Baseball in Fort Wayne

Archive for the ‘IMHO’ Category

STUPID MOVE OF THE WAY AWAREDED TO THE TORONTO BLUE JAYS!

Matt Bush, has been traded to the Toronto Blue Jays today for a player to be named later. To make room on the 40-man roster another former Wizard, Dirk Hayhurst has been released, whom they acquired on waivers from the Padres last October.

This is not stupid because of Bush’s past. It’s the susequent move of releasing Hayhurst that is stupid. Sure, he’s a “non-prospect” but he has major league experience and a level of maturity. Bush has neither and might never. Talk about tripping over a dollar to pick up a dime! (IMHO)

I know what you are wondering. The same thing I have been wondering: Did the last World Baseball Classic impact the player’s performance in 2006? Will it impact them this year? The answer: I don’t know.

I looked around a few sites to see if anyone had done any sort of analysis, but to my surprise, I found nothing. There’s probably a reosurce out there for a price, but I don’t need a ton of analysis that I don’t understand and that contradicts itself. I just want a quick sample. So I did the research (via MLB.com and Baseball-Reference) on a random sampling of hitters and pitchers.

I’m not going to offer you any analysis, but you are welcome to my research. It’s a very basic sampling of less than ten players.eight hitters and seven pitchers. For each, I detail their three-year averages before 2006, then I detail their 2006 season performance as well first and second half splits for 2006.

So, without further ado, here’s my research: Click to Download the Spreadsheet.

Also, if you are interested in joining a keeper league and can be in Fort Wayne for a live-draft, please contact me. I’d be happy to share the details of a somewhat mature league that includes very active and competitive managers who aren’t buttholes.

With the Boston Red Sox seemingly parting ways with Jason Varitek, David Ross joining the Braves and having the Yankees snagging the now former Red Sox catcher, Kevin Cash, today, former Wizards catcher Goerge Kottaras is seemingly the incumbant Red Sox catcher. For now anyway.

Kottaras sports a hefty .200 batting average in 3 games and 5 at-bats at the major league level after having made his MLB debut last season. He was once a highly regarded prospect. In 2004, Kottaras played in the Olympics as first baseman and backup catcher for the Greece team. He collected three hits to help the team come from behind and defeat Italy 11-7. It was the team’s first and only win.

The following year, he did well at High-A, batting .303 before his promotion to Double-A Mobile. He was traded to the Boston Red Sox in September of 2006 to complete an Aug 31 trade for David Wells. That year, Kottaras was a Futures Game selection. During the game, he slugged a two run homer off Phillip Hughes and also collected an RBI off of Homer Bailey.

Yet, since that time, his average has been pretty much on the decline. Having spent two seasons at Triple-A Pawtucket, he got his chance very late in the 2008 season as a September callup, but the bench was pretty much full of backup catchers at that point and there was no sure thing he’d see any MLB action. Fortunately he did, and perhaps he was able to make a good impression on Francona and others.

But one has to suspect that the Red Sox will sign a catcher before (or two) before Spring Training. I’ve speculated in the past that they might try to pry away one of Texas’s young catchers, and latest word I have heard says that they were recently scouting Jarrod Saltalamacchia. There are a few catchers on the free agent market still, including two former Wizards, Jarvier Valentin and Chad Moeller (whom I thought was on his way to Baltimore). Might they take a chance on Ivan Rodriguez?

See Also: Wizards Where R They? George Kottaras

Photo by Chad Gramling

I’m going to break from the normal thing I do here at Baseball in Fort Wayne and introduce you to a company called Vintage Blue. This vintage-inspired women’s sportswear clothing company is unique because it brings fresh designs that are rooted in timeless traditions while using eco-friendly materials on an enterprise-wide scale. That means we’re not just talking about fabrics, but the catalogues, tags and everything else.

So where’s the Fort Wayne connection you ask? Well, I’m glad you did!

Vintage Blue also holds an exclusive license to the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL). That means Fort Wayne Daisies. I’ve posted a picture of one of the Daisies oriented tee-shirts here, but I encourage you to visit the website to view more styles, check out their blog, and peruse the Vintage Blue Magazine. VB is also on MySpace, so friend them.

