BREAKING NEWS…
Freddy Garcia to the White Sox. Details to follow.
Driving home from work today, I happened to catch Chuck Armstrong on the M’s pre-game show. When asked about the possibility of bringing up Tacoma 1B/DH Bucky Jacobsen, he said something to the effect of “Well, you can only have one first baseman and DH in the game at once. John [Olerud] looks like he’s turning things around; he had three hits last night.”
First off, Chuck, Willie Bloomquist could have three hits tonight, but it still doesn’t make him a good hitter. Second, Olerud can’t hit lefties and Jacobsen is right-handed.
Armstrong gave a few other maddening answers to some softball questions… but damned if I can remember them now, an hour later. Sorry, dear readers.
Memo to anyone working in the Mariners front office: Opportunity is here.
Today, the Pittsburgh Pirates designated Ruben Mateo for assignment. Mateo was, at one time, the Texas Rangers CF of the future, but injuries derailed his development. The Reds traded for him in their push to get every toolsy outfielder in 2001, but cut him loose after last year, and he signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh over the offseason. Throughout his major league career, he’s amassed 783 at-bats, posting a .257/.311/.396 line, which is basically a replacement level outfielder.
However, this year, he looks to have made some adjustments. Pittsburgh brought him to the show after he hit .316/.391/.711 in 114 at-bats for Nashville. He proceeded to hit .242/.359/.515 in 33 at-bats for Pittsburgh before he was DFA’d today. He’s showing some patience (17 walks in 147 at-bats), a lot of power, and he can play a solid LF/RF and a passable CF. All this for the league minimum folks. It’s not a stretch to say that Ruben Mateo would instantly become our best center fielder (okay, thats Ichiro, but thats apparently not an option) and probably our 3rd or 4th best hitter. He has more value than about half the hitters on the roster, and is exactly the kind of free talent pickup this team should be looking to make. Make the call to Dave Littlefield and toss them a low level relief arm, like, say, Cesar Jimenez, to make sure no other team claims him on waivers before the M’s get a shot at him (due to the arcane league setup, all the teams in the NL get a shot before any teams in the AL).
Ruben Mateo could help this club now and become a nice role player for the future. He’s cheap and even toolsy. He fills a need, and he’s going to come at a bargain rate. Go get Ruben Mateo.
Somebody emailed us, asking if anyone had heard anything about Rafael Soriano. My personal feeling is that he won’t pitch again this season. In any event, I found this from Sunday’s Everett Herald: Reliever Rafael Soriano has been cleared to begin playing catch,something he hasn’t done since May 12, when he was put on the DL with a strained right elbow. It’s the first time since the injury that Soriano’s elbow was tested and he felt no pain.
So there you go.
Another facet to this is that if this is what Dotel fetches. Dotel got paid $2.8m. Eddie Guardado, left handed established closer type, makes more than that, at $4m. The M’s should be able to get something for Guardado.
You know, I’ve never understood the fascination with Jason Lane as someone the Astros should be clearing 500 at-bats for. Lane is their version of Justin Leone; a nice, above replacement level piece who has proven he has some value, but also has pretty obvious flaws. He’s a great role player, a terrific 4th outfielder, and a nice bat off the bench who adds depth in case of injury. But a starting corner outfielder? He’s hitting .238/.319/.417 this year in his age 27 season. Last year, he hit a pedestrian .298/.374/.452 in the PCL. The year before, he hit .272/.328/.472 for New Orleans. Yes, I know ‘Nawlins is a severe pitchers park, but the road parks in the PCL help even that out. At 25 and 26 years old, he’s put up ordinary numbers in Triple-A, and he’s putting up ordinary numbers in the majors this year during his peak age.
Biggio is clearly outhitting him this year, and deserves to play over Lane. Adding Beltran, who instantly becomes the Astros best player, does not block a potential superstar. He simply shifts a role player back into being a role player, rather than being miscast as a starter, a position he’s never shown he is suited for. For some reason, he’s developed a loyal following of people who apparently think he’s some kind of answer to the Astros offensive woes, but really, he is what he is; a corner outfielder who can hit .270/.330/.450. You certainly don’t let that stand in your way of acquiring Carlos Beltran.
The other prospects in the deal have been named; catcher John Buck and pitcher Mike Wood. None of these guys are going to be significant parts of the next Royals team that contends. Buck is having something of a resurgant year after taking two years off from productivity, and Mike Wood is a RHP without the stuff to stay in the rotation. In exchange for Beltran, the Royals got a middle reliever, a backup catcher, and a third baseman who might be a league average player in his prime. Not exactly a great haul for KC.
I’m surprised by this trade, too. If Boggio moves to left, putting Jason Lane on the bench, what has it accomplished for Houston? Beltran’s going to play center, and that’ll make their defense better, but I look at Biggio for Lane and think wha?
The A’s, meanwhile, get stronger, as they do each season as they find out what their needs are.
A month ago, today’s game probably would have upset me. But apathy has set it to the point where I really don’t care that Melvin’s bullpen management caused the team to have to use tomorrow’s starter to finish the game and his incessant bunting led to scenarios where they kept giving away chances to score. But, really, we all know this season is a wash, and Texas sweeping us just cements that. At this point, we’re just biding time until the organization lights up the fire sale.
Billy Beane reportedly has made his first move of ’04, picking up Octavio Dotel in a three way trade that sends Carlos Beltran to Houston. The A’s are giving up Mark Teahen, their ridiculously overrated third base prospect, and getting a dynamic reliever to help solidify their bullpen. Unless one of the other players in the deal has a last name of Chavez, Hudson, Mulder, or Zito, it looks like Beane has once again cashed in via a trade with the Royals.
Or, they could bring in Jamie Moyer in relief…
Thanks to Buntin’ Bob also deciding to be Mix-And-Match Bob, lets hope J.J. Putz is ready to throw 50-100 pitches today. Melvin used 4 relievers (Villone, Mateo, Hasegawa, and Myers) to each get one or two outs, leaving Putz as the sole arm in the pen for extra innings. Good luck, J.J.