2016 MLB thread. THE CUBS HAVE BROKEN THE CURSE! Chicago Cubs are your 2016 World Series champions

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted by abovelegit1


That's pretty much what I said, but with different wording. And I'm not saying he will get more healthy, but sitting out does eliminate any chance of him getting hurt again, even if it is only that risk that belies with every athlete. The risk is still there and he's your star pitcher going forward so i'd forget it.

I still don't think pitching right now makes any substantial difference. Whether it's 50 innings this year compared to 0 innings this year and a full season next year, the disparity is still big and might have a minimal impact.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
The risk for injury inherent in all athletics for all athletes is simply not a good enough reason for Strasburg not to pitch when healthy.

And 50 innings is quite substantial in terms of progressive arm buildup compared to no innings at all at any level. If he wants to handle a somewhat significant workload next season, he absolutely should have something to build off of from the previous season. The Nats did the same with Jordan Zimmerman: a year after TJS he came back last season and pitched about 50 innings. This season he has been outstanding.

Regardless, the doctors and trainers are the most informed about the situation, and thus made the decision they did.

I can agree with the point you're making, but I still think it's not that important he gets in there right now.

Do you really think he gets 50 innings though? I don't think he gets anywhere close to that.  Maybe 35 max, but more around 25 or 30.
  
 
Ankiel is such a freak of an athlete. 
30t6p3b.gif
 
Days before 9/11, current Minnesota Twin Michael Cuddyer was a minor leaguer hitting a dramatic home run for the Class AA New Britain Rock Cats.

The moment he hit it, the homer saved the Rock Cats season.

Nobody knew it would eventually save a life.

Cuddyer's game-winning home run to left field on September 7th, 2001 tied New Britain's playoff series against the Norwich Navigators. Had they lost the game, the Rock Cats would have trailed the best-of-five series 2-0.

But the heroic homer paved the way to a series victory and a berth in the league championship series.

The championship series was scheduled to begin on September 11th. It would never be played, as the world would be forever changed.

"Smoke was coming out of the tower, I didn't know what was going on," Cuddyer says of his 9/11 experience. "Watching live, I saw the second plane hit the tower.  I went to the field that afternoon and a lot of people were crying."

Among those overcome with emotion was Cuddyer's teammate - pitcher Brad Thomas.

"You have to make flight arrangements not knowing how long the season will go. If you make the playoffs, you just cancel," Cuddyer explains. "We knew the playoffs could end September 9th, so many of us made arrangements for September 11th."

When he arrived at the stadium, Cuddyer recalls Thomas was sitting near his locker holding an unused plane ticket in his hands.

"Brad's from Australia, and he was on that Boston to L.A. flight," Cuddyer continues. "He was sitting there, shaken up.  Had we not won that first round, he was on that flight."

Cuddyer's emotional rollercoaster continued later that week. After the AA league championship series was cancelled, he was informed he was being called up to make his major league debut with the Twins.

With commercial air travel still completely shut down, Cuddyer made a 24-hour all-night, all-day drive from New England to the Twin Cities. He made his big league debut the first day MLB resumed play after 9/11.

Cuddyer  thinks about Thomas, and everyone affected by the events of 9/11, when the date rolls around each year.

"Never forget what happened, " Cuddyer says, echoing a common refrain from September 2001. "It's been a great ten years. We are all lucky to have had these last ten years. Any one of us could have been in that tower. Your heart goes out to the less fortunate. That's what you continue to think about, especially this time of year."
Click to expand...
 
Days before 9/11, current Minnesota Twin Michael Cuddyer was a minor leaguer hitting a dramatic home run for the Class AA New Britain Rock Cats.

The moment he hit it, the homer saved the Rock Cats season.

Nobody knew it would eventually save a life.

Cuddyer's game-winning home run to left field on September 7th, 2001 tied New Britain's playoff series against the Norwich Navigators. Had they lost the game, the Rock Cats would have trailed the best-of-five series 2-0.

But the heroic homer paved the way to a series victory and a berth in the league championship series.

The championship series was scheduled to begin on September 11th. It would never be played, as the world would be forever changed.

"Smoke was coming out of the tower, I didn't know what was going on," Cuddyer says of his 9/11 experience. "Watching live, I saw the second plane hit the tower.  I went to the field that afternoon and a lot of people were crying."

Among those overcome with emotion was Cuddyer's teammate - pitcher Brad Thomas.

"You have to make flight arrangements not knowing how long the season will go. If you make the playoffs, you just cancel," Cuddyer explains. "We knew the playoffs could end September 9th, so many of us made arrangements for September 11th."

