10 Biggest Takeaways from Week 20's MLB Action
The days leading up to the revocable waiver trade deadline are nowhere near as busy or filled with rumors as the July non-waiver deadline, but this week there was plenty of activity to keep interest high.
From the San Diego Padres continuing to make weird decisions to the two front-runners in their division adding veteran pieces, trade talk had substance this week.
But there has been plenty more to digest. From the stunning shake-up of the Boston Red Sox front office to Major League Baseball and one of its rights holders finally making progress on streaming in-market games to Derek Jeter's ego taking a gut shot, there was lots to talk about.
Here are the takeaways from MLB's Week 20.
Red Sox's Plan Has Decent Chance to Backfire
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Hiring an executive like Dave Dombrowski is not a bad thing. He is too respected within the game to see it that way, but when it costs a franchise one of the best young general managers in the game, it is too pricey.
Former Boston Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is likely to have three last-place finishes in four seasons on his resume, as well as the 2013 World Series championship. And while there was a time in recent memory when the Red Sox would have given anything for one title, including three last-place finishes, this is clearly not that time.
So to oversee Cherington, the man who supervised the building of what might be the game's best farm system, the Red Sox brought in Dombrowski to be the president of baseball operations.
Rather than stay on as Dombrowski's GM, Cherington decided to step down. There would have been, undoubtedly, a big gap in philosophy here, with Dombrowski being a more traditional baseball executive and Cherington being cut from the cloth of the analytical executives who helped the Red Sox attain their three World Series since 2004.
For what it's worth, Dombrowski gutted the Detroit Tigers' minor league system, leaving it nearly barren and dwelling around the bottom of Baseball America's farm rankings.
Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan wrote about Cherington's eventual departure:
"Which, as much as anything, shows how myopic the Red Sox have become, not just in their ability to let a talented executive like Cherington go but to potentially drive out the rest of a front office that has constructed a well-above-average major league core and one of the five best minor league systems in baseball.
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The Red Sox have problems; there is no denying that. But Cherington also recognized as much and was proactive about addressing them, having recently hired former Los Angeles Angels GM Jerry Dipoto as an outside evaluator/consultant. Dombrowski's hiring undercut Cherington's reign.
With Cherington out of the mix and another old-school GM likely on his way in, the Red Sox are risking a backward step as they try to move forward.
Dodgers and Giants Busy Before Waiver Deadline, Still Have Issues
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Two National League West rivals pulled off significant trades this week, with the Los Angeles Dodgers landing Chase Utley and the San Francisco Giants getting Marlon Byrd. Both should help lineups that have been beset by injuries.
However, both teams' immediate needs are on the mound, not in the batter's box.
The Dodgers are in great need of bullpen help. Theirs has been one of the worst in baseball in the second half despite attempts to address the issue at the trade deadline with Jim Johnson, whom Los Angeles believed would be a reliable setup man to closer Kenley Jansen. Since the deal, Johnson has allowed 14 runs in six innings (21.00 ERA).
Help could come in September with some of the Dodgers' coveted minor league arms—like Julio Urias or Jose De Leon—potentially becoming go-to relievers. But for now, the Giants are within striking distance because Los Angeles cannot bridge the gap from starter to closer, a problem that ended the Dodgers' pennant chase last year.
San Francisco also needs pitching, but within its rotation. After Madison Bumgarner, there are a bunch of question marks. Mike Leake's return from a hamstring strain could be the answer, as he had a 0.99 ERA and averaged seven innings per start over his previous five before hitting the disabled list. Leake is expected to return Sunday, and if he is effective, it'll be a huge plus for a rotation that has been struggling to find answers in August.
MLB, Fox Agreeing to Stream Games Is a Big Deal
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If you subscribe to MLB.tv, you have probably run into the issue of being blacked out from a game in what is considered your television market, even though you live nowhere near that team.
Well, MLB and Fox may be changing that for some fans. It's a huge step into this century and shows how much the league covets younger fans. According to John Ourand and Eric Fisher of Sports Business Journal, the sides are drafting a deal that would allow games to be streamed online in the markets of the 15 teams whose local media rights are held by Fox.
The holdup had been that MLB wanted its website to host the streams in order to ensure video quality, but now we can expect some teams, at least, to be streaming locally by the start of next season.
Oh, how so many of us living three hours away from a team's home have dreamed of the day when we can log in to the MLB app and not receive a blackout message. For some, that dream looks like it's coming true.
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Nationals Are as Disappointing as Any Team Ever
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The Washington Nationals were supposed to be a great team, possibly even an all-time great one. The Nationals are not a good team. They might end up being a bad one by the end of the next six weeks.
We use the term "on paper" to couch expectations or predictions. But the truth is, the Nationals were not just good on paper. They were a team with plenty of wonderful track records, and considering what they had in their rotation and up and down their lineup—and that's not even accounting for Bryce Harper's MVP season—this team was easily the best in the National League, if not all of baseball.
But the Nationals have lost 15 of their last 21 games—it wasn't until Tuesday that they snapped a six-game losing streak—and are five games behind the New York Mets in the NL East and 9.5 games out of the second wild-card spot. They are also fighting to get above .500. All this from a team believed to be capable of winning 100 games and having a starting rotation for the ages.
Sure, the Nationals have had a plethora of injuries. But the same can be said about the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and San Francisco Giants, teams all well ahead of Washington in the standings. And there have been no tangible signs the Nats can turn this around before the end of the season.
What this comes down to is a lack of production and a lot of disappointment.
