SB Nation - Tony Graffanino

Rays Family Tree: The Dead Trade String of 2002

FreeZorilla — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:00:16 -0000

by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Jorge De La Rosa was traded straight up for ex-Ray Tony Graffanino in 2006.

2000 Trade: Tony Graffanino for Tanyon Sturtze (Granted Free Agency 2002)

Pre-Trade:

Tony Graffanino was signed as a free agent by the Rays prior to the 1999 season. Originally a 10th round pick of the Braves in 1990, the 28-year-old utility man started 17 games a piece at both second base and shortstop for the Rays in 1999 where he posted a line of .313/.364/.473 in 164 plate appearances.

Tanyon Sturtze was initially chosen in the 23rd round of the 1990 draft by Oakland. The White Sox signed the right-handed pitcher following the 1998 season where he spent all but one game in AAA. Pitching for Charlotte, Sturtze went 9-4 with a 4.05 ERA while striking out 107 and walking 41 in 104.1 innings.

Post-Trade:

Tanyon Sturtze was in the rotation for a little over two years for the Rays, making 65 starts with an ERA of 4.58, a FIP that floated in the 4.70-4.90 range, and a K.9 in the 5-5.5 range. He had a disastrous 2002 season where he earned the nickname "Ten Run Sturtze" when he led the majors in losses (18), hits allowed, earned runs allowed, and walks allowed. Sturtze was granted free agency following the 2002 season. Somehow, he's still floating around, having spent most of the past few years in the minor,s most recently with the Dodgers. In 2008, after being designated for assignment, he pleaded to stay with the big league club and was rewarded with a stint as a bullpen catcher through the playoffs. He was released in May of 2009 with a career FIP of 5.03.

Tony Graffanino continued his utlityman ways with the White Sox until he was granted free agency after the 2003 season. During his time in Chicago he posted a line of .271/.344/.411. Graffanino has played for seven teams including Cleveland in 2009 where he somehow OPSed .341 in 24 plate appearances, and would spend most of the year in AAA. Most notably he was traded by Kansas City to Milwaukee for Jorge De La Rosa at the 2006 all-star break. Sadly for the Royals, they moved De La Rosa to the Rockies as part of a conditional deal just prior to his breakout last season.

Reviewing Dayton Moore at the Trade Deadline: 2006

royalsreview — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 04:46:19 -0000

More photos » by Chris O'Meara - AP

Tampa Bay Rays pitcher J.P. Howell remembers being traded for Joey Gathright. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

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As we approach this year's trade deadline, it's useful to look back at Dayton Moore's deadline track record. In the first of three posts, we look at Dayton's first trade deadline: 2006.

The Royals hired Dayton Moore during the 2006 season. Moore was hired on May 30th and officially took over on June 8th, shortly after the 2006 Draft. (Which remains another story.) Moore was extremely active during his first few months as the Royals GM. After a week as the head man, Moore had parted ways with three minor leaguers, including Kyle Snyder, and signed Todd Wellemeyer, Brandon Duckworth and Donovan Osbourne. None of these guys did very much for the Royals, but they are emblematic of Moore's first eighteen months on the job. If you ever thought about pitching, the Royals took a flyer on you.

On June 20, 2006, Moore made his first major move, sending J.P. Howell to Tampa for Joey Gathright and Fernando Cortez. Seen from the beginning as a signature move, Moore parted ways with the college pitcher with seemingly limited upside for the tantalizing speed and defense of Joey Gathright. Like many of Moore's subsequent moves, there was a certain bravado to it: I'm not just going for speed, I'm bringing in the fastest guy in baseball, despite no evidence he can hit, or actually play center well, deal with it.

The Gathright trade has been discussed quite a bit over the years, and there isn't much more to be said. Gathright had his moments in Kansas City, and in theory was not a bad guy to take a look at. Howell however, has been better than 90% of the relievers the Royals have employed since his departure, and has recently blossomed into one of the better relievers in the American League. Fernando Cortez spent parts of two seasons in the Royals' system, and randomly had 16 PAs with the 2007 Royals. In the long run, the Gathright trade was a signature move, just not the type of signature Moore wanted.

The Gathright trade was not technically a "deadline deal" but beyond its date, there's not much to separate it from the other moves Dayton made that year. Let's take a look at the other trades Dayton made that July:

July 19, 2006: Traded Ruben Gotay to the Mets for Jeff Keppinger. A weird challenge trade if there ever was one. Gotay has some vague semblance of potential in 2006, while Keppinger was seen as a guy with a decent infield bat, but not a solid defensive reputation. Keppinger hit .267/.323/.400 in 67 PAs for the 2006 Royals, playing mostly at third base. Keppy should have been a sign of Dayton's love for scrappy white guys who play the game the right way. Keppinger was traded in Jaunary to the Reds for Russ Haltiwanger, who left the system last season. Keppinger, of course, immediately had a career season with the Reds in 2007. Gotay, of course, did little in New York and is currently in the Arizona system. Yours truly thought the Keppinger trade was fairly pointless back in 2006, but he likely would have been a better option at short in 2007-8 than Tony Pena Jr. turned out to be.

July 24, 2006: Traded Mike MacDougal to the White Sox for Daniel Cortes and Tyler Lumsden: This was a big trade back in 2006. MacDougal was a longtime Royal by the standards of the day, was one of the heroes of 2003 and was something of a fan favorite. While generally unreliable in both the long and short term, had his uses as a reliever. MacDougal was quickly signed to a three-year deal with the White Sox, yet never really pitched well there. Dayton's haul of Dan Cortes and Tyler Lumsden was viewed from the onset as a great trade, and through 2008 Cortes was highly regarded as a pitching prospect. Considering that both Cortes and Lumsden are both gone now, having never contributed at the Major League level (Lumsden stayed in the KC system until last November, when he was claimed by the Astros) it remains mostly a good trade in only in an alternative universe. Of course, according to the party line, Cortes was used to acquire a great everyday shortstop with lots of upside. So another victory.

