Dawning of a New Era for Cubs?

Aramis Ramirez, a fixture at third base for the Cubs since he arrived in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2003 season, has informed the team that he will declare for free agency following the season.  In one sense, it’s a big loss for the Cubs.  Having stability at one position for so long has allowed the team to focus on other needs.  Sadly, many of their plans in that regard have fallen flat (see: the Alfonso Soriano signing).  Still, the team always seemed to have the question of who’s on third answered before anyone even bothered to ask it, and there was always value in certainty.  Another certainty, of course, has been the production Ramirez offered.

The pedigree is certainly there for Ramirez.   He’s  been one of the more productive third basemen in baseball for the past decade.  Many forget he was a solid contributor for Pittsburgh before his penchant for laziness prompted the team to ship him to Chicago for next to nothing.  He originally came over with outfielder Kenny Lofton for a “prospects” that included the likes of Matt Burback, Jose Hernandez and a player to be named later (Bobby Hill).    Since then, Ramirez has reached at least 25 home runs in seven of his eight seasons with the Cubs, leading the team twice in that department.  He also led the team in RBIs on five different occasions.  His 238 home runs are sixth on the Cubs all-time list, and Ramirez is also third all-time in slugging percentage (.531), trailing Sammy Sosa and Hack Wilson.

As one of the top hitting third basemen available in an otherwise weak free agent class, Ramirez figures to be paid, and paid well.  Considering he’s already stated publically that “I think I can play three more years”, it’s hard to imagine Ramirez garnering anything longer.  Sure, it’s a possibility that someone in an act of desperation might extend themselves beyond three years (age 36 for Ramirez), but that would smack of something only a team like the Cubs might do.

While the absence of Ramirez’s bat in the lineup will be seen by most as a significant loss, it could actually provide the team with some much needed flexibility.  It might also prompt the new GM (whomever that may be) to finally embrace the rebuilding plan the Cubs so desperately need.  Despite a few burdensome contracts that remain (Soriano and Carlos Zambrano come to mind), management desperately needs to realize that fielding a competitive team is well out of reach.  Signing an expensive free agent like Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder would make headlines, but it would further limit the financial flexibility of a team already hampered by poor fiscal decisions.  Moving in the opposite direction, and without the likes of Aramis Ramirez, is a step in the right direction.

Nationals Considering Extending Wang

Then again, who among us isn’t?  After waiting the past two seasons for Chien-Ming Wang to make it back to a Major League mound, the Nationals were finally “rewarded” with the former Yankee All-Star finally toed the rubber for Washington in 2011.  While he’s hardly having a stellar season, with more walk than strikeouts and a 4.43 ERA, Wang has apparently impressed Washington team officials with his diligence and work ethic.   It’s also a dramatic improvement from his last big league season (2009) in which he went 1-6 with a [gulp] 9.64 ERA.  Phew.  It’s nice to see progress, but is gumption alone enough reason to simply throw away money?

Baseball is a results oriented game.  If you’re not first, you’re last and so on.  Considering his 2011 season stats, wherever they end up., there’s no way in hell that Wang has earned a spot on the Nationals team for 2012.  Has he?  Considering the direction in which the team seems to be moving (see: Jayson Werth), it looks like they feel they’re looking to contend in the near future.  A pitcher like Wang is hardly in a position to move them in that direction—not now.  In fact, there has never really been a point in time when Wang was good as the accolades he received.

Believe it or not (and only a Yankee fan would), Wang actually finished second in American League Cy Young voting in 2006 after going 19-6 with a 3.63 ERA.  Meh.  He pitched 218 innings that season and retired just 76 via strikeout, a miserable 3.1 K/9.  In fact, Wang’s career K/9 (4.1) is the lowest of any Major League pitcher with two or more seasons with at least 19 wins.  No, that’s not a real stat, but without looking, it seems logical to assume it to be true.  For all the wins he amassed (largely as a result of playing for THE New York Yankees), Wang is viewed in some circles as a solid pitcher because he’s a “winner”.  Sure.  Right.  Werth came from a culture of winning in Philadelphia too, and everyone has seen how is winning ways have translated to on-field success in and for Washington.