A.J. Preller Has Gone from 'Rock Star' to Novice
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In the euphoria of all the offseason moves San Diego Padres general manager A.J. Preller pulled off, Matt Kemp dubbed him baseball's "GM rock star." But after a flop of a season and Preller's failure or refusal to sell off pieces of value before last month's or this month's trade deadlines, the first-year GM is looking more like a rookie than the swashbuckling executive he appeared to be over the winter.
On Tuesday, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported the Padres pulled back pitchers Ian Kennedy and Joaquin Benoit from revocable waivers after they were claimed, making them untradable before the end of this month. The decision falls in line with curious ones to not trade assets like Justin Upton, any of their other starting pitchers or closer Craig Kimbrel before the July deadline.
Rival executives told Heyman the Padres might be trying to win as much as possible down the stretch, but their motives for doing so remain unknown since San Diego is nowhere near contending for a postseason spot.
Pulling back Benoit is understandable—the Padres hold a team option on him. But pulling back Kennedy was odd because he can be a free agent after the season, and there is no guarantee he won't accept a qualifying offer, which would potentially saddle the Padres with a big one-year contract and leave them without a compensatory draft pick.
Whatever San Diego is doing right now, it does not make much sense, and it is making Preller look far less shrewd than he did five months ago.
Giancarlo Stanton Hopes to Return Sept. 1
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Giancarlo Stanton broke the hamate bone in his left hand in late June, and aside from still being fifth in the National League with 27 home runs, he's a forgotten man.
That might not last much longer. Stanton announced to reporters Thursday that he would like to be back in the Miami Marlins lineup by Sept. 1, but it all depends how he feels swinging the bat. At this point, the goal is to go through a week of hitting without feeling discomfort in his wrist, but Stanton has managed only two consecutive days so far, according to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com.
It would be great for Stanton if he can return before the end of this season, and it would be great for baseball. The sport is better with that kind of slugger playing on a daily basis, and Marlins fans deserve to watch him in his prime.
It Will Always Be Something with Josh Hamilton
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The Texas Rangers put Josh Hamilton back on the disabled list Thursday, a place he's so familiar with that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram used this title on a blog post: "Josh Hamilton returning to his home away from home: the disabled list."
The blog details the times Hamilton's been absent and how many games he's played in his career. Mac Engel, the author of the post, notes Hamilton has missed 400 games throughout his career, most of those because of injuries or some sort of ailment.
While Hamilton was once an MVP candidate, this is just further proof that there will always be a little bit of drama with him. The Rangers knew that when they let him walk in free agency and when they acquired him again from the Los Angeles Angels this season. It's the inherent risk with Hamilton—then, now and forever.
We should all be used to it by now, unfortunately.
The Tigers Might Be Eating Much of Anibal Sanchez's Contract
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Anibal Sanchez has a history of shoulder injuries dating back to 2006 (at least), and this week brought on the latest installment. The Detroit Tigers placed Sanchez on the disabled list with a rotator cuff strain, which has been a lingering issue that may have already affected his elbow.
"He says he's felt it really over the past couple of months at times, and he really got concerned after his last start in Chicago because his elbow is a little sore," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus told reporters. "Now, there's no issue with the elbow, but he was concerned because of the shoulder issue he was compensating too much with the elbow, and that's why it's sore."
The Tigers don't think this will be more than just a 15-day thing, but considering Sanchez's injury history and his ineffectiveness this season (4.99 ERA, 4.71 FIP in 25 starts), it is natural to wonder if the 31-year-old is approaching a steep decline.
The Tigers still owe Sanchez $32 million over the final two years of his five-year, $80 million contract. But he has spent time on the DL in each of the last three seasons, including this one. If that trend continues, the Tigers could end up swallowing a lot of that money without much, if any, production to show for it.
Brewers Starting Rebuild This Weekend
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The Milwaukee Brewers are in full rebuild mode, though they prefer to call it a retooling, since they somehow believe they can contend in the loaded NL Central in the immediate future. One of the building blocks of this new era made his Brewers debut Friday: Domingo Santana, the top-100 outfield prospect the team acquired in the deal that sent Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to the Houston Astros before the July 31 trade deadline.
Santana is expected to be a dangerous power hitter after piling up a .333 average, .999 OPS, 18 home runs, 23 doubles and 77 RBI in 95 Triple-A games between the Astros and Brewers organizations.
The Brewers don't have an immediate spot for Santana in their outfield, but he will play some center field and could DH when they go to Cleveland next week.
Regardless of where he plays, the organization is tapping its future now. If nothing else, it should be fun to watch for Milwaukee fans.
Brian Cashman Was Right in Wanting Tulo over Jeter
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Derek Jeter is a New York Yankees icon. That is very much a fact, and he is the face of the team's last dynasty that brought in five World Series titles in 14 seasons.
But shortly after winning the last one, and at the start of his decline into mediocrity, the Yankees and Jeter started contract negotiations that were not too friendly. They even led to a classic exchange.
"Who would you rather have playing shortstop this year than me?" Jeter asked general manager Brian Cashman, according to S.L. Price in this week's issue of Sports Illustrated.
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Cashman replied. Jeter said yes, and Cashman told Jeter he would rather employ then-Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who had made his first National League All-Star team the season before.
"We're not paying extra money for popularity," Cashman told Jeter. "We're paying for performance."
Jeter ended up with a three-year, $51 million contract, and the relationship between the two men "never recovered," according to Price.
Considering where Jeter and Tulowitzki were in their careers, Jeter should not have asked that kind of question if he wasn't prepared for the answer. The exchange, now that it has come to light, will certainly be part of Cashman's legacy as the organization's roster builder.
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