-Anthony claims I "defended" the Aki Iwamura trade. Not true. What I defended is the logic behind the trade at the time. This past offseason, the Pirates had basically no options internally to play 2B in 2010. They had traded Freddy Sanchez in July after he turned down a fair offer to stay. Delwyn Young was clearly not the answer. Neil Walker had never played second. Andy Laroche had not played second since the minors. So, they needed to go outside of the organization to get someone to be a 2010 stopgap.
Enter TB who had multiple options at 2B and Aki Iwamura who was going to be an expensive backup. Based on career stats and the fact that he had successfully come back late in the year from injury, there was no reason to think he would much of a step down from Freddy Sanchez (if any). The OBP and OPSs were very similar. Iwamura just walked more while Freddy singled more. So, the Bucs and Rays made the trade. Jesse Chavez was sent to TB and while young is VERY replaceable. He throws hard but seems to be very hittable. His stats this year and the last couple months of 2009 back that up.
Of course, Aki has turned out to be a mess. He has been beyond awful both at the plate and in the field. The Pirates will probably end up releasing him at some point and eating some money. But at the time and with the data available, the trade made sense. Sometimes things just don't work out and in this case, its very easy to cut their losses.
-Speaking of hindsight, those that criticize the Iwamura trade now should be praising the McLouth trade for selling him at the right time based on what has happened to him. They typically don't though, claiming you can't use how Nate has performed since the trade to justify trading him because you didn't know he would be this bad. Right, that doesn't sound hypocritical.....
-So, Anthony gave up on 24 because of Jack's dad and brother being involved in one of the plots. Why was that part too outrageous, but all the times Jack survived getting shot/tortured, fought off ridiculous amounts of terrorists at one time, or the fact that the city survived multiple explosions of nuclear bombs not? Or how about the various people who came back from the dead? It just seems crazy to me that his Dad as a terrorist pushed the show over the believability line.
-Am the only one who could not care less that the Super Bowl is being played in NY? It just doesn't affect me one way or the other. So, it might snow during the game. The fact that the NFL made this a major story proves how much control they have over the media. Actually, I hear the pregame show is starting any minute. I can't wait.
-Best movie? As Anthony said, going across genres is difficult. It almost has to be a drama, right? Shawshank is always said by people and is very good. It seems to be too easy of a choice though (as exhibited by this IMDB poll). Just off the top of my head, some of my favorite dramas are Scarface, Goodfellas, The Usual Suspects, and The Prestige.
It was a bad trade at the time, too. An aging 2nd baseman, coming off a serious injury, who is owed about $5 mill per. We give up a hard-throwing prospect for him?
ReplyDeleteIt would be fine if that were our m.o. It's not. We've been told over and over how the Pirates have to wisely spend their money, and it wasn't a wise investment.
Let's say they played Clem Johannsen (insert any name) at 2nd base and paid him league min instead of $5 million. And let's say Clem is HORRENDOUS. Aki, even if he performed as Neal hoped he would, would've only been the different of about 2 or 3 more wins than Clem. Is that worth $5 mill?
It's always been a ridiculous trade.
Theoretically, 2 or 3 wins is worth 5 million. Way more to other teams in the playoff hunt. But sure, it probably doesn't matter in the grand scheme this year for the Pirates. Which is why it is ultimately a no harm, no foul situation. Its not like the 5 million they spent on Aki was not spent on a high level free agent.
ReplyDeleteAnd enough with the angst about losing Jesse Chavez. He is a setup guy at absolute best. More likely, he is a mopup/middle reliever who throws hard but straight. They are extremely easy to find.
Again... a prospect (might not be any good, but still a prospect) for an aging, injured 2nd baseman and $5 million dollars. It has always been a boneheaded trade.
ReplyDeleteWhen they don't spend a little extra in Latin American this year, you can remember why...they spent too much money on Aki and got stuck with his salary for the full season (which there was no way Neal, the genius, thought they'd have that salary all year).
Another Huntington mistake. They're really beginning to add up.