Daily Archives: July 30, 2003

After making another good trade yesterday, Theo Epstein is enjoying some much deserved love from the press. Rob Neyer admires Epstein’s rookie campaign in his latest column:

“I don’t really buy the notion that it’s only now that Theo Epstein has proved his worth. In addition to building what now looks like a pretty good bullpen, isn’t Epstein also the guy who, months ago, built a roster that’s leading the major leagues in runs scored?

There’s really not much more that Epstein can do. Sure, the Sox could use a quality starting pitcher, as neither John Burkett nor Ramiro Mendoza inspire great confidence these days. But whatever happens from this point forward, it’s been a great first year for the youngest general manager in major-league history.”

STOP THE PRESS

ESPN’s Peter Gammons is reporting that the A’s have just traded Aaron Harang and two other players to the Reds for Jose Guillen. The sounds like good news for Oakland fans. Michael Lewis will be able to digest tonight.

OH YEAH

The Yankees traded Dan Miceli to the Astros yesterday for a player to be named or cash.

The Yankee inner circle is meeting today in Tampa. After the Sox beat the Yanks out for another bullpen arm, you think George wants to trump them with a splashy move in the next 24 hours? How would you like to be Brian Cashman today? Sweat much? The names Brian Giles and Vladi G are being thrown around in the press. It’s hard to imagine that the good people at MLB are going to let George swipe Vlad, and the Pirates have been looking to unload Jason Kendell with Giles.

Still, stranger things have happened. Put George in a corner and he’s likely to come out spending.

I almost forgot to mention, thirteen years ago today Fay Vincent suspended George Steinbrenner from baseball. George actually received a ‘lifetime ban,’ which curiously only last until 1993. Anyhow, the date is important, because Stick Michael began building the Yankee dynasty during George’s absence.

Jay Jaffe has a good write-up on the Mondesi trade over at The Futility Infielder. Larry Mahnken isn’t shedding any tears for Mondesi either.

The Baseball Crank has a good piece today about how the current Red Sox offense ranks against some of the great offenses in history. (Good news for Sox Nation, sobering news for Yankee fans.)Aaron Gleeman has an equally impressive post about the newly designed Red Sox bullpen. (More kudos for Theo.)

Joe Sheehan of Baseball Prospectus has nothing but raves for Mr. Epstein:

“The question I’ve been getting peppered this week on the radio is, ‘Who’s going to win the AL East?’ I’ve been circumspect up until now, pointing out that the two teams are pretty evenly matched, and that it should be a good race, with the Sox coming out on top. With the addition of Williamson, however, I believe the Sox have moved well ahead of the Yankees. They’re the clear favorite.

If the Red Sox do make the playoffs, they’re going to be downright scary, with Pedro Martinez starting every fourth game and Kim and Williamson available for multiple-inning outings in the ones he doesn’t. Combined with an offense that won’t quit, and it might just take extraordinary happenings–a curse, perhaps–to keep this team from winning it all.”

To round things out, Rob Neyer has an angry response to those readers who think he lets his emotions and bias’ dictate his writing. I can’t remember Neyer ever being so irked before. Granted, I’m only familiar with the work he’s done over the past year and a half, but in his most recent column, Neyer’s in no mood to play. Frankly, I don’t blame him for losing his patience with some of his readers, but this is the first time I’ve seen him lose his cool, and his sense of humor. Nothing like a Yankee vs. Red Sox piece to drive him–and apparently his readers—over the edge.

When Nomar Garciaparra attempted a sacrifice bunt Saturday in the ninth inning a tie game many observers—including his own manager, Grady Little

Andy Pettitte won again for the Yankees last night, improving his record to 13-7. The Bombers scored four runs with two out in the first inning, Pettitte went eight, and the Yanks beat the World Champs, 6-2 in Anahiem. Jeter continued his hot hitting and is now batting .325. Godzilla Matsui had three hits including a double and a homer.

The Red Sox went into the seventh inning trailing Texas 4-2, and then broke out the whooping stick, and went on to win 14-7 . They remain just a game-and-a-half behind New York. Bill Mueller hit two grand slams; one from each side of the plate. Onions.

I heard from several Red Sox fans yesterday who couldn’t have been happier with George Steinbrenner’s need to remind the Nation that they haven’t won anything yet. Tell them something they don’t know. Fair enough. George will always provide cheap fodder for Yankee-haters (he just can’t help himself), but now it appears he is not alone in the drama department.

Red Sox owner, John Henry joined the tea party with a bit of self-righteous hyperbole of his own. On Tuesday, Henry told the Hartford Courant:

“In that one inning and in that final out,” Henry said, “it was as if Jason and Johnny and David and Nomar and Manny – 25 men, a manager and his coaches – were collectively throwing off the shackles of decades of frustration and proclaiming, `It’s a new century, damn it. It’s 2003 and we don’t believe in ghosts.'”

You have to appreciate Henry’s optimism, but if this is how he feels in July, he’s apt to be downright Biblical come fall.

The Yankees traded Raul Mondesi to the Arizona Diamondbacks last night for utility outfielder David Dellucci, right-handed reliever Bret Prinz, and a minor league catcher, Jon Sprowl. Who? The Yankees lose Mondesi, an undisciplined hitter, and the Yankees’ only defensive threat in the outfield. Evidentally, this is Joe Torre’s call.

After being pinch-hit for in the eighth inning on Sunday in Boston, Mondesi showered and left the park before the game was over. This is a huge no-no in Torre’s Yankeeland. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, as Mondesi began complaining about playing time a few weeks ago in Cleveland.

“The Yankees and Mondesi are not going in the same direction,” [GM, Brian] Cashman said, “so I decided to get more aggressive with some of the interest we had for him.

“He’s a player that plays hard, but I don’t know if he was ultimately on the same page with us.”

Joe Torre added: “It’s not acceptable what he did. George was obviously aware of it. I think he was fond of Mondy. Brian and I pulled the trigger on this one.”

Karim Garcia and Ruben Ruben will now play right field. The Yankees lose a head case in Mondesi who was not a good fit on Torre’s team, but again, they also lose their only defensive threat in the outfield. Does this mean Cashman has another move up his sleeve? We’ve got a little more than 24 hours to find out.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox picked up Reds’ reliever Scott Williamson for a single A prospect, cash and a player to be named later. Score another victory for Boston who continues to rebuild their bullpen. The Yanks were in the hunt for Williamson too, but according to Cashman, the Reds wanted Brandon Claussen. What Cincy got from the Sox appears to be a whole lot less than Claussen. Maybe teams simply don’t want to deal with the Bombers. Conspiracy theorists start your engines.

Either way, after a ‘rough’ start last winter, Theo Epstein is doing just fine for himself, don’t you think?