Analysis-O-Matic

Jason Michael Barker

As if the beginning of spring training weren't enough, some teams decided to go that extra mile to get themselves in the news this week with a variety of trades and signings, some more interesting than others. Then there's that darned Clemens thing, but you've probably read more about that than you'd care to admit.

Pittsburgh, Arizona swap scrubs. The Pirates rid themselves of 2B Tony Womack, one of the most overrated players in baseball, but now they're stuck with LF Bernard Gilkey, who hasn't been good since 1996. Pittsburgh also dumped LF Al Martin, who was horrible last season, on the D-Backs so maybe it's all even in the end.

The most amusing part of this is that Arizona plans to use Womack in the outfield, where he'll been even further below average offensive levels for his position. At the risk of using a bad pun, Womack in the outfield will be plain "offensive." E-mail me if you don't get it.

Martin and Gilkey both appear useless, as well as being on the wrong side of 30. It remains to be seen if either player can decline any further, although I wouldn't bet against it.

With 2B prospect Warren Morris probably ready for the bigs after two years of tearing up the minors, this deal might have made sense for Pittsburgh if they had made it in order to move Womack and make room for Morris. However, that all went out the window Saturday when...

Pittsburgh signs free agent SS Pat Meares. Egads. It turns out Meares was signed to play short so that off-season acquisition Mike Benjamin could be moved to 2B, his preferred position. So now instead of having Morris, a good hitter with a suspect glove, at second, they have Benjamin, a decent fielder with no bat whatsoever.

Meares and Benjamin will comprise perhaps the worst middle infield tandem in baseball next season, if their prior statistics are any indication of future performance. Last season, the two combined for a .300 on-base percentage and a .370 slugging percentage, not to mention 159 strikeouts and 39 walks.

Bulldog back in Cleveland. Desperate for pitching depth, the Tribe signed 16-year veteran Orel Hershiser to a minor-league contract with a spring training invite. Despite his age (40), Hershiser has been remarkably durable over the years, having thrown at least 195 innings each of the past three seasons, and nearly 3000 in his career. Last season, he was 11-10 with a 4.41 ERA for the San Francisco Giants.

Hershiser will need a very impressive spring to crack the Indians' rotation, which currently consists of Bartolo Colon, Jaret Wright, Charles Nagy, Dave Burba, and Dwight Gooden, with Steve Karsay also in the mix. He didn't pitch all that well last season, and seemingly has little to offer a staff save veteran advice, which the team could use. Prediction: Hershiser makes the team as a long-reliever, spot starter and quasi-pitching coach, but goes down to injury near mid-season. It's been a nice, 190-win career, and he'll make a good pitching coach some day.

Braves move Klesko to first. There had been talk of trading young Ryan, but Andres Galarraga's unfortunate bout with cancer allows the Braves to play Klesko, who has never been mistaken for a good outfielder, at his natural position. With free-agent signee Otis Nixon ("why?!" you can almost hear Braves fans asking) taking over for Klesko in left, the move essentially means Nixon at-bats are replacing the Big Cat's. Just how big a dropoff is that? In a word, huge.

Last season Galarraga posted a .992 OPS (on-base plus slugging), and had a RC (Runs Created) of 119. Nixon's 1998 OPS was .705 (approximately a 30% decrease) and 55 RC (~54% fewer). The Braves still have enough pitching to win the division, but in losing Galarraga they've lost a bug chunk of their offense. If only Bret Boone could make up the difference...

about the author

Jason Michael Barker is currently helping his hero recuperate from arm surgery by signing all of Jay Buhner's autographs. Send rookie cards and home run balls to jmb@strikethree.com.