SB Nation - Joaquin Arias

The Rookies Who Aren't

TheJay — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:00:16 -0000

A player shall be considered a rookie unless, during a previous season or seasons, he has (a) exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues; or (b) accumulated more than 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club or clubs during the period of 25-player limit (excluding time in the military service and time on the disabled list).

The first part of the definition of a rookie in Major League Baseball is straightforward. Once a player reaches 131 at bats or 50 1/3 innings pitched, he's no longer a rookie. The second part is a little trickier. After all, service time numbers are hard to find. They generally come out once each year, in team media guides. Add in the fact that you have to subtract time in the major leagues after September 1st and on the disabled list and it's even harder to figure out who is truly a rookie.

It has already been mentioned this offseason that Mat Gamel eclipsed 45 days of service time before September. Gamel was recalled from Nashville on May 14th and optioned back on July 20th, giving him 67 days on the active roster during the "period of 25-player limit." So, even though he sits at 130 career at bats, the same number Scott Rolen had going into his Rookie of the Year season, Gamel cannot win the Rookie of the Year award (though that might not stop him from getting votes).

Gamel isn't the only such little-used non-rookie in the Brewers organization. Raise your hand if you realized Hernan Iribarren has 48 days of major league service time, all before September 1. Iribarren spent 20 days on the major league roster in April and June 2008, picking up 14 at bats. He spent 28 days in the majors in 2009, batting a mere 13 times. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict he wasn't going to win the 2010 Rookie of the Year Award anyway.

New Brewer George Kottaras also enters 2010 off the list of rookie players. He spent all of 2009 in the majors with the Red Sox, playing in 45 games with 93 at bats. Though he spent the month of August on the disabled list, he gave up his 2010 rookie status in mid-May.

Gamel, Iribarren, and Kottaras are not the only little-used rookies. Follow the jump for a list of all such position players to appear in the majors in 2008 or 2009. Please note it is lengthy and full of guys who have no chance at winning an award anyway. I will post a list of pitchers in the next few days.

Non-Rookies with 130 or fewer career AB:

Mat Gamel, 130 career AB
Joaquin Arias, 129 AB
Argenis Reyes, 127 AB
Jose Morales, 122 AB
Ivan Ochoa*, 120 AB
Michel Hernandez, 118 AB
Curtis Thigpen*, 118 AB
Ramiro Pena, 115 AB
Josh Whitesell, 115 AB
Luke Carlin, 112 AB
Chris Gimenez, 111 AB
Tyler Greene, 108 AB
Sam Fuld, 103 AB
Reid Brignac, 100 AB
Francisco Cervelli, 99 AB
George Kottaras, 98 AB
Freddy Guzman, 95 AB
Robinson Cancel, 94 AB
Guillermo Rodriguez, 92 AB
Steve Holm, 91 AB
Justin Ruggiano*, 90 AB
Nathan Haynes*, 89 AB
Diory Hernandez, 85 AB
Don Kelly, 83 AB
Dane Sardinha, 80 AB
Luis Maza*, 79 AB
Paul Hoover, 78 AB
Edwin Maysonet, 76 AB
Dusty Ryan, 70 AB
Clint Sammons, 68 AB
Tug Hulett, 67 AB
Drew Sutton, 66 AB
J.R. House*, 60 AB
John Mayberry, 57 AB
Gregorio Petit, 54 AB
Brian Myrow*, 51 AB
Chris Stewart*, 48 AB
Justin Christian*, 40 AB
Travis Denker*, 37 AB
Gustavo Molina*, 34 AB
Hernan Iribarren, 27 AB
Ryan Budde, 23 AB

* - last appeared in the majors in 2008

I warned you. If I missed anyone or included someone who should not be on the list, let me know in the comments.

Arias down, German up, Bannister DFA'd

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:22:28 -0000

Per Jeff Wilson, Joaquin Arias has been optioned to AAA, Esteban German has had his contract purchased, and John Bannister has been designated for assignment to make room for German on the 40 man roster.

