TWiB: 7/12-7/16

[sfaJack 0]

Astros start off the post ASB happenings by announcing that they've traded minor leaguers Mitch Talbot and Ben Zobrist for Aubrey Huff.

 

Also, Jason Lane is sent down to Round Rock and Super Joe McEwing is DFA.

 

-----

Lane going down is the right thing to do, but Zobrist should have been their starting SS coming out of the break.

[Guest NYankees]

Can someone please give an analysis of the trade. How good are the prospects that the Astros sent? Huff started off really slow and had a hot June and July so far.

[vivalaultra 0]

The two AA prospects the 'Stros shopped (Zobrist-ss, Talbot-rp) were two of the more well-known prospects among Astros fans. There was alot of talk in Spring Training about Ben Zobrist and what a great hitter he is and how he modeled his entire hitting approach after Ted Williams. This season at AA Corpus Christi, he's hitting .327/.434/.473 with 55 BBs and 46 Ks, so needlessly to say, he's a good hitter. I've also heard great things about his defense. I don't think Adam Everett was in any danger of losing his job to him this year or next year, but come 2008, Zobrist would've been our starting SS. Mitch Talbot, eh....I haven't heard a whole lot about him, but this season, he's 6-4 with a 3.38 ERA and 96 Ks in 90 innings, so...he seems like a pretty decent RHP. I still think the 'Stros made out like bandits in this one. The D-Rays also sent cash to cover Huff's contract. The only person I feel bad for is Jason Lane, but honestly, if you're hitting .205, there's not much that'll keep ya on the big club.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Rays should've pulled the trigger two years ago when they could've really gotten something for Huff.

[vivalaultra 0]

They shoulda traded the Astros Carl Crawford, is what they shoulda done. The 'Stros woulda traded the whole farm for Crawford.

 

Apparently, there's major interest from the Marlins in Willy Taveras...if they aren't willing to trade some combination of Dontrelle Willis or Miguel Cabrera, Willy T. better not go anywhere.

[sfaJack 0]

Why are you so attached to Tavares? He is only 23 but has shown zero signs of being more than what he currently is: a fast guy who doesn't walk, has zero pop in his bat, and can be shaky with the glove. If the Astros can get a useful player for him, they really ought to consider it, especially if they guy can hit at all.

[vivalaultra 0]

Willy T's a work in progress. He's only 23. He hasn't ever played above AA and besides, if you trade Willy T. for like...Reggie Abercrombie or Jason Vargas that does absolutely nothing. I admit, I have a thing for Willy, but I'm not adversed to trading him if there's something of value to be had. Willy's really useful to the Astros anyway. Even if he's nothing more than a late inning defensive replacement/pinch runner.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

He is batting .253/.307/.308 - that's not really major league quality, especially for a team competing for the postseason. If Florida offers anything of value, they should consider it.

[vivalaultra 0]

I agree, but I don't see the point in trading laterally. If they wanna do a package deal of like...Ensberg, Lane, and Willy for Cabrera, hey...make it happen. Or if they wanna do some type of deal for Willis, good stuff, but there's no point in trading Willy or anybody else for minor leaguers.

 

There's also a craaaaaaaaazy rumor that the Nats are interested in trading Soriano for Chris Burke...that'll...never happen. However, I don't think the 'Stros are done dealing.

[Guest Felonies!]

Where is Huff gonna play? Berkman has 1st and Huff is generally a DH.

[vivalaultra 0]

I think the plan is for Huff to play in RF and have Mike Lamb and Ensberg platoon at 3rd. The only bad thing about Huff is that he's a terrible fielder. He has a .980 career fielding %. Tim Purpura, the 'Stros GM, said that Huff's gonna play "everyday" and that he would "have a talk with Ensberg about it" and that Huff's a middle of the lineup guy. On top of just getting the team a good major-league lefty, I think this move also will serve to motivate the team, Morgan Ensberg particularly, since it appears his job security is in question.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Morgan Ensberg's job security is in question? He has an OBP of .390 and is slugging .500. He is third on the team in VORP, just a fraction behind Mike Lamb. He has to be in the lineup everyday for this team.

[the pinjockey 0]

Is there a reason that they don't just put Lamb at 1B and Berkman in the OF (injuries?)?

 

Otherwise it really seems like a lateral move at best taking Lamb or Ensberg out and putting Huff in. Why would Ensberg and his .890 OPS be in question?

