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I do not understand a single word on this site.
Mosh Spec, 2009 Lee Deal
=== 10 Stars Out of 10 ===
Spec barrels into the paint with a tomahawk dunk in the Lee-Deadline Summer 3-on-3. What a concise, to-the-point summary. :low five:
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=== Putz Deal ===
Nowadays cyber-Seattle is trying to name a constellation after Franklin Gutierrez :- ) but it's not like he was Bobby Abreu at the time of the J.J. Putz trade. When Capt Jack grabbed him, Cranklin was a 3rd-4th OF trying to nail down a fulltime job. He was a valuable property, of course, but hardly Jesus Montero-valuable or anything like that.
In my view, the haul of Gutierrez, Carp, Vargas, Chavez, Cleto (and change) for Gutierrez (and change) is similar to the Indians concept -- a handful of players they believed could help them, though not necessarily based on glamor.
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=== Carlos Carrasco ===
... is given a 9D rating by HQ ... 30% chance of being an All-Star, which puts him among the higher-ranked pitchers in their book ...
Lacks consistency, but has three strikeout pitches and projects to be a #2 starter in the bigs. This is the guy who would compare, for value, with Michael Pineda, who also is given a 9D rating by HQ.
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=== Jason Knapp ===
Knapp is given a 9C rating -- 50% chance of being an All-Star at the ML level! -- with a projection that he also will be a #2 starter.
Yes, HQ was aware of the shoulder surgery at the time, viewing the surgery as relatively minor in terms of its threat to his career. Here is an article on a 14-K game by Knapp in 2009.
At any rate, the relevant question is what Knapp's value was at the time of the deal, and if his rating is 9C after the injury was discovered, obviously his rating was enormous before.
You could argue that you wouldn't want Knapp right now. You could also argue that the Phillies were intentionally shedding a spect they didn't want. But the relevant point is that Shapiro pulled the trigger on the deal when he got a second feature prospect back.
Knapp's shoulder appears to have been a surprise to the Indians -- and apparently the Indians weren't much bothered by the situation.
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So, on these two pitchers, we'll actually accuse Spec of being a little modest regarding their trade-day value. Spec comps them to teenage Tillman and a notch below Pineda; the perception around baseball was probably that both were superior to Pineda in value.
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=== Lou Marson ===
Given a 7A rating -- projected to definitely be a starting catcher in the bigs, though a very mediocre one. Spray hitter, plus defender.
Comparable in value to Adam Moore. Spec triangulates Marson beautifully.
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=== Jason Donald ===
Given a 7C rating by HQ, which concurs with Spec's assessment exactly.
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=== Tribe Fans ===
Predictably were ready to drown themselves in the shower after Lee was traded for names that hadn't been on the fans' short list.
But it was, again, an information gap between a man -- Mark Shapiro -- who understood just how good Carrasco and Knapp were -- and the fans, who when spectating a Lee Derby, watch Top Prospect Alert and will accept any three of the top 25 names listed there. :- )
Per HQ, the Indians got two blue-chippers, an ML-ready starting catcher and a 25-man-roster benchie for Lee. The parallels to the Putz trade are rather clear.
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Great job Spec,
Jeff
Comments
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"2009" refers to the calendar year preceding this one, and so on.
"Anonymous" refers to a poster who doesn't want to accept responsibility for his comments, "Deal" refers to an exchange of players between pro baseball teams, etc.
If you need other single words defined, just have somebody type in the questions. We'll be here all week. :- )
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It struck me that Jack ususally surprises us with his deals. Let's have another. Whether we are out of it for 2010 is irrelevant. Jack's job is to make the team better, now, 2011, and beyond. Get a big bat at the deadline, proving to Lee that the team is serious about winning, then resign him to an extension. He's a special pitcher and anything we get for him will pale in comparison. Quality vs. quantity. We don't need another star prospect C like Montereo. Bard/Alphonso are quite serviceable if Johnson/Moore don't want the job. We just need the big bat (Dunn, Fielder?), and the rest of the team to perform to their career averages.