Thursday a.m. Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:08:47 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

4 months ago: Texas Rangers' Andruw Jones follows through on his solo home run to left off Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Casey Fien in the ninth inning of a baseball game in Arlington, Texas, Wednesday, July 29, 2009. The solo hit was Jones' second of the game in the 13-5 loss to the Tigers. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Browse more photos »

Well, that sucked. Back to 3.5 games out in the A.L. West. And that's probably been the most frustrating thing about this stretch...the Rangers have been hot and have been winning games, and they are basically spinning their wheels because the Angels just aren't losing.

Jeff Wilson writes that maybe the Rangers were due for a meltdown. Scott Feldman looked awful yesterday, and maybe put a damper on the "no, really, his peripherals don't matter because he induces weak contact!" silliness that has been peddled vis-a-vis whether he can sustain his current level of success. His ERA is now 3.99, and we're seeing his FIP and ERA start to converge, as would be expected.

Joaquin Arias was called up yesterday because of Ian Kinsler's tight hamstring. Kinsler is apparently close to being ready to go, though, and if he is, Arias could be sent down to make room for Warner Madrigal, whose presence will be necessary to supplement a tore-up bullpen today. The other alternative would be to option Guillermo Moscoso to make room for Madrigal.

Brandon McCarthy is throwing off a mound again, and hopes to be back in Arlington by mid-August.

MJH has some thoughts about the various potential trade targets out there.

There's also a roundtable discussion with Bob Sturm, MJH, and Evan Grant, that includes this interesting theory from MJH about the success of Ryan Drese that I hadn't heard mentioned before:

Mjhindman: Of course, I’m pretty sure that Drese was loading up the ball and got a warning to stop it. It was a poorly kept secret that Orel was a greaser.

Grant also says this about the attitude among the players vis-a-vis Halladay:

Evan: I think the players believe Halladay can change the race and the playoffs. I believe they think Halladay makes them the favorites for the division. I’d hate to see the reaction if Halladay gets traded and it’s to the Angels instead of the Rangers.

The players probably do believe that, and that's great, as it shows that they have confidence and believe in themselves.

But they are also wrong...the Rangers are 3.5 games behind the Angels, and with or without Halladay, they are longshots to pass Anaheim.

Evan says that he'd give the Blue Jays Feliz, Smoak, any minor league pitchers not named Martin Perez, and any minor league hitter to get Halladay. Presumably, that means Feliz, Smoak, Borbon, and Kiker, Main or Beavan. Too much, particularly given that it is a move being made for 2010, I think, not 2009, when adding Halladay still leaves the Rangers' playoff chances pretty remote.

It is hard to see how, after an 18 strikeout night where the offense once again looked like it was hitting with bags over its heads, Halladay is the difference maker on this team.

Robbie Erlin, a third round lefty high school pitcher out of Cali, signed yesterday.

Friday a.m. things

Adam J. Morris — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:08:44 -0000

More photos » by LM Otero - AP

8 months ago: Texas Rangers' Ian Kinsler, left, is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians in Arlington, Texas, Thursday, April 9, 2009. The 12-8 win puts the Rangers at 3-0 for the first time since 1996. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Browse more photos »

A 3-0 start. Ian Kinsler is hitting like he was last season, when he looked like a viable MVP candidate. Nelson Cruz is hitting like he was in 2008. The starting pitching hasn't been terrible.

You can't ask for much more from the first series of year.

Brandon McCarthy says he was disappointed in not working deeper into the game, and says he needs to work on his command and efficiency, but also raves about the chemistry on the team and the group of players that are here right now. And Gil LeBreton has a column up about McCarthy, with more details on McCarthy's game yesterday, where he did well and where he struggled.

One of the constant themes you hear about McCarthy is that he is intelligent and introspective, something that can be to his detriment, because he has a tendency to start over-thinking things, which appears to have been an issue yesterday, rather than just getting out there and throwing.

Evan Grant notes that the bench was a big part of yesterday's success, with Omar Vizquel, Marlon Byrd, Andruw Jones, and Taylor Teagarden all starting and making key contributions.

As I think everyone here is well aware, the Rangers, despite their second place finish last season, were written off by the majority of pre-season predictions and projections, oftentimes being projected to finish behind even the Mariners, and largely because of the problems with the pitching. Jeff Wilson talks about the pre-season projections that have the Rangers flopping because of pitching, and examines why those projections may well have been way too pessimistic about the Rangers' staff.

