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Tuesday, August 16, 2005 |
Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition
Baseball Voodoo
Sean points us at this Dallas Morning News story alleging that, of all people, Ryan Drese was the "glue" holding the Rangers' rotation together. Of course, that's fully garbage; the problem the Rangers have had are manifold, but an inability to recognize quality free agent talent is high among them, as is the failure of their farm system to deliver starting pitching. Regarding the former problem, at least they were able to find a taker for Chan Ho Park, so there is some hope.Saunders Scouting Report
Stephen Smith conveniently checks in with a scouting report on Joe Saunders, who blew out his shoulder in 2003. Stop me if you've heard this one before: "In any case, rather than undergoing surgery, Saunders began an aggressive therapy regimen." And then the Big Bad Shoulder Wolf came and ate the young pitcher, and his career. The End. Well, not quite, but color me extremely skeptical of any player who claims he's going to rehab his shoulder rather than undergoing surgery. (See also Shawn Green.)UTK Quickies
A couple from both yesterday's and today's UTK's:- Nothing new about Khalil Greene's broken toe, but Carroll notes that, "It's an injury like this--something that is not only unpreventable but seemingly random--that decides races."
- Armando Benitez was activated, and "Benitez looks great, his frame not exactly svelte, but certainly showing that he was hard at work during his time off. Benitez was not expected to move back to the closer role immediately, but he's ready to pitch and that's more than most expected from him this year."
- The Angels' team doctor, Lew Yocum, is a popular man, it seems. Not only has he inspected Octavio Dotel's elbow for the A's, and last year worked on Joe Borowski's shoulder, but he's inspecting Ted Lilly's shoulder, too. Lilly isn't progressing as fast as he'd like, and the fact that the Jays are in town makes it that much easier.
- While Felix Hernandez is beating up on teams, he might want to look down the bench and see why someone should be watching his mechanics. (And yes, I'm working on a breakdown of his mechanics for a future article.) Gil Meche says he's got "nothing" left in the arm and that his shoulder is both swollen and painful. A bit down the road in Tacoma, Rafael Soriano is throwing again, despite reports of pain in his shoulder, a common problem after Tommy John as pitchers make mechanical adjustments. It's not fair to Hernandez or the M's to have him become a "test case" like Scott Kazmir was for the award-winning staff in Tampa, but let's face it, he is.
Twilight In St. Louis
Bryan Smith has a very interesting piece up about the coming decline and fall of the St. Louis Cardinals. Like the Yankees before them, they've neglected their farm system at their own peril. Walt Jocketty may be a magician, but not even Houdini can call up prospects when the team doesn't have many.In the end, the Cardinals might not be so lucky as the Yankees, who despite ignoring their minor league system, have given their fans those World Series appearances in addition to ten straight playoff appearances. Instead, the Cardinals might trip onto the same path that Brian Sabean currently finds himself on. After winning the 2002 NL Pennant with no dependency on youths, the Giants managed to enter the 2003 playoffs about even-money to repeat as National League champions. Instead, San Francisco lost to the Marlins in the first round, and have seen the walls come tumbling down since, finishing second in 2004 and likely fourth in 2005.Good news if you're a Cubbies fan.At some point the age curve always bites down, and teams that had spent years riding the peak find themselves inexplicably on the decline. By the time they realize what a difference a few prospects could've/should've made, it's too late. It's a slippery slope to the bottom, and unlike the Yankees, the Cardinals don't have the money to buy their ways off.
Comments:
Then there's Eddie Guardodo, who also opted for rehab ths winter in lieu of surgery for a torn rotator cuff.
I honestly don't know, but of their starting five, only Matt Morris came up through their system. Of their relievers with more than 20 IP, only Brad Thompson qualifies. So I would say their system really sucks at generating pitching. But then, the only useful part to come out of the Cards system in the last five years was Pujols, to my recollection.
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