nichols@cmu-cs-h.ARPA (David Nichols) (06/01/85)
My impression of the rumored Detroit trade (Candelaria for Berenger,
Castillo, and Herndon) is that it's a bad deal for the Bucs. I don't really
know the players on the Tigers very well, so I looked them up in my shiny
new Baseball Encyclopedia (the sixth edition just came out--get one).
Berenger is 30, has a 23-32 lifetime record with a 3.89 ERA. Castillo is 28
with a .213 lifetime average and .328 slugging average. Herndon appears to
be the prize with a .278 avg, .411 slugging avg, and 74 HR in his ten years
in the majors. His K/BB average is about 2.5, so he doesn't get on base a
lot, and he isn't a stunning power hitter. Candelaria (31yrs old, 3.10 ERA,
122-80 record) is one of the best pitchers in the NL and is a big part of a
struggling pitching staff.
The Pirates are hip-deep in average players right now. What they need is
some offensive punch (and a return to form by the pitching staff that led
the league last year). A genuine, honest-to-God STAR would be super.
Thompson looked like he could be that a couple of years ago, Hendrick used
to be one, Pena IS one all-around, but no one is doing it all at the plate.
(Actually, Johnny Ray is a great average hitter, but you've got have either
a few more like him (St. Louis style) or some power).
The trades for Hendrick and Kemp were basically gambles that 30+ year-old
veterans that were sliding could still put together a good year or two. It
isn't working for us, and Herndon looks like more of the same. The Pirates
should either pay the price to get someone like Winfield, or they should
start a rebuilding process with younger players. All of our recent deals
have sent young players away from the organization (not quite--we got a
minor league catcher with Hendrick). Also, the Bucs were signing as free
agents any ex-major leaguer over 30 that they could find. Dybzinsky was
keeping young Sam Kalifa ("the shortstop of the future") at second base for
a while in Hawaii.
So I was delighted to discover that Pete Peterson had been fired as GM.
Only now Joe Brown goes out and trades for Johnny LeMaster!! I dipped into
the encyclopedia to confirm my fears but was pleasantly suprised: a .295
lifetime average with a few years over .300. Oops, that was slugging
average. Tanner is pleased, wants to start him immediately. LeMaster is 3
for 40 or so this year while Almon, who finally won the shortstop job by
default, is batting .269 and has only made one error. Sigh.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
One of the few joys in being a Bucs fan this year is watching Tony Pena
behind the plate. I'm not sure what the opposition stealing totals are, but
he must be throwing out half of the base runners so far. In a series in St.
Louis right after they brought up Coleman, he gunned down 5 of 7 runners in
the first two games, picking off another at first (he just GUNS the ball
from down on his knees) and got 4 of 8 the next day. He continued the
heroics in the ensuing home stand, though I don't have the numbers.
--
ARPA: David.Nichols@cmu-cs-h.arpa
UUCP: {seismo,decvax,allegra}!rochester!cmu-cs-pt!cmu-cs-g!nicholsradio@spuxll.UUCP (Rick Farina) (06/05/85)
Don't look for anything resembling a rebuilding program out of Pittsburgh this year. I've heard that Joe Brown was hired with the explicit charter to unload some of their more costly overhead: Candalaria, Thompson, Hendrick. The purpose is to make the Pirates franchise more attractive to any potential buyers after this season. The Pirate situation is not unlike that of the Mets in the late-1970's when, after the death of long-time owner Joan Payson, a dismantling program began, undertaken with brutal effectiveness by M. Donald Grant. By the end of that decade, the Mets talented, yet expensive, ball players had been dispersed across both leagues, and the club was left with the lowest payroll in baseball. They performed accordingly. Attendence evaporated, and the club was put on the block. Enter Doubleday to buy the franchise. He invested heavily in the farm system, and while waiting for it to mature, spent some bucks for some stop-gap players (Foster, Kingman, Staub). Today the Mets have been restored to prominence, and their ripening farm system would seem to guarentee that position at least for the rest of this decade. A good lesson for Pirates fans and the new owners of their club.