Did you know that the anemic pitching system of the Texas Rangers once simulataneously included Chris Young (traded with Adrian Gonzalez for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka), Edinson Volquez (traded for Josh Hamilton) and John Danks (traded for Brandon McCarthy)? With Josh Hamilton being the notable exception, the Rangers have basically given away several of their top players (including Mark Teixeira) over the years for "top prospects" that never panned out (replacing traded talent with aged veterans like Vincent Padilla, Kevin Millwood and Eric Gange).
Scarier than this situation is that of the Detroit Tigers, who traded the entire farm in less than two years (primarily in one offseason). Since the end of the 2007 season, the Tigers have given away Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller, Jair Jurrjens, Matt Joyce, Gorky Hernandez and Burke Badenhop (in addition to a few other no name guys) and only received Miguel Cabrera (who is great), Dontrelle Willis (who has been the opposite of great since 2006) and Edgar Renteria (who is old and inconsistent) in return. Of those three, only Miguel Cabrera is expected to be on the major league roster in 2009. The Tigers' minor league system is pretty barren, with 2007 draft pick Rick Porcello being the lone retained talent. Doom and gloom looms for Detroit fans past 2010.
Just think, Detroit fans, this is what the core of your team COULD have looked like in 2009:
C - Greg Laird
1B - Magglio Ordonez (he can't hurt you as bad defensively if you shove him at first)
2B - Placido Polanco
SS - Adam Everett
3B - Carlos Guillen
OF - Curtis Granderson
OF - Matt Joyce
OF - Cameron Maybin
DH - Gary Sheffield
SP - Justin Verlander, Jair Jurrjens, Andrew Miller, Armando Galaragga, Rick Porcello
Instead, you have Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and D-Train. Congratulations, Dave Dombrowski.
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8 comments:
Ummmm ... What about Edwin Jackson?
ugh, where to start...
Zero Tiger fans lament the loss of Burke Badenhop
The Tiger got Edwin Jackson for Joyce
The Tigers pitchers in 2010 (with 2010 ages)
Verlander (27)
Porcello (21)
Galaragga (28)
Bonderman (27)
Jackson (26)
Zumaya (25)
Perry (23)
Miner (28)
not a bad core at all
and Maybin and Miller will mostly likely never equal Cabrera.
Everyone else in that transaction is just noise
First of all the Sox got Danks AND Masset (who they then traded to Cincy for Griffey Jr) for Brandon McCarthy
Second, some other lopsided trades this decade:
Twins (2008):
Johan Santana for Carlos Gomez + 3 nobody's. wait I'm sorry, four nobody's
Matt Garza for Delmon Young
Fuck the Tigers, imagine what the TWINS rotation would have been w/o trades
Santana, Fransisco Liriano, Garza, Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker. Your boy Nick Blackburn doesn't even get a roster spot!
Twins/Giants (2006):
Joe Nathan, Boof Boonser, Liriano for AJ Pierzynski
White Sox/D-Backs (2008):
-Carlos Quentin for minor league 1B Chris Carter
Indians/Expos (2002):
Expos get: Bartolo Colon
Indians get: Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, and Brandon Phillips (although the Indians then traded away Phillips in 2006 for shit)
Mets/Rays (2004):
-Scott Kazmir and a nobody for Victor Zambrano and someone random bumblefuck schmuck
Indains/Brewers (2008):
Matt LaPorta for CC Sabathia.
Sabathia leaves after the season and the Brew Crew don't even get the Yankees first round pick AND don't win a playoff series
Edwin Jackson had a career year with his 4.88 FIP. He was lucky in his 4.5 ERA and you should expect some serious regression towards the 5.00 ERA mark. Jackson walks a bunch of guys (4.5 BB/9), Strikes out a few (6.2 K/9) and gives up a ton of long balls (>1.1 HR/9). There is absolutely NOTHING to like about the guy. Joyce is a quality defender with a ready to play 20 HR bat with an ability to walk (11% BB). His power could easily develop into the 30 HR range with 600 ABs with in the next few seasons; he's posted a .240 ISO in his first 250 ABs and a .200 ISO in the minors
Unfortunately, despite their age, the Tigers do not have a good pitching core. Bonderman has only had one quality season (2006) on his resume. His FIP has been north of 4.15 every other season. He's also a huge health risk (blood clots, arm problems, etc). Verlander's not a guy I trust anymore. Verlander has NEVER posted a FIP below 4.00 -- I say this having owned him in 2007 -- and his K rate and velocity have been down the last 42 starts. Last year wasn't a fluke; he just performed the way you should expect with the Tigers defense behind him.
Galaragga and his 3.73 ERA was a nice treat for the team last year, but his 4.88 FIP calls for some serious regression going forward.
Porcello has never pitched above AA, so how much success can you really expect from him without being hopeful?
Zumaya won't throw 100 again, after three seasons of endless arm injuries. Zach Miner...that's not even worth analyzing.
All in all, the Tiger's pitching isn't just thin, it's anemic.
________________
My bad on the Masset bit; i'll fix it
Johan Santana as a Rule 5 was much more one-sided
Oh, also, Burke Badenhop is a quality cost controlled #4/#5 arm. You could do MUCH worse (Jason Marquis?)
Just because you can do much worse doesn't mean the player is good. If you're gonna compare a player to one of the worst pitchers in baseball right now to justify how good another player is, you're not making a statement about said player. You're just saying saying that this said player isn't the worst. You can still be pretty bad and not desirable by any teams and still be better than Jason Marquis.
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