No more Nomah!
It's taken me awhile to swallow the flurry of trades over the weekend, process them, and try to figure out who dealt and who got duped. If you're really interested, this last link is worthwhile reading.
As for my beloved Yankees, Contreras for Loaiza is, more or less, a wash. Yanks trade Contreras' significant "upside" and serious unreliability (it wasn't that he just couldn't pitch against the Red Sox, he couldn't get any decent hitters out with any consistency) for a guy who had his career year last year. Unlike most of the trades going around, though, I don't think the trade had much to do with this year. The Yanks are going to win the division, and swapping fifth starters won't make much of a difference in the post-season. No, the Yanks were trading for next year, by dumping a ton of salary that was locked-in long-term with the big Cuban. This opens them up to go in and snatch another big name free agent in the off-season.
"Carlos Beltran, call your agent."
I wish Jose well, though. I think he's a good guy.
The other trade of interest, of course, was the blockbuster four-way deal between the Expos, Cubs, Twins, and, yes, the Boston Red Sox.
Boston fans, especially the big dufus, are hailing this, implying that Nomar was a "cancer in the club house," was "pouting," and "was going to leave at the end of the season anyway." And, "oh yeah, we're a much better team defensively..." Theo Epstein couldn't deal with yet another pissed off super-star -- Pedro and Manny (not to mention Curt himself) are enough for anybody, so he traded his +900 OPS shortstop for a couple of good defensive infielders, who won't put the fear of anything into opposing pitchers. Nomar did.
Theo Epstein, the Sox GM, claims that the Boston defense would be vulnerable in October. Trouble is, Theo, you've got to get there first. While good defense is an estimable virtue, ultimately Nomar Garciappara's hitting more than made up -- in terms of runs scored vs. runs scored against -- for his supposedly poor fielding (though it's funny, I never heard any knocks against Nomar's defense in the endless, "our shortstop's better than your's" Boston chants of year's past).
And what's weird is that Bill James, the Red Sox guru knows this.
As for my beloved Yankees, Contreras for Loaiza is, more or less, a wash. Yanks trade Contreras' significant "upside" and serious unreliability (it wasn't that he just couldn't pitch against the Red Sox, he couldn't get any decent hitters out with any consistency) for a guy who had his career year last year. Unlike most of the trades going around, though, I don't think the trade had much to do with this year. The Yanks are going to win the division, and swapping fifth starters won't make much of a difference in the post-season. No, the Yanks were trading for next year, by dumping a ton of salary that was locked-in long-term with the big Cuban. This opens them up to go in and snatch another big name free agent in the off-season.
"Carlos Beltran, call your agent."
I wish Jose well, though. I think he's a good guy.
The other trade of interest, of course, was the blockbuster four-way deal between the Expos, Cubs, Twins, and, yes, the Boston Red Sox.
Boston fans, especially the big dufus, are hailing this, implying that Nomar was a "cancer in the club house," was "pouting," and "was going to leave at the end of the season anyway." And, "oh yeah, we're a much better team defensively..." Theo Epstein couldn't deal with yet another pissed off super-star -- Pedro and Manny (not to mention Curt himself) are enough for anybody, so he traded his +900 OPS shortstop for a couple of good defensive infielders, who won't put the fear of anything into opposing pitchers. Nomar did.
Theo Epstein, the Sox GM, claims that the Boston defense would be vulnerable in October. Trouble is, Theo, you've got to get there first. While good defense is an estimable virtue, ultimately Nomar Garciappara's hitting more than made up -- in terms of runs scored vs. runs scored against -- for his supposedly poor fielding (though it's funny, I never heard any knocks against Nomar's defense in the endless, "our shortstop's better than your's" Boston chants of year's past).
And what's weird is that Bill James, the Red Sox guru knows this.
posted by John at 5:13 PM
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