Mariners Screw Up in Reverse
By Doug Farrar
"Wait�they made a good trade?"
Yes, indeedy. And not only do I kick off my YankeesSuck.com blogging experience with news of a deal which helps the M�s (on purpose, even!) and spanks the Yanks, I also get to use, in one column, my two least favorite sports-related expressions:
1. "Subway Series";
2. "Upside".
But first, the Freddy Garcia deal. In case you just woke up from a two-day bender (and if you�re a Mets fan, you may just have), the Mariners (my hometown team, for your reference) traded stud starting pitcher Freddy and uber-dork catcher Ben Davis to the Chicago White Sox for three players � Sox starting catcher Miguel Olivo, Topps 2003 Minor League Player Of The Year Jeremy Reed (OF), and SS/3B/1B/DH Michael Morse (prorated position switches after the M�s see him defensively at SS!).
As a Freddy Garcia fan, a firm believer in the "build everything around an ace" theory and a longtime basher of just about everything the M�s alleged front office has ever done, I was surprised at my own reaction to this trade. To wit: "Woot!"
Lemme �splain. The Mariners are desperately thin at catcher. So thin, in fact, that beyond Dan Wilson, their best option in 2004 has been erstwhile Civil War-era backstop Pat Borders. And while the M�s may value "veteran clubhouse presence" to an almost masochistic degree, listening to them try and talk Borders up was too much, even from them.
Whose fault is that?
Ben Davis�.
Davis is the worst possible life-sucking debit a na�ve front office can possibly possess � he is a "toolsy guy" with lots of potential "upside" (ACK!!!), and a staggering mental inability to follow through on any of it. You may remember Davis as the guy who broke up Curt Schilling�s perfect game attempt a few years back�with a bunt. And that�s all you need to know about Davis� concept of tradition and respect for the game. Batting .091 (!) before he was sent down to AAA Tacoma this season didn�t exactly help. I�d love Davis to be a Yankee. Does that tell you how much he stinks?
So, we�re all doing the Happy Dance in Seattle re: Davis� departure. And while the loss of a pitcher of Garcia�s caliber is a body blow, it was expected. This deal had been snaking around for at least a month. Not to mention the fact that a top-tier ace may be a luxury when you have this much dead weight from your starters (Stats as of 6/27/04):
SS Rich Aurilia: .237/.301/.326, 53 hits, 3 HR, 25 RBI in 224 AB.
3B Scott Speizio: .220/.292/.379, 47 hits, 8 HR, 28 RBI in 214 AB.
2B Bret Boone: .214/.288/.353, 54 hits, 9 HR, 27 RBI in 252 AB.
1B John Olerud: .262/.374/.376, 60 hits, 4 HR, 19 RBI in 229 AB.
CF Randy Winn: .260/.337/.377, 54 hits, 3 HR, 22 RBI in 265 AB.
Blarg. This team needs to get younger and tougher, with far more production, in an ENORMOUS hurry. The good news? We�re set for some record-breaking "Value Over Replacement Player" numbers over the next couple of seasons. And if the loss of Freddy Garcia is part of that equation�well, it had to be done. Olivo can start right next to Wilson today, Reed looks like the killer young outfielder the team so desperately needs (he could be called up in September � certainly Opening Day 2005), and Morse? Well, Morse has a lot of "upside" himself. We won�t hold that against him, though!
Of course, the cherry on the sundae was as follows�
"White Sox 1, Yankees Ooooooooohhhhhhh�"
There may have been no one in the world more distraught over the Garcia trade than current Yankee GM (and future men�s room attendant) Brian Cashman. See, the Yankees (not to mention the collective power of the New York press machine) were gunning for Garcia big-time.
Or so they thought. Having dangled minor-league catcher Dioner Navarro in Mariner GM Bill Bavasi�s face (and possibly Jose Contreras, if you believe some rumors), the Yanks certainly thought that they had the inside track, as they always seem to. However, just as in the Carlos Beltran trade, the team that is looking for prospects instead of suspects will avoid the Yankees like�well�the Yankees. When "Cha-ching" time came, the Sox desperately wanted Garcia themselves, and they had the farm system to make the trade go.
And there is Nothing. In. This. World. more enjoyable than the fact that the Yankees lost a guy they coveted�because they�re thin on prospects.
HAHAHAHAHA!!!
Enjoy those "meetings", Bri! No Vlad, no Beltran, no Freddy. Life sucks when there�s an even playing field, huh?
Take Two and Call Me In The Morning�
However lame it may be that the Mets just laid down and died in the Sunday doubleheader, what I find FAR more repulsive is the idea that this Yankees-Mets thing, with its negligible tradition, is termed a "Subway Series".
Sure.
Dodgers-Yankees in the �40�s and �50�s? THAT was a Subway Series. I find it very hard to believe that any current Yankee player would take a subway anywhere unless there was a photo op attached. Doesn�t go with the whole "arrogant sense of bogus entitlement" thing. In fact, the last major leaguer that I know for a fact rode a subway train was John Rocker.
And we all know how that turned out.
Let�s just call this series what it is�yet another excuse for the national media (especially Ravech and the BBTN boys) to get all goopy about Captain Intangible and his crew of overpaid goons. I wonder if that phrase would fit on a t-shirt!
ESPN.COM Yankee Quote(s) Of The Day:
"Derek Jeter is on a tear -- his batting average is up to .257" � Jeff Merron
"Jorge Posada is having an excellent year (while everyone's talking about I-Rod -- Ivan Rodriguez, in Detroit -- Posada has been his equal offensively)." � Jeff Merron
Uhhhhhhh�Jeff? Can you please mail me some of whatever it is you�re smoking? Here are the lines as of 6/28, my friend:
Pudge: .372/.410/.550, 100 hits, 10 HR, 54 RBI in 269 AB.
Posada: .273/.418/.515, 54 hits, 9 HR, 33 RBI in 198 AB.
Now, I don�t have anything against Posada (he�s actually one of five Yankees I can�t help but respect, the others being Gehrig, Berra, Munson and Mattingly), but this is revisionist analysis taken to a ludicrous degree�even for "The Worldwide Leader in Yankee Hoo-Ha". I eagerly await Merron�s statistical breakdown showing us less-enlightened folks just how much Yankee Mystique equals 46 hits and 21 RBI in less than half a season. Equal? If he�s Pudge�s equal, Derek Jeter�s an All-Star shortstop.
Oh, wait�
"Yankees lose! Thuuuuuuuh Yankees Lose!"