Now, if that isn’t enough to get you there, as a loyal Baseball in Fort Wayne visitor, you are entitled to a discount!

That’s right, use the promo code holiday1 with your on-line order and you’ll receive a 20% discount. Plus, Vintage Blue will donate 5% of their sales to Kiva.org.

Most Padres fans have accepted the reality that the next phase of the San Diego Padres will not only be a dark one, but it will not include future Hall of Famer, Trevor Hoffman. Padres Ace and former Wizard, Jake Peavy will also likely be gone.

Can we say REBUILDING?

Obviously, the Padres troubled future will provide some opportunities for up-and-coming former Wizards. Look to see several take the MLB field in 2009. And look for it early. There will be many open positions, and I suspect all of them (except maybe first base) are up for grabs in an “open tryout” of sorts.

But the one we can say with about 99% certainty that will be available is the closer’s spot. Let’s look at the in-house auditions:

Padres MLB Roster: Hoffman collected 30 saves. No other pitcher collected even one. Heath Bell and Cla Meredeth had 6 and 7 chances respectively, but failed to convert. Apparently there is not anyone on the current roster is ready to step into the role.

Portland (AAA): The team leader in saves on the Triple-A level was former Wizar, Jared Wells, with 20. But he’s now in the Seattle organization (for the moment anyway). After Wells was traded, Edwin Moreno took over the closer’s spot. He collect 18 to go with the 8 he had in Double-A; making for 26 on the season. John Madden, who led the Wizards with 20 saves in 2006, pitched in releif for Portland in 2008, but had no saves.

San Antonio (AA): On the Double-A level, we find one of the most likely choices for the closer’s gig in former Wizard, Greg Burke. The Duke University grad went undrafted and signed with the Padres following a tryout camp 2006. In jus this third year as a pro in 2008, Burke collected 23 saves and a 2.24 ERA. He struck out 92 hitters and walked just 17 in 84 1/3 innings. The second highest save total on the team was Moreno’s 8 (see above). With the Wizards in 2006, Burke pitched middle relief and had no saves. Double-A to MLB is somewhat of a stretch, but Burke was invited to the Arizona Fall League and is starting to draw attention.

Lake Elsinore (High A) and Fort Wayne (Low-A): At Lake Elsinore, R.J. Rodriguez and Wilton Lopez each had a dozen saves to lead the team. Lopez had the edge in ERA, 2.64 to Rodriguez’s 4.92. And while Rodriquez might appear to have the advantage in strikeouts, with 79 to Lopez’s 26, Lopez pitched in a third of the innings that Rodriguez did (30.2 vs. 99). With the Wizards in 2007, Lopez had no saves, while Rodriguez paced the team with 18.

In Fort Wayne, the closer’s role of 2008  belonged to Jackson Quesada, who collected 27 saves, a 2.12 ERA and 79 strikeouts to 19 walks in 63 innings pitched. While he looks promizing, he is less experienced. I’ve seen more than one exciting closer come through Fort Wayne who didn’t pan out in the Majors. Matt Varner collected 34 saves in 2005. Anthony Kozol had 21 in 2002, Mike Bumstead had 17 in 2001. Perhaps the most promising I ever saw was J.J. Trujillo, who set a then Midwest League record with 42 in 1999.

To my knowledge, none of those pitchers are in any of the MLB farm systems. Leo Rosales and Dale Thayer led the Wizards with 26 in 2004 and 25 in 2003 respectively. Rosales made his MLB debut with Arizon in 2008 and Thayer is on the verge after having been a Triple-A All-Star in the Tampa Bay system in 2008. Hwoever, neither are on a track to be a closer (Thayer is probably the more likely of the two).

All that said, it’s not unheard of for a Single-A pitcher to go to the big leagues the following year. Former Wizard, Joakim Soria did so. But something tells me, the Padres aren’t going to try it. Yet, speaking of Soria, maybe it’s possible for the Padres to make their own Rule-5 Draft steal like the Royals did when they snagged Soria.

Right now, my gut is telling me we’ll see Greg Burke get the first crack at taking hte mound in the ninth inning when the 2009 season kicks off.

Anyone want to agree or tell me why I’m wrong?

