Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.

 
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The Ortiz-Moss Swap
Atlanta Braves get: Russ Ortiz
San Francisco Giants get: Damian Moss

Great deal for the Giants, who are really improving their team. Russ Ortiz has been a solid pitcher for the Giants since he broke into the majors, but he's benefitted an awful lot from pitching half his games in Pac Bell. He's also making a lot more money than the younger, left-handed Australian Moss, who showed quite a bit for the Braves last year. While I realize the goal here for the Braves is not only to get a competent starter but also to bring in a name (to replace Tom Glavine and the possibly departing Greg Maddux), I think they could've gotten a better return for Moss if they were interested in trading him. That said, even though I like this trade from their perspective, I think the Giants could've done better as well. Blue Jays GM JP Ricciardi had indicated he was interested in Russ Ortiz, and he's got a wealth of talented young players (like Orlando Hudson, who was mentioned in trade talks). Whether or not the Giants, who are acquiring second basemen left and right, needed a guy like Hudson is a different story, but they probably could've swindled some sucker GM into giving them a bit more for their ace. The Giants clearly win this trade though, as they cut salary (to help compensate for recent signings which have helped them a lot) and don't downgrade a whole lot in the talent department.

Paul Byrd signs with Braves (by Dan)
When you know your girlfriend is going to leave you, you start doing weird things. You remember all the good times that she provided from cooking breakfast to keeping things clean to always being wild in the sack. But she has to go, it wasn't working out. So when you know she's out the door, you try to bring in near suitable replacements to try and recreate the thunder and chemistry that once was. Greg Maddux was the perfect girlfriend. He performed regularly and consistently, was always reliable to relieve stress, and never went out and faked it.

But now it seems that Maddux is headed elsewhere, off into the wild blue yonder to court suitors who know that they are seeing perfection while you are left with the girl who dumped you a few years ago. Paul Byrd is the ex who was good elsewhere for a few years, and even an all-star in a different lifetime. Plus, the Braves were desperate. Paul Byrd was the ace of a Kansas City staff and put up 17 wins. I have a lot of faith in Leo Mazzone to work with Byrd and Hampton and Ortiz to make them reputable.

If you are the Braves, you have to accept the fact that your top three starters of three years ago are gone and it is time to rebuild. While the front and back of the rotation will come from the system (Millwood and maybe Marquis), the beef comes from top starters of other teams. Hampton, Byrd and Ortiz have shown that they can win 10-15 games and with Mazzone they can easily eclipse those numbers.

The weird part of this deal is in the formation of the contract. He is guaranteed three million dollars this year and then has an option for seven million dollars for the season after this. While that is a lot of money, it could work out very well if the Braves end up winning games and he wants to stay for a lot of money. That money hopefully will be better spent than the ridiculous clause in Smoltz' contract that says he'll get paid more if he starts games.

For the Braves, this move makes sense, they needed to bring in a starter capable of winning games. The aren't paying that much this year, and he's a top starter who is only being asked to be a number three. For Byrd, he gets the bucks, gets to move back home, and gets to work with the best pitching coach in the league while being thrust into a winning solution.
posted by VZW Watcher at 8:15 AM -