Good afternoon gamers. I'm here to spin Wednesday's�three-way shuffle between the White Sox, Blue Jays and Cardinals (if we assigned Brad Evans to this story, we'd all wind up suspended). Let's try to figure out what's what on the sandlots.
First, let's sort through the paperwork. The White Sox and Blue Jays made a deal, followed shortly after by the Toronto-St. Louis swap. Here's the end result of the player movement: the Blue Jays pick up Colby Rasmus, Brian Tallet, Mark Teahen and P.J. Walters, the Cardinals acquire Edwin Jackson, Marc Rzepczynski, Octavio Dotel and Corey Patterson, and the White Sox welcome Jason Frasor, Zach Stewart and Trever Miller.
A lot to digest. Let's break things down on a team-by-team basis.
?�Blue Jays: It's time for cartwheels in the YYZ. This organization went from spam to steak when it flipped GM J.P. Ricciardi for Alex Anthopoulos, with Wednesday's nifty dance move another case in point.
Rasmus doesn't turn 25 until August and he's still got superstar potential, an affordable talent who could eventually be a four or five-category contributor in our fake numbers grab. He's also a decent center fielder. Fantasy owners are thrilled to see Rasmus in a new city, as he clearly didn't see eye to eye with St. Louis manager Tony La Russa. The Blue Jays bought low on a player with a sizable upside.
It's not clear who will lose at-bats with Rasmus on board; there are several candidates. Rajai Davis doesn't have the strongest hold on his job, and Edwin Encarnacion always seems to have one foot out the door, though he's hit lately. You hope the club will be patient with Travis Snider.
Tallet and Walters are unlikely to have any mixed-league value, especially in the meat-grinder division they just stepped into. Teahen was added to the initial trade as a Chicago salary dump; he doesn't project as a Toronto regular.
Acquiring Rzepczynski and Dotel probably means the Cardinals are out of the Heath Bell chase and they'll stick with Fernando Salas as the closer, though you never want to say never. With Rasmus gone, Jon Jay could be the new center fielder, though Patterson is also in the mix. You also have to remember how much La Russa loves lineup jockeying; perhaps he'll take it as a personal challenge to end the season with 59 unique lineups.
The Rasmus deal clearly doesn't reflect well on La Russa, who had a long-simmering rift with the young outfielder. The best of the modern managers understand the importance of getting along with players ? see Terry Francona in Boston ? but La Russa is one headstrong skipper who isn't willing to subjugate his ego. On Wednesday, it cost the Cardinals a valuable franchise building block.
?�White Sox: You get the idea Chicago has more deals on the way. Moving Jackson wasn't that big a deal given the depth the White Sox have in the rotation, and the team also picks up signifiant financial relief by moving the expensive Teahen. Frasor isn't going to get near the ninth inning for the White Sox ? barring a collective team meltdown ? and while Stewart is an interesting project for Cooper, it's doubtful he'll be a mixed-worthy pitcher for the rest of 2011.
There was a different salvo fired from the south side of town around noontime Wednesday: outfielder Alex Rios has been benched indefinitely in favor of Alejandro De Aza. It's a way of Ozzie Guillen and GM Ken Williams putting everyone on notice, I suppose; it also makes you wonder what Adam Dunn would have to do to get benched. The White Sox are only 4.5 games behind the first-place Tigers, so there's no reason to tank the season. Look for Williams to be active all week, especially now that some money has been freed up.
No comments:
Post a Comment