When he arrived at the stadium, Cuddyer recalls Thomas was sitting near his locker holding an unused plane ticket in his hands.

"Brad's from Australia, and he was on that Boston to L.A. flight," Cuddyer continues. "He was sitting there, shaken up.  Had we not won that first round, he was on that flight."

Cuddyer's emotional rollercoaster continued later that week. After the AA league championship series was cancelled, he was informed he was being called up to make his major league debut with the Twins.

With commercial air travel still completely shut down, Cuddyer made a 24-hour all-night, all-day drive from New England to the Twin Cities. He made his big league debut the first day MLB resumed play after 9/11.

Cuddyer  thinks about Thomas, and everyone affected by the events of 9/11, when the date rolls around each year.

"Never forget what happened, " Cuddyer says, echoing a common refrain from September 2001. "It's been a great ten years. We are all lucky to have had these last ten years. Any one of us could have been in that tower. Your heart goes out to the less fortunate. That's what you continue to think about, especially this time of year."
Click to expand...
 
Red Sox face arms crisis.

Spoiler [+]
Torrents -- torrents! -- of ink, bandwidth and tears have been spilled over the New York Yankees' rotation concerns. Yet there's another AL East colossus saddled by pitching worries, and those worries might be more serious than those of the Yankees, particularly when you factor in the hard-charging Tampa Bay Rays.

The Boston Red Sox rank eighth in the American League in runs allowed, but the current state of affairs is even more grim. Despite having a puncher's chance to finish the season with the best record in the American League, the Sox envy the pitching certainties of the Yankees. Consider that if the postseason started today, the Boston rotation would consist of Jon Lester and & hmmm.

Josh Beckett? He has been Boston's best starter on a rate basis this season, but he's presently sidelined with a bum ankle and likely won't return until next weekend at the earliest. There's also Beckett's substantial injury history to consider (he has been on the disabled list 13 times in his career, and last season he lost 75 days to injury). He's just not durable, so there's no guarantee that Beckett will be able to remain healthy and effective once he does return.

Clay Buchholz? He may have the rawest ability of anyone on the Boston staff, but he hasn't pitched since mid-June because of a back injury. Buchholz could throw from a mound this week. However, even if he is able to return this season, the Sox may be forced to deploy him as a reliever.

John Lackey? He has been one of the worst starters in baseball this season. Despite having worked just 144 1/3 innings, Lackey has given up the most earned runs in the league (and in a related matter, he has hit the most batsmen). All you really need to know, however, is that opponents are hitting .304/.373/.484 against Lackey this season.

Stated in rough terms, Lackey turns every opposing hitter into something a little better than Kevin Youkilis. But wait, there's more! Lackey has just two quality starts in the second half, and his September ERA stands at a foul-smelling 12.38. At this point, it can legitimately be asked whether Lackey even merits a spot on the postseason roster, should such a thing be necessary.

Tim Wakefield? The franchise stalwart, it would seem, has been in search of career win 200 since the men of Boston wore powdered wigs, and with a WAR of 0.7, Wakefield has been effective only by the low standards of Mr. Lackey.

Also, if you're the sort to value playoff performance as a meaningful indicator, note that Wakefield is lugging around a career postseason ERA of 6.75.

Elsewhere, Erik Bedard (nine career DL stints) is laid up with knee and lat problems and has no clear timetable for a return. Andrew Miller has a 5.58 ERA in Boston, and Daisuke Matsuzaka (remember him?) is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and won't begin light throwing until the middle of October.

Accordingly, symptoms of desperation abound: Kyle Weiland is part of the stretch-drive rotation, and Alfredo Aceves might soon be forced back into the rotation.

Suddenly, the Yankees' straits -- a rotation of CC Sabathia plus a gumbo of lesser alternatives -- seem downright enviable. Unless Boston is willing to trot out Lester on short rest, it will need four starters in each playoff series. Can you find four worthies within this mess? No, you cannot.

Of course, as a consequence of all this carnage and lousiness, the Sox have more to fret over than their playoff rotation.

First, they must concern themselves with reaching the postseason. Coming off a devitalizing sweep in Tampa, the Red Sox are now as close to the Tampa Bay Rays in the standings as they are to the Yankees. A 3.5-game lead in mid-September -- which is the wild-card margin the Red Sox presently cling to -- is still substantial, so it's likely (though hardly assured) that Boston will be part of the playoff fray. But simply put, this is not a good rotation right now.

