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Odds And Ends: Hinske, Pirates, Astros

By Ben Nicholson-Smith [June 30, 2009 at 3:04pm CST]

Links for Tuesday...

Joel Sherman of the New York Post heard that Eric Hinske cleared waivers two weeks ago.This means the Mets, Yankees or any other team could have had him for the $800k remaining on his salary.
Sherman believes the Pirates won the other trade they made today, acquiring Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan from the Nats.
Tom Verducci of SI.com names his All-Star team and it's heavy on youth.
Astros first rounder Jiovanni Mier told MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo that the pace of the game is noticeably faster in the pros.
Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle says Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz are making Ed Wade look smart.
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Comments

Verducci just proved that fan voting isn't the worst way to select All-Stars.

Posted by: icedrake523 | June 30, 2009 at 03:10 PM

How? Yadier Molina currently leads Brian McCann in the voting. And you think there's a worse way to do it than THAT?

Posted by: PWHjort | June 30, 2009 at 03:24 PM

Verducci is little off base though. Freddy Sanchez over Brandon Phillips? Sanchez has a higher BA, but that's it. Phillips has more HR, RBI, SB, OPS, and is a far superior defender. It's not like the Reds are exactly scoring runs wild either.

Posted by: Slasher | June 30, 2009 at 03:28 PM

"Verducci just proved that fan voting isn't the worst way to select All-Stars."

Agreed. That's not an All-Star team, that's a 'hot start to 2009' team. I guess he was a Chris Shelton True Believer back in the day.

Posted by: V | June 30, 2009 at 03:35 PM

Haha, I love "Hampton and Ortiz are making Ed Wade look smart."

Posted by: B3NG4L | June 30, 2009 at 03:41 PM

what about a few years back when Junior was a starter on the all star team and he played like 20 games?

Posted by: derman1984 | June 30, 2009 at 03:41 PM

Yeah, what the hell Verducci? I think Francisco Cordero should be in over Ryan Franklin and maybe Soriano. Some of these are OK, but some are out of nowhere. David Aardsma over Bobby Jenks? Sanchez over Phillips? Yeah, lots of questionable calls here. It's not really all that bold to say Aaron Hill is an all star.

Posted by: UncleWeez | June 30, 2009 at 03:42 PM

Someone is going to have to show me why that list he put together is bad. Based off stats, which all-star selections should be, he got it right.

Posted by: B3NG4L | June 30, 2009 at 03:43 PM

Someone is going to have to show me why that list he put together is bad. Based off stats, which all-star selections should be, he got it right.

Posted by: B3NG4L | June 30, 2009 at 03:43 PM

"Agreed. That's not an All-Star team, that's a 'hot start to 2009' team. I guess he was a Chris Shelton True Believer back in the day."

Outstanding post. Kudos.

Posted by: RoyalsRetro | June 30, 2009 at 03:47 PM

Verducci's list, aside from a closer or two, is pretty much right on.

It's a shame that half the players he's listed probably have no chance.

The All-Star Game is supposed to reward the game's great players. This season, Aaron Hill has been a great player. Pablo Sandoval has been a great player. Adam Jones, great. Jason Bartlett, great.

Writers and coaches should elect the All-Stars, because Verducci's ballot is great.

Posted by: MorneauVP | June 30, 2009 at 03:50 PM

"I guess he was a Chris Shelton True Believer back in the day."

Ha! I remember when he was being compared to Babe Ruth... How sad.

"Writers and coaches should elect the All-Stars"

Because they do such a great job choosing who should win other awards? Half the time the gold glove winners are based are reputations rather than numbers.

Posted by: start_wearing_purple | June 30, 2009 at 03:53 PM

"Half the time the gold glove winners are based are reputations rather than numbers."

Sounds an awful lot like when the fans vote on the All-Star Team...

Posted by: MorneauVP | June 30, 2009 at 03:57 PM

V, I would argue that this is the definition of an all-star team. What else is the yearly all-star game for if not to recognize the progress of the game's leaders for that particular season? You don't pick an all-star team by asking yourself who has the best track record. An all-star team is, by definition, a 'hot start to (fill in the year)' team. If you told me raul ibanez would be an all-star in 2009 I would have laughed in your face because he's 37 and showed no signs of a breakout year. Yet he has earned his way into the game with his play thus far. If we ignored the first half of this year, we could easily have picked big papi, a-rod, and even magglio for this year's team. Does that make any sense? Sure, popular players in big markets will make it in even in a down year because of their consistent fan support, but if that were the case for everyone, where would the fun be? That said, I think several of Verducci's selections are off-base.

Posted by: jacklaf | June 30, 2009 at 04:03 PM

Morneau, jacklaf,

Until the All-Star Game "counted," it was nothing more than a showcase for popular talent and giving the fans a voice made perfect sense.

Now that its outcome affects the World Series, the rules governing rosters need to be changed.

Either do away with the "every team gets one player" rule or expand the rosters to 30 or 32. I'd also let the fans pick one player for each position but those players would not get a guaranteed start. (Perhaps they would have to appear at some point in the game.)

In case the fans chose a real howler (like Manny), or the top three OF were all LF, then the manager could set a proper lineup.

The best result would be to make the game a pure exhibition once again and do away with extra innings.

Posted by: ink-stained scribe | June 30, 2009 at 04:16 PM

Nice one Scribe! I do like it a lot - the additional players and especially the point about fan voted players not necessarily being starters. I think that's fantastic!

I understand how many people would prefer the ASG become purely exhibition again, but do like attaching some meaning to it, especially since the last two pennant-winning managers are at the helm and they are generally always in contention to make another pennant run during the current year. The ASG was becoming too much like the game of two hand touch called the Pro Bowl.

Posted by: ChiSoxSLIM | June 30, 2009 at 04:45 PM

Dump the AS game period, the only thing interesting ever remember seeing, was before 1 game years and years ago, Dave Kingman and Mike Schmidt each grabbed each end of a bat, twisted and snapped it in two to show the grip/strength/power that they each had.

The game, HR derby itself is more meaningless than the WBC, just give the players the 3 game rest, or even 1 week off in the middle of the week and stop the show boat nonsense.

Posted by: johns | June 30, 2009 at 05:11 PM

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Odds And Ends: Hinske, Pirates, Astros

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