Homers for Nothing
(And a House for Free)

Jason Michael Barker

Random thoughts on the Home Run Derby before getting to today's regularly scheduled column:

• Do you think the hip-hop generation is sitting at home saying to themselves, "Man! I gotta get me one of those goldenrod NL jerseys!"? Me neither.

• I wonder if any casual fans tuned in a bit late and wondered what in the world Paul Konerko and Richie Sexson were doing in the contest.

• Is there some way we can get ESPN to lock Chris Berman up in a room somewhere? Hearing his back-back-back-etc. schtick a million times was bad enough, but is there anything more annoying than the way he says "Jawmby" when referring to the Yankees' slugger?

• Century 21 -- giving some lucky schmuck a free house! This would be more interesting if the winning player had to live with the winning contestant. "Honey, why is this man at our door?" "That's just Barry Bonds, dear. He's going to be staying with us for a few weeks, no big deal." "Hey, where's my recliner?!"

• Sammy Sosa looks absolutely huge, even compared to just a few years ago. I'm not saying "steroids" or anything, but man, he could go play fullback for the Bears and it wouldn't a shocker.

• Speaking of Sosa, it's easy to tell who's serious about the contest and who's not. Sosa certainly is, which I'm basing on how selective he was while batting in the first round. Barry Bonds seems as if he couldn't care less, and the same goes for Alex Rodriguez. The latter is probably wondering when his All-Star bonus check is going to arrive.

• Jason Giambi seemed pretty casual about the whole thing at first, but got serious once it was apparent he had a shot at winning. By the end he was casual again, which is certainly allowed when you romp 7-1 in the final. Perhaps Sosa shot his proverbial wad in the first round? Either that or the pressure finally got to him. I mean, ESPN even had a camera in the tunnel watching him warm up.

• After the derby, ESPN went right to the Celebrities, Legends and Washed-Up Has-Beens softball game. My question is this -- was bragging about appearances by Coolio, Meat Loaf and Kevin James from "King of Queens" supposed to make us more or less likely to keep from changing the channel? On the one hand, there's the "who cares?" angle. But on the other, part of you really wants to see those three stumble around the field.

• OK, so I watched about five minutes of said softball game. After seeing what's become of Cecil Fielder, do you think the Brewers have any regrets about drafting his son Prince? Hopefully "like father, like son" applies only at the plate and not at the table. Either that or Cecil ate his son before the game, in which case they definitely would like to have that pick back.

But enough about all that, let's talk about something that matters, namely that George Steinbrenner and the Yankees are playing fantasy baseball this year with respect to their roster. You knew George wasn't going to take losing the World Series lightly, but did you ever think he'd go this far?

As if Jason Giambi, Rondell White and Steve Karsay weren't enough this winter, they've now added Raul Mondesi and a starter they don't even need, Jeff Weaver, essentially killing the market for everyone else. On most clubs Weaver would be the #1 or #2 starter -- with the Yankees he has to get in line behind Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and maybe even David Wells and Orlando Hernandez, the latter of whom is most definitely on the trading block.

So what's Oakland's role in all of this, and why didn't they just keep Weaver for themselves? It seems the Tigers wanted to deal with New York directly, but once top prospects Brandon Claussen and Juan Rivera got hurt, the Yankees no longer had the players Detroit wanted. The talks died down, but enter Billy Beane, who seems to be at the center of every three-team trade lately.

Moving team by team, this deal works for the Yankees because they finally have an established starting pitcher who won't be collecting social security in another year or two. Weaver is 25, under contract through 2005, and should be around long after Roger Clemens and David Wells move on. In the short term, nabbing Weaver keeps him away from the Red Sox and Mariners, both of which were rumored to be looking for another starting pitcher. But make no mistake, this is no "Jose Canseco on waivers" move.

Why didn't the A's just keep Weaver for themselves, then, both to bolster their rotation and keep him away from the Yankees? While the second half of that remains a mystery -- particularly if Weaver knocks the A's out of the playoffs this October -- Oakland got back a better package than what they gave up to get him in the first place. Ted Lilly is only seven months older than Weaver, carries a much lighter career workload and makes just $237,500 this season.

They also received two prospects who, as recent college draftees, are relatively close to helping at the major league level. John-Ford Griffin, an outfielder from Florida State, is a polished hitter and first-round draft pick from a year ago. Right-hander Jay Arnold, a second round pick last June, throws in the mid-90's and has breezed through the minors so far. Both players are the type that Oakland might have drafted on their own.

As often happens in three-team trades one team seems to get the shaft, and in this case that team is the Tigers. The package the Yankees sent to Oakland was just as good, if not better, than one including Rivera and Claussen, and would have filled more needs for the Tigers as well. Instead, the Tigers wound up with 1B Carlos Pena, RHP Franklyn German, and a player to be named later.

Most people still expect Pena to hit well at the major league level, but guys who hit well aren't exactly scarce at the position, and Detroit already has Dmitri Young, Rob Fick and Eric Munson, all of whom are best suited for first base. It's not that Pena won't be a better player than all three, because he will, but it wasn't exactly an organizational need. Griffin, on the other hand, probably could have started for the Tigers as early as the middle of next season.

German is a "closer prospect," but when was the last time one of those guys worked out? His numbers at AA look pretty good, but you'd think the Tigers would have learned their lesson with Matt Anderson, a fellow closer prospect who has yet to live up to the hype. The PTBNL is thought to be RHP Jeremy Bonderman, who was drafted last season but cannot be traded until one year from the date he signed. He's not a bad bet as far as pitching prospects go, but he's probably also three years from the majors.

Oakland fared very well in this deal, by nabbing two solid prospects as well as Lilly, who immediately steps in as their fourth starter. Hudson, Mulder, Zito, Lilly has a pretty nice ring to it, don't you think? The Yankees also come out ahead, as they not only strengthened themselves for this season and the future, but kept a key commodity away from the competition. As for the Tigers? Well, there's a reason they've had only one All-Star representative each of the past eight seasons.

about the author

For the 23rd consecutive season, Jason Michael Barker was not invited to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Share his pain -- or tips on sneaking in -- to jmb@strikethree.com.