Saturday, April 14, 2007 |
Pickoff Moves
Today's Birthdays
Joe Lahoud CAL b. 1947, played 1974-1976
Greg Myers CAL b. 1966, played 1992-1995
Brad Pennington CAL b. 1969, played 1996
Carlos Perez LAN b. 1971, played 1998-2000, All-Star: 1995. Everyone remembers the Kevin Brown and Darren Dreifort fiascos, long, expensive contracts handed out to non-performers. Dreifort's was a particularly egregious deal because he never really performed over the life of the contract, some sporadic effectiveness in the bullpen notwithstanding. And while Tommy Lasorda's worst deal as GM was the catastrophe of acquiring Jeff Shaw (not to mention his involvement beforehand in dealing Pedro Martinez), Carlos Perez was the model for the later Kevin Malone deals in that it was hatched out of some desperation. Acquired at the 1998 trade deadline from the Expos along with Mark Grudzielanek and Hiram Bocachica for Peter Bergeron, Ted Lilly, and Wilton Guerrero, Perez had been dominating at times. Lasorda, then interim GM, said of the deal that "We've got to get this club into the playoffs," intimating that the trade would help.
It didn't, of course; Perez struggled in three of his first five starts in a Dodger uniform. Kevin Malone re-signed him anyway to a three-year, $15.5M deal. Sure enough, he continued to be erratic, with control problems that left him elevating pitches at inopportune times. By July 23, he was 2-10 with a 7.43 ERA and was still owed most of the three years on the deal. With injured infielder Eric Young also signed to an expensive deal, the Dodgers suddenly had two high-priced free agents not producing. Malone optioned Perez to AAA on July 27, and added Eric Young to the DL. Replacing him on the roster was Robinson Checo hauled in from AAA Albuquerque, who managed one good start against Cincinnati — in which he suffered a groin injury, and was put on the DL. Though made the top priority of minor league pitching coach Jim Benedict, Perez utterly lost his mechanics, and did not pitch again that year for the big club; with Albuquerque, he took a line drive to the shin on August 29, ending an abysmal minor league season with a 3-3 record and a 5.92 ERA.
He had an awful spring that included a DUI arrest, but somehow made the team anyway. He got shelled in his first appearance against a relatively popless Montreal squad, and though he settled down some after that, he never became anything like good. After the season, team physician Frank Jobe found a bone spur in his shoulder; despite talk of a major league comeback, he never made it.
Jack Radtke BRO b. 1913, played 1936
Mike Trombley LAN b. 1967, played 2001
Dodger Stadium Infielders' Vision Woes Continue
Tony Jackson reports that vision issues reported by infielders who can't tell the ball from the seats haven't changed much despite changing the seats to a tan color.Brandon Wood Vs. Ryan Braun Prospect Smackdown
Brandon Wood by a hair.
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