Wilson also has a mailbag column up, part of what is going to be a regular feature on the S-T site this season.

Anthony Andro says Jarrod Saltalamacchia is doing better after his bout with dizziness on Thursday, and also has some information on a bizarre new good luck charm that Dustin Nippert brought back from Surprise.

Kevin Sherrington says that the pitching and defense has to be better than it has been the past two games, if the Rangers are going to succeed this year.

T.R. Sullivan has some bloggy notes, including a quote from Jon Daniels on Joaquin Arias's arm strength.

And while the one guy who has been struggling at the plate for the Rangers has been Chris Davis, Davis tells Richard Durrett he's not worried -- he didn't feel comfortable at the plate Thursday, but he's looked at the video and thinks he'll be fine.

Wednesday a.m. stuff

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:09:55 -0000

Ugly start yesterday for Matt Harrison, but he says he isn't worried, it was just one of those days.

Jim Reeves says that Jon Daniels has a chore ahead of him in figuring out how to make room on the 40 man for the additions, and that he can't have another Galarraga situation occur. Reeves also says he's not a big Andruw Jones believer, although Rudy Jaramillo apparently is.

Jeff Wilson says that decision on the 25 man roster, and the moves necessary to free up space on the 40 man roster, could go down to the last minute. He says the Reds have some interest in Joaquin Arias, who has no real future with the Rangers, so if Texas could move Arias for a prospect not yet on the 40 man roster, that might be an ideal scenario.

Richard Durrett takes a look at the Rangers' corner infielders.

T.R. Sullivan says David Murphy is going to sit against some lefty pitchers.

T.R. Sullivan luvs him some Joaquin Arias

Adam J. Morris — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:14:38 -0000

T.R. Sullivan has some blog notes up this morning, and includes this comment:

If Joaquin Arias doesn't hurt his shoulder two years ago, the guess here is Elvis Andrus would still be with the Braves.

Here's the thing...when Arias hurt his shoulder, he was coming off a bad year in AAA in 2006. If he bounces back and has a solid first half of 2007, he might have been more of a factor going forward, but I doubt that keeps the Rangers from picking up the four years younger Andrus, who was in high-A at the time the Rangers made that trade.

Now, it may be that Arias's presence would have prompted the move of Young to third base the previous offseason, and might have made the Rangers more willing to look at dealing Andrus for pitching help at some point in the past year. But I don't think the Rangers pass on Andrus in the Teixeira trade because of Arias.

That said, Arias is garnering some notice, and Sullivan is pretty clearly on the Arias bandwagon right now. If Arias shows that his shoulder is healthy and that he can handle the throws from deep in the hole, I have to wonder if there isn't going to be some discussion about Andrus starting the season in AAA and Arias, rather than Vizquel, being the starting shortstop.

Wednesday a.m. Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:39:51 -0000

No game yesterday, alas.

Anthony Andro has a story up today about Matt Harrison, talking about his calm demeanor and need to throw strikes. Harrison says that he isn't taking anything for granted, despite being penciled in early on as part of the Ranger rotation.

Randy Galloway has a column up on Joaquin Arias as a sleeper to end up as the team's shortstop this season, although it seems to have been written primarily as a vehicle to present a hypothetical that I, personally, hadn't heard before:

This we know:

When the Rangers moved out Alex and his contract, a deal with the Red Sox fell through, leaving only one taker. The Yankees were offering Soriano and one of two minor league infielders, either Robinson Cano or Joaquin Arias.

Taking Arias over Cano was not a blunder, by the way.

When the deal was done, however, supposedly Hart and manager Buck Showalter already had the trade in place to immediately ship Soriano to the Mets for, yes, a 19-year-old Reyes, who at the moment is in any discussion as best shortstop in the game.

Hindsight tells us it would have been a brilliant deal. Except ...

As the story goes, owner Tom Hicks, feeling he needed a name attached to the A-Rod trade, shot down the flip of Soriano to the Mets. If true, that would be an ugly smudge on the Hicks ownership résumé.

* * *

"Never heard a word on it," said Hicks, "which doesn’t mean there wasn’t discussion about a deal like that. But the part about me supposedly having said I had to have a frontline, name-type player for Alex, I never said that. I was never asked about that trade."