If the Sox survive the four-game set against Tampa Bay that starts Thursday, they'll likely be back into the playoffs via the AL wild-card berth. But unless the rotation gets healthier in a hurry, they could be poised for a quick and quiet exit.

After a headline-dominating offseason, that would be quite contrary to expectations and design.

White Sox Face Tough Decisions this Off-Season.

Spoiler [+]
The Chicago White Sox are facing some tough decisions this off-season. Trouble is, those decisions have very little to do with their players. Due to the daily drama that surrounds this team — specifically between Manager Ozzie Guillen and General Manager Kenny Williams — rumors have surfaced that the White Sox front office might look drastically different come the start of the 2012 season. On top of potentially losing Williams and Guillen, Assistant General Manager Rick Hahn is thought to be one of the leading GM candidates this off-season. There’s no doubt that Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf faces some tough decisions this off-season — and that’s before he even begins to think about his 25-man roster.

The issues between Williams and Guillen are well documented at this point. It seems every year, for the past 2-3 seasons, there have been rumors that the two could no longer work with each other. Their arguments have ranged from issues over current players playing time to issues involving their own family members. While they have been able to work through these issues in the past, it looks as if things are about to change on the South Side.

Though Guillen is technically under contract through next season, he’s already indicated that he won’t manage unless he receives a contract extension from the team. Should Reinsdorf decide against extending Guillen, he could choose to trade him to the Florida Marlins. Manager-for-player trades aren’t typical, but it has been done before — the most recent featuring Lou Piniella for Randy Winn. If Guillen truly is done in Chicago, this would be the ideal outcome for Reinsdorf. Not only would he be able to rid himself of another drama-filled season, but he might actually be able to benefit his team by acquiring a useful player.

Getting rid of Williams would be somewhat more difficult for Reinsdorf, but the scenario still exists. Williams has received the brunt of the criticism from fans and writers for his recent failures as GM. While his gambles have worked out in the past — like trading Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik or getting Gavin Floyd and John Danks for next to nothing — his most recent attempts have put the White Sox in a terrible position moving forward. Not only is payroll at an all-time high on the South Side, but the troublesome contracts that have contributed to that payroll (Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Jake Peavy) aren’t set to expire any time soon. Reinsdorf could probably fire Williams based on those decisions alone, but there’s another interesting solution to this potential problem.

Although Rick Hahn initially looked like a strong candidate for the many GM vacancies around the league, there’s actually a chance he could stay in Chicago. Some Chicago reporters have suggested a scenario in which Williams is promoted to a higher position in the front office — leaving the vacant GM role for Hahn. This gives Reinsdorf a chance to retain Williams while effectively removing him from his current role.

In any case, Reinsdorf faces some interesting decisions this off-season. With the organization in turmoil, the best option might be the last*. The Guillen/Williams combination has experienced an immense amount of success, but they seem to have run their course on the South Side. Promoting Hahn to the GM role allows Reinsdorf to inject someone different into an important role, while retaining Williams — if that’s something Reinsdorf desires. In this scenario, Reinsdorf can choose to keep Guillen — who would work primarily with Hahn — or choose to deal him to the Marlins for the right price. While things look bleak on the South Side, there are definitely ways to move forward, while keeping everyone relatively happy. Either way, you probably don’t want to be in Jerry Reinsdorf’s shoes this off-season.

*Side note: I want to make it clear that while Rick Hahn was been friendly with FanGraphs in the past, this is my personal opinion. I was unable to make the trip to Spring Training last year, and did not meet Hahn, so I don’t want to receive any claims of personal bias.

No Refunds.

Spoiler [+]
We knew the Giants were going to miss Zack Wheeler when they pulled the trigger on the deal to acquire Carlos Beltran. Brian Sabean was sacrificing a piece at the future for the sake of the present. Many of us thought the pain would at least be dulled by a postseason appearance and a shot at defending their 2010 championship. It’s OK, though. We all make mistakes. Myself included:
The Giants’ addition of Beltran should put the NL West title squarely in the bank for San Francisco, as they already hold a three-game lead over a flawed Arizona team. Beltran will replace Nate Schierholtz in right field. The 27-year-old right fielder has been serviceable so far, posting a 109 wRC+, but Beltran has been worth nearly three more wins this season and could be an upgrade of as much as two wins over the next 50 games and change remaining.
Click to expand...

Whoops.