July 25, 2006: Elmer Dessens traded to Dodgers for Blake Johnson, Julio Pimentel and Odalis Perez. This was an interesting trade. The Royals shipped out Elmer Dessens, who was having an ok season for the Royals as a middle reliever (4.50 ERA, generic peripheral stats) and, in exchange for taking on a portion of the Odalis Perez contract, came out with two pitching prospects. Odalis made 38 starts for the Royals, and while he was the subject of many jokes on this site and elsewhere, he was not totally terrible (84 ERA+). Plus, he gave rise to the former-Brave theory, which has been one of the few things keeping me alive during this decade. Blake Johnson is currently pitching at AA, and Pimentel (currently injured I believe) was at AA in 2008. Considering that both are still around and somewhat well-regarded, the Dessens deal may be Dayton's best trade.

July 25, 2006: Tony Graffanino traded to Milwaukee for Jorge de la Rosa. By the time this trade hit, we were starting to think we'd figured out Dayton Moore. Arms with upside. Jorge was not a former Brave, but he felt like one. A guy with a great arm, who'd seemingly been around as a prospect for decades. Graffanino had had a weird run with the Royals: signed to a 2 year 2.2 million deal for 04-05, Graffy was traded to Boston in 2005. After the '05 season, he signed a $2 million dollar deal with Boston, but ended up being DFAed. In March of 2006, the Royals claimed him off waivers from Boston. Then, Moore traded him. JDLR spent two seasons with the Royals and was nearly identical to Odalis Perez, posting an ERA+ of 83 in 36 games. I don't remember ever feeling like he was going to be a contributor or that he was turning it around. JDLR eventually ended up in Colorado, where he's still pitching. Graffanino meanwhile, retains historical importance as one of the early examples of the team's Gritty Scrappy White Middle Infielder Fetish: McEwing, Graffanino, Grudzielanek, Keppinger, etc.. Of course, St. Willie Bloomquist has been the apogee of this bizarre fixation.

July 31. 2006: Matt Stairs sent to Texas for Joselo Diaz: Would you believe that Diaz was a minor league pitcher? Dude ended up being completely horrible in extremely limited action with the Royals in 2006, and was hardly better in Omaha. Diaz left the system as a free agent after the 2006 season, and is currently with the Dodgers. The Stairs trade was more or less a salary dump, only that Stairs wasn't that expensive, given that he was making $1.4 million. Stairs has bounced around, but is still contributing at the Major League level, while the Royals will head into 2010 not sure who to play at DH.

July 31, 2006: Jeremy Affeldt and Denny Bautista sent to Colorado for Scott Dohman and Ryan Shealy: Another highly-praised trade at the time, the Affeldt-Shealy deal ended up working out much better for the Rockies than the Royals. Affeldt was a tantalizing but generally despised Royal by 2006, after three years of countless message board debates about how he should be used. And shockingly, he always had nagging injuries! He must have been a pansy. Shealy appeared for all the world to be a plug and play AAAA masher who could provide cheap offense at 1B/DH. Instead, after a passable 2006 debut with the Royals (102 OPS+) he was one of the worst players in the Major Leagues in 2007, and has been injury-plagued and unheard from since. Affeldt ended up giving the Rockies 86 innings of 105 ERA+ pitching over two seasons, and is currently with the Giants. Dohmann and Bautista did very little with their new teams, though Denny Bautista did make everyone confused for a few years, as he was one of like six guys out there named "Denny Bautista".

Overall Evaluation: In 2006, it looked pretty good. I count 12 players in, 8 players out. Dayton's five trades during deadline week were what every single Royals fan wanted. There was a general impression that Moore was clearing the roster of the detritus of the Baird regime and beginning the long rebuild of the franchise. Still, by 2008, only four of the new guys -- Gathright, Shealy, Pimentel, Johnson -- were still with the Royals, and Gathright and Shealy were almost certainly done as Major League contributors. Moore did dump some salary, but only the modest amounts which remained owed to Stairs, Graffy and Affeldt. We're talking about maybe 1.5 million here, not a large number. Other than the ill-fated Gathright, effectively, none of Moore's myriad moves produced a single Major League player for the Royals. Nothing.

Here's the damning thing: if you gathered up all the players involved in this flurry of 2006 and subjected them to a draft, here in 2009, the players the Royals sent packing in 2006 are still the best players. Of course, that's partially to be expected, given the example of a player like Matt Stairs. Nevertheless, none of the prospects Moore acquired has turned out to be a contributor in 2009, and only two, Johnson and Pimentel, have any real shot of doing so. In that fictional draft, right now you'd take Howell first, then, probably Affeldt, then Stairs. Someone might take MacDougal fourth, or maybe, maybe de la Rosa. (Actually, many GMs would probably take Cortes near the top of that list, but after the Betancourt, I can't give Dayton credit for him.)

Moore's deadline trades did not make the Royals better in 2006, or 2007, or 2008, or 2009. While he won the extremely minor Gotay-Keppinger trade and got nice value with the Dessens swap, none of Dayton's 2006 deadline deals really worked out for the Royals. He lost the Affeldt-Shealy trade and he lost the Howell-Gathright trade. The deals made involving MacDougal, Stairs, and Graffanino, ultimately did nothing for the franchise at all.

This deadline was really the beginning of Moore's reputation as a transactions hound, as someone who was actively scouring the low minor leagues for pitching talent, and as someone who would need to make approximately five million trades to fix the disaster that was the Royals.

Finally, one thing that stands out about these trades is how utterly inconsequential they all were. Most of the players involved, coming and going, left no real impact anywhere. That should remind us something about how most of these deadline deals end up. This is especially true when you're talking about the kind of C market players that the Royals shop, and shop for.

The Joselo Diazes come, the Joselo Diazes go. Only the Baseball Annies of the minor leagues remember much.

Transactions: The Wheel of Relievers

Ryan — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:07:28 -0000

More photos » by Reinhold Matay - AP

David Huff, the latest in a long list of recent pitching moves.

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If you haven't heard, the Indians have had some problems with their bullpen. And in the absence of any real fixes, the Indians have been trying anything and everything in the hopes of blundering onto at least a couple of hidden gems.

