Here are some links from around the league as Tuesday turns into Wednesday…
- "We’re open-minded and we’re seriously considering it," said Padres interim CEO Tom Garfinkel to Bill Center of The San Diego Union-Tribune when asked about moving the fences in at Petco Park. “We’d have to submit plans by the end of the season," he added. "I don’t think a final decision needs to be made until October."
- The Braves were close to trading Jair Jurrjens and Jairo Asencio to the Reds for Chris Heisey and Juan Francisco this offseason, reports MLB.com's Mark Bowman. Jurrjens is a potential non-tender candidate after being sent to the minors this week.
- The Angels' first pick in this summer's draft with be #114 overall, writes Lance Pugmire of The Los Angeles Times. Anaheim surrendered their first and second rounders to sign Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson respectively.
- ESPN's Keith Law conducted a 2002 redraft with the benefit of hindsight. Curtis Granderson, Brian McCann, and Cole Hamels were his new top three picks. Bryan Bullington, B.J. Upton, and Chris Gruler were the actual top three picks that year.
Who’s Chris Gruler?
Exactly
Gruler was the Reds draft pick that flamed out pretty early in his career and didn’t get past even low A ball. Retired at 22. Horrible pick by the Reds that was made because Gruler was willing to sign for what the Reds were offering. Wasn’t the first horrible pick by the Reds and likely wasn’t the last.
Padres probably wont do ANYTHING to the park until they have a new owner. #justsayin
I do enjoy seeing parks become more neutral. I hope something gets done there.
I’ve been saying the same thing about Fenway, though, and it’ll never get changed because of “tradition.” Hitters can completely base their style of play around hitting light fly outs to left field because so many of them become home runs.
“hitting light fly outs to left field because so many of them become home runs.”
Why? Because they are doubles and NOT Home runs? Some people here just don’t know much about the league, much less stadium renovations that took place, nor ones that can no longer take place (in Fenways case) that would remove them from national list of historical locations because they would drastically alter the stadiums appearance.
When Boston built that new (and ugly) press box behind home plate for the “esteemed” press back in the early 90’s? They waved bye, bye to the “pop up” wind blown HR out to left field, but then many of the ones who make ill informed posts, like that one just above keep write on wasting types space writing the same thing…
No more Rico petrocelli high pop up HR who can make a living there scraping them up into the old screen that used to hang above the wall and count on the gusting wind that used to be counted on to blow (unimpeded) out towards left many a nights when there was no towering press box behind home plate…
And the RF bullpen?? They tried to bring those walls in 7-10′ last year, but it would have removed the site from the historical register, cutting the team out of free state money.. Name any team that turns down free moolah….
With everything you said, I can’t manage to figure out what it is you’re mad about.
The wind doesn’t blow the pop ups into homeruns, the LF wall is just so close that things that would be a popup to left field in ANY OTHER PARK are homeruns here.
And if you don’t believe a hitter can mold themselves to hitting for that, well, we have differing opinions.
“The wind doesn’t blow the pop ups into homeruns”
Uhh.. If you knew anything at all about Fenway.. You would know how the ball travels now and how it once did.. Popups do *not* go out, did they in the past?? Yes.. THAT was my point.. Guys like Hawk Harrelson, Nick Esasky (1 year) and Ricp Petrocelli mad a career out of hitting popup HR at LF.
They built that huge pressbox for 2 reasons.. 1 to get more people INTO the stadium (press of course) and the other was to block the wind that blew balls out to left and it DID that job well.
If you are unable to understand that?? Guess no point in my explaining any further.
#MoveInTheRightFieldFence!
So much for that Greinke-like package.
lol
That was all journalists using their imaginations. The front office didn’t expect a package like that.
Frank Wren has a history of using the media and their words. He knows how to keep a deal under wraps and let some rumors float to help. However, his supposed demands really hurt any kind of deal getting done considering the amount of interest there was in JJ (with or without Prado as a package). There weren’t enough quality arms available in the offseason to justify not getting rid of him, but enough to know that you can’t charge an outrageous price and think someone will balk. All-in-all, the league called Wren’s bluff and now we’d be lucky to get a decent 1-2 prospects by the All-Star Break, if at all.
Oh my god guys. This has a typo. I would go into a rage but I’m pretty sure all-caps is illegal now.. Anyways it says “potential non-candidate” instead of “potential non-tender candidate.”
