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Bar Chat

08/02/2018

Baseball's Trade Deadline

[Posted Wed. a.m.]

Baseball Quiz: Serious fans know that Chief Wilson holds the all-time single-season triples record at 36, but that was back in 1912.  In slightly more modern times, Kiki Cuyler had 26 in 1925, and then Earle Combs (1927) and Adam Comorosky (1930) had 23.  But since Comorosky, only two others have had 23 in a season, one in 1949, the other in 2007.  Name ‘em.  Answer below.

MLB

--The Yankees continued to add to their pitching staff at the trade deadline, acquiring Twins starter Lance Lynn, which cost New York Tyler Austin and a minor leaguer, and they picked up the maximum $3.75 million in international pool money in trades with the Cardinals (sending Giovanny Gallegos and Chasen Shreve), White Sox (Caleb Frare) and the Mariners (Adam Warren).

Moving Warren seems questionable, a valuable swing man who can go multiple innings and start in an emergency, but the Yanks think the veteran Lynn, who won 48 games between 2012-2014 with the Cards, but is just 7-8, 5.10 ERA this season, will fit the bill.  He’ll begin in the bullpen with the rotation, for now, being Luis Severino, CC Sabathia, Masahiro Tanaka, Sonny Gray and J.A. Happ.

But then, out of nowhere, Happ contracted the same hand, foot and mouth disease that the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard had suffered, “Thor” becoming the first major leaguer to be placed on the disabled list for it.  As I go to post, Happ hasn’t been placed on the DL and his status for this weekend against Boston is unknown.

The Yanks did get another strong effort from Tanaka, Tuesday in Baltimore, six shutout innings as he improved to 9-2, 3.84, the Yankees winning 6-3 to reduce the lead in the A.L. East back to five games as the Red Sox were losing to the Phillies 3-1.

Boston 75-34
New York 68-37...5

By the way, on a different topic, the Yankees’ attendance this year is the highest since 2012 at 43,200.

--Overall, there’s a reason why this was one of the more active trade deadlines in memory.  I mean check out some of the standings.

Second AL Wildcard

Seattle 63-44
Oakland 63-46 ...1

[Houston, 68-41, is four up on Seattle in the AL West]

NL East

Philadelphia 59-48
Atlanta 57-47 ...0.5
Washington 53-53 ...5.5

NL Central

Chicago 61-45 --
Milwaukee 63-47 --

NL West

Arizona 60-49
Colorado 58-48 ...0.5
Los Angeles 59-49 ...0.5

I could have included other teams in the above, but the reason why I note the Nationals is because they made news in not dealing Bryce Harper, who they are likely to lose for nothing in the offseason as he pursues a $400 million deal in free agency.

So the Nats are rolling the dice that Harper will have a monster final two months to lead them to the playoffs when if they had begun listening to other teams earlier, they no doubt could have received a haul in return.  Time will tell if Washington made the right move.

--Back to the Red Sox, they placed ace Chris Sale on the disabled list Tuesday with shoulder inflammation, which sounds worrisome but a lot of us are guessing this is just an excuse to give Sale some time off.  They need him in peak form come October.

Separately, Boston acquired second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Angels, Kinsler having a down season at .239 with 13 homers, but he picked it up in July. With Dustin Pedroia having played only three games all season, the Red Sox getting by with Eduardo Nunez and Brock Holt, Kinsler is good insurance (Pedroia not due back until late in the regular season, if at all).

--Pittsburgh, a full six games back in the NL Central (3 ½ back in the wild-card race), is going for it, acquiring starter Chris Archer from Tampa Bay, the Rays potentially receiving a solid package in return in Tylor Glasgow and Austin Meadows.

Archer, 29, has hardly been an ace the last three seasons, with an ERA over 4.00 each one of them, but he doesn’t seem to have any arm issues and he still has top of the rotation potential.  Plus he has a team-friendly contract thru 2021 (should the team pick-up the option in the final year).  To me a good, aggressive move.

Plus, earlier the Pirates obtained the Rangers’ closer, Keone Kela, who has saved 24 games this season and is under contract through 2020.

--The Phillies picked up All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos from the Rays for a player to be named, but Ramos is currently out with a hamstring injury and might not be available until September.  Interesting move. He’s a free agent this winter.

--The Brewers, who had just picked up Mike Moustakas from the Royals to play third, moving Travis Shaw to second, picked up second baseman Jonathan Schoop from the Orioles, and now it seems Schoop will play short.  Schoop broke through last season with 32 home runs and 105 RBIs, but was 17-40, .244 (.720 OPS vs. .841 in 2017) this year, though with nine homers in July.

--The Dodgers picked up veteran second baseman Brian Dozier from the Twins for the stretch run, while Arizona was acquiring veteran reliever Brad Ziegler.