5-6-09

Optioned LHP Rafael Perez to Columbus (AAA)

Released RHP Juan Salas

Purchased the Contract of RHP Matt Herges and Recalled him from Columbus (AAA)

Rafael Perez is I think the epicenter of this year's bullpen disaster. He's struggled from Opening Day, and because of his very good history of relief, not to mention being (until recently) the only left-hander in the bullpen, got many chances to give up key runs. He was at times the only thing preventing last year's bullpen from total collapse, throwing 76.1 innings behind a very good starting staff. This year, without a competent Perez or as good a starting staff, we've seen a total bullpen collapse. He's made four appearances in Columbus, but the main work is being done with personal instruction, not game action.

The Indians claimed Juan Salas off waivers late in Spring Training, but he didn't pitch a game in the organization, and the Indians didn't even bother to send him through waivers.

Matt Herges has probably been the best of the bullpen call-ups. His best years as a reliever were with the Dodgers around the turn of the century, but he had a nice 2007 season for the pennant-winning Rockies. In 2008 it looked like he was through, allowing 79 hits in 64.1 innings, and could only sign a minor-league deal with the Indians. His few appearances for the Clippers weren't that impressive, but the beggarly Indians couldn't afford to be choosy. And at that point, they weren't looking for dominance, just innings. Herges has given up two home runs in his 5 appearances with the Indians, but his strikeout/walk ratio is 10:1, and those gaudy numbers have earned him a prominent position in the bullpen. For this week.

5-7-09

Designated RHP Vinnie Chulk for Assignment

Outrighted IF Tony Graffanino to Columbus (AAA)

Recalled LHP Jeremy Sowers from Columbus (AAA)

This move was supposed to help shore up the bullpen, for Sowers was to take the place of Aaron Laffey in the rotation, and Laffey was to move to the bullpen. In theory it was a terrible tactical move, for the Indians were not only putting more pressure on the bullpen by downgrading the rotation, but not getting the most out of Laffey, who would be throwing less innings. In reality, the Indians didn't have any credible options in the bullpen, so they had to turn a starter into a reliever. For the most part, Laffey has given the Indians what they were looking for: he's gone multiple innings when called upon, saving what little effectiveness is in the bullpen for more higher-leverage situations. But now the Indians have a problem with their rotation, which we'll look at later.

Vinnie Chulk was impressive in March, but not in April and May, when the games count in the standings.

5-12-09

Reinstated IF Jamey Carroll from 15-day Disabled List

Optioned IF Josh Barfield to Columbus (AAA)

Carroll's return to Cleveland precipitated the Jhonny-to-third experiment, since the Indians now had good depth at second base and a need to improve their infield defense. Unfortunately, this meant games with Mark DeRosa at first or Ryan Garko in the outfield, which had the opposite effect at those positions. With the DH available, there should be no reason why the Indians can't put Garko and DeRosa in the lineup without resorting to crazy positional calisthenics. Of course that means David Dellucci sits on the bench, but I don't think the offense will suffer too much if that happens.

5-14-09

Optioned LHP Jeremy Sowers to Columbus (AAA)

Outrighted RHP Vinnie Chulk to Columbus (AAA)

Signed RHP Luis Vizcaino to a major-league contract

I can't recall too many times the Indians signing an in-season free agent and bringing him straight to the majors, but the bullpen being what it is, the rare is quickly becoming the commonplace. Vizcaino has fit right in, giving up a walk-off home run in his first appearance.

While Aaron Laffey has given the Indians some innings in the bullpen, Sowers wasn't able to do the same in the rotation. It's now become rather clear that Jeremy's stuff doesn't translate well from AAA (where he's pitched well this season) to the majors. Maybe a move to the National League would be a good move for the Indians and for Jeremy.

5-17-09

Transferred LHP Scott Lewis from the 15-day Disabled List to the 60-day Disabled List (left forearm)

Optioned LHP Tony Sipp to Columbus (AAA)

Outrighted RHP Masa Kobayashi to Columbus (AAA)

Purchased the Contract of LHP David Huff and Recalled him from Columbus (AAA)

Purchased the Contract of RHP Greg Aquino and Recalled him from Columbus

The big blow is Scott Lewis' lingering arm injury. He experienced pain when rehabbing his arm, and has been shut down for now. So with Lewis out, Sowers not effective, and Laffey still needed in the bullpen, the Indians brought up David Huff, their best pitching prospect, who's probably not a finished product, but a much better option than anybody else in Columbus.

Tony Sipp was fantastic for his first couple appearances, but has had some disastrous appearances after that. He's struck out 9, but walked 8, and relievers who can't throw strikes don't stick around long even if their stuff is fantastic.

Masa Kobayashi was in recent weeks just taking up a roster spot, as he was completely unusable. Maybe he'll regroup in Columbus.

Greg Aquino had been Columbus' closer, and was therefore a prime candidate to become a Cleveland Indian. He gave up one run in eight innings with the Clippers.

The Breakdown: April 21–May 5

Jay — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:08:52 -0000

More photos » by Ron Schwane - AP

The good news is, Jhonny's fielding has been even better than his hitting! Now here's the bad news ...

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Record: 6–8
Overall: 10–17
Scoring: 63–76
Old Mood: 2.6
New Mood: 1.1

	W	L	%	GB
Kansas City	16	11	.593	-
Detroit	14	12	.538	1.5
Minnesota	13	14	.481	3.0
Chicago	12	14	.462	3.5
Cleveland	10	17	.308	6.0

Kansas City: Won 8-7, Lost 2-0, Won 5-2
Toronto: Lost 5-1, Lost 7-1, Won 4-2
Boston: Lost 3-1, Won 9-8, Lost 6-5
@ Detroit: Won 6-5, Lost 9-7, Lost 3-1
@ Toronto: Won 9-7, Lost 10-6

THE BIG STORY: The bullpen pitched so badly, the entire season is about as close to being over as it can be after only one month. It has seemed at times that the whole team was struggling, but in truth, the lineup was going through only minor doldrums, scoring exactly 4.5 runs per game — below expectations, but certainly not bad — while the rotation stabilized nicely. Lee has returned fully to Cy Young form, while Pavano, Reyes and Laffey have each produced exactly two quality starts in their last three outings, leaving only Carmona, who has pitched decently though not exactly well. The bullpen, however, has a 7.13 ERA over the past 14 games, repeatedly pushing the Indians into the loss column in close contests.

