1
Doc, a work of art!
This one might be your Mona Lisa among a long list of other masterpieces.
I love it!
.
December
Zduriencik: Andrew! You're listening to teams on Price. We might be interested. Is there anybody, other than Taijuan Walker, we can get you for those last coupla years on that contract?
Friedman (annoyed): Come on. Price is one of the four or five most dominating pitchers in the MAJOR leagues. You're going to tell me that you want to take DAVID BLINKIN' PRICE from us, put him on your Opening Day fanzine, ... and your MINOR LEAGUER is too rich for my blood? Takes a lot of stones, don'cha think?
Zduriencik (limply): We've got a lot of kids. Take your pick, Andrew. Other teams don't have Taijuan, you know; you'd have to make another deal without him anyway.
Friedman (imperiously, with a disinterested tone): I'd have to start with Taijuan without a doubt - he's the key to any Price deal. What else you got for me?
Zduriencik: We'll think about it.
Friedman (smugly): You do that. But the first team to give up their best, um, MINOR!! league, MINOR league pitcher gets Price. Tanaka's going to sign, and then SOME body is going to realize they could use a 2.50 ERA pitcher.
Zduriencik: Thanks Andrew. Got some calls to make.
Friedman (turning to Jonah Hill): Get it out there. We're not dealing Price to Seattle without Taijuan. We're really, really, really really hoping to re-sign Price at about 7 x $175M. They won't notice that our franchise is only worth $160M.
Jonah: :: frantically texts twitter-fiend media hounds ::
.
January
Zduriencik: Hey, Andrew, Tanaka's gone. How's it going on Price? We have any room to talk that one?
Friedman (a bit less obnoxiously): We can always talk. But it doesn't make a lot of sense without Taijuan.
Zduriencik: It's out of my hands (sic - DrD). I can't get authority to deal Taijuan, but Franklin and Paxton and what else do you need?
Friedman: So tell me about this Paxson kid. I've heard about him.
Zduriencik: :-|
Friedman: Yeah, yeah :: laughing :: just playing you a little Jack. Paxton, Franklin and what?
:: detailed conversations ensue ::
:: Hellickson gets injured, Rays get skittish, put talks on back burner ::
..........
Zduriencik (offline, to intern): So what's your take on those SSI articles? I gotta say, as we're talking here, I'm not feeling real good about letting go of Paxton, are you?
Intern: :: clears throat :: I think I'd hold on to Paxton if it were me, sir.
Zduriencik: Yeah. I'll call on Samardzija. And Santana's getting awfully nervous; he's making speeches about a new forkball now. Hate to see a guy reduced to grovelling.
....
Zduriencik to Friedman: Hey boss, you're going to like this one.
Friedman: Lay it on me, Jack. :-/
Zduriencik: Franklin, Erasmo, Luis Gohara, and Abraham Almonte for Price and Hak-Ju Lee. We do need to talk money with Price before we close it though.
Friedman: WHAAAAAAaaaaa! :spits coke all over monitor: What's with the bait and switch? Ramirez over Paxton?! Are you NUTS?
Zduriencik: :: chuckling :: That's why we're going to up the ante for you, Andrew. Relax. I've got my #2 starter out and the new coaching staff is big on the two kids. But look. We'll give you THREE blue chippers. We can talk four or five guys if you want, and three of them for your 25-man roster. Six years, club controls, rookies this year. Let's work it.
Friedman: Thanks for nothin', man. We're going to have to call it a day.
.
Mid February
Friedman: Jack.
Tell me about this Franklin kid. Can he really play short?
Zduriencik: We think he probably can. He's played it more than he's played second, that's for sure.
He throws off either foot - actually would rather throw off balance than plant the foot. The arm's a 45 or 50 at short. The range is 40, 50. Nick has VERY good hands, which Miller doesn't - don't share it, but Lloyd is actually leaning Nick Franklin over Miller for us, because he likes the routine plays. We could talk Miller if you'd rather talk him than Franklin.
Friedman: No.
Zduriencik: Nick is not Omar Vizquel, he ain't even Yunel Escobar, but he can hold it down for you as well as an Asdrubal Cabrera could. If you like thump at shortstop, he's quite a bit like Zobrist.
Friedman: He is, I'll give you that. I'd like a shortstop, though. Ben doesn't play short for us.
Zduriencik: One thing you know, Nick is going to give you the extra time on the infield. Whatever he gives you, it's gonna be the best he's got.
Zduriencik (to Jonah Hill): ppssssst. Cancel that Nelson Cruz deal. I got a live one here.
Friedman: :: taps chin :: You got a point. The kid's got the great baseball chaw, I know that.
Friedman: Erasmo Ramirez could be pretty much ready to go. You're giving us Franklin, Erasmo and who all else? Tell me about this Pike kid.
Zduriencik: Right. You're giving up the $100M lefty ... wouldn't hurt to grab a $500k lefty to come in behind him. If we go Franklin, Erasmo, Pike and a sweetener, who do you throw in with Price?
Friedman: WHAAAAAAaaaaa! :spits coke all over monitor: ME sweeten it!
...
