Mike and the Fat Man

Jason Michael Barker

Those of you who read the site regularly -- and we here at Strikethree.com salute all 43 of you -- might realize that I haven't penned a column in nearly a month. But when baseball slows down (remember when that wacky Alex Rodriguez signing was all the rage?) there are more important things in life, such as spending the holidays with your family or, say, driving to Pasadena to see the Washington Huskies demolish the Purdue Boilermakers in the Rose Bowl.

But I digress.

After what seemed like months passing with nothing all that interesting to talk about, a couple of trades went down in the last week or so that made you sit up and say, in your best James Earl Jones voice, "This... is CNN."

All kidding aside, last week's three-team trade that found Ben Grieve in Tampa, Johnny Damon in Oakland and Roberto Hernandez in Kansas City, coupled with yesterday's deal that landed David Wells and his ample posterior in Chicago, have made for an interesting time on the trade circuit.

Let's start with the latter, because by now you've probably seen the Grieve-Damon-Hernandez deal hashed and re-hashed to death, whereas I'm guessing the Wells trade is much fresher in your mind. Personally, I think the Blue Jays got away with thievery. Perhaps nothing so major as grand larceny, but they made a steal nonetheless.

Strip the trade down to its primary components -- David Wells for Mike Sirotka -- and there alone the Blue Jays come out on top. Yeah, Wells won 20 games last season while Sirotka won 15. But if you're reading this site (or if you've just read this far), I'm guessing you know how I feel about won-loss records when it comes to evaluating pitchers. In a word, they're meaningless, because run support is such a determining factor. And how much control does a pitcher have over run support? In the American League, none. In the National League, very little.

Despite conventional wisdom to the contrary, Sirotka was actually the better pitcher last season, besting Wells in ERA (3.79 to 4.11) despite pitching half his games in a much tougher park for pitchers. Then there's the added bonus that he's younger (29 vs. 37), cheaper, in much better shape, and doesn't suffer from gout. Wells just isn't a good bet to continue what he's done over the past three years, while Sirotka has gotten better each of the past three seasons.

The Blue Jays also free up some salary, with Wells set to make $8.25M next season and $9M in 2002 if his option is picked up, while Sirotka will earn roughly $7M over the next two seasons combined.

As for the particulars, Toronto also acquired OF Brian Simmons, RHP Kevin Beirne and RHP Mike Williams. Simmons is roster-filler -- 27 years old and a bad hitter. The Jays already have a fairly crowded outfield with Raul Mondesi, Jose Cruz Jr., Shannon Stewart and prospect Vernon Wells knocking on the door, but they apparently see Simmons as a fourth outfielder, defensive sub, pinch-running type. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.

Beirne, however, should help immediately in the bullpen and perhaps eventually in the rotation. He pitched well in seven starts at AAA, but struggled with his control in the majors. That isn't the first time that's happened to a young pitcher, though, particularly one making the transition from starting to relieving. On the positive side, his strikeout rate remained good, and he allowed a hit per inning.

As for Williams, it's of course never a good idea to bank on relievers in A-ball, but if you're going to take a flyer, it might as well be on a guy who struck out 79 batters in 70 innings. He's a bit of a wild one, though -- 14 wild pitches and 13 hit batters in those same innings last season.

The White Sox also received Matt DeWitt, a AAA swingman with an average fastball, a low strikeout rate and little chance of being an impact player in the future. At best he's a long reliever, but more likely he winds up filling out the roster in AAA.

So there you have it -- a nice little deal orchestrated by the much-maligned Gord Ash, who got value for Wells in Sirotka, got rid of a player who had been quite vocal in bashing the team and its fans this off season, and saved some salary to boot.

Finally, a word or two about last week's previously mentioned three-team trade. At first glance I thought Billy Beane was ripped off -- trading for Damon doesn't seem to fit at all with what the A's normally do. For one, he's about to be a free agent. For another, he isn't enamored with drawing the base-on-balls. And Grieve? A young slugger with a low salary, who's several years from free agency and walks a ton.

Then it hit me. As much as I like Grieve, he has been something of a disappointment the last two years, and the simple fact remains that Damon has been a more productive hitter over that time, walks or no walks. And if any organization can get him to walk more, it's the A's.

Second, what's the one thing the A's have been missing the last two years? A speedy guy to get on base at the top of the order in front of the big hitters. Damon is just that guy, and he also brings some much-needed defensive prowess to an outfield that was hurting for glove coverage.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, Beane understands that he's playing for this season. He knows Damon is a free agent and will most likely leave under the guidance of Scott Boras, and he also knows that Jason Giambi is a free agent as well. He also knows that with an impeding work stoppage, there might not be a 2002 season -- so what's the point in waiting until then to make a run? Beane saw an opportunity to make his A's the best team in the league, and he took it.

The real winners in this trade are the Devil Rays, however, and boy does it feel weird to type that. Not only did they dump something they didn't need (aging closer Roberto Hernandez), they got a player in Grieve who instantly becomes the best hitter in franchise history (no, Wade Boggs doesn't count).

As usual when the A's and Billy Beane are involved, the Royals got screwed in the trade. Damon was their most marketable commodity, and all they have to show for him is Hernandez and an A-ball shortstop (Angel Berroa) who walked 30 times in 429 at-bats and made 54 errors in 129 games?

Sure, the Royals have blown a ton of saves over the past two seasons. Perhaps now, with their "proven veteran closer," they'll finish third in the division instead of fourth.

Whee-haw.

Oh, and the Angels appear close to signing Jose Canseco. Color me unimpressed.

 

about the author

If you heard that nasty Internet rumor that Jason Michael Barker is really "The Fat Man," let us assure you that there's nothing to it. If you'd like to call him by his other nickname, "Shoeless," when you write to jmb@strikethree.com however, feel free.

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