Statistically, the typical Indians game since April 20 has featured:

The starter going six innings, maybe a little more, while allowing about 3 runs.
The lineup scoring about 4.5 runs.
The bullpen allowing about 2.3 runs over three innings of work.
The team losing by a score of about 5.3 to 4.5.

For those who buy into the wear-and-tear argument, consider that just eight days ago, five Indians relievers combined to hold the Red Sox to just one run over *seven innings, giving the team an improbable 9-8 victory after Reyes started the game with a seven-run, two-inning trainwreck. Since that night, the bullpen has failed in nearly every game. Over the last eight games, the bullpen has directly and decisively handed the club four losses, while blowing leads in two other games that our hitters eventually came back to win. (That last bit is worth remembering, as we consider throwing the whole club under a bus.)

Over a 14-game stretch, it doesn't look quite so terrible — we've been outscored by 13 runs and unsurprisingly went 6–8 as a result. Fact is, with so much disastrous pitching in high-leverage situations, it's a small miracle we won six. (We managed it with a handful of gritty performances early on, plus those two extra-inning wins.) The real problem is that it follows an 0–5 start to the season. For a couple of weeks, we stayed in the periphery of the divisional race by virtue of mediocre competition, along with our own improvement to .500 ball. We were in fact only 2.5 games behind with a 6–10 record. It was inevitable, however, that one or two of our rivals eventually would start winning games, especially in a part of the schedule when two intradivisional games are being played every night. We are now 4.5+ games behind two rivals and 2.5+ games behind all four of them. Essentially, our first-week rotation blowup cost us three games, and our fourth-week bullpen blowup cost us another three — and the lineup has not done anything superlative enough to counterbalance those big faults.

It goes without saying that the season is lost if the bullpen cannot be stabilized. Beyond that, if the club's management cannot manage to produce fewer than four historically bad bullpens in six seasons, then they need to seriously consider the way they're doing things in this area — or, possibly, step aside.

After the jump: IN OTHER NEWS, WHO FED IT and WHO ATE IT.

IN OTHER NEWS: Fully one-fifth of the roster turned over, led by the crushing news that Travis Hafner would return to the DL and the big-league debut of über prospect and slugger Matt LaPorta. The extent of Hafner's setback was downplayed as being more of a "just needs a little rest" thing, but it was a sobering development and a reminder that even if his hitting skills are intact, his shoulder probably never will be. The five moves essentially boil down to:

Hafner out, Dellucci in — In one of the season's more surprising developments, Dellucci came off the DL swinging a hot bat, and looking like a man on a mission (or possibly just a run of good BIP luck).
Graffanino out, Valbuena in — Most roster moves are about more than just one player, and this is a textbook example. Both players demonstrated by their performances that Valbuena was the clear, best choice for this job going forward. "This job," by the way, is the one Jamey Carroll will reclaim later this month, sending Valbuena back to demolishing bathrooms in the International League.
Crowe out, Barfield in — This move made apparently in the recognition that your Designated Runner doesn't actually have to start any games, at any position.
Jackson out, Sipp in — Jackson was not really a lefty specialist, and with the rotation stabilizing, the Indians need a guy who can neutralize lefties a whole lot more than a long man. This move reminiscent of when The Tonight Show switched from Doc Severinson to Branford Marsalis, or when the Batman movie franchise switched from Joel Schumaker to Christopher Nolan.
Smith out, LaPorta in — The bullpen shrinks back to its regular complement of seven, while the bench gets someone who can actually hit, or at least might plausibly hit. Smith more than likely will return after a rehab assignment shakes out whatever is ailing him, recalling that he had a compressed spring training due to an early bout with the flu.

WHO FED IT: Victor Martinez continued his torrid run, producing almost exactly the same OPS over his last 14 games (1081) as in his first 13 (1077). He has produced an OPS of 929 or better in all nine series played so far, averaging 4.7 hits, 7.4 total bases and 1.8 walks per series. I have often commented that there is nothing truly "consistent" in baseball as we perceive it, but Victor's opening month is the most consistently excellent I can ever remember seeing, and he's started every single game, playing catcher 56% of the time. He's among the league leaders in most batting categories, and his 67 total bases leads all AL catchers by more than 20.

Cliff Lee has averaged more than seven innings and 1.5 runs allowed over his last four starts — outside of the second inning of the season, when he was struck on his pitching arm by a comebacker and gave up four runs, Lee has a 3.08 ERA, and over his last four starts, it's 1.86. Tony Sipp dominated in his first five big league appearances, striking out 8 of the first 17 batters he faced while allowing just one lonely single, two walks and no runs. Even after allowing back-to-back home runs last night, Sipp still has the staff's lowest ERA (3.60), although he may come with a limited-use warranty. Pavano doesn't really deserve a mention here, but after his first-start disaster, he has averaged 6+ innings per start with a 4.44 ERA, delivering two quality starts and one near-miss in four tries — if he keeps this up, we're definitely getting our money's worth.

Chulk has too few strikeouts and too many walks, but geez, the guy really has been vaguely unhittable, allowing just four hits, all of them singles, over his last 32 batters faced. Beyond Victor, there were no real offensive standouts over the whole stretch, although Dellucci came in with a vengeance, batting .538 in his first four games back. Barfield accidentally got two at-bats and just as accidentally got two singles. Absolute Best: Lee, who has an 0-2 record (per the idiot stats) to show for it. Relative Best: Victor.

WHO ATE IT: A long list of hitters and relievers. Grady's hot start crashed with a 640 OPS, owing to a diminished walk rate and a horrible .230 BABIP (which didn't seem entirely due to bad luck). Hafner had a 601 OPS over eight games prior to going on the DL, and Trevor Crowe was 1-for-11 with no walks and no extra-base hits before being sent down. Our Little Giraffe reached new depths by making nine outs in only seven trips to the plate (and one pinch-running appearance) — but we don't have to worry about those guys anymore. Shoppach had a .345 OBP over these 14 games, but it was propped up by three HBP in his last two games. He had only one walk and one extra-base hit over 29 PA, and he batted .174. Garko did his usual mediocre schtick, batting .294 with a decent .359 OBP — but his total lack of power production means that he's still a first baseman with a 683 OPS. LaPorta looked borderline-overmatched over a handful of games, though his two-run bomb certainly was memorable.