Free agency season is officially open and there are 171 players who have filed. Check that; 170 (reliever, Jeremy Affeldt just signed with the SanFrancisco Giants). I got to wondering about former Wizards who might be looking for new MLB homes. So I hoped over to ESPN’s Free Agent Tracker and dug a little bit. Here’s what I came up with:

• Chad Moeller; Catcher – Moeller is the classic veteran catcher. Due to several injuries throughout the Yankees catching corps., Moeller got the opportunity to play a lot in 2008.  Over 41 games (91 at-bats), Moeller hit .221 with one home run and 9 RBI’s. He’d be a good fit for a team looking to add a veteran presence to back-up an emerging young backstop. Methinks: San Diego Padres.
   
• Oliver Perez; Starting Pitcher – Perez has shown flashes of brilliance at times in his career, but has never been able to be anywhere near consistent. In 2008, he put together a 10-7 record and a .422 ERA with the Mets over 34 games. He led the league in bases on balls (105) and struck out 180 in just under 200 innings pitched. He is likely to be the most sought after former Wizard on the free agent list but I am not sure many teams are going to want to pay his likely asking price (he made $6.5 million in 2008 and is a Scott Boras client). Methinks: Texas Rangers.
   
• Juan Rincon; Relief Pitcher – Rincon was one of the last remaining Twins from their affiliation with the Wizards (Michael Cuddyer is the only remaining). The team cut ties with him during the middle of the 2008 season and he signed a minor league contract with the Indians and was promoted in July. He earned $2.475 million last year. The 29 year-old has 7 years of Major League experience and woudl serve a bullpen well. Methinks: Staying with the Indians.
   
• Luis Rivas; Shortstop – At one point in his career, Luis Rivas was a highly touted prospect of the Minnesota Twins. But injuries and bad luck brought him to Pittsburgh, where he battled for a roster spot, earning $525,000 which is quite a drop from the $1.6 millon he once earned. Whiles it’s a feelgood story of 2008, Rivas hit just .218 over 79 games with the Pirates in 2008, which isn’t going to position him well for future considerations. However, his varsatility in the infield does make him a little more marketable. Methinks: Minor League deal with the Nationals.
   
• Javier Valentin; Catcher – At 33 years of age, the reality is that the veteran catcher who has 9 years of MLB experience, is not going to have many more contract years ahead of him. Like Moeller, he makes a solid veteran presence in a situation where the every-day catcher is just coming of age. Methinks: Minor League deal with the Red Sox.

Note: LaTroy Hawkins would have been a free agent had he not reached an agreement with the Houston Astros.

I was just visiting the old Fort Wayne Wizards website. On the homepage, there is a picture of the new TinCaps logo. My four-year-old daughter happened to look at the screen just before I navigated to a new page. Here’s the conversation…

Daphne: “Hey, that’s the appleseed!” [I quickly flipped back recognizing I can do a bit of an experiment].

Chad: “Yep, that’s right honey. Do you like the apple?”

Daphne: “No.”

Chad: “You don’t?” [I was genuinely surprised]

Daphne: “Nope.” [Emphatically, as she shook her head]

Chad: “Well, why not?”

Daphne: “Cus he’s got a pan on his head.” [I laughed. She has no idea what the name of the team is.]

Chad: “Yes, honey. He does have a pan on his head.”

Daphne: “That’s mudiculous.” [that's not a typ-o. She said "mudiculous"]

Chad: “That’s the team we’re going to watch this year instead of the Wizards. Do you still want to go?”

Daphne: “Uh, yeah. Duh.”

A true baseball (and Dippin’ Dots) fan. I guess she has the same thoughts on the new name that I do.

Please indulge me for a moment. I don’t make it a regular practice to use this blog for offering my opinion. The overall mission of BBIFW is to provide a historical archive of the way it happened and happens. That means honest and true reporting of facts and commentary from others. In a sense, I am an outsider looking in as I provide you with content.

But there are occasions where I am compelled to offer my personal opinion. Most of the time, I can shake the compulsion and go on with life. Then, there are times when I allow my ego to take control and actually convince me that someone might care about my opinon. I guess there is a spark of that in every blogger or we probably wouldn’t be blogging, eh?