Fast forward to September. The Giants have dropped 11.5 games in the standings and, depending on your source, have between a 0.2% and 0.3% chance of winning the National League West. Beltran’s play hasn’t quite been what the Giants were hoping for — the 34-year-old has a .296/.333/.463, good, but not superstar-level — and he’s spent much of his time in San Francisco injured and on the pine, missing 14 games and only playing in 28.

It’s exceedingly easy to win in the court of public opinion when a prospect is traded for help to win now. This trade was the perfect situation: the Giants’ offense was easily the worst in the National League at the time, and Beltran was having one of his best seasons in recent memory. Sure, Wheeler looked good in the minors, but he was still in the low minors and years away from impacting the major league team. With the memories of 2010 fresh in the brain, the mental gymnastics necessary for a fan to justify the move were hardly Olympic-level rings. Maybe more like rhythmic floor exercise.

At the time, it seemed like the Giants’ acquisition of Beltran didn’t make much sense because their position was too good to trade away such a prized prospect as Wheeler. Beltran’s fate since joining the Giants’ shows yet another reason the risk for the Giants was too great. At 34, his susceptibility to injury made his production in San Francisco far from a guarantee.

Hindsight remains 20-20, and as such, my original vision of the Beltran trade sits somewhere around 20-200. Now, the Giants 8.5 games out of the NL West lead and Zack Wheeler just finished posting a 2.00 ERA and 1.68 FIP for the Mets High-A squad in his last six starts of the minor league season. Although these risks are often acknowledged when these moves are made — particularly by teams in great positions to make the playoffs — rarely are they ever realized so swiftly and so harshly. Perhaps this trade will serve as a reminder both for the Giants and for the rest of the league, of how the veteran-prospect swap can backfire, and backfire horribly.

Matt Moore: Tampa's Best Pitching Prospect Ever.

Spoiler [+]
Going into the 2007 draft, all the buzz was about David Price. The left-hander from Vanderbilt was a veritable lock for the #1 pick in the draft, giving the Tampa Bay Devil Rays — fresh off a 101-loss season — a top arm to go along with 2006 top pick Evan Longoria. Price was a bona fide ace, an All-Star in the making that already had two plus pitches in his fastball and slider.  As was expected, he rose quickly through the minors and has already established himself as one of the top pitchers in the majors in only his second full season.

But this story isn’t about David Price. Instead, this story is about the best pitching prospect selected in the 2007 draft. It’s about the best pitching prospect the Rays have ever had. It’s about Matt Moore.

Selected by the Devil Rays in the 8th round, Matt Moore was the hidden gem of the ’07 draft. Coming from Moriarty High School — located just outside Albuquerque — Moore was considered the best high school prospect in New Mexico based largely on his fastball velocity, which sat around the 91-92 MPH range at the time. He was only 17 years old and had considerable upside for a left-handed pitcher, but his breaking pitches still needed work and he struggled with his command.

But since hitting the Rays’ minor league system in late 2007, Moore has continued on a straight upward climb. He only started three games for the Rays in that first season, walking 16 batters in 20 innings down in the Appalachian League (Rookie ball). His command continued to plague him over the next few seasons — he walked over 5 batters per nine in 2009 — but his dominant stuff and high strikeout rate allowed him to keep slowly rising through the lower levels of the minors. By 2010, the Rays decided to give Moore a shot starting with the Stone Crabs, their High-A club.

That’s when Moore took off. He continued his high strikeout ways, racking up a minor-league-leading 208 strikeouts in 144 innings pitched, but he managed to bring his walk rate down to a manageable 3.8 per nine. And after having a bone chip removed from his elbow in the offseason, Moore has improved his command even further this season, walking only 2.7 batters per nine at the Double- and Triple-A levels. He was ranked by Baseball America as the #3 prospect in baseball during their midseason rankings, falling behind only phenoms Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.

Now that Matt Moore has been promoted to the majors, what should we expect? I’ve spent large amounts of digital ink over the past few years telling Rays fans to expect rookies — especially rookie pitchers — to have some growing pains at the major league level. David Price posted a 4.42 ERA his first season in the majors, and Wade Davis has struggled to find consistent success after breaking into the majors. So should we expect Matt Moore to follow a similar route?

In all honesty, no.

moore2.png


In going through all the top pitching prospects that recently(-%@%) reached the majors, Tim Lincecum and Tommy Hanson seem like the best comps to Moore. Not many starting pitchers strike out over 10 batters per nine in Triple-A, and the ones that do tend to transition quite well to the majors. If you have dominant stuff in Triple-A, you’re essentially already an above-average major league pitcher.