Several Tribe hitters seemed to collapse utterly after the Tribe's 22-4 drubbing of the Yankees, but none moreso than Peralta, who hit just .082 (4-for-49) in his next 12 games (prior to last night's 3-for-5 performance). He's struck out an astounding 19 times in his last 10 games, including a trio of three-strikeout performances. It's really bad, and none of his three hits last night — essentially two bloops and a well-placed hard grounder — really demonstrated that he's done with his dry spell.

Let's just admit it: Kerry Wood has been terrible. He had a 9.45 ERA over the past two weeks, and getting down to results-oriented boobery, he's outright lost two games and nearly a third. The K/9 looks phenomenal, but the walks and home runs do not — and when you're blowing games and allowing more than two baserunners per inning, nobody really cares about the K rate. He'll get a long rope to hang himself, but it hasn't been the 9th inning we signed up for, that's or sure.

Perez's last two weeks actually have been no worse than his previous two weeks, raising the question of why he's still in the majors at all. Somebody with the Indians mumbled something about "respecting what he's done here" — as if anybody should give a crap about respecting the achievements of a third-year reliever with an ERA north of 15. Let's not mince words here, this isn't about the lack of a viable reliever in Columbus — there is nobody pitching in Columbus who isn't likely to do better than a 15.19 ERA. Just what are we saving this guy's third option year for? Are we waiting for him to have a really serious problem getting guys out while the season hangs in the balance? Hello? Absolute Worst: Peralta. Relative Worst: Perez.

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:03:53 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

7 months ago: Milwaukee Brewers' Prince Fielder, left, is congratulated by Mike Cameron, right, after hitting a solo home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks' Yusmeiro Petit in the second inning of a baseball game Sunday, May 3, 2009, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Darren Hauck)

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Some things to read while getting an early start.

The Brewers overcame what Tom H. called a loud belch in church yesterday to salvage a split of a four game series with the Diamondbacks. As if a belch in church wasn't bad enough, Trevor Hoffman followed it up by messing with the D-Backs' heads in the ninth. It was game one of a rare four-opponent week: The Brewers open a two game series with the Pirates today, then another with the Reds on Wednesday, and will see the Cubs this weekend.

Carlos Zambrano will likely miss his scheduled start this weekend against the Brewers after leaving yesterday's game with a hamstring strain. Randy Wells is expected to be called up from AAA Iowa to make the start in his place. Wells pitched in four games for the Blue Jays and Cubs last season but has never made a major league start.

Hopefully Mike Cameron will still be this hot at that point. Cameron led all NL hitters in Value Runs in April. Tom Zeimer of the Wisconsin State Journal has a profile of Cameron, discussing his hot start.

Mike Rivera should be back before too long. He's expected to be activated on May 14, just in time to catch Dave Bush's start on that day.

Manny Parra still hasn't won this season, although he did get a no-decision over the weekend after losses in his first four starts. While many people are blaming Parra's lack of control and/or mental toughness for his struggles, In-Between Hops also notes that Ken Macha seems to be playing the bench players much more frequently on Parra's day.

A couple of minor notes:

The Huntsville Stars, never really a big attendance draw in the first place, are now dealing with a new problem: swine flu. The new hysteria has them struggling to draw 1000 fans to games.
Mark Rogers started Saturday for Brevard County but threw just one inning. The team is taking it slow with his rehab, and expects him to throw two innings next time.

Around the league:

Astros: Signed Brendan Donnelly to a minor league deal.
A's: Placed Eric Chavez on the DL with elbow discomfort.
D-Backs: Tom Gordon had to be carried off the field after suffering a hamstring strain, and will be placed on the DL.
Dodgers: Hong-Chih Kuo has been placed on the DL with elbow trouble.
Indians: Designated Tony Graffanino for assignment.
Mariners: Placed Brandon Morrow on the DL with biceps tendinitis. They also designated catcher Jamie Burke for assignment and signed reliever Steven Shell and outfielder Jerry Owens to minor league deals.
Mets: Oliver Perez has been moved to the bullpen, with the official explanation being a knee issue.
Nationals: Signed reliever Mike MacDougal to a minor league deal.
Orioles: Placed Dennis Sarfate on the DL with a circulatory condition causing numbness in his right middle finger.
Yankees: Signed Casey Fossum to a minor league deal.

In case you had forgotten, it's still not a very good time to be a newspaper writer. With more layoffs over the weekend, there are now just two full time beat reporters covering the Dodgers.

At this pace, baseball players could become Japan's biggest export: the Biz of Baseball takes a look at what the Seibu Lions did with the $51+ million they received from the Red Sox for the right to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka. Those may be the nicest ballpark toilets on Earth.

Oh, and after a slow start, the Mets would like permission to fire Willie Randolph again.

Drink up.

Transactions: Roster Turnover

Ryan — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:57:34 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

Tony Graffanino was just one of 11 Indians players to be involved in a roster move in the past 10 days.

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To set things up, let's start with last Wednesday's move.

April 22, 2009

Optioned LHP Zach Jackson to Columbus (AAA)

Recalled LHP Tony Sipp from Columbus (AAA) - MLB Debut

This first move was to reinforce a bullpen that desperately needed it. Sipp, although for several years considered an excellent prospect, was in his first season in AAA because of a series of arm injuries, including an elbow injury that led to Tommy John surgery. But when healthy, he was dominant, sporting a career 11.7 SO/9 ratio in the minors. In 2006, his last full season before the elbow injury, he struck out 80 in 60.1 innings in Akron. So while bringing Sipp up was a bit of a gamble, he's had the stuff to get major-league hitters for a couple years now. Given his rousing success in his first couple outings and bullpen problems around him, he's gone from his major-league debut to key late-inning reliever in the span of a week. The next time the Indians need someone to face a tough left-hander in the eighth inning, Wedge is going to call for Sipp, not Rafael Perez.

As for Jackson, he's still on the 40-man roster, and so as long he's healthy, he's going to see the majors again this season.