Showalter, now working the ESPN baseball gig, remains friendly with Hicks, and still has a year of pay remaining on the contract he had signed before being fired. Showalter politely declined to give a direct comment, calling it "ancient history."

And most any trade of that magnitude is usually at least mentioned to Mel Didier, still the team’s special assistant to the GM.

"Jose Reyes? Wow," he replied when asked here in spring training. "Well, it might have been discussed, but not with me. That’s one I hadn’t heard about."

Still, there are those within the Rangers’ organization who maintain Hart had that deal made, and Hicks is to blame for it not happening.

Admittedly, however, the owner’s reaction and answer when asked about Reyes came across as truthful.

And of course, one of the plusses in Galloway's mind about the deal would be that Michael Young would still be at second base and Ian Kinsler would be playing left field...

Gil LeBreton doesn't like the WBC.

Over at the DMN blog, Richard Durrett has a Q&A up with Nolan Ryan, and there are also several posts over there about the improvements to TBIA from this offseason, including pictures.

T.R. Sullivan has a story up on the recent uptick in Ranger players who are from Texas.

T.R. Sullivan mailbag

Adam J. Morris — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 23:02:16 -0000

T.R. Sullivan has a new mailbag up...he predicts Cat is traded or released at the end of spring training and fields several questions on the catching situation, mentioning that you could see renewed Boston/Texas trade talk at the end of the spring.

He also appears to still be a member of the Joaquin Arias fan club:

The Rangers need to keep an open mind as to who is ready to play shortstop right now: Arias or Andrus. There is little doubt here that Arias could be a frontline Major League shortstop if not for his shoulder problems.

The club has pretty clearly made a decision on this issue, although Sullivan has been a fan of Arias (and Travis Metcalf) for a while, and I think he'd like to see those two get a legit shot.

Sunday morning Rangers stuff

Adam J. Morris — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:43:05 -0000

The S-T has a brief mention this morning of Brandon McCarthy incorporating a slider into his repertoire, after a mention on the S-T blog last night that he was replacing his curve with a slider to reduce the strain on his elbow.

The reporting of this has me rather frustrated, because this is a pretty big story -- McCarthy's curve was considered to be arguably his best pitch -- and switching from it to a slider, which he apparently is still trying to figure out how to throw for strikes, is a pretty major switch. When did this decision come down? How long has he been working on the slider? Was it suggested by Mike Maddux? Nolan Ryan? Someone else? Did McCarthy come up with the idea on his own? How does this impact how he's viewed by the organization?

This is something that deserves more than a sentence or two, and hopefully, we'll get more details on this in the coming days...

Andruw Jones says he's still confident, despite starting off with a walk, an infield single, and 8 Ks in his first 10 spring PAs, and says that Rudy Jaramillo told him it would take 20 ABs or so to get comfortable with his new swing. I didn't realize that Jaramillo had changed Jones' swing. T.R. Sullivan indicates that it is about adopting Jaramillo's philosophy of keeping back on the ball.

C.J. Wilson would like to close, but will be a setup man this season, although Ron Washington says that if Frankie Francisco can't go in a save situation, Wilson would be the guy who would get the ball.

Sullivan writes on Joaquin Arias, whose career has been pretty much de-railed by a shoulder injury that has robbed him of his arm strength.

He also has some blog notes that include praise for Arias's throwing yesterday and for Travis Metcalf's all-around play.

Randy Galloway has a column about TBIA's reputation as a hitter's park, saying that pitchers need to be stronger mentally, whlie also suggesting that the park is just perceived as hitter-friendly because the Ranger offense is good and the Ranger pitching is not.

Wednesday a.m. stuff

Adam J. Morris — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:38:27 -0000

The Rangers will have a representative at Chad Cordero's throwing session today. The Rangers have supposedly had interest in Cordero on a minor league deal.

Joaquin Arias, meanwhile, says his arm is strong enough for him to play shortstop and third base, which would be a meaningful improvement over last season, when his arm was marginal for second base.

Jeff Wilson has a story up about Andruw Jones' attempt to revive his career with Texas, including some optimistic quotes from Rudy Jaramillo.

Jim Reeves has a column up on Elvis Andrus.