Michael Young: Mr. Ranger

It’s difficult to fully evaluate Michael Young and his place in Rangers lore, especially since his tenure with the team hasn’t yet expired.  Before the season, and following the acquisition of third baseman Adrian Beltre, the Texas Rangers seemed poised to trade Young, the Rangers all-time leader in games played, at bats, and hits (to name just a few).  Few would argue against the notion that Young is, for all the aforementioned reasons, the face of the Texas Rangers.  He’s been a fixture with the team since his first full season (2001), through good and bad, thick and thin.  Win or lose, Young was there, doing his part, no matter what part he was asked to play.

On one hand, Young gets credit for playing multiple positions during his 12 year career.  For his career, Young has played 28 games at first base, 428 games at second base, 330 games at third base, 788 games at shortstop, and served as the designated hitter in 89 games.  On the other hand, he has a reputation among the advanced metrics crowd for being a poor defender despite winning a Gold Glove at shortstop in 2008. Yet through all the changes and despite the criticisms, Young has always done two things very well—remain healthy and hit the baseball.

The Rangers have been beset by injuries all year.  Along with his inability to hit in day games, Josh Hamilton’s fragility is among his most identifiable characteristics.  Nelson Cruz too has developed quite the reputation for being an elite offensive contributor…when healthy (and he hasn’t been).  Beltre, the player that pushed Young from third, and very nearly off the team altogether, has seen his production limited by a bad hamstring.  Young, however, has played in 141 games (to date) and he’s done so while playing four different positions.  No matter what manager Ron Washington asked of him, Young delivered.  As in his career overall, Young’s 2011 season has been defined by versatility and hitting.

Known for his ability to amass hits and hit to a high average, Young’s current .333 batting average would be the highest off his career.  In fact, he’s currently second in the American League behind only Adrian Gonzalez of the Red Sox.  Should he manage to overtake Gonzalez, it would be the second batting title in Young’s career (2004 being the first).  He’s topped 200 hits on five different occasions, and appears poised to do so again in 2011.  As he’s done so many times in his career, Young again leads the Rangers in games played, hits, and batting average, as well as doubles, triples, and RBIs.

No matter how you slice it, the Rangers owe much of their success this year to their inability to trade Young before the season began.  Often times, the best trades a team can make are the ones that never happen.  That’s the case with Michael Young and the 2011 Rangers.  He went from would-be cast away to the glue that holds a division leading team together.  With one more superior season to his credit, Young has taken yet another step toward defining himself as Mr. Ranger.  http://tinyurl.com/3t5455o

Jered Weaver: The Deep End of the Gene Pool

Remember how Jeff Weaver was, or, was going to be?  As an up and coming Tigers pitcher, it seemed like the sky was the limit for Weaver.  Well, maybe not the sky, because those Tiger teams of the early 2000s weren’t exactly taking the world by storm, and Weaver’s W/L record always reflected that fact. Weaver never had a winning season for the Tigers, despite putting together some downright dominant stretches.  He was eventually traded to the Yankees (where he didn’t fare much better) and then bounced around between a few organizations, including mostly the Mariners and Dodgers.  Assuming Weaver is finished (and it looks like he is), his career record will stand at 104-119, the end result of pitching to a 4.71 ERA and 1.37 WHIP.  Also, a large part of what stunted Weaver’s success was his inability to generate strikeouts despite having pretty good “stuff”.  His career 5.94 K/9 doesn’t exactly bring back memories of Nolan Ryan.

It would seem that all the real pitching talent in the family fell to Jeff’s younger brother Jered—you know, the one that just signed that $85 million contract with the Angels.  He’s actually pretty damn good.  Five years in the league, and Jered was already a five-time double-digit winner, including a 16-8 season in 2009.  Like his brother, Jered never gave up too many free passes, as evidenced by his career 2.44 BB/9.  Unlike his brother, however, Jered didn’t pitch to contact so much, and wasn’t afraid to send a hitter back to the bench shaking his head (career 7.78 K/9).  Those extra two strikeouts per game are the main difference between the brothers, but certainly not the only one.