On the 25-man roster: 13 pitchers, 12 position players

April 29, 2009

Placed DH Travis Hafner on the 15-Day Disabled List (shoulder)

Recalled LHP Rich Rundles from Columbus (AAA)

Travis Hafner started the season extremely well, and showed that it was his shoulder that had torpedoed his 2008 season, not a drastic deterioration of ability. But despite the Indians religiously giving him days off after several straight days in the lineup, his surgically-repaired shoulder began to bother him again. He's going to see James Andrews in the next couple of days, which hopefully is nothing but a precautionary measure. Even if he does return in two weeks, the shoulder's probably not going to be 100% for a while. And each time Hafner takes an 0-for or looks bad during an at-bat, we're going to ask ourselves, "is he ok?"

The night before Hafner went on the DL, the Indians and Red Sox decimated each other's bullpen, so even though they were already carrying 13 pitchers, for the first time I can remember, they added a 14th to the roster for Thursday's game against Boston. Rich Rundles, who saw action with the team last year (earning himself a coveted Let's Go Tribe sponsorship on his b-ref page), was under consideration to make the bullpen out of Spring Training, and has done good work thus far for the Clippers. But, as was made clear from the callup, he was the emergency staff-saver if Fausto Carmona got chased early. That didn't happen, so Rundles just got to watch the game and enjoy the post-game spread before heading back to Columbus. The two-man bench hampered the Indians towards the end of Thursday's game, as Eric Wedge couldn't pinch-run for Victor Martinez in the ninth inning in a tie game because Kelly Shoppach was the DH.

On the 25-man Roster: 14 pitchers, 11 position players

May 1, 2009

Reinstated David Dellucci from the 15-day Disabled List

Optioned LHP Rich Rundles to Columbus (AAA)

There was some initial thought to bringing up Matt LaPorta now that regular at-bats were to be had, but Dellucci was doing well in his rehab assignment and was pretty much ready to go. As unfortunate as the Hafner injury was, it was good timing for David to be ready to go as Hafner was being shut down, for his very poor throwing arm makes him a liability in the outfield. So I would assume that Dellucci will make the majority of his starts as the Designated Hitter, though the Indians will probably also make use of it to give some regulars a day off from the field.

I had assumed that the Dellucci callup would end the roster shifting for the time being. But no, the biggest flurry of the week was yet to come.

On the 25-man Roster: 13 pitchers, 12 position players.

May 2, 2009

Placed RHP Joe Smith on the 15-Day Disabled List (right shoulder)

I'm not sure which move influenced the other ones, but I'll assume that the Joe Smith DL stint was a given. According to Castrovince's story, the injury is not serious, and he'll get to go to the minors (via a rehab assignment) without the Indians using an option on him. Hopefully he'll be ready to go physically and mechanically in two weeks.

Recalled 2B Luis Valbuena from Columbus (AAA) - MLB Debut

Designated IF Tony Graffanino for Assignment

Jhonny Peralta had been in a major slump, but benching him would have meant that Little Giraffe would be starting in his place, not exactly an upgrade in the lineup over even a slumping Peralta. Jamie Carroll's still at least a few weeks from coming off the DL, so that provided a nice window of opportunity for Luis Valbuena to get some major-league experience. Valbuena has played second, short, and third for Columbus, so that will allow the Indians to have a rotation of sorts among DeRosa, Peralta, Cabrera, and Valbuena for now. To make the decision a lot easier, Valbuena was hitting .321/.436/.538 for Columbus, so he should be able to go right into the lineup without the Indians worrying him being an offensive liability.

I don't forsee this promotion being permanent for Valbuena. He's probably up here until Carroll comes off the DL, as all the positions on the infield are spoken for, and the Indians aren't going to keep him on the roster as a second utility infielder.

The Indians needed to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Matt LaPorta, so I think Graffanino would have stuck around if the Indians had just brought up Valbuena. Instead, he'll probably pass through waivers, and will be free to become a free agent if he wishes.

Purchased the Contract of OF Matt LaPorta from Columbus (AAA) and Recalled him to Cleveland - MLB Debut

There's been plenty of speculation about when the Indians were going to bring up the centerpiece of the Sabathia trade. LaPorta's been sizzling at the plate for Columbus, posting a 1.054 OPS in his first month in AAA. There are service time implications involved, so there needed to be a compelling reason to bring him up now. Ben Francisco's offensive problems probably had the Indians Front Office thinking about the move, but it was probably the Hafner injury that made the decision clear. Pronk's injured shoulder cleared a spot for the returning David Dellucci to occupy, still leaving Francisco and Trevor Crowe sharing left field. If Hafner hadn't gotten hurt, the Indians probably would have been content to muddle along with Dellucci and Francisco in left, as imperfect as that might sound.

Eric Wedge mentioned in the Castrovince story that LaPorta would serve as part of a platoon with David Dellucci, which I don't buy at all. LaPorta should be playing left field on a regular basis, with Ben Francisco relegated to a fourth outfielder. David Dellucci, when he's in the lineup, should be the DH, and only rarely venture out into left field. There's a distinct possibility that LaPorta won't be going back to AAA, for the opportunity is there to win the everyday left field job.

Recalled IF Josh Barfield from Columbus (AAA)

Optioned OF Trevor Crowe to Columbus (AAA)

With the Indians bringing up two outfielders in as many days, they swapped their pinch-runner outfielder for a pinch-runner infielder to balance out their position players. Crowe didn't do much offensively in his time with the team, and with LaPorta coming up, was going to get little opportunity to play.

On the 25-man Roster: 12 pitchers, 13 position players.

Beyond the particular needs addressed by these moves, I look at these callups also as an attempt to jump-start the team. The Indians sit, despite their 9-14 record, just 2.5 games out of first. And frankly, LaPorta and Valbuena are better players right now, despite their age and experience, than the players they replaced on the roster (Graffanino and Crowe).

Game 18: Twins 7, Indians 1

Ryan — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:40:14 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

Kevin Slowey

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Kevin Slowey walked just 24 batters in 160.1 innings last season, one of the league's best ratios. If Brian Runge had been his personal umpire last year, the only walks he'd have had would be intentional. Runge's strike zone was consistent, but very wide. Slowey took advantage of the wide zone to silence the Indian bats for eight innings; only in the ninth, when he began to tire, did the Indians manage to score a run.

The Twins have dominated the Indians in all facets of the game in these first two matchup, even offensively.They're still without Joe Mauer (who should return next week), but in this game they got contributions from most of their lineup. Jason Kubel hit two more home runs, and even Joe Crede added a homer.

