Late Innings

Not to dredge up the MVP voting any further, however I think that I found the lone, solitary (BWAA) writer who cast a first place vote for Francisco Rodriguez:

If this is true, his credibility just went down a great deal.

According to Wikipedia, he’s a member of BWAA (actually, as someone emailed me, it should be BBWAA, since the prior acronym is reserved for boxing. Personally I lost all respect for boxing after the “Pay Per Chew” event happened. Any ways BBWAA and BWAA are interchangeable in my eyes.) In either case, getting back to the point, I’m not sure whether Heyman voted on the MVP. However he made his threats about how K-Rod should have gotten the award (I know, he’s a soon-to-be-heavily-overpaid closer.) Any ways we’re not sure, however I want to meet this writer who thinks that K-Rod was the Most Valuable Player in the American League. Still I read this interesting piece from a Washington BWAA writer who cast his tenth place vote for Ryan Howard. That made me feel better.
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I saw a story today in the Baltimore Sun today about how the Orioles have free agent shortstop Ceasr Izturis tops on their wish list for the position. Keep in mind that there are plenty of alluring free agents out there to begin with, such as Rafeal Furcal, Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria. Bobby Crosby, Khalil Greene and J.J. Hardy can also be had for the right price if a trade was to be made.

In regards to the original point of the post, I wanted to point out the type of shortstop that Andy MacPhail targets. He values one thing from this position: defense. Any bat that the hitter can provide is seen as a “bonus” to him. That’s always been his philosophy (Minnesota fans remember a .245 glove man by the name of Greg Gagne), and he had the same approach for this season. The shortstop is the #9 hitter to him, and the power in the lineup rests in the corner positions (here’s to Brandon Snyder and Billy Rowell’s development.)

MacPhail tried Luis Hernandez as the Opening Day shortstop (they grabbed him after being in the Atlanta organization all his career), then after his defense deteriorated, he also tried Brandon Fahey and Freddie Bynum. A late trade for Juan Castro brought in the last shortstop that Baltimore attempted to use last year. All in all, these four hitters combined for no power and a sub .600 OPS. With no minor league options available, Izturis looks like he’d be a great fit.

Personally I wouldn’t mind Renteria and Cabrera, and I even speculated that Baltimore would be a good spot for those two, however they were later classified as Type A free agents, and Baltimore would lose their second round draft pick next year (arbitration is all but certain to be offered.) Furcal is more desirable being a Type B, however Baltimore has some competition for him from Oakland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, et al. He’ll require a four year, 40MM deal to say the least.

I’m not sure what kind of offers Izturis will get. He made 2.85MM with the Cardinals, and hit .263 while playing great defense. The .628 OPS leaves reason for fear, but if Baltimore could grab him on a one or two year deal for 1.8MM a year, I’d be happy. The team still needs to build some middle infield depth however in the farm.

The Greene for Olson Swap

The same article mentions that Greene was offered to Baltimore, for soft-tosser Garrett Olson. Baltimore correctly passed. Olson would welcome a move out of the AL East, and the cavernous Petco would be friendly to him. Greene in Baltimore however doesn’t impress me. I know he’s an East Coast resident, and he does have some power (27 HR a year ago) and plays solid defense, however he doesn’t get on base. In 2007, the year he won the team MVP, he hit 27 homers, drove in 97, but only hit .254. What’s worse is that he only drew 32 walks that year, getting on base to a .291 tune. His 2008 season was much worse (.260 OBP.)

He’s due to make 6.5MM this year in the last year of a two year contract he signed a year ago (essentially buying out his arbitration years.) He’ll be a free agent after next season, and I have no idea what interest he’ll draw. Still handing over Olson (when the rotation is already weak) would be a bad move.