--The Astros made a controversial move, obtaining Toronto All-Star closer Roberto Osuna, 23, who had 36 and 39 saves in 2016-17, but is coming off a 75-game suspension for a domestic violence incident that resulted in criminal assault charges. He’s expected to plead not guilty in Toronto on Wednesday.

Houston pitchers Justin Verlander and Lance McCullers earlier in the year tweeted their disgust when surveillance video emerged of a former Astros minor leaguer assaulting his girlfriend, and Verlander is not pleased with the Osuna pickup, saying he was not among the players GM Jeff Luhnow consulted before making the trade.

“It’s a tough situation,” Verlander told MLB.com.  “I think the thing for us to remember here is that the details have not come to light. We don’t know the whole story.

“Obviously, I’ve said some pretty inflammatory things about stuff like this in the past. I stand by those words.”

Astors GM Luhnow said in a statement: “The due diligence by our front office was unprecedented. We are confident that Osuna is remorseful, has willfully complied with all consequences related to his past behavior, has proactively engaged in counseling...” blah blah blah....

Let’s see what happens in Toronto later today at Osuna’s hearing.  And then see what happens in the Astros’ clubhouse.

--It should have been expected.  My Mets failed to make a move at the trade deadline, like in dealing one of their four marketable starting pitchers, nor did they find any significant interest in some of their fill-in players, save for Asdrubal Cabrera and closer Jeurys Familia days before the deadline.  [The return on both questionable.]

I mean we were 44-59...why change things?

So the Mets went out and proceeded to suffer their worst loss in franchise history, 25-4 in D.C.  last night.  It was 19-0 after five innings.

And now management is saying they’ll wait to the offseason and get better value.  But they aren’t getting better value than they could have today for Jacob deGrom and Zack Wheeler in particular.  [Noah Syndergaard hurt himself, and the team, by going on the disabled list twice.]

The situation for 2019 looks even bleaker than the 44-60 mark of today (again, can’t help but add after the 11-1 start...33-59 since).

--I didn’t comment on Sunday’s Hall of Fame ceremony because there was really nothing to say.  I have no problem with the induction of Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero, Jim Thome, Trevor Hoffman, Jack Morris and Alan Trammell.

But it was nice for beautiful Cooperstown and local commerce they had a great weather day, with an estimated crowd at 53,000.  Only 2007’s Induction Ceremony drew more, 82,000 (Cal Ripken Jr. and Tony Gwynn enshrined then).

Next year we will see what happens with Edgar Martinez, who was on 70.3% of the ballots this year (75% being needed), and of course the ongoing saga of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in the voting.

As for first-timers, there are only two obvious ones for the Hall...Roy Halladay and Mariano Rivera.  Rivera should receive a top five all-time percentage of the vote, which will be exceeded the following year, 2020, when Derek Jeter gets voted in.  [Halladay is certainly a Hall of Famer in my book, but not sure he’s a first ballot guy.]

--The Orioles closed out July 32-75, 42 games out of first place in the AL East. According to Elias, the last team to be at least 40 games out of first at the end of July was the 1962 Mets (26-76, 43 games out).

--Finally, the following is a bit parochial, but fellow Demon Deacon alum Phil W. and I have been exchanging notes on Will Craig, the former Wake Forest player who was taken in the first round of the MLB Draft in 2016 by the Pirates.  Craig was a classic college stud, a power hitter who also pitched, mostly in relief, but Pittsburgh selected him for his bat and this year, at AA the whole time, he has racked up 84 RBIs to lead all of AA (players who spent the entire season at that level) thru Sunday’s play (Craig off Monday but not sure about the others in AA).

But he’s only hitting .250...though with 18 homers and 84 RBI on just 87 hits.  So how good is he?  Is he a potential major leaguer? Certainly every first-round pick these days is expected to make the big time at some point, given the big bucks first-rounders receive.  Next season will be critical for Craig.

NFL

--The Jets and their fans breathed a sigh of relief as the No. 3 pick in the draft, quarterback Sam Darnold, showed up at camp on day four, soon enough, as his contract language was ironed out.

New rules on lowering the helmet and the risk that some players face potential fines and suspensions have thrown a monkey wrench into negotiations.  It’s about whether or not a team can void the guaranteed nature of a player’s pay for such violations.  So for the first time I can remember, we’ve had to become familiar with “offset language,” with players fighting for the right to double dip and collect paychecks from two teams if they happen to get cut before the end of their deal, then picked up by another franchise.

--The only other first-round draft pick not in camp is Chicago linebacker Roquan Smith, the No. 8 overall selection out of Georgia whose representatives also have trouble with the offset language and the league’s new rule on players possibly being suspended for illegal contact.

But as the Chicago Tribune’s Rich Campbell pointed out, via a study by the NFL, out of 40,000 plays in the NFL last season, only three would have resulted in an ejection under the new rule, according to Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations.