After his disastrous first outing in Texas, Carl Pavano has been everything the Indians were hoping for, assuming they were hoping for a decent back-of-the-rotation starter. His final line looks a lot worse than how he pitched. In many cases he got his ground ball, but those grounders found holes in the defense. Pavano was chased in the sixth, and Rafael Perez relieved him. This time Perez had his slider working, and he looked much like his old self. Hopefully this is the first step towards him regaining his old setup role.

Just as the rotation and bullpen seem to be righting themselves, the offense has disappeared on this homestand. Victor Martinez is still locked in; he collected three more hits tonight, none of them cheap. But the supporting cast has fallen off dramatically. Mark DeRosa took another 0-4 hitting in front of Martinez; he came into the game hitting .214/.286/.371. Jhonny Peralta sat out tonight's game as he was in the midst of an 0-for-19 slump, but Little Giraffe, his replacement in the lineup, also took an 0-fer.

Explaining the Indians' 6-12 record isn't a easy task. At times it's been the starters. At times it's been the relievers. And the past few losses it's been the offense. There's no one culprit, no consistent weakness. But there's been no consistent strength either.

Next Up: Laffey vs. Perkins, 1:05 PM.

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Asdrubal Cabrera	.032	Carl Pavano	-.198
Joe Smith	.020	Ben Francisco	-.090
Rafael Perez	.011	Grady Sizemore	-.084

Transactions: Carroll to DL

Ryan — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:51:33 -0000

Placed IF Jamey Carroll on the 15-Day Disabled List (left hand)

Purchased the Contract of IF Tony Graffanino; Recalled him to Cleveland

Carroll injured his wrist in his last at-bat of the spring; the Doug Brocail pitch broke a bone in the wrist (EDIT: actually, a bone in the back of the hand), and now he'll down for at least a month. If he has surgery to repair the fracture, it won't delay his return.

Carroll came in handy last season when pressed into full-time duty at second base after Asdrubal Cabrera was sent down to work on his hitting and Josh Barfield got hurt. With Barfield, DeRosa, and now Graffanino on the roster, the Indians have enough depth to handle second, but Carroll would have been the first option to play every day had Cabrera been out for a couple weeks.

Tony Graffanino should fit almost perfectly into Carroll's role, though he isn't the defender Carroll is. Tony can play every infield position, but I see his primary responsibility as backing up DeRosa at third and Cabrera at second. He's a better hitter than Carroll, and could be used in late inning matchups as a counter-move to a LOOGY entering the ballgame.

Josh Barfield shouldn't see any increase in at-bats or playing time in the field, since Graffanino can do everything Carroll could do.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 14:27:04 -0000

Some things to read while preparing an extra special dinner for Opening Day.

FanGraphs Scoreboard

Unfortunately, today's big story may turn out to be the weather. As I write this, it's 54 and cloudy in San Francisco, but it's going to rain and perhaps thunderstorm this afternoon and well into the evening. There does appear to be a window to play a day-night doubleheader tomorrow, but that's the last thing everyone wants to do to open the season.

Small sample size analysis of Opening Day, anyone?

The Brewers swept the Giants last season and have not lost to them since August 26 of 2007.
The Brewers have hit Lincecum in limited opportunities: He's 1-2 with a 5.25 ERA in four starts against them. Ryan Braun has taken him deep twice.
Jeff Suppan will start on Opening Day for the fourth time in his career, but the first time since 2002. He's 0-1 with a 7.31 ERA in those starts.

The JS has today's lineups (h/t FanShot). Today's opener is also one of Baseball Musings' Games of the Day.

While waiting around for the start of the season, Adam McCalvy and Doug Melvin sat down with a six pack...of questions, with Melvin discussing roster composition, closers, injuries, payroll flexibility and the aftermath of a postseason appearance.

Braden Looper made his final minor league start this week, throwing 89 pitches over 6 innings, and appears to be ready for his debut at Friday's home opener.

This week's games will also see the debut of a new studio analyst for Brewer games, former Brewer Jerry Augustine.

I thought I waited until the last minute to make my 2009 predictions for the NL Central, but MLB Trade Rumors has done me one better, and waited until Opening Day to release their 2009 Brewer Offseason in Review.

J.J. Hardy is giving Brewer fans a fair amount to be excited about this spring. Obviously, they're just spring training stats, but John Sickels noticed Hardy's 11 spring training walks and says, "If he maintains strike zone judgment like that, he could have a monster season." Hardy also picked up a first place vote in Dugout Central's preseason NL MVP voting.

If you'd like to feel good about baseball on Opening Day, here's a double shot for you: Ken Macha is having a lucky spring and Casey McGehee is profiled in another hometown paper.

If you're looking to watch some baseball in person this weekend but you haven't made plans yet, there may still be hope for you after all. There are reportedly still tickets available for Saturday and Sunday's games against the Cubs, and some grass seating available for the Timber Rattlers opener as well.

While I'm on the subject, here are some other minor notes:

The Timber Rattlers roster has been announced. It's probably going to be the biggest collection of pitching prospects in the Brewer system in a long time.
Taylor Green is taking longer than expected to recover from his wrist injury and may be out into June. This frees up some time for Vinny Rottino to play third base in Huntsville.
Former #1 pick Mike Jones was offered his release over the offseason, but decided to remain with the Brewers. He'll continue to rehab in Brevard County along with Mark Rogers, another former #1 pick.

Barring something unforeseen, this is likely the last batch of predictions and projections for 2009:

Baseball by Paul has the Brewers winning 84 games and finishing in second place.
Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star thinks the Brewers will finish third.
Chuckie Hacks is projecting the Brewers to win 94 games.
Two-Fisted Slopper has them winning 83 games and finishing in second place, and also has a bunch of other Brewer predictions.
Circling the Bases' four contributors predicted the Brewers to finish third, third, third and second.
Jonah Keri has the Brewers winning 81 games and finishing in third.

Here's an unlikely niche market: Fans who watch baseball in Milwaukee and like to drink but don't know where the bars are. Assuming that niche exists, Drew Olson of OnMilwaukee.com has filled it.