[vivalaultra 0]

...Trust me, his job security is in question. As nice as it is that he's drawing walks, he's still only hitting .230 something, and he's driven in about 3 runs in the past month. The reason his OBP and OPS are so high is that he was on a major tear for the first few months of the season and once he started slumping, he was relegated to the bench. He's still drawing walks, but he's not hitting for average, power, or hitting at all, really. He just looks lost at the plate.

[sfaJack 0]

People are getting on Ensberg because after a red-hot April and productive May, he has almost completly hit a wall. Look at his numbers since June 1:

 

.163 BA (13/80), with only 4 doubles and 2 HR.

 

He's drawing a ton of walks, but that's not enough in that lineup everyday. His typical line each game is 0-2, 2 BB. That makes him a pretty good leadoff hitter but isn't so helpful when he's counted on to be one of the big bats in the lineup.

 

EDIT: Ensberg's OPS splits:

 

April: 1.232

May: .779

June: .588

July: .859

 

He just looks lost at the plate.

Yep. He changes batting stances FROM PITCH TO PITCH. You don't do that if you're at all comfortable at the plate.

[vivalaultra 0]

Hey, thanks for backing me up with stats. I knew he wasn't being productive the last couple months, but I didn't realize it was that bad. The way he's playing now reminds me of last Sept. after he came back after getting hit in the hand by a pitch. After coming back a few weeks from messing up his shoulder while trying to snag a popped up bunt, he's just looked bad. I think he's suffering from trying too hard to knock every pitch outta the ballpark and if he gets one that he doesn't think he can do that with, he's laying off, even if he could hit it for an RBI Double or something. I think he's a little too disciplined of a hitter. He'd benefit from swinging at some borderline pitches because he's got enough power to drive the ball. I'm not saying he needs to be like Vlad or anything, but yeah...his walks aren't driving in any runs.

 

I think he would benefit from hitting second in the lineup in front of Berkman, but we already have enough guys that fill the mold of "get on base and let the sluggers drive you in".

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Dusty stays. It's unreal how short-sighted and out of touch this organization is.

[CanadianChris 0]

From reading that article, I'd say that Hendry needs to be replaced even more than Dusty.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Hey CanadianChris, just saw your quote. My jaw dropped when he wrote that today. I seriously thought it was a typo or something. He better be careful or the Sons of Sam Horn guys are going to take his posting privileges away.

[the max 0]

Hey CanadianChris, just saw your quote. My jaw dropped when he wrote that today. I seriously thought it was a typo or something. He better be careful or the Sons of Sam Horn guys are going to take his posting privileges away.

 

Or the firejoemorgan guys will rip one of his columns apart again.

[Mik 0]

Only the "homer-ist" of homers would think Dontrelle Willis or Miguel Cabrera is getting traded for Willy f'n Tavares. It's pathetic to even read.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

To Tim McCarver, Buster Olney, Bud Selig, Woody Paige and whoever else has been saying that Manny Ramirez should have been forced to play or have his All-Star privileges revoked, it is now being reported by Baseball Prospectus that he has a torn meniscus. For now he will try to play on it, but could miss 2-4 weeks if surgery is required.

[Guest]

I wonder where Soriano's going to end up....

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

To Tim McCarver, Buster Olney, Bud Selig, Woody Paige and whoever else has been saying that Manny Ramirez should have been forced to play or have his All-Star privileges revoked, it is now being reported by Baseball Prospectus that he has a torn meniscus. For now he will try to play on it, but could miss 2-4 weeks if surgery is required.

Two points. One, Will Carroll is not the best of sources. Second, if he was hurt, what the heck was he doing playing 19 innings? That's the problem. It's not that he missed the All-Star game due to injury. It's that the injury wasn't bad enough to keep him from any other game.

 

As for the Astros/Devil Rays trade, Baseball America rates Zobrist as the 16th best prospect in the Astros organization and Mitch Talbot 26th. Zobrist is a 25 year old shortstop in AA who doesn't hit for power. Talbot was barely a prospect before this season, but he's showing a little promise in AA. Neither is really a top-notch prospect. It's a good trade for the Devil Rays considering they have tons of guys who can replace Huff, but nothing I'd get excited about.

[vivalaultra 0]

Only the "homer-ist" of homers would think Dontrelle Willis or Miguel Cabrera is getting traded for Willy f'n Tavares. It's pathetic to even read.

