jeff-clement « WordPress.com Tag Feed

Looking To 2010: Catchers

UtesFan89 — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:46:31 +0000

When the off-season started, there seemed to a chance (however minor) that the Pirates might try to trade Ryan Doumit. There were a couple of reasons for this sentiment…

Doumit has struggled to stay healthy behind the plate.
The team had some capable guys behind him.
They have a new draftee that seems to be on the fast-track to the majors.
Neal Huntington has shown the willingness to trade guys should the right offer come around.

When rumors popped up of a potential 3-team deal with the Mariners, Tigers & an unknown team (involving Edwin Jackson & Brandon Morrow, amongst others), some Pirates fans got hopeful (me included). The Mariners could be in the market for a catcher and maybe, just maybe, the Tigers might have interest in Doumit too. (Don’t get me wrong… it’s not that I hate Doumit or anything… but I figure that Doumit is one of the guys with some trade value on the team that could actually net something in return.)

The reason it seemed possible was at least partially due to the guys behind him. Jason Jaramillo & Robinzon Diaz had played well enough in the time when Doumit was out and in limited attempts after his return. While neither of them flashed as much power as Doumit offensively, they each seemed more capable behind the plate. Of course, this belief that they could replace Doumit adequately required you to believe 2 things… first, that Jaramillo & Diaz would both improve and second, that both guys would stay healthy if catching the entire season. Neither, of course, is guaranteed. They also had recently acquired Jeff Clement down in the minors, though multiple injuries have raised the question as to whether or not he can be a catcher in the majors. And then there is youngster Tony Sanchez, the 1st round pick last year who has impressed in the low minors. Of course, counting on him right now would be stupid… the farthest up he’s played is Class-A.

The DFA’ing of Diaz, though, changes things, because now you don’t have 3 guys with (admittedly limited) experience waiting behind Doumit. You only have 2, one of whom might end up being moved to 1st base. What it does, is leave a couple of options…

Go with Doumit & Jaramillo as your catchers.
Trade Doumit, and hope Jaramillo & Erik Kratz is an adequate duo.
Trade Doumit, then find someone either through free agency or via trade.
Keep Jeff Clement at catcher and hope he doesn’t get hurt again.
NH has already said that he (the organization?) trusts Erik Kratz as the emergency 3rd catcher (which could also speak volumes about what role they foresee Clement having). I’d have to say the most likely scenario is the first one… at least now. Maybe things change during the season, but barring a surprisingly good trade offer, it’d be a surprise to see Doumit traded.

Mariners Get Defensive, Ink Jack Wilson To Two-Year Deal

Adam Bernacchio — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:53:59 +0000

I have never met Seattle Mariners’ general manager Jack Zduriencik. As a matter of fact, if he delivered the bacon cheeseburger I ordered from the diner last night to my apartment, I wouldn’t have recognized him.

But I will tell you this–I really like the guy. I like the guy because in a sport where so many of it’s general managers don’t have a plan of attack, Zduriencik clearly does.

Wilson is a great defensive shortstop

Zduriencik is determined to build the Mariners around pitching and defense and on Friday he took another step towards executing his plan.

Yesterday, the Mariners signed shortstop Jack Wilson to a two-year deal worth $10 million. The deal cancels out the $8.4 million option Seattle had for Wilson.

The Mariners acquired Wilson from the Pittsburgh Pirates last year along with Ian Snell and Ronny Cedeno for Jeff Clement and three minor leaguers.

Wilson is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game and along with Franklin Gutierrez and Jose Lopez give the Mariners a more than solid up the middle defense.

The biggest reason the Mariners went from 61 wins in 2008 to 85 wins in 2009 was because of defense. Zduriencik replaced Raul Ibanez, Jeremy Reed, and Yuniesky Betancourt from the 2008 team with Endy Chavez, Gutierrez, and Wilson in 2009.

That is a massive upgrade defensively. I mean it’s really night and day.

Chavez is a free agent, but with Zdurienciks’ track record so far, you have to feel confident if you are a Mariners fan that he will find a replacement suitable both offensively and defensively.

I still contest the Mariners need a big bat in the middle of their lineup in order to take the next step, but they are clearly moving in the right direction.

Wilson was a good value sign by the Mariners.

Just another piece in the defensive puzzle for Zduriencik.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Could Kenji Johjima return to Japan?

Aaron — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:37:35 +0000

Reports out of Japan (courtesy of NPB Tracker – since I can’t read, speak, or translate Japanese) say that Seattle Mariners catcher Kenji Johjima has an opt-out clause in his contract should he want to return to Japan. But just how possible is it that the first (and thus far, only) Japanese catcher to play in the Majors could jump ship and return to Japan?

Johjima signed a three year, $16.5 Million contract with the Mariners in the winter of 2005 to cross the Pacific and come to the United States and as a 30-year-old rookie he enjoyed his best season in MLB when he hit .291 with 18 home runs and 76 RBI in 144 games. Yet, his production has continued to decline each year since in nearly every statistical category, with the lone exception being his defensive abilities. Despite the decrease in production, the Mariners signed him to a three year extension after the 2008 season which pays him $8 Million annually through the 2011 season. A steep price for a catcher with declining abilities for a team seemingly always strapped for cash.

This past season, Johjima’s struggles continued. He battled an injury that limited him to a mere 71 games and he eventually lost his starting job to Rob Johnson, a 2004 4^th round draft pick by the Mariners who never really showed great offensive ability in the minor leagues. Johnson managed to get almost 300 at-bats this year and put up a slash line of .213/.289/.326 (that’s batting average/on base percentage/slugging percentage for any of you who don’t know what a slash line is) which isn’t exactly encouraging.

But is a return to Japan something Johjima is even considering? That, unfortunately, is not a question I can answer. In fact, probably only Johjima himself has any idea whether he is truly considering such a move. While it seems a little improbable at the moment (he always wanted to play in MLB, the Mariners are still owned by a group of Japanese businessmen, the team hired the first manager of Asian descent, Ichiro is still around, etc.) let’s assume for the sake of argument that this might actually happen. I have to assume that if the situation were to present itself, the Mariners likely would not stand in his way.

