Benson, the conclusion
Well...time to close the book on the thoroughly unremarkable Pirates career of Kris Benson. As you probably know, Benson and Jeff Keppinger were traded for Ty Wigginton, AA RHP Matt Peterson and Jose Bautista. I must admit that I don't know much about Peterson or Keppinger. What I do know is that I'm at least partially familiar with all of the highly rated, high minors prospects in baseball. Since neither minor league guy is on my radar, that means Peterson probably amounts to a powerball ticket, and Keppinger is just there to fill a Mets hole in AA. Still, unlike the Ramirez trade from last season, I get the impression that Littlefield did his best here. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to get a championship caliber player in return. I'll score this trade a 5 on a scale of 1 to 10 for now.
Of course it bears mentioning that the Pirates GAVE AWAY Jose Bautista in the Rule 5 draft this winter. Since then, Bautista has drifted from the Orioles to the Devil Rays to the Royals to the Mets and finally back to the Pirates. It seems odd that someone deemed not worthy of a 40 man roster spot would be wanted by so many teams. Yet it also seems odd that so many teams would give up on someone characterized by Littlefield as the "key" to this deal. Indeed, Littlefield was quoted as saying, "We needed Bautista in the deal." Now Littlefield is most likely going to cut Chris Stynes (a retread deemed worthy of one of those 40 man roster spots last winter) in order to roster Bautista. I can't imagine he'll cut Randall Simon since that would leave him with five 3rd baseman (Mackowiak, Wigginton, Bautista, Hill, Stynes) on the roster who are candidates for the 8th spot in the order on a decent team.
One last scary thing....Littlefield was quoted as saying Wigginton is expected to be the Pirates 3rd baseman for at least "the next few years." Wigginton strikes me as the kind of player that gets 500 at bats on mediocre teams. We should be striving for more than mediocrity.
Latest on Benson
I'm getting a strange vibe that one of the following is going to happen:
1. Benson is traded to the Mets for Wigginton and a prospect of dubious value
2. A deal that is completely off the radar as of right now will materialize and everyone will be caught off balance (Dodgers, Marlins, White Sox, who knows.)
Granted, I'm not going out on a limb to venture that #1 might occur. I get the feeling that this is the deal that has been on the table for a long time, but not the deal the Littlefield wanted. He'll take it at the last minute if he has to, but he's been the one leaking all the rumors of Benson for Kotchman/McPherson/Wright/Marte in an attempt to get the Twins to pony up on Kubel. It ain't gonna happen. So unless someone comes out of the blue, perhaps as a result of another deal within their own division, the Mets deal will get done.
Playing politics
You don't suppose
this has anything to do with
this?
Probably not because Republicans would NEVER I mean NEVER EVER play politics with national security. Even to suggest such a thing makes me wonder if I am really an American.
I crack myself up sometimes.
Anyway, I have yet to see anyone other than Josh Marshall over at
Talking Points Memo mention the connection in print. Certainly the major networks can't miss this can they? At first I thought Bush must be disappointed that Ghailani is the best the Pakistanis could come up with during the convention. But then I realized that any real high value targets will be a priority for the late September/October time frame.
Et tu...redux
No sooner do I post my complaint that Randy Johnson is getting a free pass in the media, than I read the following article, found
here at the excellent blog "Management by Baseball." Then I come home and catch 5 minutes of the Sports Reporters on ESPN and hear Mike Lupica rail about how Johnson is tall in stature, short on maturity.
Do you think maybe these guys read my last post? :) Nah.
Someday....someday....
Et Tu Big Unit?
Let's take a brief look at the stat lines for 2 starting pitchers from a recent season:
W L ERA
Pitcher 1: 9 10 4.33
Pitcher 2: 10 1 1.28
Even Ron Cook would be able to look at those stats and tell you that pitcher 2 is vastly superior to pitcher 1, at least during the season in which those stats were compiled. Here's the surprise. Pitcher 1 is Randy Johnson. Pitcher 2 is...Randy Johnson. Those were the numbers Johnson put up during the 1998 season. The first set is from the first half of 1998, when he was a bitchy malcontent for the Mariners. If you remember, he was none too happy about the Mariners decision not to extend his contract in the 97-98 offseason. The second set is his numbers after he was traded to the Astros.
