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Red Sox seek more pitching
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By Peter Gammons
Special to ESPN.com
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June 9
They have run through 26 pitchers, their starters who led the American League in ERA last season were at 5.02 on June 9 and Baseball Prospectus rates their bullpen second only to the current Padres among the worst bullpens of the last 20 years. Yet the Red Sox were in first place ... and trying to scramble to find enough pitching to stay within hailing distance of the Yankees and Athletics.
The first move was to acquire Byung-Hyun Kim. With pitching coach Tony Cloninger taking medical leave to fight cancer, the second move is bringing in former Dodgers and Mets pitching coach Dave Wallace -- currently an assistant to Dan Evans in Los Angeles -- to right the staff. The third move is to look at a couple of Chuck Finley showcases in California this week. The Cardinals maintain they do not have the money to sign the 40-year-old lefty, the Astros don't either, and there is mild interest from the Mariners, Angels and perhaps even the Dodgers. The fourth move will be the decision whether or not to start Kim. Ideally, GM Theo Epstein would like to acquire a closer and start Kim, with an eye on Ugueth Urbina and Armando Benitez. Bringing Urbina back would be a tremendously popular move in the clubhouse.
But the most important move this week may be to get Pedro Martinez back, probably Wednesday night. In 2002, Martinez, Derek Lowe and Tim Wakefield were 1-2-4 in the ERA race; after two strong starts, Lowe is down to 4.66, Wakefield at 5.35. Next, they want to get Casey Fossum working off his curveball, as he has struggled with the command of his fastball, something Wallace may be able to affect.
For all the clamor for the Bartolo Colon trade, it would have cost Fossum, Shea Hillenbrand and Freddy Sanchez, the latter an outstanding everyday infield prospect that Expos GM Omar Minaya compares to a young Edgardo Alfonzo. Instead, the Red Sox have Kim, Fossum and Sanchez, all 25 or younger.
Epstein admits he erred in keeping Matt White, who wowed the coaching staff throwing 91 mph in spring training, instead of submariner Javy Lopez. Both were Rule V draft picks. Lopez threw 84 mph in spring training, but he gets left-handers out (in the Prospectus statistical ranking of relievers, Lopez is fourth, right behind Shigetoshi Hasegawa), while White has no left-on-left out pitch and was dispatched to Seattle after three outings for the Red Sox. Lopez was a product of the program instituted in the Diamondbacks organization by Buck Showalter: before releasing a pitcher, see if he can drop down and throw sidearm or submarine.
Incidentally, Hillenbrand left a dark legacy in Boston after an FM radio comment his last week. Asked about trade rumors, Hillenbrand offered a challenge to Epstein to "trade me (---)," calling the GM a vile name for a homosexual. If John Rocker made such a crude homophobic reference, it would be "Outside the Lines" news.
Royals protecting their future
Royals GM Allard Baird understands the concerns about developing young pitchers. "We have a plan, and that plan is long term," Baird said. "So we are being very conservative and cautious. Runelvys Hernandez says he's all right and didn't want to miss any starts, but we're not taking any chances with him. As the season goes on, we're going to give our young pitchers as much time off as we can. We've used a six-man rotation, and we'll do it again. This is a long-term thing."
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Manager Tony Pena and Baird have been unfazed by the slide back to .500. "We are trying to build a consistent contender," Baird said. "Obviously our young pitchers are part of it."
Baird has used a bio-mechanical expert to help with the Royals' drafting and to help maintain their pitchers' health. Last June, there was a conflict: Baird wanted a college pitcher, but his scouts and the bio-mechanical expert felt high school right-hander Zack Greinke was more advanced than any college pitcher that would be available in the sixth spot in the draft. "They told me Greinke was a college pitcher and that he'd be in high A-ball by the end of the year and in Double-A by the end of this season," Baird said. "They were right. He's completely different." Greinke is 9-0, with a 1.17 ERA and a 65/10 strikeout-to-walk ratio for Class A Wilmington of the Carolina League.
More Diamond Notes
The Robby Alomar-Todd Walker rumors had no basis in fact, starting with the reality that the Red Sox are going to use every available penny on pitching. However, the Reds did call on Alomar. GM Jim Bowden wants to improve the Cincinnati defense, currently the worst in the National League. But the Reds badly need starting pitching. As of June 9, they had 19 wins from relievers, 11 by starters. Their relievers had 178 strikeouts in 219 1/3 innings, their starters 169 in 335 2/3 innings. Bad starters who put the ball in play to an erratic defense is a bad combination.
There have been five sets of brothers each drafted in the first round: Andy and Alan Benes, Ben and Glenn Davis, J.D. and Tim Drew, Nomar and Michael Garciaparra and Dmitri and Delmon Young. The Drews likely will be the first to three first-rounders next June when Stephen, the talented Florida State shortstop, is taken near the top of the draft, as well.
Incidentally, Drew Henson has hit .281 for Columbus since May 1.
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No reason to complain
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George Steinbrenner bellyached about the difficulty of the Yankees' interleague schedule. The Elias Sports Bureau checked and found that 15 teams have more difficult such schedules than the Yanks, whose opponents had a combined winning percentage of .499 when interleague play began.
