL stint and is a prime candidate for a fast flameout. Farnsworth will at least add another body----biceps and all----out there to get a few outs. They've been using Brandon Inge behind the plate and must feel confident enough to put him back there regularly in order to get his, Gary Sheffield's and Marcus Thames's bats into the lineup every day. The Tigers are only one hot streak away from jumping into first place in the AL Central, so this made sense on all levels for both teams.

• Manny Ramirez headed for Florida?

I don't believe that these deals are done until they're done, but the Red Sox seem determined to get Manny Ramirez out of town and it's no shock that the Marlins have jumped

into the fray; given their history of going for it and winning when they think they have a shot, no playoff team should want to see the Marlins in October. If I were the Red Sox though, I would be very reticent to slot Jason Bay into Manny's spot in left field as would occur if the proposed three-team deal with the Pirates and Marlins comes through. Bay looks to me like the type of player who would be swallowed up by the Boston pressure; he does fine when he's with a team like the Pirates who have no chance of contending, but the spotlight in Boston combined with replacing Manny Ramirez? It's a big risk. The other names----Jeremy Hermida and Josh Willingham----would be better options in a straight-up deal and I'd take Willingham over the others. Other teams may jump in before the deadline hits, so these stories are very premature and Manny may end up just staying in Boston for the rest of the season.

• And still another reason why J.P. Ricciardi should be fired:

No one who's been watching Scott Rolen over the past few years can possibly be surprised by this from the Associated Press:

Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Scott Rolen plans to skip some games and cut

back on his batting practice while undergoing an "extensive" rehab program for his surgically repaired left shoulder. "I've been having some shoulder trouble, some problems with it," Rolen said. "Not strength, not flexibility, not surgery. Nothing like that. Mechanically it's not functioning right. The therapist looked at it, the doctor looked at it. I talked to [manager Cito Gaston and general manager J.P. Ricciardi] and we're going to try to get some extra days off. I'll keep playing, keep going out there and doing what I can do, back off in the cage a little bit."

Rolen's an admirable guy; he's stubborn, proud and plays hard whenever he can get out on the field; but that's the problem----he's never able to get out on the field and his production is at a point where he shouldn't even be a starter anymore whether he's hurt or not. In looking at the numbers of the guy the Blue Jays traded to the Cardinals to get him, Troy Glaus, and there's no comparison on the field:

Rolen: Games-82; At Bats-295; Runs-36; Hits-75; Doubles-21; Triples-2; Home Runs: 6; RBI-31; Walks-35; Strikeouts-52; Average-.254; OBP-.349; Slugging-.400; OPS+-101.

Glaus: Games-107; At Bats-384; Runs-51; Hits-105; Doubles-27; Triples-1; Home Runs-18; RBI-71; Walks-60; Strikeouts-72; Batting Average-.273; OBP-.374; Slugging-.490; OPS+-127.

I understand that Rolen's been hurt, but that's part of the reason that the Blue Jays should've steered clear of him. The move was a huge mistake before even getting to the contract status of the players. Rolen has two more years on his deal at $11.8 million per year; Glaus has an $11.25 million player option for next year that was exercised as part of the trade

from Toronto to St. Louis. This is yet a third example of the Blue Jays and J.P. Ricciardi putting an absurd contract option out of the hands of upper management and into the hands of the player. (The other two were Frank Thomas and A.J. Burnett.)
If Glaus had stayed in Toronto and had the year he's having for the Cardinals, he would've declined the option and gone into free agency, but given what they've gotten from Rolen, I'm sure the Blue Jays would take that deal right now. Worst case scenario, they could've kept Glaus and saved the money they'll be paying Rolen over the next two years; and Rolen's going to be 34; does anyone think that he's going to have a career renaissance at this point? That he's going to be healthy? And I think we're all beginning to realize that the "rest and rehab" program for injured players rarely, if ever, works. Jorge Posada is the latest example of a player who took that route and wound up wasting three months trying to play with an injury that needed surgery and delayed his return time because he tried to avoid what needed to be done. Rolen's career is on the decline due to injury, but the Blue Jays are going

to be paying him for two more years at big money because they made a bad judgment call and took on another bad contract, which is turning into a hallmark of Ricciardi's tenure as GM.
Because of these contracts, they're going to lose Burnett after the season, but can't trade him because of the contract. They cut Frank Thomas because of the contract. And they're stuck with Rolen because of the contract. I'm still waiting for an answer as to how Ricciardi's still there, but no one's responding because they can't come up with one---even one that's total crud.