 

 

Yeah, I know. Maybe Willy for Willis AND Cabrera, but just for one? I think the Fish would have to throw in a few prospects. /homer

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

To Tim McCarver, Buster Olney, Bud Selig, Woody Paige and whoever else has been saying that Manny Ramirez should have been forced to play or have his All-Star privileges revoked, it is now being reported by Baseball Prospectus that he has a torn meniscus. For now he will try to play on it, but could miss 2-4 weeks if surgery is required.

Two points. One, Will Carroll is not the best of sources. Second, if he was hurt, what the heck was he doing playing 19 innings? That's the problem. It's not that he missed the All-Star game due to injury. It's that the injury wasn't bad enough to keep him from any other game.

 

From the way the Sox have been stumbling over themselves since Carroll's article, it seems like he was at least in the ballpark on his claims. Tito has made reference to Manny's knee for weeks now, so the likelihood that something is wrong is very good.

 

You make a decent point about the All-Star game, but here's how I feel about it. He seemingly has an injury that can be played on, but each day of work makes it that much worse. Why take on the risk for the All-Star game when it could hurt your team later on in the pennant race? He's been to All-Star games before, but right now rest is what's best. It doesn't bother me, but I can see how it would for some people.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

You make a decent point about the All-Star game, but here's how I feel about it. He seemingly has an injury that can be played on, but each day of work makes it that much worse. Why take on the risk for the All-Star game when it could hurt your team later on in the pennant race? He's been to All-Star games before, but right now rest is what's best. It doesn't bother me, but I can see how it would for some people.

 

I'm a proponent of the rule suggestion that says if you miss the All-Star game, you have to sit out the next game/series. It's a minor, minor penalty to the team, but it provides at least some incentive to the player to attend. And if he's really hurt, the extra rest should benefit.

 

A player would get 12 at bats in a series. If Manny sits out, you replace a .300 hitter with a .250 hitter. That's 1-2 hits on average. It's not a lot.

[vivalaultra 0]

Regarding players that skip the All-Star game, what about guys like Tom Glavine or Chris Carpenter that pitched on Sunday and weren't available to pitch on Tuesday. Should that be discussed in the same breath as a case like Manny? One of the talking heads on one of the ESPN shows this morning suggested moving the ASG to Wednesday, which would allow guys that pitched over the weekend before to pitch in the game. The counter-arguement was for MLB to make a rule that any pitcher selected to pitch in the All Star Game is not allowed to pitch in the final series before the game. I thought that arguement was ridiculous, however.

 

As for Manny, he could've at least showed up for the game. I mean, Jose Reyes wasn't able to play, but he at least smiled and sat in the dugout.

[the max 0]

You make a decent point about the All-Star game, but here's how I feel about it. He seemingly has an injury that can be played on, but each day of work makes it that much worse. Why take on the risk for the All-Star game when it could hurt your team later on in the pennant race? He's been to All-Star games before, but right now rest is what's best. It doesn't bother me, but I can see how it would for some people.

 

I'm a proponent of the rule suggestion that says if you miss the All-Star game, you have to sit out the next game/series. It's a minor, minor penalty to the team, but it provides at least some incentive to the player to attend. And if he's really hurt, the extra rest should benefit.

 

A player would get 12 at bats in a series. If Manny sits out, you replace a .300 hitter with a .250 hitter. That's 1-2 hits on average. It's not a lot.

 

 

So to sum up:

 

Because Manny was playing injured for his team in a 19 inning game but chose to skip an exhibition game, he should be suspended by mlb for three games and further penalize the team by taking the bat out of potential mvp David Ortiz's hands by having the likes of Trot Nixon protect him in the lineup.

 

Let's take the rule to other sports. All NFL players that are elected to, but skip the Pro Bowl will be suspended for the first game of the season. All NBA players that skip the All-Star game will be suspended for the first six games of the second half (baseball plays about twice as many games as the NBA).

 

Even better, all NHL players that choose not to play in the Olympics to represent their country are suspended for six games.

 

As for Manny, he could've at least showed up for the game. I mean, Jose Reyes wasn't able to play, but he at least smiled and sat in the dugout.

 

Because it was his first All-Star game.

[naiwf 0]

I wonder where Soriano's going to end up....

 

He'll be a Yankee, but the Nats will only get some autographed Derek Jeter bats, a Mariano Rivera signed ball, and a replica of A-Rod's MVP trophy from last year.