Elsewhere around baseball:

D-Backs: Two switch hitters, Felipe Lopez and Tony Clark, hit home runs in yesterday's opener from both sides of the plate, the first time it had happened since 2000, and the first time ever on Opening Day.
Dodgers: Cleared a space on their 40-man roster by moving Claudio Vargas to the 60-day DL with elbow tendinitis.
Indians: Placed Jamey Carroll on the DL with a broken bone in his hand and added Tony Graffanino to the roster.
Twins: With Joe Mauer already on the shelf, backup catcher Mike Redmond also had to leave yesterday's game with a groin injury.
Yankees: CC Sabathia was seen applying a hot water bottle to his ribs in the dugout yesterday, but he says it was only to stay warm.

So the Marlins are 1-0, they lead the NL East and yesterday's game featured an inside-the-park home run from new acquisition Emilio Bonifacio. Yet somehow, they still only drew 30,000 fans, well below capacity. I'm not convinced a new stadium is going to solve their problems.

That's all for today. Drink up.

Favors Granted: Cubs 5, Indians 7

Al — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:15:34 -0000

MESA, Arizona -- The thing I was most reminded of as Mark DeRosa kept hitting 450-foot drives off Ted Lilly was a story that's been told about Greg Maddux and Jeff Bagwell, related in Jessica's BCB top 100 profile of Maddux:

Maddux was pitching a shutout with a large lead late in a game early in the season when Bagwell came to bat. He repeatedly shook off catcher Eddie Perez's signs and threw Bagwell an inside fastball which they both knew was his favorite pitch. Bagwell clocked it for a home run and angry Perez confronted Maddux in the clubhouse asking him why he would throw that pitch. Maddux explained that sometime later that season he would face Bagwell in a more important situation and he would be expecting that pitch. Perez was still annoyed that he had "blown" a shutout. Towards the end of that season, the Braves did indeed play an important game against the Astros and Maddux struck Bagwell out late in the game with the bases loaded. Maddux asked Perez if he remembered the game months ago when he deliberately gave Bagwell the pitch he wanted. Perez had forgotten, but Maddux hadn't.

Incidentally, this apparently really did happen, even though there's no such homer in the Bagwell vs. Maddux game logs. I think the homer they're talking about was in a spring training game, and the strikeout was in this 1997 NLDS game between the Astros and Braves; the bases weren't loaded but the tying run was in scoring position. In any case, the point stands. (Jessica said that today's score was really "Cubs 5, DeRosa 4, Indians 3".)

Could Lilly have been setting DeRosa up for when the Tribe comes to Wrigley Field in June? Or was he doing an old buddy a favor? DeRo would have hit three homers today off Lilly if not for the 30+ foot high hitters' background; his fifth-inning double hit about 3/4 of the way up the background, a blast of at least 450 feet, and the two homers both cleared the scoreboard. Apart from those three hits, Lilly gave up only four singles to other Indians, walked two and struck out eight. It wasn't a bad performance, but Chad Gaudin got pounded, allowing ex-Braves farmhand George Lombard to hit a two-run homer in the seventh, and that was the difference in the Indians' 7-5 win over the Cubs. (And for whatever it's worth, in regular season action DeRosa is 2-for-10 vs. Lilly, with one of the hits being a homer.)

DeRo and Kerry Wood both received warm welcomes from Cubs fans; I hope those of you who subscribe to the BCB Twitter feed saw the photo of them being greeted by former teammates on the field just before the game, that I sent via TwitPic (granted, all I had was my cellphone camera, so it was a little far away). Wood threw a scoreless inning and got Milton Bradley on a called third strike to end it.

Gaudin, as I noted, was awful today (the Cubs even had Mike Stanton, who isn't going to make the final roster, warming up in his bad seventh inning) and I hope some scout saw something that the rest of us didn't, because he'll hurt the team if he's in the bullpen to start the year. Maybe there's some undiagnosed injury and they can put him on the DL and keep David Patton, who was very impressive today (granted, retiring Tony Graffanino, Andy Marte and John Drennen isn't exactly getting the heart of Cleveland's lineup). I know Lou likes Patton and would like to give him a shot if there's any space available.

Reed Johnson smashed a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the 8th that landed just next to us off the scoreboard and rolled down the berm into a scrum, making the score 7-5. It wasn't so much that, that surprised me about that particular at-bat; what was surprising was that Johnson was sent up to pinch-hit against a right-handed relief pitcher. That would, one might have thought, been a perfect situation for Kosuke Fukudome to bat... but Dome was nowhere to be seen on the major league field this afternoon. Does this portend changes? Will Johnson get more playing time vs. RHP than we think this year?

The Cubs had their seventh sellout (of 17 games so far), with an announced crowd of 13.097, though for some reason it didn't seem nearly as crowded as Friday either on the berm or in the stands; there were empty seats even as the game was beginning in the corners of the grandstand sections down the foul lines. The total attendance thus rose to 186,007 and the single-season spring training record, set by the 2005 Cubs, will fall on Tuesday when the Angels visit. Obviously, that's due to the larger number of dates (19 this year); the average attendance record of 12,125 is safe. (Average so far this year: 10,942.)

Lou Piniella named Kevin Gregg his closer today (I'm with Lou on this one; Gregg hasn't thrown in a major league game since last Tuesday), and the spring roster was cut to 30, with pitchers Kevin Hart and Randy Wells optioned to Iowa and catcher Mark Johnson, infielders Andres Blanco and Esteban German and outfielders Brad Snyder and So Taguchi assigned to minor league camp. (Blanco, German and Taguchi played in today's game anyway, probably a farewell present from Lou.)

Tomorrow, Rich Harden returns to major league mound action when the Cubs travel to Surprise to face the Royals. KC will counter with their #3 starter, Kyle Davies, and we should also see the Royals' closer, Joakim Soria, make an appearance. Perhaps we'll get a chance to see the Cubs' newly anointed closer tomorrow as well. The game will be on CSN Chicago; this will be the last Cub TV or radio broadcast from Arizona (the next Cub broadcast will be the NYC games).

Poll

How many games will Kosuke Fukudome play for the Cubs this year?

0

14 votes

1-50

150 votes

51-100

410 votes

101-150

411 votes

151 or more

32 votes

1017 votes | Poll has closed