Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Game Report - Jays 8

It went bang - I said rap up.
Well I'm aware that the guy must do his work
But the piledriver man drove me berserk.

For a recap of yesterday's game see Spencer Fordin's "Chacin leads Jays to victory". Some hilights from yesterday's game:

Homer for Hillenbrand
Two RBIs each for Hudson, Reed, and Koskie
John McDonald: Two for two
Gus Chacin: Eight innings, 2 hits, no runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

Gustavo Chacin has to be the no-brainer player of the game. I think he deserves a nice big cuttlefish:

The Trade

I don't know how many times during this series I've heard about the infamous "Loaiza for Young" trade. However, from the Rangers point of view, it's only part of the story. Like Paul Harvey, I'm here to give you the rest of the story. The story begins in 1996.

The Rangers had a pretty good amature draft in 1996, which isn't surprising given that they had 2 picks in the first round as well as the 32nd overall selection. What is surprising is that it was their later round selections that would provide of the most use to the team. Of their first three selections, only R.A. Dickey has had any real major league success to date.

Their later round selections were an interesting mix of players, including 4th rounder Kelly Dransfeldt, 10th rounder Doug Davis, 19th rounder Mark "Lurch" Hendrickson, 26th rounder Joe Beimel, and 31st rounder Travis Hafner. Most importantly to this story, they selected a left-handed hitting second baseman by the name of Warren Randall Morris in the 5th round.

Fast forward to the 1997 season, when a seemingly washed up former 1st round draft pick is bouncing around professional baseball. Righthanded pitcher Todd Van Poppel was selected off of waivers by Anaheim (from Detroit) in November 1996, released by the Angels in March, signed by the Royals in April, released by the team in June, then signed with the Texas on June 20th. He would spend the remainder of the 1997 season pitching in the minors for the Rangers with little success.

The following season, the Rangers were fighting the Angels for the AL West division flag, but needed help with their rotation as starters John Burkett (5.86 ERA), Darren Oliver (6.53 ERA), and Bobby Witt (7.66 ERA) were doing little to help the club. They ended up coming to an agreement with a Pirates club who was destined for last place in the NL Central. The Pirates with Francisco Cordova, Jason Schmidt, Jon Lieber, and Chris Peters had a pretty strong rotation for a weak team, so they sent their #5 starter Esteban Loaiza to the Rangers. In return the Rangers sent Van Poppel, who had a 3.72 ERA as a starter for AA Tulsa and Morris who was hitting .331 for the same club, to the Pirates.

The deal ended up benefiting both Texas and Pittsburgh. Loaiza did little in 1998, but had a pretty good 1999 campaign, going 9-5 with a 4.56 ERA in 120 innings. In 2000 he would be dealt to the Jays for Darwin Cubillan and Michael Young. We all know how much Young has helped Texas. Cubillan would not prove as useful: He pitched 17 innings for the Rangers and was then sent to the Expos in exchange for Canadian Mike Johnson. Johnson would pitch for AAA Oklahoma for half a season before leaving the Rangers organization as a free agent.

Warren Morris had an excellent 1999 campaign for the Pirates, hitting .288 in 147 games and came in 3rd in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, behind Scott Williamson and Preston Wilson and ahead of teammate Kris Benson, Joe McEwing, and Atlanta's Kevin McGlinchy. He would never again match the success he had in the 1999 season and was released by the Pirates in 2001. I believe he's now in the minors somewhere for the Indians, but I haven't been able to confirm this.

Todd Van Poppel threw 47 innings for the 1998 Pirates, sporting an ERA of 5.36. He was unable to make the big league team in 1999 and spent the season in AAA Nashville where he compiled at 10-6 record with an ERA of 4.95. He left the Pirates as a free agent at the end of the season and ended up signing with the Cubs.

The chain of events which lead to Michael Young becoming a Ranger did not start with the Esteban Loaiza deal. Instead their roots go farther back, when the Rangers selected Warren Morris in the 5th round of the 1996 entry draft and took a flier on former first rounder Todd Van Poppel. And now you know the rest of the story.

Posted by Pepper Moffatt on Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 11:20 AM EDT.

Game Report - Jays 8 - Rangers 0 | 25 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

Mick Doherty - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 12:26 PM EDT (#112214) #

A+ Prof Moff.

