Jayson Stark's Latest

the sox are going to owe more money for shortstops that dont even friggen play here anymore, crying shame, but god do i hate lugo, i just want him gone soooo badddd

i dont know why the sox are looking to move other relievers, who replaces who then if javier or david get moved along with the lose of julian, i dont get this move at all...

Javier Lopez has no business being on a World Series contender.

As much as I enjoy Stark's articles, I've really begun to hate the 'one scout we spoke to...' approach. Ummm...how can you judge anything off of what ONE SCOUT is saying. You can find ONE SCOUT who thinks Melvin Mora is a more sound offensive third baseman than Alex Rodriguez (OK, that's a wild exaggeration, but...).

ONE SCOUT says Michael Inoa will cost $6 mil.

ONE SCOUT says Clayton Kershaw sucks and has no command of his heater or control of his breaking ball.

ONE SCOUT thinks Chris Tillman is more of a No. 4 or even 5 (!), lacks power stuff, and is Ian Kennedy-esque (remember when that would have been a compliment?)

As an O's fan, I'm sure this little rant stems from the last one about Tillman, but honestly, it seems a pretty poor way to gauge anything. If that were a valid way to judge a guy's potential, JP in Toronto would've ignored all the scouts and picked Romero over Tulo a few years ago. Oh wait...

But that's the point. One guy isn't representative of jack. Just as reporters need confirmation before they print a story, so it should be here. Tell you what, I'll go with the general consensus and Stark can have his ONE SCOUT. Betcha I'm right more often than he is.

As for Tillman, BA says the kid's heater rests in the low 90's and can work up to 96 or so. They CALL his breaking ball a power curve. What the f*$%! Though BA isn't the end all, be all of scouting and projection, at least you're getting more of a cross-section.

More telling even is Stark's own preface.

'You often hear Chris Tillman, obtained by the Orioles in the Erik Bedard deal, referred to as a "future ace."

This is what's OFTEN heard (though BA actually considers him a No. 2 with a chance to be an ace), while Stark chooses to print what's heard ONCE. I probably shouldn't get so worked up, since he knocks Kershaw in the same article (pretty good company), but it's a matter of principle.

I was a sports writer and editor for a newspaper and this fast and loose approach offends my sense of journalistic ethics. Sorry to vent, but...well...there you have it.

BTW- Tillman pitched today: 6 IP, 0 ER on 3 hits, 9 K's, 2 BB's. Damn.

Just read that Lou says Rich Hill will stay in Iowa to get 3-4 more starts, possibly longer. Theriot is currently hitting .331. Round 3 to Deke.

javier lopez's numbers have been respectable thus far, and they were last year too, besides it never hurts to have a specialist on your team, esp when he is a lefty.

Javier Lopez' numbers belie his ability and effectiveness as a pitcher, and his numbers arent that great. The guy doesnt throw hard, has no control, and usually cant finish 1 inning because his control sucks. He has less value to the team than Tavarez did.

I guess he is the Jacque Jones of pitching.

well i wont fight you on tavarez, i agree with you on that, but he doesnt really have to get through innings, he is usually a less then one inning guy because he is the specialist, he is used for a couple of batters and then get pulled. granted, hes not great but to say he is not good is alittle on the wrong side in my opinion

ps - tim, password problems are still a bad annoyance

Pay more attention to your team. Javier Lopez doesn't have the skill-set of a lefty specialist and has not been used a such by the Red Sox. He's a multi-inning longman with a reverse split. Look it up.

Here's a three-way proposition:

Red Sox - Matt Murton
Cubs - Khalil Greene
Padres - Felix Pie & Julio Lugo

Other potential Padre moves, in my mind:

Greg Maddux for Chuck James

Tadahito Iguchi for Brian Barton

Randy Wolf for Gerald Laird

Brian Giles for Jeremy Sowers & Josh Barfield

For some analysis on the state of the Padres, check out www.thekeptfaith.blogspot.com

Greg Maddux for Chuck James?
thats a little high dude.

and you shouldnt want barfield back, eric sogard will hit a ton of doubles in petco. and the red sox want a outfielder who can play center i thought. matt murton does not fit that need.

how about maddux for Teheran

I wish the A's had the $$$ to enter the bidding on Inoa. He'd be a hell of a pick-up. But they just stocked up on Latin American prospects so even if they did have the $$$ I don't think they would.

But it would be my worst nightmare if he signed with Seattle. King Felix and Inoa. S#!T

ummm i dont see how lopez is a "longman" when the longest hes gone all year is 1.1 innings. and i think if you did your research you might find that im not the only person that thinks hes a specialist -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_L%C3%B3pez

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-01-18-2028048919_x.htm

the way he pitches by definition pretty much makes him a specialist, it just a matter if hes "special" or not, which i wont argue that he isnt as good as he should be

also, you can compare his game log for this year to chad bradford, hes a righty specialist, and his innings match pretty much lopez except bradford is better at his job and is, of course, a righty

Javier Lopez doesn't have reverse splits on my computer.

vs RHP: .344/.364/.469
vs LHP: .185/.324/.259

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/psplit.cgi?n1=lopezja02&year=2008

“Brian Giles for Jeremy Sowers & Josh Barfield”

…Nah, Indians wouldn’t do it…

yeah theres no chance the indians would do that. giles wouldnt be much a improvement anyways. darkstar where are you from?

WHY DON'T THE BREWERS CALL UP WEAVER AND TRY VILLANUEVA AS CLOSER? HE'S ALWAYS DONE BETTER IN THE PEN AND HE CAN'T BE WORSE THAN MOTA AND GAGNE.

“darkstar where are you from?”

…originally from your area I’m guessing…

darkstar is from the point where id meets ego; a space of time and a time of space. His is a land where reason and madness dance together amidst stardust and the great synaptic prism filters and funnels the energy of the infinite toward the super-conscious construct we call the NOW...

...y'know...Cleveland.

And Maddux for Teheran? Doubtful. Teheran's getting talked up like he's the next King Felix. You don't give up a prospect of that promise for a 40 year old. It's a nice story and I hope Mad Dog goes home (I also hope they remake the old commercial with him and Glavine. You know...'Chicks dig the long ball.' But I digress...) but the Bravos are unlikely to give up any pieces of real significance. Maybe Chad Rogers or Jose Ortegano...someone like that.

i dunno maybe you are. im from the 661 so