If so, what would the Mariners do to replace him?

This time last year the first name to come to mind as a possible replacement would have been Jeff Clement. Yet, despite his strong power numbers throughout the minor leagues, Clement could never seem to put things together at the Major League level. The team used him more as a designated hitter than behind the plate in large part due to his defensive inabilities. Once regarded as one of the top prospects in all of baseball, the team finally gave up on Clement and traded him to Pittsburgh in the Ian Snell/Jack Wilson trade this past summer. Clement struggled for the Pirates AAA team and didn’t even earn a September callup – not a good sign for the once promising young slugger.

With Clement out of the picture and Johnson showing that he really shouldn’t be anything more than a backup at best, the team has few internal options. One such option would be Adam Moore, the replacement for Clement as “top catching prospect” in the system after Clement’s rookie eligibility expired. Moore made his debut in September with a brief 7-game stint in which he accumulated 23 at-bats with a .217/.250/.391 line. Moore has long been expected to take over as the team’s primary catcher, having a reputation for being solid defensively and having hit around .300 consistently throughout the minor leagues. While he would be an option for the Mariners, it seems a little early to simply hand the starting job over to the 25-year-old.

Now, the easy route would simply be to hand the starting job to Johnson with Moore as his backup until such time that Moore was ready to take over the job on a full time basis. But the Mariners could also go out and sign a veteran catcher for a one or two year deal as a stopgap until Moore is fully ready. The right veteran could also mentor him, teaching him how to properly call a game and other aspects of the position of that nature. This year’s free agent market is flush with veteran catchers, none superstars but enough that could be serviceable in such a scenario.

Bottom line, while there may not be a “perfect” candidate to replace him, if the Mariners have the chance to get out of Johjima’s contract and away from his consistently diminishing performance they should jump at the chance.

Trade Deadline!

Ian, yo. — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:10:26 +0000

Well, it’s August third and I figured I’d dig into the trades and the repercussions they could have on the fantasy side of things.

The Cincinnatti Reds acquired Scott Rolen in exchange for Edwin Encarnacion, Zach Stewart and Josh Roenicke- If you own either Rolen or Encarnacion, I wouldn’t really expect anything different than you’ve already gotten from each player.

White Sox acquired Jake Peavy for Aaron Poreda, Clayton Richard, Dexter Carter, and Adam Russell- Peavy’s value could take a hit with this trade. He goes from one of the best pitchers parks in baseball, to one of the best hitter’s parks in baseball. Not only that, but he’s moving from NL to AL where he’ll be facing a DH instead of the opposing pitcher. Peavy is a dominant pitcher as is, so I’m not expecting a nasty regression. I am expecting his ERA to climb at least a half a run and his HRs to climb a bit. With the move to the ChiSox, he will have a much better offense to back him and a pretty nasty end of the game bullpen. The Padres get some depth to their starting rotation in return and if Chad Gaudin and Kevin Correia can be successful in Petco, I probably can. Left handed.

Marlins acquire Nick Johnson for Aaron Thompson- Thompson likely doesn’t have relevance this year and Nick Johnson’s trade value won’t trade much with the move. He goes to a better lineup so you can maybe hope for a few increased stats. But, yeah. Whatever.

Twins acquire Orlando Cabrera for Tyler Ladendorf- O-Cab could get a bit of a boost in the Twins offense with Mauer and Morneau, but I’m not expecting a ton from him.

The Red Sox acquired Victor Martinez for Justin Masterson, Nick Hagadone, and Bryan Price- The acquisition of Victor Martinez for the Red Sox is a bit of a puzzler, but I guess it won’t hurt. V-Mart will probably split time between DH, catcher and 1B and should see a minimal boost to stats. Justin Masterson may be stretched out to start for the Indians later on this season and if that is the case, he could be an option for deeper leagues. He’s been wishy washy in his starting career in the MLB so we’ll have to see how it works out.

The Braves acquire Adam LaRoche from the Red Sox for Casey Kotchman- LaRoche has always been a second half hitter and he’s moving to a better supporting cast in Atlanta and a team that could very well be in the running for a wild card berth. He’s absolutely someone to keep an eye on if you’re in need of a power 1B.

The Phillies acquired Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco for Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald, Lou Marson, and Jason Knapp- Lee moves to the NL where he could put up some pretty stellar numbers. He should get the run support he was missing in Cleveland which should drive his win total up a bit. I think the move only makes Lee more valuable. On the other end, I’m not quite sure what Cleveland has planned for these guys but it’s surely something I’d keep an eye on.

The Mariners acquired Ian Snell and Jack Wilson for Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Nathan Adcock, Brett Lorin, and Aaron Pribanic- Snell may be the only player with fantasy relevance of these dudes. Change of scenery + amazing OF defense + favorable pitcher’s park = fantasy value? I’m keeping an eye on this situation. Jeff Clement should have catcher eligibility in your fantasy leagues and if he gets a September call up, he may provide some decent value at the position.

The Tigers acquired Jarrod Washburn for Luke French and Mauricio Robles- Washburn is was the product of a stellar defense and pitchers park and is now going to a pitchers park with less stellar defense. I don’t think he’ll be as good as he has been, but I think he still could be useful in most leagues. Luke French is a 23 year old version of Washburn and may be in the starting rotation. Could he be the next Washburn? I don’t think exactly, but he may be useful. Keep watch over this situation as well.

The Cardinals acquired Matt Holliday for Brett Wallace, Shane Peterson, and Clayton Moretnsen- Holliday has been hitting will since his move back to the NL. Maybe he’s just an NL hitter? Maybe it’s the fact that he’s hitting anywhere near Pujols in a lineup. I’d consider Holliday to have a better second half than he did first. Which ain’t really a bad thing. Brett Wallace may not be up this year and if he is, it may be a September deal. The dude can hit and can’t field for balls, but that doesn’t matter to us armchair GMs, right?