The Marlins Have The Goods To Hang Around In The Playoff Race

• Marlins 5-Dodgers 4:
  

Each day the Marlins remain in contention with a $21 million payroll, they stick a finger in

the eye of every team that pays absurd amounts of money for no results. To put that into context, the Mariners just released Richie Sexson and are paying him $6 million to simply leave the premises. (I know the argument could be made that they were paying him for for nothing for the past year and a half as well.) The Dodgers are only paying $3 million less than that for Andruw Jones this year; the Yankees have paid Carl Pavano twice that for a level of production that they could likely receive from an pitcher from the Frontier League if that pitcher were capable of throwing strikes and being lucky. The Marlins success at finding young talent and discarded players is making a bigger and bolder statement than Moneyball ever could. If there's a team that should have their blueprint followed, it's the Marlins.
Now with that minuscule payroll the Marlins find themselves with the exact same record as the New York Mets ($136 million); 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies ($98 million); 5 games ahead of the reeling Atlanta Braves ($102 million); and 13 1/2 games ahead of the Washington Nationals ($54 million)----and that's just in their own division. They're rewriting the handbook on how to run a team effectively despite all the ridicule they receive after dumping players whenever their salaries or demands reach a certain point.
After all the credit that Joe Girardi received for his team's 78-84 finish with similar payroll

constraints in 2006, Fredi Gonzalez is producing even better results in 2008. While other teams are scrambling and giving up chunks of their future for rentals (the Brewers and C.C. Sabathia); or pitchers who are notoriously frequent residents of the disabled list (the Cubs and Rich Harden), the Marlins added a potential ace starting pitcher by simply waiting until he was healthy enough to pitch in Josh Johnson.
Last night was Johnson's first start since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year and while his pitching line isn't impressive on the surface----5 innings; 6 hits; 3 runs----he also struck out six; walked none; was clocked consistently in the mid-90s with his fastball and low-90s with his slider and looked primed for a big second half. Even with their reticence to add veteran players that are going to be costly and their repeated willingness to trade any player to whom they're going to have to dole out a large salary, the Marlins stay respectable and more.
It's becoming clear that it's more than a case of scouts mining other organizations for their

top prospects (Hanley Ramirez, Andrew Miller); picking up unappreciated or unknown talent for nothing (Dan Uggla, Cody Ross, Justin Miller); drafting well (Johnson, Scott Olsen, Jeremy Hermida); changing players' positions to get some use from them (Josh Willingham); or signing veterans from whom they've gotten unexpected production on and off the field (Mark Hendrickson, Jorge Cantu, Luis Gonzalez). This is a case of an organization that trusts their scouts and makes bold, decisive decisions based on what's best for the organization rather than what looks good in the newspapers or to the "experts".
The Marlins appear to have a simple philosophy of giving young players a chance to play without the pressure that has ruined many young players in more intense venues. There's not

the specter of a trip to the minors hanging over their heads if they struggle for a week; there's not the questioning of a player's ability if he goes into a slump. Part of that is due to the lack of interest in the team in Florida (except when they're in the World Series); part of it is due to the way the team is run from owner Jeffrey Loria on down.
The Marlins have been called "lucky", or have been seen to benefit from a watered down National League; but it may be time to stop trying to justify their success with caveats and see it for what it is: they're an organization that knows what they're doing and are consistently competitive no matter what. They might not make the playoffs, but that they're even in this position in July when they were expected to (again) lose close to 100 games is indicative of an organization that's got something figured out and isn't just haphazardly dumping salaries just for the sake of it; there are at least twenty other organizations that would be better off right now if they had the Marlins front office rather than their own. It's not a team's resources that defines their success, it's what they do with those resources and there's not a better organization at maximizing than the Florida Marlins whether their fans appreciate them or not.

• Mets 7-Giants 3:
  

I relentlessly ripped Fernando Tatis earlier this season, but the Mets have caught some unexpected lightning in the oft-released and unwanted Tatis. I still don't like the way he hits much of the time (he's too much of a hacker for my taste), but the Mets have gotten a few wins based on Tatis's contribution and that justifies his presence even if he provides nothing for the rest of the season.

• The Blue Jays ever-expanding injury ward:

It's hard to fault the Blue Jays for the injuries to their two young emerging star pitchers in Dustin McGowan (torn rotator cuff); and Shaun Marcum (sore

shoulder). McGowan has a rotator cuff tear----they're saying at least four weeks out at the minimum, which is very difficult to believe; considering their position in the standings, even if he's ready to pitch by late-August, early-September, maybe they'd better shut him down for the year.
I've unloaded on Blue Jays pitching coach Brad Arnsberg in the past----Correlation Between Coach And Injuries-6/10/06----but in looking at the gamelogs of the Blue Jays young pitchers, they're not unduly stressful. I'm trying to imagine what kind of tearing up and down would be delivered to the management of a

team in New York for example if they had two potential star pitchers who both came down with arm injuries within a month of each other.
In their current position, if the Blue Jays intend to replace GM J.P. Ricciardi, they'd better do it now and not allow him to make the decision as to what veterans to trade and what to ask for in return. They're likely to move A.J. Burnett, but I would seriously consider moving the likes of B.J. Ryan and David Eckstein, as well as Scott Rolen (although I don't know who'd take him), and trusting an under-fire Ricciardi to make those decisions is a potential disaster.