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Archive for category Tracking The Transactions

TTT July 6 – and some other links

Jul 6

Posted by Jerry Milani in New York Mets, Tracking The Transactions | 8 Comments

Fernando Tatis

Been a busy couple of weeks, and haven’t been particularly inspired by the transactions, though I have been interviewing some author and Hall of Fame shortstop and TV executive types for some stories on BaseballDigest.com and NewJerseyNewsroom.com, so feel free to check those out if you wish… My favorite was the author of a new book about Joe Black, it’s a quick and easy read from a guy with a unique perspective on Mr. Black.  Highly recommended.

METS – Placed INF/OF Fernando Tatis on the 15-day DL.

Tatis reminds me, in a way, of Ruben Sierra.  Sierra all but disappeared from the baseball scene, then re-emerged in the Independent Leagues before hooking back up with Texas and eventually re-inventing his image as a “good guy” after some years of a selfish persona.

Tatis’s first dismissal from the game was, by all accounts, not related to attitude issues, but strictly performance.  He also emerged with revived pep after a three-year hiatus in 2006 with Baltimore — it only seemed like it was longer than that because his last three MLB seasons were in Montreal from ‘01-’03.

But even after it seemed the Baltimore experiment was to fail (Tatis went .250/.313/.500 in 64 AB’s with the O’s), Tatis didn’t give up, signing with the Mets and playing the whole ‘07 season in the minors before coming back up for good in ‘08, playing a much larger role the past two seasons than most Met fans (and maybe Tatis himself) could imagine.

Hitting just .185 so far this year, the D.L. assignment could be a precursor to release, especially if the Mets, as expected, get aggressive at the end of the month and try to add a bat or two to the lineup.  This kind of fade-away season, not uncommon for 35-year-old players living on borrowed time, would be a sad end, if that’s the case.

I, for one, am rooting for Tatis to find his way, against all the odds, back to a Major League field.

He’s done it before.

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Tracking The Transactions – June 17

Jun 17

Posted by Jerry Milani in New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, Tracking The Transactions | 4 Comments

PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Recalled 3B Pedro Alvarez from Indianapolis (IL).  Designated INF Aki Iwamura for assignment.

A list of the highest paid players on each team in 2010 would include such luminous names as Alex Rodriguez, Johan Santana and Ryan Howard. Perceived underachievers like Carlos Lee, Alfonso Soriano and Barry Zito are there as well.

But Aki Iwamura?  His $4.85 million salary, which would rate in the bottom half of many teams’ rosters, topped the lowly (and low-paying) Pittsburgh Pirates, and the expectation was that the 31-year-old would recapture some of his 2008 form and anchor the young Bucs’ infield.

A .181/.292/.267 line through the first 54 games doomed that idea, and with Pedro Alvarez on the way up and Andy Laroche moving to a utility role at five years younger and 1/10 the salary, Iwamura’s roster spot became the one tabbed for Alvarez.

The Pirates, like other teams in their payroll range (only San Diego, at $37.8 million, is within $15 million of Pittsburgh’s MLB-low $34.9 opening day mark), can’t afford mistakes like this one.  But rather than compounding the error by keeping Iwamura out there, the Pirates have chosen to move Iwamura, either through a trade, or if no one claims him, back to the minors.  Teams are less willing to keep unproductive, higher-salaried players around, even bottom-10 payroll organizations like the Rays (Pat Burrell) and Nationals (Brian Bruney).

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Tracking The Transactions

Jun 16

Posted by Jerry Milani in News, Seattle Mariners, Tracking The Transactions | No Comments

The transactions listings have always been one of my favorite parts of the Sports section.  They are direct, just-the-facts-ma’am, no one listing more prominent than the other.  But of course there are stories behind every one, some more complex and interesting than others, some involving other moves which may or may not appear there.

I sometimes see the news of a hiring and imagine that there must be much joy in that household.

From today:

UNLV-Promoted Jennifer Klein to women’s soccer coach.

Is this the culmination of a lifelong dream for Ms. Klein?  Is she ready to be the head coach?  Does she have the same doubts that most new coaches have?  Is she getting congratulatory emails and Facebook wall posts and calls?

And when I see that a player has been released or designated, I wonder what is going through his mind.  “Is this the end of the road?”  “What will I do next?”

Since I look through them daily, I’m going to try to pick one or two of the baseball items that initiate a thought or two in what I hope will be a new feature, “Tracking The Transations,” or TTT.

Today’s TTT:

SEATTLE MARINERS–Designated RHP Ian Snell for assignment.

Okay, I could leave this one up to Tom, but I’ll take a crack.  Snell, fans may recall, broke in pretty strongly with the Pirates a couple of years back., winning 14 games in 2006.  But after signing a fairly sizable contract extension, he struggled in ‘08 and ‘09 and famously requested a demotion to AAA, citing “too much negativity” in Pittsburgh.  After pitching extremely well for Indianapolis, he was later included in a deal with Jack Wilson to the Mariners.

That Snell regressed this year may be related to the issues that came to the front in Pittsburgh.  He is in the last year of that contract extension, and he’s just 28, so the going-nowhere M’s must really think he’s done.

My guess is that we haven’t seen the last of Snell.  Some team will try to make a reclamation project out of him and the arm that was firing 95 mph fastballs not too long ago, especially with another team footing the bill.

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