Much Ado About Nothing

Jason Michael Barker

Isn't it remarkable how all those blockbuster trades last off-season have dramatically changed the baseball landscape this year? It's difficult to imagine what the game might look like right now if not for three major deals this winter -- those between the Tigers and Astros, White Sox and Blue Jays, and of course the three-way deal between the A's, Royals and Devil Rays.

That, folks, was a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Wasn't the addition of Johnny Damon supposed to solidify the Athletics as the best team in the American League, if not all of baseball? I'm just glad I wasn't the only one who thought so. Through Saturday, Damon was hitting a mere .206/.254/.300 as the leadoff man for the 15-22 A's. Oakland certainly has more problems than just their leadoff man, but it's hard to score runs with that kind of performance at the top of the batting order.

General Manager Billy Beane took a big chance in trading for Damon, both because he's a free agent after the season and because he gave up a cheap, young slugger in Ben Grieve. Damon hasn't worked out so far, but that's OK because neither has Grieve...

Ah, Ben Grieve. What do you make of a player who hit so well his rookie year -- batting average, power and walks, i.e., the whole package -- yet seemed to regress each of the next two seasons? That isn't entirely fair, because given that he was just 24 and playing in a good pitcher's park last season, there really was nothing wrong with his .279/.359/.487 line with 40 doubles and 27 homers.

At the time of the trade, I anointed Grieve the greatest hitter in Tampa Bay's franchise history and said Beane would live to regret the day he traded away such a promising young hitter. Grieve still may be just that and Beane might still regret the move down the line, but so far Grieve is hitting .236/.361/.366 for the worst team in baseball. The great irony is that given his walk rate, the A's might actually be better off with Grieve at the top of the order instead of Damon.

Finally, the Royals received closer Roberto Hernandez as the consolation prize for giving up Damon but not getting Grieve. That was OK, though, because the Royals blew something like a gazillion saves last season, and we all know how demoralizing that can be for a club. What Kansas City needed, what they really needed, was a veteran closer to shore up the bullpen and turn those blown saves into victories.

Perhaps they would have been better off with that guy, but what they got instead was Hernandez, who has allowed nearly two baserunners per inning this year on his way to a ghastly 7.56 ERA and three blown saves in nine chances. The Royals, meanwhile, are 13-24, in last place in the AL Central, and clearly no better off than they were last season and suddenly the two draft choices they would have gotten as compensation for Damon signing elsewhere don't seem so bad.

Moving on, much was made of the deal between the Astros and Tigers this winter centering on a pair of catchers: proven veteran Brad Ausmus and notorious hothead and clubhouse cancer Mitch Meluskey. In addition to Ausmus the Astros picked up relievers Nelson Cruz and Doug Brocail, while Detroit came away with starter Chris Holt and outfielder Roger Cede–o.

I praised the Tigers at the time, for dealing Ausmus while his value was high and for picking up three cheap, useful parts in Holt, Meluskey and Cede–o. Meluskey and Cede–o brought something the Tigers were lacking -- the ability to get on base -- while Holt was a good bet to improve once he got away from Enron Field and into spacious Comerica Park. Reality: Meluskey is out for the year after shoulder surgery, Cede–o has been horrible (.302 OBP) and Holt has a 5.40 ERA with 49 hits allowed and just 18 strikeouts in 38.1 innings.

Meanwhile, the Astros haven't made out much better. Ausmus is currently stinking up the joint at .184/.243/.272 (hello Dan Wilson!), Brocail blew out his elbow and will miss the season after Tommy Johns surgery, and Cruz is nothing more than an adequate set-up man.

Then there was the fabled deal between the Blue Jays and White Sox, which eventually turned into something of a baseball soap opera. The White Sox would say that the Jays knew full and well about Sirotka's injury, to which the Jays would reply that the Sox had knowing lied to them. Doctors from both sides came out on either side of the issue. Sirotka himself wasn't sure what to think. Finally Bud Selig weighed in, and the Blue Jays got nothing in the way of compensation for Sirotka, who has yet to throw a pitch in a Toronto uniform.

Sure, David Wells has given his typical performance -- 3.63 ERA, few walks and nearly eight innings per start -- but the White Sox are 14-21 and sit a full 11 games out of first place in the AL Central. Wells also publicly blasted Frank Thomas for, essentially, being a big wuss, even though the Big Hurt's big hurt turned out to be serious enough to cost him the remainder of the season after surgery.

The bit parts in the deal -- Kevin Beirne, Brian Simmons, Mike Williams (Toronto) and Matt DeWitt (Chicago) -- have all been non-factors, spending most of their collective time in the minors this season. I suppose the Blue Jays can take solace in the fact that even without Wells in the rotation, they're 19-18 and just three games back of the Red Sox in the AL East.

Three trades. Seven teams. Fifteen players. And in the end nobody seems to be ahead of where they were last season. What does it all mean? I'm not entirely sure, but all this talk of David Wells has made me more than a bit hungry.

about the author

Jason Michael Barker wasn't kidding about being hungry, and he could sure go for a nice turkey sandwhich right about now. Let him know that you'll bring the cranberry sauce and cream cheese if he'll bring the wheat bread when you write him at jmb@strikethree.com.

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