Wildrose - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 12:31 PM EDT (#112216) #

Mick, have you heard anything regarding the rehab of Jeff Zimmerman?

Ducey - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 12:52 PM EDT (#112217) #

Kerry Lightenberg has found a new home:

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/diamondbacks/articles/0417dbacksnb0417.html

Does this save the Jays any money?

Callum - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 12:59 PM EDT (#112218) #

Yes Ducey, I believe it saves them $300,000

david wang - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 01:02 PM EDT (#112219) #

I believe that Arizona pays 300k and the Jays pay the rest. I'm not sure of this, but shouldn't JP have shopped Lightenberg around more and pick up either another 2-3 million in another player, or Lighter and 2.5 million to pay for his contract to a cheap team for a prospect or something.

Andrew K - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 01:11 PM EDT (#112221) #

I don't think that JP is an idiot, and if it was possible to get anything at all for Ligtenberg then he would have. Do people assume that he didn't think about it? Or that he somehow cut Kerry in a fit of pique? At the time (around about when we had to cut or waive some players because of roster limitations) nobody would have wanted him, for the same reasons that we didn't -- he can't pitch well any more.

dp - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 01:16 PM EDT (#112222) #

Nice piece. What did people here think of the deal at the time? The Jays had "too many" mediocre middle infield prospects, Homer Bush at 2B. It was strange to see them give up both Young and Abernathy at the same time, But I don't remember thinking there was too much difference between them. And there were 2 years when Young looked pretty bad.

Joseph Krengel - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 01:24 PM EDT (#112223) #

I'm not sure of this, but shouldn't JP have shopped Lightenberg around more and pick up either another 2-3 million in another player, or Lighter and 2.5 million to pay for his contract to a cheap team for a prospect or something.

If I remember correctly, the reason the Jays cut Ligtenberg so late in the spring is because JP was trying to trade him and he couldn't find a single taker.

Magpie - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 01:31 PM EDT (#112224) #

JP was trying to trade him and he couldn't find a single taker.

That is correct, and Ligtenberg was aware of it at the time. It was Ligtenberg himself who identified the problem when he said "I wouldn't trade for me."

Craig B - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 01:49 PM EDT (#112225) #

A very Sensible game report, captain!

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 01:50 PM EDT (#112226) #

A very Sensible game report, captain!

Wot.

Craig B - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 01:57 PM EDT (#112231) #

I said, a very Sensible game report, Captain!

I'll be Damned if you can't hear me this time.

Jordan - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:00 PM EDT (#112235) #

Speaking of JP, and speaking of yesterday's game ... three starts is only three starts, and the league has yet to see him a second time. But JP Ricciardi looked at Gustavo Chacin this spring and said, "He's ready to pitch in the big leagues." And so he is. You can't shut down the Texas Rangers in Arlington for eight innings and not be ready for the bigs.

JP got a lot of criticism from these parts over the winter, and I criticized a number of his moves myself. Among them was the spring decision to put Chacin in the rotation rather than let him pitch at Triple-A, and to bump Miguel Batista to the bullpen. However that move may look weeks or months from now (and I'm still not sold on Batista as closer), the Chacin decision looks brilliant today.

We've shown we're not afraid to disagree with Ricciardi, whom we've long supported as a good GM, and we'll continue to do so when it seems right. But JP deserves credit where it's due, and I'm giving him that credit right now -- not only on Chacin, but for building the roster that's off to a very strong start against some very difficult opponents. Kudos to the Jays' GM, who's looking like a pretty smart man today.

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:06 PM EDT (#112240) #

Wow.. not only do you make a Captain Sensible reference, but a reference to his band!

Today's song was Wot by Captain Sensible from the album Women and Captains First. Craig B wins this attractive picture of the cover from the single:

Also, he deserves a sea creature of some sort. How about a tasty orange roughy?

Yum!

Craig B - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:08 PM EDT (#112243) #

Chacin's 1.42 ERA ranks third in the AL; he's tied with Santana for first in wins with three, and opponents are hitting just .191 against him.

And all his three starts have been on the road.

Rob - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:12 PM EDT (#112248) #

Chacin has pitched five times in the bigs -- twice last September, and thrice (I love that word) this month. And he was good in every single start.