Why am I making a point of showing this? Well, here we are 6 years later, and Johnson suddenly is once again trying to dictate a trade to a contending team. Rumors have it that Johnson is threatening to become a disruptive force if he is not traded, and that the only team he will accept a trade to is the Yankees. Based on Johnson's track record, this does not surprise me. He has been treated like gold by the Diamondbacks, appearing in the post season 3 times with them and winning a world series. He is also under contract for next season. Despite these facts, Johnson seems to be getting a free ride from the media and I can't figure out why. Nobody ever mentions the fact that he basically tanked his first 5-6 starts in 1998 when he wasn't motivated to pitch for the Mariners. Now it seems he is threatening the same thing. Would another player be able to get away with this? I can't imagine so. So pardon me if I scream at the TV the next time I hear Joe Morgan or some other MLB pimp talk about how much Johnson respects the game.
Election Shenanigans...Part Deux
Excellent article
here on the election shenanigans the Bush Leaguers have planned for the 2004 election. Actually, there's no new ground being broken here. It's the same ol' canard they perpetrated in 2000. Of course, since they got away with it then, and it was largely responsible for Bush 'winning' the election, why not do it again.
I'm not naive enough to think that the Democrats wouldn't pull a similar stunt, given the opportunity. Democrats and Republicans are all after the same thing...votes and money. Money gets you votes, and votes get you money. The way the system is set up virtually guarantees that fraud will occur to some extent. Certainly candidates have found ways of getting around unpleasant election laws for years. But the extent to which the Bush team is willing to scheme is astounding.
Sometimes I think perhaps Bush is typical. Maybe he differs only in the arrogance he displays by carrying out his deceptions in broad daylight. It's almost as if the Bush team feels that they are unaccountable. I can only hope that we will hold them accountable someday soon. Someday in November would be fine.
Do you realize?
Do you realize
that everyone you know, someday, will die
and instead of saying all of your goodbyes,
let them know you realize that life goes fast
its hard to make the good things last
you realize the sun doesn't go down
its just an illusion caused by the world spinning around.
Happy 30th B'day to me.
Benson Rumor
Several 'sources' are reporting that Littlefield has been offered Restovich and Mientkiewicz from the Twins for Benson. Other rumors say that Littlefield has also been offered Kotchman from the Angels. If these rumors are true, then Littlefield should take the Kotchman deal immediately. Unless Littlefield is willing to include another player or prospect with Benson, it's not likely he will get a Wright or McPherson type player. Kotchman is only a half step below those guys in the minds of people in the know. Settling for a glove-first 1st baseman and a middling outfield prospect from the Twins is a bad idea when you've been offered a high ceiling guy like Kotchman.
Of course I've said all along that Littlefield should consider packaging another pitching prospect like a Snell or a Bullington if it meant he could get a Wright/McPherson.
Winning is easy
I caught the last 3 outs of the Pirates game on the radio today. Mesa got a double play ball from Sean Casey and then struck out Adam Dunn. I'm tempted to get caught up in the hype that MAYBE this Pirates team has a reason to give us hope for the future. However, I won't allow 3 weeks of very good play blind me to the years and years of incompetance that is the signature of the McClatchey era.
While it's true that many of the contributors to this team are younger players, I'm afraid this team is already peaking. Too many guys seem to be having either an unexpected renaissance (Benson, Mesa, Ward) or career years that they may never repeat (J.Wilson, C.Wilson). I still don't see the guy who will hit 40 HR in the middle of the lineup and make everyone around him a better hitter. The only thing that may change my mind is if Littlefield flips Benson for a Mourneau or a Wright or someone with that kind of potential. I'd dance in the street if he got a Kotchman or a Nix. Or a Aramis Ramirez. That name sounds familiar. Anyway, don't expect me to get too excited about a young team built strictly around pitching. The attrition rate on young arms speaks for itself.
Questions on Day 2
I'm pondering the purpose of blogs today...er, right now. Should blogs have a purpose? Part of me says yes. That is, IF you intend for others to read your posts, then you should have a theme (sports/art/politics/whatever.) If instead you don't intend folks to read your blog, then you don't need a theme. Of course, if you don't intend for people to read your blog, then you ought to just keep a paper journal.
Since I think I intend for people to read my blog, what should my theme be? Folks typically don't just show up to read a blog if they don't know what the content will be. I'll probably gravitate to a baseball theme. It's what I do best. That said, this is post #2, and I haven't said a hoot about sports. Or anything.