The Dodgers acquired George Sherrill for Josh Bell and Steve Johnson- Sherrill went from the closer in Baltimore to setting up one of the best closers in LA. I think if anything were to happen to Broxton, Sherrill could be in line for saves. Over in Bmore, Jim Johnson could be in line to get the saves, but keep and eye on Danys Baez and possibly Koji Uehara.

As you can see, there aren’t a lot of fantasy relevant moves, but there also some that could have a big impact.

Mariners Monthly Roundup: July "It Was Fun While It Lasted" Edition

Bud Bareither — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:43:59 +0000

Gutierrez's emergence at the plate gives M's fans hope for 2010.

Record: 14-13 (53-50 overall)

AL West Standings: LA (61-40); Rangers 3 GB; Mariners 9 GB; A’s 17.5 GB.

Top Hitter: Franklin Gutierrez has become one of the most exciting defensive outfielders in all of baseball this season, saving the Mariners countless runs with his strong arm, good instincts and unbelievable range. In the month of July his bat finally caught up to his glove, as the 26-year-old Venezeluan hit .351 with 5 HRs and 17 RBIs. Simply en fuego. Gutierrez recovered quickly from a scary collision with the wall in Detroit and continues to cement himself as one of the cornerstones of Seattle’s rebuilding project. Almost an afterthought in the Mariners’ offseason moves, Gutierrez has arguably become the best all-around player on the team and his continued maturation at the plate gives M’s fans plenty to look forward to in the coming seasons.

Top Pitcher(s): Despite the fact that he no longer plays for the team, Jarrod Washburn was clearly the Mariners’ best pitcher in July. The suddenly reborn southpaw went 4-1 with a 1.44 ERA in the month and only allowed batters to hit .185 against him. It’s unfortunate that Washburn wasn’t able to pitch like this throughout his entire tenure with the Mariners, but his improvement this season allowed Seattle to maximize his trade value, and they received two good arms in return from Detroit (Luke French–a virtual clone of Washburn, and Mauricio Robles–a young, flame-throwing lefty with exciting potential). The Mariners have discussed the possibility of resigning Washburn in the offseason, and if they are able to accomplish that, this trade will look like a real steal for Jack Zdrunciek.

Beltre could return to the field as soon as August 4th.

Biggest Surprise: Adrian Beltre is making incredible progress in his return from shoulder surgery and is expected to be activated next week against Kansas City. Beltre dealt with bone spurs for most of the season and there was a possibility he wouldn’t play at all this year after surgery, but his return should provide a boost for the M’s over the season’s last two months providing he is fully recovered. A free-agent this offseason, Beltre will be eager to prove that he is still one of the better 3B in the game; let’s hope he does. It was fun while it lasted Jack Hanahan.

Biggest Disappointment: Lefty Garrett Olson continues to struggle in the starting rotation and may have puched a permament ticket to the bullpen with his latest stinker against Texas (3 2/3 innings, 6 hits, 4 ER, 3 HR). Olson has shown flashes of brilliance, but nothing consistent, and ended July with a 7.53 ERA. It’s unclear what Seattle’s long-term plan his for him, but it seems like Olson is best suited as a reliever (2.76 ERA out of the bullpen).

Griffey Watch: Junior got all of Seattle feeling nostalgic when he hit a two-out, two-run go ahead double against Roy Halladay over the weekend, but otherwise his July was utterly forgettable. Seattle’s DH hit .224 in the month, with only 1 HR and 5 RBIs. You can’t overlook his influence in the clubhouse but on the field Griffey is a 39-year-old at the tail-end of his career. It’s been wonderful having the Kid back in the Emerald City, but here’s hoping he hangs up the cleats at the end of the season.

Injuries: Endy Chavez (torn ACL–out for year); Adrian Beltre (bone spurs in left shoulder–early August return); Erik Bedard (left shoulder inflammation–due back mid-August); Carlos Silva (fraying of labrum, enlarged stomach, loss of any tangible baseball skills, etc.).

Is Michael Saunders finally the answer for the revolving door in left field?

Welcome Aboard: Jack Wilson (a nice upgrade over the Betancourt-Cedeno disaster at SS), Ian Snell (tons of potential, will a change of scenery make the difference?), Luke French (a solid lefty, #5 starter type), Michael Saunders (does anyone want to play LF for the M’s?), Jack Hannahan (fun name, good glove, but little else), Ryan Langerhans (thank the guys at USS Mariner for this one).

Happy Trails: Yuniesky Betancourt (you won’t be missed!), Wladimir Balentien (what a strange way to spell your name!), Jeff Clement (Pittsburgh is a wonderful baseball town! Also, a small list of players Bavasi could have drafted instead of Clement in 2005: Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman, Troy Tulowitzki, Ricky Romero, Jay Bruce, Jacoby Ellsbury, Andrew McCutchen), Jarrod Washburn (Where was this kind of performance the past 3 years?!).

August Schedule: 2 @ Texas, 3 @ Kansas City, 3 vs. Tampa Bay; 3 vs. Chicago; 4 vs. New York; 3 @ Detroit; 3 @ Cleveland; 3 vs Oakland; 4 vs. Kansas City; 1 vs. Los Angeles.

Overall Grade: (B) The Mariners really weren’t that bad in July, they finished a game over .500, but a three game sweep at the hands of the Indians and the continued success of the Angels all but ended Seattle’s shot at making the postseason. Although they gave up Washburn, the Mariners should remain competitive throughout the rest of the season, and it will be interesting to see if the new pieces (Wilson, Snell, Saunders, French) can become part of Seattle’s longterm plan. Wakamatsu and the rest of the coaching staff should receive high praise for keeping the M’s in contention this last into the season, and fans should be excited about what’s in store for 2010. The Mariners are certainly making strides in the right direction and will look to play spoiler to pontential playoff teams down the stretch.

Mariners Wheeling and Dealing

uoduckfan33 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 07:31:37 +0000

The Mariners bartered with Pirates earlier this week, filling their need for both a shortstop and a back-end starter. The Ms acquired a veteran, all-star shortstop in Jack Wilson as well as pitcher, Ian Snell. They sent fill-in SS Ronny Cedeño as well as minor leaguers Jeff Clement, Nathan Adcock, Brett Lorin and Aaron Pribanic back over to Pittsburg. Then, if that wasn’t enough, they traded outfielder, Wladimir Balentien, for former Reds’ reliever, Robert Manuel.

Let’s start up the middle. The only apparent advantage –other than salary – to Cedeño over Wilson at short would be age. Cedeño is 26, and Wilson 31. While neither would be considered a great offensive force – or much of an offensive force at all – Wilson’s track record indicates that he is more valuable offensively, sporting a higher OPS while striking out less often. Though Wilson’s experience may be an explanation for better stats, he still outperformed Cedeño in first five years of their respective careers.

Cedeño may have the ability to be a great glove man, but it hasn’t shown itself yet. His Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) as a shortstop, which measures all-around defensive ability, is negative, indicating that he is a below-average defender. Jack Wilson on the other hand has posted an average UZR of 5.6 per 150 games, a figure good enough to crack the top 8 among shortstops year in and year out.

The rest of the lot…

Ms Also Get

Ian Snell: At 27, Snell is entering the prime years for pitchers according to baseball stats guru, Bill James. Though his major league stats are nothing special, a 3.69 strikeout/walk ratio and less than 1 homer allowed per game in the minors indicate that the talent is there.

Robert Manuel: Young like Snell (26), Manuel still has growth potential ahead of him. He complements excellent control – just 1.5 walks per game – with a ridiculous K/BB ratio of 5.47 in the minors. He has always been a middle reliever, and is likely to stay that way.

Traded Away

Jeff Clement: Probably the biggest loss in the trade, I just recently wrote about how Clement might be ready for a permanent run in the majors. His AAA numbers are impressive, and in the National League he could be stashed at first without causing too much harm, while backing up Ryan Doumit at catcher for the Pirates.

Adcock/Lorin/Pribanic: All in their early 20s and all unproven. Not one has played AA ball or higher, so it’s hard to tell now exactly what Seattle is losing, other than minors depth.

Wladimir Balentien: Balentien appeared to be a potential power hitter after two years in the Mariners’ minor league system, hitting 46 homers in less than two full seasons. However, that power hasn’t translated into home runs at Safeco, and his strikeout rates have remained up around 30%.

It seemed that Seattle was on the verge of throwing in the towel this season and trading some big guns (Washburn, Bedard) away for prospects. Then Bedard had two awful starts and went on the DL, and his trade value plummeted. While 20.5 hours still remain before the deadline, the Mariners have yet to trade away a big name for young talent, instead opting to trade away their own young pieces for current major leaguers. The next day could be interesting…

After Wednesday's madness, Thursday is calm...

Cale — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 19:32:32 +0000

Pirates’ shortstop Jack Wilson and P Ian Snell to the Mariners for SS Ronny Cedeno, C Jeff Clement, P Brett Lorin, P Aaron Pribanic, P Nathan Adcock: The Mariners proved everyone wrong when they traded for Gold Glove shortstop Jack Wilson from the Pirates. Seattle, thought to be out of the AL West race and would be sellers, upgraded their team’s defense as well as adding starting pitching depth in Ian Snell. The Pirates on the other hand acquired shortstop Ronny Cedeno, who had been a surprise thus far. The Bucs also got catcher Jeff Clement, who was a top prospect for the Mariners, but struggled mightily in the Majors. The three pitchers just add to the Pirates surplus of prospects, as they build toward a strong future.

Grade: B+ for Mariners, B for Pirates

Pirates’ second basemen Freddy Sanchez to the Giants for P Tim Alderson: The Giants added another bat Wednesday in second basemen Freddy Sanchez. Luckily for Sanchez, he didn’t have to go far seeing as the Pirates were playing the Giants in San Francisco. The Giants fill a void that they’ve had at second base all year, and build up their offense to take a run at the Dodgers in the NL West. The Pirates get yet another top prospect in P Tim Alderson, as they build towards the future.

Grade: B+ for Giants, C+ for Pirates

Blue Jays’ P Roy Halladay to…..no one: It’s sad when the most talked about deal of the deadline is one that hasn’t been made, and now most likely will not be made. The Phillies acquiring P Cliff Lee yesterday made one thing much clearer, and that is that Roy Halladay will not be moved. The Phils had been the favorite to get Halladay from the start, because they are the only team with the type of young top prospects that absolutely blew GM J.P. Riccardi away. Although, the Phillies were not willing to mortgage their future for Halladay, and got their second choice in Lee, at a much lighter price.

Grade: F for Blue Jays, for waiting to long to trade Halladay

This time I am buying what the Bucco's are selling

joelodanosky — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:40:15 +0000

The rebuilding project in Pittsburgh seams to be as slow and tedious as a government funded project. However, this time I am buying what the Bucco’s are selling. Before you point out the obvious, that the Pirates have traded away a pennant winning team in the last half decade, let’s take a look at what they actually accomplished.

First of all, Adam LaRoche, wasn’t going to be resigned under any circumstances in 2010. In that trade, the Pirates got 2 young players, pitcher Hunter Strickland and short stop Argenis Diaz. Basically, a two for nothing deal.

Then you take a look at the blockbuster that they were able to pull off yesterday with Seattle. If Ian Snell goes on to win multiple Cy Young’s I may have to retract this statement. Once again, Jack Wilson turned down a fair market offer to play in PNC Park next year and aside from an act of God, Snell wasn’t going to be on the opening day roster. Essentially, Neal Huntingdon, acquired 5 players, for nothing!

Wilson was a fan favorite in Pittsburgh, but this guy and Ian Snell were not worth 5 players. Pittsburgh got MLB ready short stop Ronny Cedeno, lefty first baseman Jeff Clement, perhaps this lefty will finally be the Pirate that abuses the right field short porch in PNC Park, and three young pitchers in Aaron Pribanic, Nathan Adcock, and Brett Lorin.

These long term plans that we have been hearing of for 13 plus years was like investing your retirement with Bernie Madoff… Looks great on paper, till its time to cash out!

This plan I am buying in on. At first I was against the Lastings Milledge trade, but you can build around Milledge; whereas Nyger Morgan was always going to be a complementary player.

Essentially what the Pirates are doing is giving themselves options and trying to build a core group of players for the future. Andrew McCutchen, Ryan Doumit, Pedro Alverz, Brandon Moss, Milledge, Neil Walker, Tony Sanchez and what would appear to be the makings of a solid pitching staff will be in the system for at least 4 more years.

The Freddie Sanchez deal, I personally thought was a little disappointing, from the stand point that I anticipated more than a one for one trade. The new Pirates front office, is building a core group for the future, as they have been for how many years? Trading away players, that weren’t going to be around in 2010 and adding young players to their farm system is what they need to do. Again, the pressure falls onto player development programs, but now they have something to work with.

This assembly of players, as of now, appears to be a solid base for the future, but if the Pirates ownership isn’t willing to start spending money to make the needed additions to that core group of players the vicious cycle will only continue.

Pirates Trade Wilson, Sanchez; Make Some Good Deals

Daniel Berkowitz — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:35:00 +0000

MLB Babble has now moved to the Most Valuable Network. The URL is still the same—http://mlbbabble.com—but I will no longer be posting on this WordPress blog. I have placed this update on all pages in an attempt to redirect visitors to the updated blog. Again, the URL is the same—http://mlbbabble.com. Thanks for reading!

Yesterday the Pittsburgh Pirates traded SS Jack Wilson (along with P Ian Snell) to the Seattle Mariners, as well as 2B Freddy Sanchez to the San Francisco Giants; they received a total of six players in return. Wilson and Sanchez were the Pirates’ lone remaining big money players, not to mention the only ones putting butts in the seats.

I wrote about the Pirates earlier this month, calling them the worst franchise in baseball for trading away all their young talent while not getting anything substantial back. In this instance, I believe they made the right moves.

(Click here for the MLB Notebook roundtable on this subject)

The Pirates have dealt away all of their great, relatively young players in recent years: Jason Kendall, Jason Bay, Nyjer Morgan, Xavier Nady, Sean Burnett, Eric Hinske, Nate McClouth, among others.

By dealing Sanchez, the Bucs got 20 year-old Double A pitcher Tim Alderson, who was considered one of the top prospects in the Giants’ farm system. And in the deal with the Mariners, they received a former first round draft pick in Jeff Clement (who is hitting .288 in Triple A), along with four other solid prospects from what I have read.

It sounds like Pittsburgh made two deals here that provide them solid foundations on which to build in the next couple years. Unlike in the past, when they received relatively little in return, they finally made a couple deals that benefit the franchise. Instead of just shipping away high-priced talent (for their market) and telling their trade partner they didn’t need anything back as long as that team ate the salary, they finally received top-prospects in return (as well as dump salary).

Perhaps the Bucs are turning a corner. With a minuscule payroll and a farm system that is in the midst of rebuilding itself, Pittsburgh fans may have something to cheer about in years to come.

Seattle a Buyer? Adds Wilson, Snell from Bucs for Clement and Four Others

paulproia — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:09:54 +0000

Last year, many had Seattle contending for the AL West crown only to look bad as Jarrod Washburn struggled and Erik Bedard went down to injury. This year, forecasts for Seattle were more conservative – and yet here is Seattle just 7-1/2 behind Los Angeles and an outside shot to take down a wild card spot. So – rather than deal away talent, Seattle tried to fill a couple of holes and just might have done it. Seattle acquired shortstop Jack Wilson, who had complained about his lot in Pittsburgh, and Ian Snell, whose struggles earned him a ticket to AAA, for a quintet of players including Jeff Clement, Ronnie Cedeno and three others.

Seattle Gets: A solid fielder, even at 31, who is looking for a change of scenery. Jack Wilson is 25 runs each season better than the departed Yuniesky Betancourt and the recently struggling Ronnie Cedeno (a good utility infielder, though – and a legitimately great fielder). Wilson won’t put these guys over the top, but he’s a step up for sure and might be even better now that he’s with a team that – so far as he knows – isn’t dealing away anybody with talent for prospects.

Ian Snell is the wild card. He SHOULD be a solid #3 starter, but because he’s been in Pittsburgh where arms go lame and playing for a team that hasn’t had a sense of direction, he hasn’t really developed into the top flight starter he should be. That being said, he can be fixed; he can be saved. Seattle give him that opportunity. And, if Bedard can come back and give the Mariners eight to ten solid starts, you almost have to like their chances to make a run in September. It may not be enough, but if they find one more piece - preferably a hitter – the Mariners are contenders.

Pittsburgh Gets: Well. I’m not sure. Jeff Clement was a first round pick out of USC – and should be what Ryan Doumit is. But he hasn’t been that good. Look, if you play in the PCL, just drop 50 points off the batting average – and Clement has hit about .275. That doesn’t equal a major leaguer. Maybe he can find something in Pittsburgh to add 40 points to his batting average and unlock his power. However, he’ll be 26 in a month and he’s running out of time as a prospect. He can catch – and if Doumit becomes a permanent first baseman, he’ll help out for a year or two. After that, though, I’m not sold on Jeff Clement.

Ronny Cedeno has improved some with more time in the majors – as a hitter. He’s a gold glove candidate if he plays 1000 innings in the field. So, the Pirates got Jack Wilson without the bad attitude and a little less punch. I’ll try not to get too excited, though. If Pittsburgh is to win at all on this deal, the three minor leaguers had better be prospects.

Nathan Adcock is a high school draft pick from 2006 who isn’t making great progress in the minors. He has some stuff, but no command and remains – three years later - with A+ High Desert Mavericks. If he makes a big step up in his control, he’s got a shot at being a mop up reliever. At this point, though, he’s losing ground on being a ranked prospect.

Brett Lorin is a young arm pitching for Clinton (A) right now – and pitching really well. A starter with good command – a great K/W ratio, too – Lorin has a chance to make this work for Pittsburgh. The problem is (a) he’s still three years away, and (b) Pittsburgh has wasted the arms of so many prospects. Otherwise, I like this kid and think that the 2012 rotation may feature Lorin in the #4 or #5 spot. If he gets further than that, the Pirates will have overhauled their development program.

Aaron Pribanic is pitching with Lorin at Clinton. Drafted out of the University of Nebraska, he’s got decent numbers but at a glance his stuff isn’t quite as nasty as Lorin’s. Given a few years to mature, though, he might turn into Matt Herges – and that wouldn’t be a bad career. We’ll get a few baseball cards, anyway. I don’t see him making a huge difference in the Pirates fortunes in 2012, but he could be on the roster.

In summary, I think Seattle wins this one – getting two guys who can help now and might have an immediate impact just by being freed from the Bucs dungeon. Pittsburgh, however, only removed two talents who were no longer friends of management to acquire the next Andy Marte, Rey Ordonez, and three guys to fill out the AA roster. I’ll root for Lorin to wear the black and yellow, though.

In a related trade… Disappointing prospect Wladimir Balentien was shuttled to Cincinnati for reliever Robert Manuel. I’m okay with this – Balentien might help the Reds in a utility outfielder role and he certainly needs a change of scenery, having failed in Seattle and being designated for assignment. However, Manuel isn’t bad – good control in the minors, strikes out a lot of guys. If this translates to big league success, you’re talking about getting a seventh inning guy or long reliever you aren’t embarrassed to shove out there if needed. I like both of these moves for Seattle. I DON’T think they’re going to catch teams and surprise someone in the playoffs, but they definitely improved the roster for very little cost.

Pirates/Giants Recap

sportsnat — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:04:12 +0000

image from espn.com

Pirates 2 Giants 4

Pirates 2 Giants 3

Pirates 0 Giants 1

Man, this is an depressing interesting team to follow around the trading deadline. Two (three?) more quality players said sayanora since the Arizona series concluded. Jack Wilson and Ian Snell are now Mariners, and (this just in) Freddy Sanchez will stay behind in San Francisco (if you don’t believe it, there’s a picture of Sanchez in a Giant uniform up top. Just let it sink in). In return for Wilson and Snell we get Ronny Cedeno, AAA first baseman Jeff Clement, and 3 A-ball pitchers. So, the way I see it, we trade Snell for Clement (both are borderline MLB talent), we downgrade from Wilson to Cedeno (a journeyman, but major leaguer) and we make up for it with the young arms. That’s fair. Plus it gives us another shortstop for the short term. My only concern is Clement. He’s the supposed keystone of the trade. The report on him is that he can hit for power, but he’s got a hole in his swing (he can’t hit curve balls. Think Pedro Cerrano, the guy who practices voodoo in the movie ‘Major League’). We traded Sanchez straight up for AA prospect Tim Alderson. So let me get this straight: we traded an established major league second baseman who still has a lot of production left in him for a kid with a heck of a lot of promise, but zero major league experience. How did we not get hosed in this deal? It’s a gamble. I get it. It’s a known commodity (Freddy’s remaining production) for something that could be greater than that or less than that. But usually a GM will add in another prospect to kind of hedge the bet a little bit. Now, this was a quality kid. No doubt about it. He was #4 in their system and he’s only 20 years old. But for him to make this trade a success, he has to be a multi-time all-star. That’s a heck of a lot of expectations for a kid in AA. I sure hope we know what we’re doing. Oh, and one more thing: we’ve been stocking the minor leagues forever. We should be kicking butt down on the farm even if we’re struggling up in the ‘burgh, right? Well, lets look at the standings and get a whiff of good news, shall we?

AAA International League West Division

Louisville (Reds) 59-44

Indianapolis (Pirates) 50-53

Toledo (Tigers) 48-56

Columbus (Indians) 45-57

2nd place. Not bad. Not bad at all. 2nd place by a mile and still not above .500, but it’s decent. Nobody’s perfect. We were in last place last year. So improvement at least. Let’s continue:

AA Eastern League Southern Division

Akron (Indians) 63-41

Erie (Tigers) 57-45

Reading (Phillies) 56-46

Bowie (Orioles) 56-47

Harrisburg (Nationals) 46-55

Altoona (Pirates) 41-63

Ouch. That smarts. Especially since this is supposedly where all the major talent like Pedro Alvarez, Gorkys Hernandez and Jose Tabata are. I’m not going to lie, that’s embarrassing. But one team does not a system make, so onward:

A Carolina League Northern Division

Potomac (Nationals) 58-41

Lynchburg (Pirates) 56-45

Wilmington (Royals) 56-45

Fredrick (Orioles) 48-53

Ok. Another solid middle of the pack showing. Not too bad. This team is actually above .500 unlike the other two. That’s encouraging. One more team:

A South Atlantic League Northern Division

Kannapolis (White Sox) 19-13

Hickory (Rangers) 18-14

West Virginia (Pirates) 17-13

Lakewood (Phillies) 18-15

There are others in the division, but no one cares. The point is that we’re seeing a bunch of middle of the pack minor league teams in our system right now. We’ve traded away every arguable major league player in Pittsburgh. These minor league teams are now the future of the Pirates and they aren’t getting much better without years of drafting. The revitalizing through trades is almost done (there are one or two more trades left, but none that should bring much of a return). If we’re not dominating or at least playing .500 ball down there, what makes you think it will change when they’re playing the same guys in the bigs in a few years? Just a depressing thought for the future. Anyway, that turned into another post by itself. I have a series to recap. So here’s the short run-down.

Game one was a disaster. Tim Lincecum pitched a complete game and struck out 15. The kids good. And he was on his game on Monday. But jeez. That’s embarrassing. 4 hits for the Pirates. 4 hits. That will never win you a game. That will almost never get you 2 runs, but we at least pulled that one off. Waste of a decent game by Maholm

Game two was the same story. We faced a good pitcher (Barry Zito). We had a decent pitcher on the mound (Charlie Morton). We got a good game from our guy, and blew it by getting absolutely no run support. We managed 10 hits this time, but still only turned them into 2 runs. I didn’t realize that was possible. This game will mostly be remembered for Garrett Jones bobbling a ball in the outfield, and the amazing catch (or not) by Delwyn Young that ensued. In case you missed it, here it is:

Cue the circus music. Man. Only the Pirates. The sad part is that blown call cost us a run and consequently a shot at extra innings. Not like we would have won there, anyway.

Game three was the worst offensive showing yet. A shutout. The third time we’ve been shut out in a week. Pitiful. Matt Cain threw a gem for San Francisco. No doubt about it. But this is more on us. We managed 3 hits. In 10 innings! That’s right. Due to an equally impressive 7 innings of shutout ball by Zach Duke, we brought the game to extra innings scoreless and we STILL couldn’t do anything! That’s the worst part. All we needed was one run. One stinking piece of luck or anything, and we couldn’t muster it. Makes you want to smack your head into a wall. But to be fair, lets look at our lineup from this afternoon and where they were last year.

Player Team @ end of ‘08 Class

Andrew McCutchen Indianapolis AAA

Andy LaRoche Pittsburgh MLB

Delwyn Young Los Angeles (NL) MLB

Garrett Jones Rochester AAA

Steve Pearce Indianapolis AAA

Brandon Moss Pittsburgh MLB

Ramon Vazquez Texas MLB

Jason Jaramillo Lehigh Valley AAA

So there you have it. Half of our 8 position players were in AAA at the end of last year. Add on to that by qualifying that Andy LaRoche was in AAA last year before coming to Pittsburgh, and none of the other 3 were regular starters, and you’ve got quite the lineup. When people joke about Pittsburgh being a AAA team, they’re only half joking. Remember that. It’s going to be a loooooong rest of the season.

Seattle Mariners Continue Proud Tradition of Being Terrible

jakerake — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:57:49 +0000

The Seattle Mariners are a bizarrely run sports franchise. Playing in the easiest division in baseball to reach the postseason, the team has now failed to do so for seven consecutive seasons. With only four teams in the AL West, and routinely crappy ones at that, the Mariners open every season with a 25% chance of claiming a playoff spot. However, with Wednesday’s trade with the Pirates, the Mariners made a bold statement about their goal to avoid postseason baseball until the Sun expands into a Red Giant and envelops the Earth, thereby ending any chance of accidentally slipping into contention, as sometimes happens in that stupid division out there on the left side of the country.

Enjoy reading my rambling complaints about baseball? Click here to finish the article!

Paying the Pirates

lostinsoxcountry — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:30:53 +0000

It’s official. The Pittsburgh Pirates Front Office must have some dirt on West Coast teams because they’ve pulled off absolute heists today in their trades with the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants. Either that or no one wanted to pay the cross-country airfares, as the Pirates are visiting the Giants. See, all Sanchez has to do is go to the other dugout while Snell and Wilson can take a quick trip up. That’s cost savings.

They gave up: 2B Freddy Sanchez, SS Jack Wilson, and SP Ian Snell.

They got: Jeff Clement, Rodney Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin, Nathan Adcock, and Tim Alderson.

Let’s see, 2 players they had to dump because of salary concerns, and a pitcher who publicly stated he didn’t want to pitch for the Pirates. They’ve magically turned that into 3 good pitchers in Pribanic, Lorin, and Adcock, a solid hitter in Clement, a great prospect in Alderson, and then Cedeno (no comment).

If you didn’t know, I’m on the Jeff Clement bandwagon. He’s had an excellent minor league track record before the Mariners messed up his development and he got hurt. He’s still a solid bat with the potential for more. He’s OPSed .867, 1.131, and .871 in AAA the past 3 years. He should be in the majors. Alderson on the other hand…

Wow, just wow. For Freddy Sanchez? Alderson isn’t quite as known as Madison Bumgarner, but he was still rated as the Giant’s #4 prospect by Baseball America. I don’t know about you, but I love low 90’s fastball guys with great curveballs combined with good control. In Single-A last year, Alderson racked up 124 strikeouts against 34 walks in 145.1 innings. This year he’s thrown 66:17 in 98.2. Sure he doesn’t strike out a ton, but he’s still a big prospect, and one that definitely should not have been swapped for Sanchez.

I think it’s safe to say. Pirates = Trade Deadline Winners. Giants and Mariners =

Bucs, Mariners Agree on Trade

Ryan Gaydos — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:02:23 +0000

Mariners acquired SS Jack Wilson and RHP Ian Snell from the Pirates for SS Ronny Cedeno, C Jeff Clem

The Daily Habit: Basebal

the115 — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:01:35 +0000

Pirates Trade with Mariners

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090729/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_pirates_mariners_trade

big day for trades

Mr. Cameron Rose — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:16:39 +0000

The Mariners struck rich today. They got their Yuneski Bentancourt replacement in Jack Wilson.
Jeff Clement was the reason the Mariners had to trade Ian Snell. A Clement for Wilson trade would have been lopsided in the Pirates favor.
Ronny Cedeno was not a toss in. When you factor in how much the Pirates were paying Jack Wilson compared to how much they will pay Cedeno (ml minimum), he is valuable.
The rest of the pitchers are projectable relievers.
Wladimir Balentin was traded to the Reds for a reliever.
This trade does not mean that the Mariners are buyers at the deadline. It just buys them time until August to see where their team is at.

Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco are no longer Indians.
Francisco is a 5 tool player who needed a change of scenary. Lee is going to a National League team, but with a horrible ball park. Lee is a fly ball pitcher so he will get eaten alive in Philadelphia.
The Indians could have held out for more but still got a solid coup. Marson, the catcher in the deal projects to hit for average and plays solid defense. Jason Donald is overrated but he will give you the defense needed for the middle infield.
Carlos Carrasco and Jason Knapp are injury prone starters. Carrasco specifically needed to get out of the Phillies system before he imploded.
This move puts pressure on the Dodgers to acquire a pitcher. It also forces the Blue Jays to get creative now regarding a Halladay trade.
I would expect this ends the big name players that are moved. Freddy Sanchez and Victor Martinez are the biggest names left on the market.

More Baseball Stuff

Danimal — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:02:35 +0000

First and foremost, it doesn’t look like Roy Halladay’s going anywhere. His trade value may have plunged with the Cliff Lee deal concluded. Boston apparently is reluctant to get involved, per MLB Trade Rumors and the Herald.

Pittsburgh and Seattle made a hefty trade. The Mariners get Jack Wilson to give them solid defense at shortstop (and an expensive option on his contract for next year), while the Pirates will see if Jeff Clement can finally live up to his #3 pick hype, plus they get Ronny Cedeno and some pitching prospects. Veteran Pittsburgh reporter Dejan Kovacevic says the Pirates are actually paying much of Wilson and pitcher Ian Snell’s remaining salary for this year. Fangraphs’ Dave Cameron, as well as Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus like what the Pirates are getting, while Rob Neyer says the Mariners’ end of the deal is in three parts- whether or not Snell, a formerly touted prospect, can get back to the Majors and blossom as a pitcher (in a great pitcher’s park), whether or not the Mariners can win the AL West this year or next (a product, at least in part, of Wilson’s defense), and that Pittsburgh is paying some of the freight. Fellow ESPN writer Keith Law again finds little to love in the deal other than the defensive possibilities for Seattle, and Pittsburgh building up its supply of young pitchers.

The Pirates may also trade Freddy Sanchez and/or others today. Stay tuned on that one.

The great Ken Rosenthal has a rundown of other stuff. He thinks George Sherill may go, but Adrian Gonzalez probably won’t. Rosenthal also says Boston is unlikely to get Victor Martinez, but MLB Trade Rumors quotes Buster Olney with sourced info that indicates Martinez is going somewhere.

More later.

Big Day for Trades

backwardsk — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:53:39 +0000

Big Moves right now across MLB.

The Pirates continue to dismantle their team, sending Jack Wilson and Ian Snell to Seattle in exchange for Jeff Clement (former top 5 draft pick) and a few minor league pitchers. Wilson had discussed his displeasure with the way the organization was moving after the Pirates sent Nate McLouth packing to Atlanta. As an impending free agent, there was no way he was staying in Pittsburgh.

The Phillies got their ace, although he didn’t come from Team Canada (The Blue Jays… duh). The Indians sent Cliff Lee to the reigning champions along with outfielder Ben Francisco in exchange for a collection of top Phillie prospects including infielder Jason Donald, catcher Lou Marson, and pitcher Carlos Carrasco. I’ve had the pleasure of watching each of them play at AAA Lehigh Valley, and the Indians did very well for themselves. They really didnt have a choice since the Indians were way out of contention and Lee, the reigning Cy Young award winner in the AL, was likely going to walk after 2010 when he became a free agent.

My guess is that now Roy Halladay stays in Toronto, Cleveland also trades Victor Martinez (Boston?), and the Pirates trade Freddy Sanchez.

I’ll live blog on Friday for the trade deadline, so mark your calendars.

you ain't going nowhere

Space — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:54:23 +0000

I should have a review of the Cliff Lee deal up tonight, but first, a boring trade not likely to impact playoff races!

Pittsburgh Pirates traded SS Jack Wilson and SP Ian Snell to Seattle Mariners for C/1B Jeff Clement, SS Ronny Cedeno, and minor league SPs Brett Lorin, Aaron Pribanic, and Nathan Adcock.

First thought: the Pirates are finally doing something not thoroughly futile. Second thought: …and that’s about all I can say for them.

Wilson will be a free agent at the end of the year (or rather, with an expensive club option, his team should make him a free agent), and Snell’s stock has fallen quite a bit since his eye-opening 2007 season. There’s nothing about Wilson that a team completely out of the hunt is likely to miss, and Snell is the sort of player for whom the proverbial “change of scenery” trade seems to make sense. With the Pirates paying most of their salaries for 2009, the deal has to be judged solely on the players going back to Pittsburgh.

Clement is easily the centerpiece of the package from Seattle; the 25-year-old can take walks and has solid power that could make him a nice doubles hitter in the majors, even if he can’t convert some of those two-baggers to home runs. The question, however, is where he’ll play – Clement was a catching prospect, but has increasingly been used as a designated hitter. If the Pirates are forced to use him at first base, it’s tough to see him being anything special, but he could at least be a cheap, solid hitter for a team that won’t be shooting for anything past “respectable” for several years.

But that’s about it for now – Cedeno is only 26, but he should manage to be a downgrade from Jack Wilson’s productivity. The prospects are where the Mariners could eventually regret the deal, but that looks unlikely to me; they moved quantity rather than quality here. None of the pitchers are highly ranked on any of the lists I found (including Baseball Prospectus, Baseball America, and a handful of others), and none of them have stats that make me think they’re being undervalued. 22-year-old Lorin has shown some strikeout ability, but with walk problems. Pribanic is soon to be 23, and his hopes look to hinge on continuing to induce ground balls. Adcock is the most advanced of the trio, but that’s not saying much; in the High-A California League, he’s seen his walks spike and his strikeouts dip; he’s only 21, but has been in the M’s system since 2006, and his slow advancement has to be considered a negative indicator.

I really like Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik, and I’m willing to trust his evaluation of his own prospects. He gave up quite a few young trading chips, but the best bet to help the Pirates is likely to do so in pretty mediocre fashion. The idea that Seattle can make a run at the wild card (currently behind three teams and 6.5 out) seems far-fetched, but stranger things have happened, and this isn’t just a move for 2009. Snell has been dominant at AAA Indianapolis, so his potential’s not gone yet; he’s due just over $4 million next year, and the Mariners then have a pair of club options. If he does well in the spacious Safeco Field, he represents a solid arm under team control for several years; if not… well, he’s still farther along than any of the prospects will likely ever be. And if his presence gives the Mariners the depth to deal fly ball-prone SP Jarrod Washburn before he turns back into a pumpkin, better still.

Pirates Send Ian Snell West?

Ryan Gaydos — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:30:43 +0000

According to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates have traded Jack Wilson and