While analysts were always waiting (often impatiently) for older brother Jeff to take that proverbial next step, younger brother Jered was able to do it—in a big way too.  In fact, for those that have been paying attention to the 2011 season, he’s been doing it this year.   Jered is 14-6 with a 2.10 ERA and 0.97 WHIP and the true ace of a very solid Angels starting staff.  And, knowing full-well what they had, the team rewarded him with that big, fat contract.

Funny thing though, there are a lot of people questioning Weavers decision to settle for so little, given the recent contract developments for frontline starters recently.  Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia are all basically set for life.  And while the average Joe might not be able to even fathom having $85 million in the bank, it’s a far cry from what those aforementioned mound aces are bringing home.  Lee is averaging $24 million a season and Sabathia is scraping by at $23 mil. per.    Let’s not forget that Johan Santana is making just under $23 million not to pitch for the Mets in 2011, and possibly never again.  But, therein lies the motivation for Weaver to cash in now—volatility.  How long before Weaver feels his first real ache, pain, or strain?  How long before he finds himself on the DL for an extended period of time?  How long before he spends a summer in the waiting room of Dr. James Andrews?  Or, how long before his electric stuff simply dries up, preventing him from being an effective Major League starter (like his brother before him)?

Did the Tigers Manage to Upgrade Their OF?

So, what you’re telling us is that trades can and do happen after the trade deadline?  That’s what the Twins and Tigers are saying after the Twins sent Delmon Young packing to Detroit for left-hander Cole Nelson and a player to be named later.  It’s the kind of deal that would be barely worth mentioning if not for the name-cache of the players involved.  Magglio Ordonez (indirectly involved in the trade) was once a legitimate star player in the league, even if that star has dimmed.  Young was once Baseball America’s top-rated prospect and did have at least one productive season, hinting at his former (?) abilities. 

The Tigers seem intent on improving the team’s offensive production, particularly from the outfield, where Young will presumably take at bats away from Ordonez (among others).  Ordonez currently owns a .2223 batting average, .280 OBP and .295 SLG—all representing career lows for the former All-Star.  Despite making millions and millions of dollars, the writing is on the wall for Ordonez that if the end isn’t here, it’s decidedly near.  He isn’t helping the Tigers in their 2011 playoff push, and it’s time for him to step aside for a better player.

Anyone getting excited about the notion of Young stepping in as the missing piece in the Tigers outfield may want to consider his numbers.  His .266 batting average, .305 OBP, and .357 SLG are only marginal improvements.  Oh, sure, a lot of people will point to Young’s 112 RBIs from 2010as definitive proof that he’s a better player at this stage in his career than Ordonez.  However, the argument here isn’t whether Young is better; it’s all about how much better.  Delmon Young offers a positive contribution (0.6 WAR), but the difference between he and whatever the Tigers already had lying around is negligible.

Left field is the domain of Brennan Boesch, who has been dealing with an injured thumb lately.  Boesch’s .809 OPS is easily the best among any OF-eligible player on the Tigers roster.  He’s not going to be displaced by anyone right now, especially not Young.  The speedy Austin Jackson is a fixture in center field, and even though his 2011 production (batting average in particular) has been largely a disappointment, he’s not going anywhere either.  Hell, Jackson is the only person on the Tigers roster capable of playing center, something he actually does rather well.

Andy Dirks has been far better than advertised.  In limited playing time (171 at bats) he’s totaled six home runs and four steals—both outpacing Young on the year (305 at bats, no less).   Don Kelly has produced numbers that look eerily similar to Young’s (.235, 3 HR, 2 SB) and in far less playing time.  If Young has one advantage, aside from his former prospect-pedigree, it’ the simple fact that he’s a right-handed hitter.  Dirks and Kelly both bat from the left side, and Young does offer a different option for manager Jim Leyland, albeit a pretty mediocre option.

Colorado's Very Rocky Rotation

In a deal that smacks of desperation (pitcher’s neck broken by a batted ball-type desperation), the Rockies signed Kevin Millwood.  Millwood spent most of the 2011 season pitching in the Boston Red Sox system, although calling it “pitching” might be an overestimation.  In his 16 minor league games (Red Sox and Yankees), Millwood has gone 7-2, almost in spite of himself.  He’s pitched to a 4.32 ERA while posting a 7.6 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9—numbers that don’t seem to portend of future success.