Fans freak out when top prospects are promoted to the majors, but some promotions justifiably deserve more fanfare than others. David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, and Desmond Jennings were all received in Tampa Bay with much excitement, but Matt Moore….this guy should be on a whole other level. He’s in an elite class of pitching prospects, and he has a chance to burst onto the scene like Lincecum, Hanson, Weaver, and Strasburg. He’s dynamite, I tell you, dynamite.

So get pumped. Get excited. Moore will be in the Rays’ bullpen for the remainder of this season, but there’s a good chance he’ll make his first major league start next Wednesday during the Rays-Yanks doubleheader. And next season, there’s absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t start the season in the Rays’ rotation. He has nothing left to work on in the minors, so the Rays will need to get busy on trading a starter this offseason.

From eighth round draft pick to the best pitching prospect in Tampa Bay history, it’s been quite a journey for Moore. But he’s finally, finally arrived.

*And yes, I realize I didn’t include Scott Kazmir in the above chart. He’s the Rays’ other contender for best pitching prospect, but he jumped to the majors from the Double-A level after striking out around 9 batters per nine and walking 3 per nine. He was also great, but not quite on the same level as Moore.

Huntington Extended by Pirates.

Spoiler [+]
This weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates reportedly extended General Manager Neal Huntington through 2014 with a club option for 2015. Huntington was nearing the end of his prior contract, but the length of the new contract shows that ownership has confidence in the direction in which he is taking things.

The Pirates are 19 games behind the National League Central-leading Brewers, but for the first part of the season they were surprisingly right in the middle of things, even leading the division at times. They inspired Joe Pawlikowski to have a Pirates Week. They have since fallen off rather dramatically, but with 66 wins so far, Pittsburgh has a decent chance to win 70 games for the first time since 2004.

It was fun while it lasted, but the Pirates’ major-league record this season isn’t much more relevant to an evaluation of Huntington than any of the other seasons since he took over near the end of 2007. The Pirates had been a mess on every level for a while before Huntington came aboard, and it was going to take a long time to fix, especially considering that the Pirates’ budget effectively rules out any sort of splashes on the free agent market and that their farm system at the time Huntington took over was pretty bad (although budding superstar Andrew McCutchen was drafted by the prior administration).

Huntington came to the Pirates from Cleveland, and hiring of respected internet saberist Dan Fox brought at least the appearance of the saber-friendliness of the Cleveland organization to Pittsburgh. I used the word “appearance
 
Red Sox face arms crisis.

Spoiler [+]
Torrents -- torrents! -- of ink, bandwidth and tears have been spilled over the New York Yankees' rotation concerns. Yet there's another AL East colossus saddled by pitching worries, and those worries might be more serious than those of the Yankees, particularly when you factor in the hard-charging Tampa Bay Rays.

The Boston Red Sox rank eighth in the American League in runs allowed, but the current state of affairs is even more grim. Despite having a puncher's chance to finish the season with the best record in the American League, the Sox envy the pitching certainties of the Yankees. Consider that if the postseason started today, the Boston rotation would consist of Jon Lester and & hmmm.

Josh Beckett? He has been Boston's best starter on a rate basis this season, but he's presently sidelined with a bum ankle and likely won't return until next weekend at the earliest. There's also Beckett's substantial injury history to consider (he has been on the disabled list 13 times in his career, and last season he lost 75 days to injury). He's just not durable, so there's no guarantee that Beckett will be able to remain healthy and effective once he does return.

Clay Buchholz? He may have the rawest ability of anyone on the Boston staff, but he hasn't pitched since mid-June because of a back injury. Buchholz could throw from a mound this week. However, even if he is able to return this season, the Sox may be forced to deploy him as a reliever.

John Lackey? He has been one of the worst starters in baseball this season. Despite having worked just 144 1/3 innings, Lackey has given up the most earned runs in the league (and in a related matter, he has hit the most batsmen). All you really need to know, however, is that opponents are hitting .304/.373/.484 against Lackey this season.

Stated in rough terms, Lackey turns every opposing hitter into something a little better than Kevin Youkilis. But wait, there's more! Lackey has just two quality starts in the second half, and his September ERA stands at a foul-smelling 12.38. At this point, it can legitimately be asked whether Lackey even merits a spot on the postseason roster, should such a thing be necessary.

Tim Wakefield? The franchise stalwart, it would seem, has been in search of career win 200 since the men of Boston wore powdered wigs, and with a WAR of 0.7, Wakefield has been effective only by the low standards of Mr. Lackey.