The Bears have been verbally assuring Smith that they’ll be reasonable when it comes to guaranteed money and suspensions.

Golf Balls

--The weather is iffy for this weekend in Akron, Ohio, for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, but it’s going to be fascinating to see how Tiger Woods does. This is his course.  A stupendous eight wins in 15 appearances, plus three other top-5 finishes. But this is his first time here since 2014.

Woods loves the course because “It’s straightforward.  I’ve always liked golf courses that play that way,” he said when asked about Firestone in 2009.  [His wins have come in 1999-2001, 2005-07, 2009 and 2013.]

--I didn’t report earlier on the European Tour event last weekend, the Porsche European Open in Hamburg, Germany, won by 39-year-old Englishman Richard McEvoy, but we congratulate him for his first Euro Tour title after 17 years.  It was his 285th European Tour event since turning pro in 2001.  He’s had to make 12 trips to the European Tour Qualifying School, successful six of the 12, and he’s been going back and forth between the main tour and European Challenge Tour his entire career. 

But now he has a two-year European Tour exemption.  Good on you, Richard.

I wouldn’t be writing of this, however, were it not for the story behind Bryson DeChambeau, who began the final round tied for the lead with McEvoy, but tumbled to 13th thanks to a 6-over final round 78.

I am not a fan of DeChambeau.  Just a lot of things I don’t like, but I caught some video of his behavior and his excessive pouting and creating a scene when he’s playing poorly (even on the driving range, as was revealed at The Open Championship the week before), and then, after his round with McEvoy, as McEvoy has just wrapped up his first win, a special moment, DeChambeau, playing the role of ugly American, blew off McEvoy!

Yoh, Dude...we all know you were frustrated at your own round, but show more class than a brief handshake while moving on.  The question then became did Bryson pay enough respect to McEvoy, or was he trying to get off the stage to allow McEvoy to enjoy the moment after his own implosion?

DeChambeau took to Instagram later to offer an “apology to McEvoy and the fans for my brevity on 18.”

Many of his fellow players called him “classless.”

--I didn’t watch much of the Canadian Open this past weekend, especially with Sunday’s lengthy rain delay, but on Saturday, when I flipped to it, Jim Nantz was casually talking about Bruce Lietzke and his passing, and I didn’t think anything of it because I thought Lietzke had already died!  So I apologize for saying nothing last chat.  What I was remembering was a year ago, Lietzke had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer and that was my memory.

Lietzke passed away on Saturday and he is worthy of more than a passing reference, especially for those of us of a certain age, because this was truly an original.

Bruce Lietzke had a very successful career in golf, winning 13 PGA Tour events, and seven more on the Champions Tour, including his only major, the 2003 U.S. Senior Open.

The thing is, Lietzke hated to practice, and he didn’t like playing in the majors, totally blowing off both the U.S. Open and The Open Championship after 1985 (1983 for The Open, even though he had a T-6 there in 1981. In fact he only crossed the pond for the British Open three times).

After 1988, Lietzke never played more than 20 PGA Tour events, long preferring to take summers off and spend more time with his family and his classic car collections.

But six years in a row, 1977-82, he won at least once, including three tournaments in 1981, and he never finished worse than 74th on the money list.

In fact, of his 13 wins, 8 were at four events...twice each at the Canadian Open, Tucson, Colonial, and the Byron Nelson.  He also won at the Hawaiian Open, Bob Hope Desert Classic and the Andy Williams San Diego Open.  Bruce Lietzke did things his own way.

Bill Fields / The Morning Read

“There is a popular saying in golf that if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. No doubt that maxim has motivated players throughout history – shag bags to launch monitors – to practice hard in pursuit of improvement. But Bruce Lietzke was an exception to the rule, a happy, successful outlier who did it his way.

“ ‘I don’t want my swing to get better,’ Lietzke told Golf World as he turned 50 in 2001. ‘I want it exactly like it was yesterday.’

“I once wrote that Lietzke much preferred to tinker with his muscle cars instead of his golf muscles, which rarely required a tuneup and weren’t harmed by long layoffs.  Although he played a busy calendar of tournaments early in his career, Lietzke subsequently made the most of a light playing schedule.”

Lietzke had “a reputation as one of the most decent people in golf, a person who put family far ahead of fame.” He loved ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ and he related easily to the kind sheriff’s goodness.

“More comfortable at Steak ‘n Shake than Ruth’s Chris, Lietzke figured out what worked for him when it came to his golf and his goals.”

Lietzke grew up in Beaumont, Texas, and went to the University of Houston, thus his success at Colonial and the Nelson, as he developed a swing action that made him an exclusively left-to-right ball-striker.  In fact Lietzke once surmised that “he had hit fewer than a dozen hooks since revising his swing in 1974, most of those on the dogleg-left third hole at Colonial.” [Bill Fields]

Lietzke best finish in a PGA Tour major was runner-up to John Daly in the 1991 PGA Championship at Crooked Stick.