Well, he may be a non-candidate for even a minor-league contract if he can’t straighten himself out in Gwinnett (presuming Jurrjens isn’t physically hurt).
Braves fan for 20 plus years here…Jurrjens is embarrassing to watch…I hope he is traded, never mind the minors
ERA finally catching up to other peripherals. He isnt this bad, I really think something is wrong. But he is nothing more than a mid to back rotation guy. The time to move him was December but Wren got greedy.
I honestly think Delgado is a better option than Jurrjens…when Hudson gets back, I think things will be fine…but as of right now, with Jurrjens going out there…I have no confidence at all…
I think the Braves should also give Medlen a chance for the time being.
Why? He literally just came back from Tommy John’s, he was relief before he was a starter and they are doing the same thing again. Hudson, Hanson, Beachy, Minor, Delgado is more than enough for now. If Delgado begins to falter then maybe consider Medlen but even then we still have Teheran who may be ready by June/July if need be. No need to push Medlen into the starting role. Maintain the relief core for as long as possible.
I like Medlen and all, but Teheran/Delgado have worked their butts off in the minors and some in the majors. They’re not long relievers and deserve a shot at a rotation spot. Medlen has thrown much in a MLB game as a starter, and we’re too deep and have enough starting talent and not enough bullpen depth to risk Medlen. Plus, I don’t know how much longer Teheran should stay in the minors knowing he’s excelled consistently at AAA and needs some time in the majors for good. Get rid of Jurrjens (trade for a B-C positional prospect).
Quick! Rizzo, Get on the horn and offer to dump Lannan on Atlanta for Jurrjens.. Might be his only chance to unload Lannan and his 5m for anyone resembling an outlier of the remotest chance of helping Washington…
This trade would benefit ATL more, if nothing else than not having to face Lannan ever again (twice as many career wins vs. ATL than any other team (8-5, 3.25 ERA) AND not now having the ability to hit Jurrjens like everyone else has been doing except us (30 hits in 16.1 IP).
I remember all the Braves fans saying no way they should trade him to Padres in spring training for Venable. Now he is a bum? Too funny.
You remember all the Braves fans……..right. The Braves fans I knew were in favor of a straight-up swap.
Venable is nothing special anyway.
Go back to this blog in March.
It’s true… No young pitcher has ever had a down stretch that required them to go back to the minors to turn things around. Especially to start the season! Maybe they could trade JJ for Tim Lincecum – he’s had a rough start and his numbers are starting to catch up to his peripherals.
JJ is NOT in the same level as Tim Lincecum. I know you were being sarcastic but come on now.
It was just a little hyperbole to prove the point that much more absurd. They’re both having a slow start to the season. Especially with both pitchers being as young as they are, I don’t see any reason to freak out about either. Obviously Lincecum is at another level, which is why he’ll be allowed to work through his problems in the big leagues… Jurrjens though is still young enough to be demoted (with options apparently, which shows how long he’s been able to stick at the Major League level) and figure it out.
I just think it’s a bit much for a Brave’s fan (not you, but the original gentleman I responded to) to say his performance has been embarassing. Poor? Yes. But plenty of stud pitchers have gotten of to relatively worse performances, including Lincecum.
Lincecum has won 2 Cy Youngs before his 4th year in MLB. Jurrjens has looked like a Cy Young contender for half of one season. Lincecum has pitched 200+ IP 4 straight seasons, while Jurrjens has done it once.
I understand using hyperbole, but you need to be sent down to the minors to work on your hyperbole. They’re no where in the same universe as each other.
Jurrjens is NOT a “stud pitcher”. What “stud” pitcher lights up the radar gun at a whopping 88 mph with limited movement on his off-speed pitches? Everyone likes to think he’s injured because he’s pitching poorly, but that’s an excuse. His numbers finally reveal the truth and though he can pitch better, “embarrassing” can describe his first 4 outings — maybe you didn’t watch. He’s pitching batting practice. They risked letting him come back to prove himself healthy rather than trading him in the offseason after ending the year on the DL (again). The league wants to see him pitch well consistently while healthy and I don’t think that’s going to happen. ATL has too much good young, controllable pitching and we need to get Teheran in there too badly to waste a spot on a veteran that needs to figure it out in a contract year. He’s not getting an extension from an ATL even if he pitched to his capabilities, so why delay the inevitable? He’s getting $6M.