Oakland (.581), Philadelphia (.566), Mets (.562), Montreal (.552) and Milwaukee (.550) have the toughest. Colorado (.401), Los Angeles (.437), Arizona (.438), Minnesota (.440) and Cleveland (.450) have the easiest.
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In case you missed it, when the Brewers swept the Mets at Shea Stadium May 5, it was their first doubleheader sweep on the road since 1992. In that doubleader, the Mets lost Tom Glavine to what he hopes is a minor elbow injury that forces him to miss a start. With Mike Piazza, Mo Vaughn, Pedro Astacio, Mike Stanton and Scott Strickland, the Mets already had more than $42 million on the disabled list, and Glavine and Alomar combine to put more than $60 million on the sidelines.
For those Red Sox fans who whine about curses, consider this: in June, 1996, they had both Jamie Moyer and Roger Clemens. Then-manager Kevin Kennedy didn't like Moyer, and ownership thought Clemens was washed up. Since the start of that season Pedro Martinez, Moyer and Clemens are 1-3-4 in the majors in winning percentage. And they wonder why they haven't won since 1918.
If it seems as if Tommy John surgery is increasing: Dr. James Andrews has performed 350 such procedures in the last 2½ years, 350 in the previous seven years. Reason? Better detection and understanding of the elbow.
It's hard to figure which White Sox factoid is worst: 1) being last in the AL in attendance, 2) being swept in Cleveland or 3) having a two-time All-Star named Paul Konerko with an OPS under .600.
One International League scout said "the Braves certainly knew what they were doing when they got Johnny Estrada in the Kevin Millwood deal. He is going to be an outstanding everyday catcher." The same scout said Jason Marquis is throwing very well, but "he's a different pitcher. He was always a high, riding fastball/curveball pitcher, and while he's back up in the 90s, he was sinker/slider. Obviously, he's copying Greg Maddux, who's a pretty good role model."
Matt Harrington was a high school pitcher in Palmdale, Calif., the seventh pick in the 2000 draft. He rejected a $4 million offer from the Rockies. With no college in sight, he re-entered the draft in 2001 and was taken in the second round by the Padres. And turned down $1 million. Last year, he was selected in the 13th round by Tampa Bay. Didn't sign. Harrington this time was picked in the 24th round by Cincinnati. He's 0-1, 3.86 in 18 2/3 innings for the independent Fort Worth Cats, perhaps the saddest story in recent draft history, but he will be eligible for an independent league pension pretty soon.
For those Astros fans that marvel at what may be the best bullpen in the game, but fear it will get overused and burned out come August, Houston had only four games as of June 7 in which they didn't use at least three relievers. Ugh.
How wild is it in Puerto Rico? The visiting locker rooms are small, so to keep the Rangers' bullpen catcher from having to dress in the trainer's room, pitching coach Orel Hershiser insisted on sharing his locker with the catcher.
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Ruben Sierra, Todd Van Poppel and others are gone, and more will be moved before Aug. 1. "We're doing what we did in New York," Rangers manager Buck Showalter said. "We want to build the right kind of team around young players like Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock." Outfielder Laynce Nix likely will go to Triple-A in a couple of weeks, then come up in the second half. And Showalter is particularly enthused about the comeback of Jeff Zimmerman, who may be back by Aug. 1.
Asked what surprised him most about baseball's best team, the Mariners, manager Bob Melvin said, "John Olerud. I had no idea just how good he is. He makes the whole infield work. He's a great hitter. We have Greg Colbrunn and I can barely get him at-bats, because I can't bring myself to take Olerud out of the lineup."
For his career, Olerud's winning percentage is .557, 10th best among active players, right behind Bret Boone. Andruw and Chipper Jones, not surprisingly, have played in the highest percentage of winning games, .619 and .612, respectively. They're followed by Derek Jeter, Manny Ramirez, Javy Lopez, Bernie Williams and Kenny Lofton. As of June 9, the Mariners had outscored their opponents by 112 runs, 41 more than the runner-up Yankees for those who believe in run differential.
Yes, the Today Show did try to get Albert Belle to come on and chat about corked bats. Albert is a few credits shy of his business degree from Arizona State, and has been mentoring Delmon Young, with the emphasis on preparation, work ethic and approach, all areas that Belle was exemplary in.
The Cardinals now have Jason Isringhausen on rehab and Chris Carpenter pitched in extended spring Thursday, with hopes that he can join the St. Louis bullpen by the end of this month. "It worked when we brought Matt Morris back and used him out of the pen," GM Walt Jocketty said. "We think the same will be true for Carpenter. He will be a huge addition."
Shawn Chacon is 6-1 at Coors Field. Now Scott Elarton is coming along. "We think the fact that they both grew up pitching in the light air helps them get used to it," GM Dan O'Dowd said. Too bad Wake Forest's Kyle Sleeth -- another Colorado lad -- didn't slide to the 10th pick.
Within 24 hours of the Sammy Sosa ejection, a fan had a broken Sosa bat used to hit a homer on eBay, and you could buy it now for $22,000. "Find out," read part of the ad, "if you could help make history." The guy probably figured that some of the Sosa-obsessed media talking heads would spend the $22,000 just so they could scream unproven allegations and waive a corked bat simultaneously.
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