Also, if you're the sort to value playoff performance as a meaningful indicator, note that Wakefield is lugging around a career postseason ERA of 6.75.

Elsewhere, Erik Bedard (nine career DL stints) is laid up with knee and lat problems and has no clear timetable for a return. Andrew Miller has a 5.58 ERA in Boston, and Daisuke Matsuzaka (remember him?) is still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and won't begin light throwing until the middle of October.

Accordingly, symptoms of desperation abound: Kyle Weiland is part of the stretch-drive rotation, and Alfredo Aceves might soon be forced back into the rotation.

Suddenly, the Yankees' straits -- a rotation of CC Sabathia plus a gumbo of lesser alternatives -- seem downright enviable. Unless Boston is willing to trot out Lester on short rest, it will need four starters in each playoff series. Can you find four worthies within this mess? No, you cannot.

Of course, as a consequence of all this carnage and lousiness, the Sox have more to fret over than their playoff rotation.

First, they must concern themselves with reaching the postseason. Coming off a devitalizing sweep in Tampa, the Red Sox are now as close to the Tampa Bay Rays in the standings as they are to the Yankees. A 3.5-game lead in mid-September -- which is the wild-card margin the Red Sox presently cling to -- is still substantial, so it's likely (though hardly assured) that Boston will be part of the playoff fray. But simply put, this is not a good rotation right now.

If the Sox survive the four-game set against Tampa Bay that starts Thursday, they'll likely be back into the playoffs via the AL wild-card berth. But unless the rotation gets healthier in a hurry, they could be poised for a quick and quiet exit.

After a headline-dominating offseason, that would be quite contrary to expectations and design.

White Sox Face Tough Decisions this Off-Season.

Spoiler [+]
The Chicago White Sox are facing some tough decisions this off-season. Trouble is, those decisions have very little to do with their players. Due to the daily drama that surrounds this team — specifically between Manager Ozzie Guillen and General Manager Kenny Williams — rumors have surfaced that the White Sox front office might look drastically different come the start of the 2012 season. On top of potentially losing Williams and Guillen, Assistant General Manager Rick Hahn is thought to be one of the leading GM candidates this off-season. There’s no doubt that Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf faces some tough decisions this off-season — and that’s before he even begins to think about his 25-man roster.

The issues between Williams and Guillen are well documented at this point. It seems every year, for the past 2-3 seasons, there have been rumors that the two could no longer work with each other. Their arguments have ranged from issues over current players playing time to issues involving their own family members. While they have been able to work through these issues in the past, it looks as if things are about to change on the South Side.

Though Guillen is technically under contract through next season, he’s already indicated that he won’t manage unless he receives a contract extension from the team. Should Reinsdorf decide against extending Guillen, he could choose to trade him to the Florida Marlins. Manager-for-player trades aren’t typical, but it has been done before — the most recent featuring Lou Piniella for Randy Winn. If Guillen truly is done in Chicago, this would be the ideal outcome for Reinsdorf. Not only would he be able to rid himself of another drama-filled season, but he might actually be able to benefit his team by acquiring a useful player.

Getting rid of Williams would be somewhat more difficult for Reinsdorf, but the scenario still exists. Williams has received the brunt of the criticism from fans and writers for his recent failures as GM. While his gambles have worked out in the past — like trading Carlos Lee for Scott Podsednik or getting Gavin Floyd and John Danks for next to nothing — his most recent attempts have put the White Sox in a terrible position moving forward. Not only is payroll at an all-time high on the South Side, but the troublesome contracts that have contributed to that payroll (Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Jake Peavy) aren’t set to expire any time soon. Reinsdorf could probably fire Williams based on those decisions alone, but there’s another interesting solution to this potential problem.

Although Rick Hahn initially looked like a strong candidate for the many GM vacancies around the league, there’s actually a chance he could stay in Chicago. Some Chicago reporters have suggested a scenario in which Williams is promoted to a higher position in the front office — leaving the vacant GM role for Hahn. This gives Reinsdorf a chance to retain Williams while effectively removing him from his current role.

In any case, Reinsdorf faces some interesting decisions this off-season. With the organization in turmoil, the best option might be the last*. The Guillen/Williams combination has experienced an immense amount of success, but they seem to have run their course on the South Side. Promoting Hahn to the GM role allows Reinsdorf to inject someone different into an important role, while retaining Williams — if that’s something Reinsdorf desires. In this scenario, Reinsdorf can choose to keep Guillen — who would work primarily with Hahn — or choose to deal him to the Marlins for the right price. While things look bleak on the South Side, there are definitely ways to move forward, while keeping everyone relatively happy. Either way, you probably don’t want to be in Jerry Reinsdorf’s shoes this off-season.