Despite having posted some very good seasons early in his career, Millwood is just not a big league pitcher any more.  The last time he posted a K/9 above 7.0 was way back in 2004.  Since then, he’s averaged 6.4 K/9 over six seasons, during which time he’s also pitched to a 61-73 record, 4.37 ERA and 1.42 WHIP, making Millwood an average pitcher at best.  The past four seasons, however, Millwood’s been even worse, pitching to a 4.73 ERA and 1.51 WHIP—numbers that would get him released from anyone’s fantasy team, and from every Major League team as luck would have it.  There’s a reason he hasn’t pitched at the big league level this season—he’s just not good enough.

Alas, here’s the door, slightly ajar, mostly because Juan Nicasio is out for the remainder of the season after suffering a broken vertebra in his neck.  IT’s a scary injury to be certain, but all indications are that Nicasio is doing well following a surgery to address the injury.  Coupled with the departure of staff ace Ubaldo Jimenez (traded to Cleveland), the Rockies are terribly thin in their rotation.  Don’t forget, they also lost Jorge De La Rosa to Tommy John surgery on June 3.  So, that’s the bad news.

The infinitely worse news is that the team somehow feels that Kevin Millwood might be an upgrade over whatever they have going right now.  Currently, the Rockies rotation includes Jhoulys Chacin, Aaron Cook, Jason Hammel, and Esmil Rogers.  That’s right, just when it seems like every big league team is contemplating a 6-man rotation, the Rockies only have four starters—total.  And to think that entering the season the Rockies looked as though their rotation might actually be their strength.  That is no longer the case.  In fact, inking Millwood clearly signals that at 53-62 the team is simply hoping to finish the 2011 season without fate interceding and claiming yet another starter.  If you’re looking for some levity in this otherwise grim ordeal, the starting pitching situation in Colorado does feel a little bit like the drummer situation in Spinal Tap, doesn’t it?

It's All in Morneau's Head

Reports out of Minnesota indicate that former American League MVP Justin Morneau’s surgically repaired neck isn’t bothering him.  While he had surgery back on June 29 to repair a herniated disc in his neck, it looks like he’s already eyeballing a return to the Twins.  In fact, he’s set to begin a rehab assignment in AAA Rochester.  Hopefully this is the Rochester where the Mayo Clinic is located, because there’s more than just a neck injury to worry about with Morneau.  This is a player who just hasn’t been himself since suffering a concussion on July 7, 2010—an injury that forced him to miss the rest of the season.  Since returning, he’s hit just .225 with a .281 OBP and .338 SLG.  His limitations are the obvious result of post-concussion syndrome (PCS), an ailment that has ended many a professional athlete’s career before his time.  The general medical consensus is that symptoms that don’t dissipate after one year are likely to be permanent.  That’s right; Morneau could be forced to deal with this for the rest of his days on Earth.

That’s a prospect none of us would want to face.  Regardless of how post-concussion syndrome affects Morneau’s playing career, it’s likely to be an obstacle in his day-to-day life—something to which everyone can relate.  Imagine going through each day with severe headaches, dizziness, and even blurred vision, all without getting drunk the night before.  It’s like a hangover that never ceases—unrelenting in and painful.  There are also lasting psychological effects that have been linked to PCS, including anxiety, irritability, and depression.

Alas, this is what Justin Morneau now faces.  He assures his adoring fans that he’s feeling better and pledges to get back to doing what he loves most (playing baseball) in life as soon as he can.  However, Corey Koskie loved baseball too, and after being diagnosed with PCS in 2006, he had to walk away from the game just a year later.  Mike Matheny was best known for his four Gold Gloves behind the plate, but he too was driven from the game by PCS. 

In fact, as more and more becomes known about the lasting effects of concussions, the game of baseball will have to find a way to address the issue before it grows to epic proportions as we’ve seen in other sports, specifically football and hockey.  In those sports, concussions are an everyday occurrence, and as science tries to keep pace with the escalating financial commitment of sport, it’s important to pay attention to the way in which player’s lives are being affected.  Mind you, in a win at all costs society, and with a prevailing “rub some dirt on it” mentality in sports, generally, it won’t be easy to change the existing culture.