Writings on baseball by Matt Barnard and Dan Stein.

 
There'll be more content here shortly on the Bill Mueller signing among other things, but I wanted to get to the big trade right away. I'd also like to point out the addition of a link on the sidebar to Only Baseball Matters, a fine blog I've begun reading recently. It seems a little silly for me to be plugging guys like John Perricone and Aaron Gleeman here, since their sites are much more popular than this one...but if you haven't seen the site, I encourage you to check it out. Additionally, we've got a new way to email us: feedback@thedump.org, for any comments/suggestions/questions.

Adios, amigo
It’s been a bittersweet few minutes for me, having just received an email notification from the Yankees that El Duque has been traded to the Expos (by way of the White Sox). I'll miss Mr. Hernandez a lot, he provided us Yankee fans with some great moments (particularly in the postseason) during his time in New York...he'll certainly be missed. However, the trade keeps Bartolo Colon out of Boston, which had to be at least part of the reason why this happened. The trade’s principles appear to be as follows:

New York Yankees get: Antonio Osuna, Delvis Lantigua (both from White Sox)
Chicago White Sox get: Bartolo Colon, Jorge Nunez (both from Expos), $2 million (from Yankees)
Montreal Expos get: Orlando Hernandez (from Yankees), Rocky Biddle, Jeff Liefer (both from White Sox)

So that’s a total of seven guys and a bunch of cash. From the Yankees’ perspective, they accomplish a few things: a) they keep Colon away from the Red Sox, where it seemed to me he was likely to ultimately end up, b) they get some bullpen help, as Antonio Osuna can pitch a little and c) they get a young pitcher in the process. All those things being said, I really think the Yankees could have done a bit better for El Duque. It’s very possible that I’m exaggerating the market for him, and of course the Yanks are dealing from a position of strength, so it’s easier to accept a slightly lesser return. I’d never heard of Lantigua before this trade happened, but in the last few minutes I’ve taken a look at his numbers, which make him look decent. He’s supposedly 22 and finished last season (unimpressively) at AAA Charlotte and on the White Sox’ 40-man roster. His numbers for the first half of the season (at AA Birmingham) were quite good however, and perhaps an indication that after repeating this coming season at AAA, he’ll eventually be able to contribute something at the major league level.

With the Barons (AA):
6-2, 3.48 ERA (36 runs allowed, 33 earned) in 16 games (15 starts). 67 hits allowed (6 homers), 35 walks and 66 strikeouts over 85.1 innings.

With the Knights (AAA):
1-5, 5.85 ERA (36 runs allowed, 34 earned) in 15 games (8 starts). 46 hits allowed (10! homers), 29 walks and 41 strikeouts over 52.1 innings.

Looking at the trade from the perspectives of the other parties involved, this is a good deal for the White Sox. While they may not win the AL Central this coming season (they’ve got other problems), this gives them a pretty nasty 1-2 combination at the top of their rotation with Colon and Mark Buehrle and certainly helps, particularly in their weak division. And they’re not giving up a whole lot here. The White Sox have a whole bunch of guys they can throw in the bullpen, so Osuna and Biddle really aren’t significant losses. While Jorge Nunez isn’t much of anything (he’s a journeyman AAAA infielder), neither is Jeff Liefer, who is very replaceable. It’s really pretty amazing, especially given Kenny Williams’ history, that he was able to work out a deal giving up so little for such a hot commodity and a legitimate #1 starter and 20-game winner. But I guess he received quite a bit of help from the Yankees towards that end, who really didn’t want to see Colon in Boston.

For the Expos, this is pure salary dump, and it’s pretty shameful. Sure the loss of Colon is offset a bit by adding El Duque (still a very solid starter when healthy), but Biddle and Liefer are pretty worthless and you can easily scrape up guys like that for a lot less cost. Impressive (and surprising) good work from Kenny Williams, with the assist (and pat on the back from me) to Brian Cashman. Another black eye for the Expos.


posted by VZW Watcher at 11:53 AM -