Monday, July 19, 2004
Three Weeks, Three Questions (Forget the Games Edition)
Let's get to it.
Three Weeks
The (Half-)Week That Was
Swept in four by the Dodgers. At home. The D-Backs got blown out, they blew games on their own. It's almost getting too painful to recount.
The Two Weeks That Will Be
The 18-game stretch continues with 2 at home against both the Giants and Astros and 3 against the Rockies, then on the road for 4 at the Astros and 3 at Colorado. The Astros have an average offense (7th in NL OPS, 9th in runs scored), and one that's exceedingly fly-ball heavy (lowest GB:FB ratio in the NL) to go along with an average defense (9th in NL ERA and runs allowed) that's exceedingly wild (most walks allowed in the NL). This on a team with Pettite and Clemens.
In a particularly depressing development, other fans are now pointing out their opponents' remaining chances against the D-Backs (look way down at the end of the entry).
Three Questions
You know, when I started these things, my questions used to focus on things that might affect the team in the next week or two. Clearly those times are over.
1. Will Randy Be Traded?: This question sounds familiar. Rather than give you my perspective, I thought I'd round up other perspectives.
** Over at the Hardball Times, Larry and Ben use a Simpsons reference that I wish I'd thought of when I wrote about the possible persistence of Brian Cashman a couple of weeks ago. They seem to come down on the side of no trade.
** Rob at 6-4-2 clearly does not want Arte Moreno to get Johnson for the Angels. Mark Gonzales lists all the warning signs of why the D-Backs should be wary of even the Angels' prospects, but I think Gonzales has decided that the D-Backs won't trade Johnson, so that bias might be there.
** TwinsGeek made a case for the Twins to get Randy Johnson (go down to the "Randy Johnson Organizational Litmus Test"), but his readers, for the most part, disagreed. Not that the Twins actually would go after Randy, of course...
OK, for what it's worth, I don't think he'll be traded at this point. If he is, I hope it's for more than what's being offered.
2. Will Anybody Else Be Traded?: Robert at Veteran Presence makes the argument that the D-Backs have failed to display their rookies and prospects to determine whether or not they're any good. I still buy the "trade display" argument Robert doesn't, but once August 1st rolls around, I'll start pressing for DFAs of veterans. There's no need to keep Alomar around by the time the D-Backs come back to BOB on August 3rd. At this point, with Finley cold, Bautista ginger, and no apparent Hillenbrand interest, there may not be any trades.
3. Will Gonzo Have Surgery?: Magic 8-Ball says.... "yes definitely" (well, that's what it told me, anyway). Gonzo says he is "leaning toward having surgery in August." This means that we can expect to see Quentin McCracken doing Shamrock Farms ads shortly.
Three Weeks
The (Half-)Week That Was
Swept in four by the Dodgers. At home. The D-Backs got blown out, they blew games on their own. It's almost getting too painful to recount.
The Two Weeks That Will Be
The 18-game stretch continues with 2 at home against both the Giants and Astros and 3 against the Rockies, then on the road for 4 at the Astros and 3 at Colorado. The Astros have an average offense (7th in NL OPS, 9th in runs scored), and one that's exceedingly fly-ball heavy (lowest GB:FB ratio in the NL) to go along with an average defense (9th in NL ERA and runs allowed) that's exceedingly wild (most walks allowed in the NL). This on a team with Pettite and Clemens.
In a particularly depressing development, other fans are now pointing out their opponents' remaining chances against the D-Backs (look way down at the end of the entry).
Three Questions
You know, when I started these things, my questions used to focus on things that might affect the team in the next week or two. Clearly those times are over.
1. Will Randy Be Traded?: This question sounds familiar. Rather than give you my perspective, I thought I'd round up other perspectives.
** Over at the Hardball Times, Larry and Ben use a Simpsons reference that I wish I'd thought of when I wrote about the possible persistence of Brian Cashman a couple of weeks ago. They seem to come down on the side of no trade.
** Rob at 6-4-2 clearly does not want Arte Moreno to get Johnson for the Angels. Mark Gonzales lists all the warning signs of why the D-Backs should be wary of even the Angels' prospects, but I think Gonzales has decided that the D-Backs won't trade Johnson, so that bias might be there.
** TwinsGeek made a case for the Twins to get Randy Johnson (go down to the "Randy Johnson Organizational Litmus Test"), but his readers, for the most part, disagreed. Not that the Twins actually would go after Randy, of course...
OK, for what it's worth, I don't think he'll be traded at this point. If he is, I hope it's for more than what's being offered.
2. Will Anybody Else Be Traded?: Robert at Veteran Presence makes the argument that the D-Backs have failed to display their rookies and prospects to determine whether or not they're any good. I still buy the "trade display" argument Robert doesn't, but once August 1st rolls around, I'll start pressing for DFAs of veterans. There's no need to keep Alomar around by the time the D-Backs come back to BOB on August 3rd. At this point, with Finley cold, Bautista ginger, and no apparent Hillenbrand interest, there may not be any trades.
3. Will Gonzo Have Surgery?: Magic 8-Ball says.... "yes definitely" (well, that's what it told me, anyway). Gonzo says he is "leaning toward having surgery in August." This means that we can expect to see Quentin McCracken doing Shamrock Farms ads shortly.
Comments:
FWIW, the link to my story was wrong; it should actually be http://6-4-2.blogspot.com/2004/07/why-angels-dont-need-big-johnson.html.
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