Looking solely at Game Scores:

9/20: 56 9/29: 69 4/5: 59 4/11: 51 4/16: 79

That's pretty good, averaging above 60 per game. The only pitcher in the AL who did that last year was Johan Santana (64.5). It's only five starts, but when you're ahead of Curt Schilling and Jason Schmidt in any kind of pitching metric, you're doing quite well.

Craig B - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:13 PM EDT (#112249) #

Great. Mikey gives me a fish, and it turns out to be a fish that (until the seafood marketing people decided to change its name) used to be known as the "slimehead". Thanks.

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:15 PM EDT (#112252) #

I had no idea about the slimehead thing. Makes sense that they'd change the name. Anyhow, it's one of the few fish I enjoy eating when it's not deep fried. :)

Craig B - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:19 PM EDT (#112254) #

Mikey, please don't eat slimehead (or orange roughy for that matter). I agree that it's delicious, but unfortunately due to massive overdevelopment of the fishery, the orange roughy is (for practical purposes) endangered. While the sustainable fishery level is about 7500 tons per year, catch levels are currently twice that.

Now back to your regularly-scheduled discussion of Gustavo "Slimehead" Chacin.

Pepper Moffatt - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:23 PM EDT (#112257) #

Wow.. I had no idea. You learn something new every day.

It figures that the one fish I really like to eat I shouldn't. Guess it's back to getting my Omega 3's in capsule form.

Jordan - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 02:28 PM EDT (#112261) #

It was strange to see them give up both Young and Abernathy at the same time, But I don't remember thinking there was too much difference between them.

Me neither, even though Young had displayed remarkable power and patience for a middle infielder in A-Ball. But I do remember thinking at the time that Loiaza was a dubious pickup, especially since I really didn't think the Jays had the horses to really make a run that year. Gord Ash, who had a job to keep, felt differently.

And speaking of castoff middle infielders, Ryan Freel has himself a nice little gig going in Cincinatti these days.

Craig B - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 03:15 PM EDT (#112279) #

Guess it's back to getting my Omega 3's in capsule form.

Salmon, Mike. Good old, simple, salmon. As high in Omega-3 as anything else in the ocean, completely not endangered, available everywhere and at all times of the year, capable of being cooked 19,413 different ways (or just eaten raw as delicious, very safe sashimi) and the most delicious (and sybaritic) breakfast food in the universe when smoked and put on a bagel with cream cheese.

The breakfast of smoked salmon, bagels and cream cheese, with mimosas and coffee to drink, is possibly the greatest thing in the entire history of the known universe.

dp - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 03:34 PM EDT (#112285) #

And speaking of castoff middle infielders, Ryan Freel has himself a nice little gig going in Cincinatti these days.

Yeah, the Jays seem intent on supplying the league with semi-useful to useful infielders, much like tehy did in the mid-90s with outfielders... The decision to keep Woodward over Freel was a poor one in retrospect. I liked Freel better at the time, but I admit to have a bias for players with speed. He also couldn't handle SS the way Woodward could, and once Lopez was dealt they needed a regular there. Check out his 2000 with Syracuse: http://tsf.waymoresports.thestar.com/thestar/baseball/player.cgi?2008

Mike Green - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 05:03 PM EDT (#112333) #

The breakfast of smoked salmon, bagels and cream cheese, with mimosas and coffee to drink, is possibly the greatest thing in the entire history of the known universe.

Also very good at lunch, and in a pinch, it'll do at dinner. You can get smoked wild salmon, and it eat it twice as often (safely) as compared to smoked regular salmon. Highly recommended.

Named For Hank - Sunday, April 17 2005 @ 10:00 PM EDT (#112355) #

Late reply, but I've been eating smoked salmon on bagels every weekday morning for about five weeks now. Yum.

See, it was this agreement between Mrs. Hank and I -- I agreed not to buy breakfast at Union Station, which wastes lots of money, on the condition that I could have a healthy breakfast food at home that doesn't suck.

Saving money, eating healthier, and having smoked salmon for breakfast every morning. Who knew those could all happen at the same time.

Game Report - Jays 8 - Rangers 0 | 25 comments | Create New Account

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