But as I noted above, he hardly played in the big ones, never finishing better than 17th at his 11 U.S. Opens.  And when it came to the British Open, he had his tie for sixth in 1981 when his buddy Bill Rogers won at Royal St. George’s. After Rogers’ play deteriorated in the post-major victory whirlwind, Lietzke saw it as a cautionary tale.

“I’ve seen what happens to people who win majors,” Lietzke said years later, “and I’ve always liked to stay low on the radar screen.  It really brought Bill down.”

Bill Fields:

“If anyone believed Lietzke overstated how he put his clubs away at the end of one season and didn’t touch them until the start of the next, they learned it was gospel early in 1986. Al Hansen, Lietzke’s caddie, really learned.

“When Lietzke completed his 1985 schedule with a tie for fourth at the B.C. Open in September, Hansen doubted that Lietzke truly was going to set his clubs in the garage for months.  He put a banana inside the headcover of his boss’ driver.  At Lietzke’s first event in 1986, the Bob Hope Chrysler Class in January, the caddie found the banana right where he had left it.  After discovering the rotten, smelly mess, he never doubted Lietzke again.

“If Lietzke had any second thoughts about drastically cutting back his schedule, they were eased by a conversation he had with Byron Nelson, who left the pinnacle of golf for his ranch when he was in his mid-30s.

“ ‘He was one of my very favorite people in golf,’ Lietzke recalled in 2011.  ‘When I was wanting to start cutting back, I said, ‘Did you ever regret walking away from the game and retiring at an early age?’ He had the most beautiful blue eyes you can imagine, and boy there was no hesitation. He looked right back at me and said, ‘I never regretted it for a minute.’  Boy that sent chills, because that’s what I wanted him to say.’”

Stuff

--From Bart Jansen / USA TODAY

“A polar bear that injured a cruise ship guard on an Arctic archipelago was shot dead by another of the ship’s workers, Norwegian authorities said.

“The incident Saturday sparked criticism that tourists intruded in the wilderness and then killed one of the reasons they were there.

“The attack occurred when tourists from the MS Bremen cruise ship landed on the most-northern island of Svalbard archipelago, according to Joint Rescue Coordination for Northern Norway. The remote region is known for glaciers, reindeer and polar bears.

“The German Hapag Lloyd Cruises company, which operates the MS Bremen, told the Associated Press that two polar bear guards from their ship went on the island and one of them ‘was attacked by a polar bear and injured on his head.’

“The polar bear was then shot dead ‘in an act of self-defense’ by another guard, spokeswoman Negar Etminan said.”

British comedian Ricky Gervais tweeted: “ ‘Let’s get too close to a polar bear in its natural environment and then kill it if it gets too close.’ Morons.”

Top 3 songs for the week 8/7/76:  #1 “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (Elton John & Kiki Dee)  #2 “Love Is Alive” (Gary Wright)  #3 “Moonlight Feels Right” (Starbuck...ugh...)...and...#4 “Let ‘Em In” (Wings...mailed it in...)  #5 “You Should Be Dancing” (Bee Gees...looking for my sword...)  #6 “Rock And Roll Music” (The Beach Boys...one of their worst...)  #7 “Got To Get You Into My Life” (The Beatles...get a pass...) #8 “Kiss And Say Goodbye” (Manhattans)  #9 “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” (Lou Rawls...does his best to single-handedly save the week...) #10 “Afternoon Delight” (Starland Vocal Band...see #3...music is turning for the worse...storm clouds on the horizon....)

Baseball Quiz Answer: The last two with 23 triples were Dale Mitchell, 1949, Cleveland, and Curtis Granderson, 2007, Detroit.

Of course this is all part of my grander theory that forget Chief Wilson’s record, no one in my lifetime, pre-AI ballplayers, will exceed 67 doubles.

As in, earlier this year we had the latest test of my long-held dictum, “Don’t waste my freakin’ time in the first half of a season with talk of someone beating Earl Webb’s record!”

To wit: This past June, then-Minnesota Twin (now Arizona Diamondback) Eduardo Escobar had 32 doubles in the Twins’ first 69 games thru June 19.  ESPN’s baseball team was frothing at the mouth.  He has had six, including one with Arizona, since then.  Sure, he’ll probably end up somewhere in the 50s, but Webb is secure yet another season.

And what is the key to my theory?  Come the summer months, the players start wearing down and triples become doubles, and doubles become singles.  Teach your children this lesson early.  It will save them years of frustration and embarrassment when they’re sitting in a bar in mid-June, going to their friends, “Hey, did you see Joe Schlabotnik has 30 doubles in his first 65 games?  He’s going to beat Earl Webb’s mark!”

Next Bar Chat, Monday.

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