*Side note: I want to make it clear that while Rick Hahn was been friendly with FanGraphs in the past, this is my personal opinion. I was unable to make the trip to Spring Training last year, and did not meet Hahn, so I don’t want to receive any claims of personal bias.

No Refunds.

Spoiler [+]
We knew the Giants were going to miss Zack Wheeler when they pulled the trigger on the deal to acquire Carlos Beltran. Brian Sabean was sacrificing a piece at the future for the sake of the present. Many of us thought the pain would at least be dulled by a postseason appearance and a shot at defending their 2010 championship. It’s OK, though. We all make mistakes. Myself included:
The Giants’ addition of Beltran should put the NL West title squarely in the bank for San Francisco, as they already hold a three-game lead over a flawed Arizona team. Beltran will replace Nate Schierholtz in right field. The 27-year-old right fielder has been serviceable so far, posting a 109 wRC+, but Beltran has been worth nearly three more wins this season and could be an upgrade of as much as two wins over the next 50 games and change remaining.
Click to expand...

Whoops.

Fast forward to September. The Giants have dropped 11.5 games in the standings and, depending on your source, have between a 0.2% and 0.3% chance of winning the National League West. Beltran’s play hasn’t quite been what the Giants were hoping for — the 34-year-old has a .296/.333/.463, good, but not superstar-level — and he’s spent much of his time in San Francisco injured and on the pine, missing 14 games and only playing in 28.

It’s exceedingly easy to win in the court of public opinion when a prospect is traded for help to win now. This trade was the perfect situation: the Giants’ offense was easily the worst in the National League at the time, and Beltran was having one of his best seasons in recent memory. Sure, Wheeler looked good in the minors, but he was still in the low minors and years away from impacting the major league team. With the memories of 2010 fresh in the brain, the mental gymnastics necessary for a fan to justify the move were hardly Olympic-level rings. Maybe more like rhythmic floor exercise.

At the time, it seemed like the Giants’ acquisition of Beltran didn’t make much sense because their position was too good to trade away such a prized prospect as Wheeler. Beltran’s fate since joining the Giants’ shows yet another reason the risk for the Giants was too great. At 34, his susceptibility to injury made his production in San Francisco far from a guarantee.

Hindsight remains 20-20, and as such, my original vision of the Beltran trade sits somewhere around 20-200. Now, the Giants 8.5 games out of the NL West lead and Zack Wheeler just finished posting a 2.00 ERA and 1.68 FIP for the Mets High-A squad in his last six starts of the minor league season. Although these risks are often acknowledged when these moves are made — particularly by teams in great positions to make the playoffs — rarely are they ever realized so swiftly and so harshly. Perhaps this trade will serve as a reminder both for the Giants and for the rest of the league, of how the veteran-prospect swap can backfire, and backfire horribly.

Matt Moore: Tampa's Best Pitching Prospect Ever.

Spoiler [+]
Going into the 2007 draft, all the buzz was about David Price. The left-hander from Vanderbilt was a veritable lock for the #1 pick in the draft, giving the Tampa Bay Devil Rays — fresh off a 101-loss season — a top arm to go along with 2006 top pick Evan Longoria. Price was a bona fide ace, an All-Star in the making that already had two plus pitches in his fastball and slider.  As was expected, he rose quickly through the minors and has already established himself as one of the top pitchers in the majors in only his second full season.

But this story isn’t about David Price. Instead, this story is about the best pitching prospect selected in the 2007 draft. It’s about the best pitching prospect the Rays have ever had. It’s about Matt Moore.

Selected by the Devil Rays in the 8th round, Matt Moore was the hidden gem of the ’07 draft. Coming from Moriarty High School — located just outside Albuquerque — Moore was considered the best high school prospect in New Mexico based largely on his fastball velocity, which sat around the 91-92 MPH range at the time. He was only 17 years old and had considerable upside for a left-handed pitcher, but his breaking pitches still needed work and he struggled with his command.

But since hitting the Rays’ minor league system in late 2007, Moore has continued on a straight upward climb. He only started three games for the Rays in that first season, walking 16 batters in 20 innings down in the Appalachian League (Rookie ball). His command continued to plague him over the next few seasons — he walked over 5 batters per nine in 2009 — but his dominant stuff and high strikeout rate allowed him to keep slowly rising through the lower levels of the minors. By 2010, the Rays decided to give Moore a shot starting with the Stone Crabs, their High-A club.

