Local News

The A’s and Giants were busy today, especially the A’s.

In the biggest move, the A’s traded 2Bman Aaron Miles and a player to be named later for centerfielder Willy Taveras and back-up middle infielder Adam Rosales.  Apparently, Rosales is the player the A’s really want, based on his strong minor league numbers last year.  However, since he’s already 27 in 2010, he isn’t expected to be much more than a good back-up middle infielder.

Not sure why the A’s accepted Willy Taveras, except possibly to balance out the contract obligations the Reds assumed in taking Miles.  Willy’s hitting reached new lows in 2009 (a stunningly bad .560 OPS), but fangraphs says he played good defense in centerfield last year.

On that subject, I’ve been meaning to write a post regarding UZR and UZR/150, but I still haven’t gotten around to it.  The thing that bothers me most about the stat is that it appears to change radically from season to season for quite a few players.  Using UZR/150, Taveras is rated to have been a terrific centerfielder for the Astros in 2005 and 2006 (12.6 and 22.6), but a terrible centerfielder for the Rockies in 2007 and below average in 2008 (-7.1 and -3.0), but back to being great again in Cincinnati in 2009 (14.1).  Numbers like these more strongly suggest that there is a bug in the UZR ratings formula that needs to be addressed, than that Taveras suddenly and temporarily lost the ability to play centerfield his two years in Colorado.

Taveras is now 28 years old, so it looks doubtful that he’ll ever be a major league hitter.  However, he has some value as a pinch runner and late-inning defensive centerfield.  However, the A’s already have a better version of the same player in Rajai Davis, and having signed Coco Crisp also this off-season, the A’s don’t need any more light hitting, defensive outfielders.

One would have to think that the A’s will look to trade someone.  In fact, the A’s have reportedly already designated Taveras for assignment.  Unless they find a trading partner, they’ll likely be spending a lot of money to have Taveras be their starting centerfielder in AAA Sacramento in 2010.

The A’s also just added another outfielder in former Ray Gabe Gross to a one-year $750,000 deal.  Gross is strictly a left-handed hitting platoon player.  The A’s likely appreciate his career .337 on-base percentage, which is pretty good for a bench player.  Again, he adds to the crowd in the A’s outfield.

The A’s also designated left-handed starter Dana Eveland for assignment.  He had a strong rookie year for the A’s in 2008, but regressed significantly in 2009, pitching very poorly for the A’s and spending most of the year back at AAA Sacramento, where his ERA as a starter was a mediocre 4.94.  He’s only 26 in 2010, however, so I’d be surprised if another team doesn’t claim him.

In yet another move, the A’s claimed 26 year old minor leaguer Steve Tolleson on waivers out of the Twins’ system.  Tolleson looks like a potentially useful bench player at the major league level, since he can play at short, second and third and has a career minor league on-base percentage of .368.  He’ll be 26 in 2010, and appears to need at least one more year in AAA.

On the other side of the Bay, the Giants signed former major leaguer Byung Hyun Kim to a minor league deal.  Kim hasn’t pitched in the Show since 2007, and he’s now 31 years old after pitching the last two seasons in Korea’s KBO.

Looking at Kim’s major league career to date, it sure looks like the decision to convert him from a reliever into a starter ruined his career.  He improved steadily as a reliever at the beginning of his career until 2002, when posted a 2.04 ERA and 36 saves as the Diamondbacks’ closer.

Arizona converted him into a starter in 2003, and accept for the back end of that season, when he was traded to Boston and saved 16 games for the Sox, he was used primarily as a starter for the next four seasons.  He wasn’t horrendous as a starter, but he wasn’t good at it either.

In hindsight moving him out of the bullpen looks like a big mistake.  Of course, he also had some injury problems after heavy use early in his career.

I assume the Giants intend to use Kim as a relief pitcher, if he has anything left.  Maybe he will be another pleasant surprise at the back end of the Giants’ bullpen in 2010.  If nothing else, I’m sure Kim would enjoy playing in the Bay Area, where there is a fairly substantial Korean American population.

The Giants have also signed 30 year old lefty Horacio Ramirez to a minor league deal today.  Most likely he’ll end up giving pitching depth to the 2010 Fresno Grizzlies, rather than the Giants.

Ramirez has had some major league success, but he’s been wildly inconsistent the last few seasons, and his career numbers suggest he lacks the command to ever be a consistently successful major league pitcher.

In one final note, former Giant and Indian Ryan Garko just signed a one-year deal with the Mariners for only $550,000.  Yet another sign that the free agent market is terrible for players.  Garko’s no great shakes, but the contract he signed is pretty much as low as a team will go for a player with his major league experience and relative success.

In short, it’s definitely a good move for the M’s because it costs them very little and gives them a useful right-handed bat off the bench, who can hit for a little power and get on base.