That’s it, move in the fences instead of, you know; bringing in better players. So what happens when the fences come in and guys like Headley, Hundley, etc still can’t hit? It doesn’t matter where the fences are when your team is at or near the top of the league in strike outs every year.
The better players are on their way. Its hard enough for the Padres to entice hitters to come to their team to begin with, and then add in their financial restrictions and they are really in a tough spot. If their plan is to win games right now with pitching and defense then moving in the fences hurts them more than other teams. But they should eventually do something that park is ridiculous
I actually think one of the best aspects of the MLB is that they all teams to have such a difference in their ballparks. Every other sport, the court, rink, field are all the exact same dimensions, sure the exterior and atmosphere’s differ, but the on field aspects are all the same.
It makes for such unique situations and if used correctly, truly creates a home field advantage
Agreed, what if they pull those fences in an pitcher’s like Luebke appear less stellar? Not like I truly think that’ll happen based on his strikeout rates.
Also, look at his home/road splts…
WOW! His road ERA is almost a run BETTER THAN HIS HOME! (home: 3.69 to road: 2.73) with a better WHIP on the road! Where did they find this kid?! Being that he’s an Ohio product, maybe CIN went after the wrong SD pitcher – I definitely think so.
Well said. As offensively-inept as Petco is, I sorta love it. I agree with Garfinkel though.. a hitter shouldn’t be unreasonably punished and a pitcher shouldn’t be unjustly rewarded. Also, would be nice to see the road bullpen, have an actual pen.
They got half a team for Latos and actually got a great pitching prospect in Cashner for Rizzo. If Quentin can ever get healthy, they’d consider offering him a fair contract to be some power, but I think they’re going about it the right way – locking up Luebke, letting Bell walk.
If Jair Jurrjens isn’t trying to conceal some sort of injury—what happened? This reminds me a lot of the rapid decline of Dontrelle Willis.
Jurrjens is more consistent than Willis, while Willis had higher upside. Once the league got an extended look at him, it was over. He had once great year (22-10, Cy runner-up in 2005), but everything else was mediocre at best. Jurrjens looks good when he’s not hampered by lingering injuries. The problem is, he’s always hampered.
More like Rick” Wild Thing” Vaughn from Major League2.
I love all these hate comments that he sucks… LMAO
There are 29 other teams in the MLB that would GLADLY take him!!!!
(Nodding Vigorously)
Twins Fans
That comment might as well say: I am not a MLB GM. Wren spoke to everyone about him, yet no deal was ever done. I know he’s an old school guy that might not take sabermetrics seriously, but the writing has been on the wall for Jurrjens enough to convince him that he didn’t really think he was going to get a massive package for a pitcher that has thrown 200+ IP once in his career and been on the DL every year but 1.
Can Jurrjens name be mentioned without fans going on about Adam Jones, Seth Smith, Mat Latos, or Venable? Not a single one of us know the exact specifics regarding what was offered for Jurrjens or the exact players the Braves were targeting. Some Braves fans overvalued Jurrjens, so what? So what if the front-office held onto him hoping a team would overpay? They didn’t ‘have’ to trade him. Happens all the time.
Ahh, the beauty of hindsight…..
I’m glad they didn’t trade him for Heisey. Even with with a slow start, I think he’s worth more than that.
haha no.
haha WAR. Jurrjens 11.3 WAR through age 25, Heisey 2.3 WAR through age 26.
Jurrjens has terrible peripherals, Heisy is a beast pinch hitter, can play a good CF, and has 20+ HR power. Heisy still has a decent amount of upside, unlike Jurrjens.
Bryan Bullington is an interesting case. He had spectacular collegiate numbers and his minor league stats early on indicated that he indeed was worthy of a first round pick at the time. But I think it was a mixture of injuries, bad luck and bad timing that really screwed him up in the end. At times it appeared like he just wasn’t getting enough of a chance. And sometimes he’d even show flashes of brilliance, in the majors no less, like when he dominated the Yankees for his first career win. Yes, as far as first overall picks go, he’s a bust. But I think he at least had (has?) the talent to be a decent starter or great reliever. I put Bullington and Hochevar into the same category; both are first overall pick busts, but both still have first round talent that just hasn’t been fully harnessed. Just some random musings. What do my fellow commenters think?