That’s when Moore took off. He continued his high strikeout ways, racking up a minor-league-leading 208 strikeouts in 144 innings pitched, but he managed to bring his walk rate down to a manageable 3.8 per nine. And after having a bone chip removed from his elbow in the offseason, Moore has improved his command even further this season, walking only 2.7 batters per nine at the Double- and Triple-A levels. He was ranked by Baseball America as the #3 prospect in baseball during their midseason rankings, falling behind only phenoms Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.

Now that Matt Moore has been promoted to the majors, what should we expect? I’ve spent large amounts of digital ink over the past few years telling Rays fans to expect rookies — especially rookie pitchers — to have some growing pains at the major league level. David Price posted a 4.42 ERA his first season in the majors, and Wade Davis has struggled to find consistent success after breaking into the majors. So should we expect Matt Moore to follow a similar route?

In all honesty, no.

moore2.png


In going through all the top pitching prospects that recently(-%@%) reached the majors, Tim Lincecum and Tommy Hanson seem like the best comps to Moore. Not many starting pitchers strike out over 10 batters per nine in Triple-A, and the ones that do tend to transition quite well to the majors. If you have dominant stuff in Triple-A, you’re essentially already an above-average major league pitcher.

Fans freak out when top prospects are promoted to the majors, but some promotions justifiably deserve more fanfare than others. David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, and Desmond Jennings were all received in Tampa Bay with much excitement, but Matt Moore….this guy should be on a whole other level. He’s in an elite class of pitching prospects, and he has a chance to burst onto the scene like Lincecum, Hanson, Weaver, and Strasburg. He’s dynamite, I tell you, dynamite.

So get pumped. Get excited. Moore will be in the Rays’ bullpen for the remainder of this season, but there’s a good chance he’ll make his first major league start next Wednesday during the Rays-Yanks doubleheader. And next season, there’s absolutely no reason why he shouldn’t start the season in the Rays’ rotation. He has nothing left to work on in the minors, so the Rays will need to get busy on trading a starter this offseason.

From eighth round draft pick to the best pitching prospect in Tampa Bay history, it’s been quite a journey for Moore. But he’s finally, finally arrived.

*And yes, I realize I didn’t include Scott Kazmir in the above chart. He’s the Rays’ other contender for best pitching prospect, but he jumped to the majors from the Double-A level after striking out around 9 batters per nine and walking 3 per nine. He was also great, but not quite on the same level as Moore.

Huntington Extended by Pirates.

Spoiler [+]
This weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates reportedly extended General Manager Neal Huntington through 2014 with a club option for 2015. Huntington was nearing the end of his prior contract, but the length of the new contract shows that ownership has confidence in the direction in which he is taking things.

The Pirates are 19 games behind the National League Central-leading Brewers, but for the first part of the season they were surprisingly right in the middle of things, even leading the division at times. They inspired Joe Pawlikowski to have a Pirates Week. They have since fallen off rather dramatically, but with 66 wins so far, Pittsburgh has a decent chance to win 70 games for the first time since 2004.

It was fun while it lasted, but the Pirates’ major-league record this season isn’t much more relevant to an evaluation of Huntington than any of the other seasons since he took over near the end of 2007. The Pirates had been a mess on every level for a while before Huntington came aboard, and it was going to take a long time to fix, especially considering that the Pirates’ budget effectively rules out any sort of splashes on the free agent market and that their farm system at the time Huntington took over was pretty bad (although budding superstar Andrew McCutchen was drafted by the prior administration).

Huntington came to the Pirates from Cleveland, and hiring of respected internet saberist Dan Fox brought at least the appearance of the saber-friendliness of the Cleveland organization to Pittsburgh. I used the word “appearance
 
singleton and mulder on baseball tonight talking about Mo Rivera as "the most dominant pitcher of our era."

laugh.gif
eyes.gif
  gimme a *#$%@$% break.

yes, he's great.  yes, he has 600 saves and all that... i get it.

maybe i just think closers are the most overrated players in baseball.
 
singleton and mulder on baseball tonight talking about Mo Rivera as "the most dominant pitcher of our era."

laugh.gif
eyes.gif
  gimme a *#$%@$% break.

yes, he's great.  yes, he has 600 saves and all that... i get it.

maybe i just think closers are the most overrated players in baseball.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

NikeTalk was created as a way of giving back to both the sneaker enthusiast community and to the greater global community of which we are all a part.

NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom