Now that my brain has recovered from the completely insane Matt Morris trade, here's some thoughts on what's happened:
Ben, the Braves are clearly going for it this year, which makes sense I think. The division is still within reach, and there's not much time left for the core of this Braves team: Larry keeps getting dinged up, Andruw may no longer be around next season, and who knows how much longer Smoltz is going to be effective. With the moves they made, their bullpen is much better, and even if Tex doesn't hit like he has in Texas, he's still a major upgrade for their lineup - I think I read that Atlanta was ranking dead last in the majors in RBIs by their first basemen. You said that Tex has 8 HRs in 144 ABs away from Arlington - sure, that ain't Ruthian, but it still adds up to 30 HRs over 550 ABs. A lot of teams could use that. I'm not really familiar with any of the prospects the Braves traded away besides Salty, so I can't assess the value they gave away. But the Braves filled many of their immediate needs, and they now look to me like a better bet than the Phils to unseat the Mets.
As for Gagne: he's not the pitcher he was pre-injury, and initially there was speculation that he would share the closer role, which had me worried about a clash of egos between him and Papelbon. But seeing as Gagne has explicitly agreed to a set-up role I guess I like the trade. He's still pretty good, he's got experience, and the Sox didn't give up anyone too important in order to get him. He can take some innings/pressure off of Okajima while providing insurance in case Papelbon gets hurt. Plus he doesn't pitch for the Yankees now.
The Proctor-Betemit deal was a good one for the Yanks for sure. They got a useful bench player for 07/possible third baseman for 08 in return for a pitcher Torre has run into the ground. I think Betemit was pretty expendable (isn't someone else already tabbed as 3B of the future for LA?) but I'm still surprised the Dodgers were willing to accept Proctor of all people in exchange for him.
Luis Castillo to the Mets: I would have been okay with running Ruben Gotay out there every day but I guess this makes both management and fans feel like something (anything) was done at the deadline. What's way more important is getting Beltran (not to mention Pedro) back from the DL.
Kyle Lohse and Tad Iguchi to the Phillies: Iguchi is obviously a stopgap and Lohse is a very (very) minor upgrade. Pretty 'whatever', especially compared to who the Braves acquired and who the Mets will get back from injuries. Also I see Lohse is out of today's game after only one IP/one ER - not sure why yet, but for whatever reason, that ain't good.
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2 comments:
My main man, Andy LaRoche, is the Dodgers future hotbagger.
He is totally your boy, Nappy.
Yeah, so I was wrong about Texeira, at least so far. Clearly the Braves are making a push. Maybe they'll win the division rather than the Phillies. But I really don't think the Mets can hold it. My confidence in the Phillies earlier in the year was based on the probability that someone (other than the Mets) would float to the top by attrition. I still think that's going to happen. For the firepower the Mets ostensibly have, their offensive production is really lackluster. I hate to say it, but Beltran and Delgado are kind of dead weight in the middle of that lineup, with their averages down so many points and with the power numbers just eh. The lineup hits for OK power as a whole, and is quite fast, but they have real trouble producing runs short of the long ball. They strike out a ton and don't really hit for average. The pitching is fine for the first 60% of the rotation, but of the starters Maine is the only guy I would really want on the mound in an important situation, and despite pitching in the playoffs last year he's still relatively untested.
The Phillies, meanwhile, are playing go-for-broke ball with a deep, powerful lineup. Obviously Utley is a big factor, but even without him I'd still take the Phillies over the Mets in a shootout, which you often get with them. They're far, far from perfect, but they have the best offense in the NL by a pretty wide margin and I expect them to win a fair number of ugly games down the stretch.
I don't blame the Braves for making a move at all, though; it was certainly justified given the state of the division and the tools they already had.
I think your last point about Gagne is clearly the most crucial. Today's NY-CHI game was hilarious. I hope for many more like it. Betemit is going to be good, but the last thing the Yankees need right now is more bats.
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