Or not,
Dr D
Comments
2
SSI isn't the only pro-Paxton institution. The entire ESPN 710 roster, starting with Shannon Drayer, and continuing on with Bob and Groz, Rick Rizzs, and the rest of them have held Paxton in an esteem rivaling SSI's esteem of the kid. Today, Drayer has predicted Paxton to be the interim number two starter. Here, Drayer predicts that Paxton and Walker will be 100 runs better than the 2013 back end of the rotation. Drayer stated, in an article I can't find, that the best part of Mariners 2013 was the Paxton starts. Check out this Brock and Danny interview with Dave Cameron where Cameron predicts five and dive failure for Paxton and nearly causes a fist fight with the hosts. Also, the ESPN 710 crew has seemed to manage to put Paxton on the radio nearly every two weeks during the entire off season. He may be the most podcasted rookie in Mariner in history.
3
Jeff Sullivan had been intimating for a while, over at FG, that there had been a proposed Franklin-Rays trade that he didn't like which had fallen through for whatever reason. A couple days ago in a Fangraphs chat, someone asked Jeff for more specifics. His response was as follows:
"SP, not good enough, wasn’t 1-for-1"
You can say a lot of things about David Price, but no one would accuse him of being "not good enough". Which tells me that the scuttled trade wasn't for Price.
As for the other guys... No one thinks the Rays are going to trade Matt Moore, right? Or Alex Cobb? Jeff loves Alex Cobb - no way he'd say Cobb is "not good enough". We know it probably wasn't Hellickson because Rubin, in his tweets, basically said as much. After that you're down to the guys Spec wrote about - and Jeff said it wasn't one-for-one! Anyone fancy dealing Franklin-plus for Chris Archer or Taylor Guerrieri? Alex Colome?
It'd be wonderful if this article was true-to-life, but the clues point in another direction...
4
I am struck with this question... Why in the world would someone try SO DANG HARD to dislike his own team?
I mean I was on the pessimism wagon as much as anyone when it was warranted... (like the Bavasi ERA, or the lets UZR rulers of the world ERA) but when there is actual reason to be excited?
For instance why INVENT reasons to think Paxton will fail? Paxton is doomed to be 5 and dive Bedard (note when Bedard was a CY Young candidate for the Os he was not a 5 inning pitcher, so I don't think that is who Cameron is comping him to) or a reliever?!?!?! Why? Because a guy with a butter smooth delivery had a hard time getting minor league umps to call his yellow hammer, and batters just refused to swing? Or because he was concentrating on his plant foot and not going 7?
Eh, whatev... put me in the camp that see Paxton's upside as... well... infinite I guess... there is no cap. Best starter in the game? Kershaw / Randy Johnson level LH Starter! I would trade Walker WAY before trading Paxton.... if nothing else just because of the injury wars Walker still has to fight , but Paxton has made it through.
5
is so hot to trot to trade Franklin... I mean if Zobrist can be an All Star wearing a SS, 2B, 3B, and OF glove, why can't Franklin? I really think Franklin is going to end up the better hitter than Miller as well... Let Franklin be Zobrist for a couple of years and then when Seager starts getting expensive trade him for a bunch of shiny prospects and install Franklin at 3B. Plus in the mean time heaven forbid Seager, Miller or Cano gets hurt or slumps, but you have Franklin ready and willing to start for them, instead of ::puke:: Willy F Bloomquist.
6
1) Because people get excited by trades and the Mariners have made it pretty clear he's available, 2) there's still a need for a legit starting pitcher and/or an outfielder, 3) a lot of baseball fans don't appreciate stuff like athleticism and versatility.
7
As with everybody else, SSI will believe it when we see it.
....
Of course, aces are sometimes traded.
Cliff Lee was traded - to us. James Shields was traded - by the Rays - last year. The Royals traded Greinke before he hit free agency. Beane trades all of his aces, Hudson, Haren, Mulder, Gio, etc, before they become free agents. It's not farfetched that the Rays would trade David Price.
Neither is it farfetched that the current Seattle Mariners would be interested in Price; people are actively reporting that the Mariners are interested in Price.
....
But yeah. We're having fun, not making predictions. We believe good things about Mariner roster decisions AFTER they occur. :- )
8
Yea, Cameron and his baseball doctrine. He's become so repetitive in his thoughts and feelings about the M's that he's become completely predictable. It's like being forced to watch the an episode of "Welcome Back Kotter" The episode starts with that nice groovy little theme song. And then it happens! There's Arnold Horshack and you know it's coming, that snarky little laugh that sounds like a vacuum cleaner trying to suck up a baseball bat. Followed by ohh, Ohh, Mr.. Kotter. You knew you were going to have to sit through that, yet somehow we all sat down every Tuesday night in the late in the late 70's to watch, and now we're left scratching your head and wondering why.
We all know the order of his preferred tools. Fielding, running, throwing, hitting, hitting for power, and in that order. Things that can't be mathematically analyzed aren't useful in terms of baseball projection. ERA is useless. And on and on. Dude should spend some time with Ryan Divish and ride the beat for awhile, so he can get out of the tunnel vision syndrome. Enjoy the sights and sounds of the game. Get out of the negative Nancy dumpy doldrums. Thanks for reminding me what a bummer it is to be a Mariners Fan
Pitchers tend to turn corners very rapidly, and if you aren't paying close enough attention you'll likely miss it. We witnessed it first hand with Felix and his sinker change combination. Fister learning to effectively change speeds. And there's something as subtle as RJ planting his foot differently. Daved is usually the last to grasp these things, because this is where creative thinking comes into play. You wont find some of this stuff on a spread sheet. It really is possible to be be a creative thinker and an analytical thinker. People aren't really one type or the other.
Dave is taking the simple route. Dave is using past history in MiLB, and applying it to the future. Not to mention it may currently be Dr. D's favorite player. :)