Anywho, I first learned of the TinCaps name from an acquaintenance who is totally unassociated with the Wizards/TinCaps and Minor League Baseball. That person did some real digging and found it. The story continues, but it’s not my place to tell it.

My initial reaction was that of utter disgust. I sincerely hoped I was being played for a fool.

To explain why, allow me to backtrack just a bit. When the team naming contest was announced, my first thought was that of fear and aprehension. I mean, this is my local team. This is the team I talk to people about. People who live in the area and people who do not. I really wanted a name I could talk about without concern for corniness.

My second thought – and I am not making this up – was “Dear God, please don’t let it be assocated with Johnny Appleseed.” No disrespect to Mr. Chapman and his legacy, but it doesn’t exactly spell progress and new eras. Not only that, I knew I would have to explain the signifigance to people any time I said the team name.

Again, no disrespect to Chapman. I mean, it’s great that his legacy will be continued through the name, but come on! I’d rather talk baseball than apples.

Now, fast forward to the official announcement.

Again, my reaction was that of disappointment. I really had hoped it would be something other than the TinCaps. But the logo and branding softened the blow. To be honest, I like the logo and I’m excited to see the logos on the uniforms.

But beyond that, I’m excited to sit in Parkview Field at Harrison Square on Opening Day. I’ll enjoy several selections of food on the new menu that was previously unavailable at Memorial Stadium. I’m looking forward to finding the best sections of seating (and there will be many) to view the games. I’m looking forward to seeing the other teams from throughout the Midwest League come in and play on our home field as I try to predict which of them will make it to the Major Leagues. I’m looking forward to watching my children enjoy the atmosphere as I teach them more about baseball and hopefully transfer my love of the game to them – which they will then someday transfer unto my grandchildren. I’m looking forward to witnessing the 2010 MWL All-Star Game. I’ve gone to a MiLB AS game each of the last three years, but this will be the first time I will get to enjoy the full events of the All-Star Game (FanFests, Home Run Derbies, Games, etc.).

There’s a lot of things that I’m looking forward to doing in this new era. And the above is probably just the beginning. But, from what is detailed above, the one thing that is not mentioned is a team name. I really couldn’t care less. I hated the “Wizards” moniker when it first came out. I never was all that fond of it, but again, I couldn’t really care less about the name. It’s the game I care about.

I have no doubt that the Fort Wayne Wizards thought about their options long and hard (contrary to the OPINIONS of many others). I have no doubt they have made a decision that is in good interest and perhaps even with the best of intentions. No matter what name they selected, there would be naysayers. So who really cares about a name? Sure, it upsets me to know there are going to be idiots who never matured beyond the fourth grade who will refer to my local team as “potheads” and think the tin cap is a reference to crazies, but then again, is being fanatical about a sports team all that far off?

So, with that, let’s play ball and all join in cheering on the TinCaps as they set out to usher in one of the most exciting new eras in Northeast Indiana Baseball that this region has ever seen.

Go TinCaps!

I was in Indy today and took a walk down to Victory Field (home of the Indianapolis Indians). The gates were open, as was the team shop. Got to take a real quick around as they prepared for a Cancer Walk that will take place tomorrow. Guess you really can promote healthy events at the ballpark.

BTW: I would have taken more pictures had I actually brought my camera. This one was taken with my camera phone.

Not too long ago, I bloged (in jest) that it would seem logical for the Padres to get former Wizards hitting coach, Max Venable, with the parent club now that his son, Will Venable, has reached the Padres. Max has been wiht Will pretty much every step of Will’s professional career; having followed him from A-ball in Fort Wayne all the way to Portland this season.

So you can see the logic in that suggestion. However, even I didn’t take it seriously as a possibility . . . until I read that Wally Joyner has resigned as the Padres hitting coach.

“It bothers me a lot that I have come to the point where it is clear that I need to move on,” Joyner said. “I came to the job hoping to put my experience and ideas to good use in teaching and coaching the Padres’ hitters, but it has become obvious to me in the past few months that the organization’s approach is different from mine.”

The Padres have not yet named a successor to Joyner. However, Venable might indeed be one of the best in-house choices the Padres have. I’ll keep you updated.