Thursday, April 21, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
BP Transaction Report Highlights
Chris Kahrl in Baseball Prospectus hasPlaced C-R Bengie Molina on the 15-day DL (strained quad); recalled 3B-L Dallas McPherson from Salt Lake. [4/18]In other news, Kahrl calls Khalil Greene's loss "a major setback" for the Padres, one they're planning on corking by inserting Jeff Blum in at shortstop, as they did last night. Too bad Blum has only played 108 games (642.1 innings) at that position.I guess this is the benefit of carrying three catchers, none of whom are all that. In Bengie's latest absence, Jose Molina and Josh Paul seem set to split the playing time, while Maicer Izturis was spared the indignity of a trip to America's theocratic wasteland. Then again, Izturis might not be in that much danger, the way people are being played in the early going. Lou Merloni seems to have been forgotten, and Robb Quinlan appears to be first in line for what looks like half (or less) of the playing time at third now that McPherson is back.
I mention "half" because while McPherson ought to get most of the playing time in a near-platoon arrangement, he might have to settle for sharing the job with Quinlan until Mike Scioscia learns to fancy Quinlan less. The Angels' lineup leans pretty heavily to the left, especially with McPherson, Darin Erstad, Garret Anderson and Jeff Davanon all doing their best stuff against right-handers. In that situation, Merloni's platoon rate (.280/.359/.437 vs. LHPs) and Juan Rivera ought to have a chance to make themselves handy if opponents start spotting lefties against them. Of course, if people start jiggering their rotations to slot their lefties against the Halos, what really matters--beyond the effect on the standings--would be the monster season that Vladi Guerrero would probably put up if he saw more of the people he's slugged .667 against over the last three years.
If, once upon a time, the art of managing was all about putting players in a position to do the things that they can do well, Blum’s pretty thoroughly misdeployed. Now that they’re without a shortstop for any length of time, who then can they turn to? Given that Blum and Garcia cannot do the job, now would be a good time to give J.J. Furmaniak a trial, or if that seems overly risky, perhaps Damian Jackson makes sense. Regardless, this is a situation very similar to last season’s disaster in Snugglyville, when the Cubs lost Alex Gonzalez and lacked for a viable alternative.Update: I am informed Chris is a she, formerly a he. As you will, then, and my apologies for the confusion.
Shoutouts
One of the things that just tickles me is when I find a link this this blog on somebody's sidebar (usually by looking at my referrers). What sweetens the discovery even more is finding a literate and thoughtful blog at the other end, as was the case when I popped over to Concerned But Powerless. A mix of "sports, politics, television, music, movies, and general absurdity", Vic (of whom, last name?) has a bunch of stuff worth reading if for no other reason than style points; particularly, I liked this bit about the questionable casting in an upcoming David Fincher film about the Zodiac serial killer. On the sidebar soon enough.And, secondly, thanks to Studes at Hardball Times in today's "Ten Things I Didn't Know Last Week" column for the link back to last Friday's recap of my adventures at Dodger Stadium on Jackie Robinson Day.
What Have We Learned After Two Weeks?
The Score Bard tells us:NL West
Without having Gagne to close,
L.A. is still crushing its foes.
If DePo were me,
I'd be dancing with glee,
And be sticking my thumb on my nose.
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