Trying to stave off a few emails here, because this is apparently a topic for discussion on some message boards somewhere.
Michael Morse is a shortstop in the same way that Wil Cordero (probably the best comp. I can come up with for Morse, overall), Gary Sheffield, Julio Franco and Chipper Jones came up as shortstops. In 10 years, if Morse has a major league career, people will look at you and say “really?” when you tell them that Morse once played a meaningful defensive position. Apparently, I understated just how abysmal Morse is with the glove, and folks who have no first hand knowledge of his defensive skills find it necessary to speculate on whether he can stay at the position.
Just to be clear, he couldn’t play shortstop for your beer league team. You’d hide him in left field and pray to God that the team had a bunch of left-handed pull hitters. Reactions to watching him range to his right vary from “I could have gotten that” to “a paraplegic hippo makes that play” as the ball bounces into the outfield. Toss in a general malaise in the field, consistent lack of effort, and a reputation as being uncoachable, and improvement just isn’t in the cards here.
These opinions were born out of watching him play several times a week last year as the regular shortstop for the Winston-Salem Warthogs, more or less my home team. I work 5 minutes from Ernie Shore Field and have been a regular at the park for the past three seasons. These opinions have nothing to do with the statistical bent that I know some people hold against us. This is purely observational and completely based on traditional scouting. Whether you think we’re computer geeks or not is pretty much irrelevant in this case. Having watched Michael Morse play more often than just about anyone on earth not employed by the Chicago White Sox, it is painfully obvious to me that he’s physically incapable of playing shortstop at an acceptable level, and I don’t believe his defensive abilities translate well at any position. You can live with his shortcomings in the outfield or first base, but in the long run, Morse’s position is probably going to be “hitter”, and if he develops tremendously, might have a nice run as a DH for some American League team.
All that said, I still think he’s a decent prospect, more than a throw-in, and I’m glad the M’s picked him up in the deal. Even when he was hitting .240 last year, it was apparent that his offensive talent held some untapped promise. His bat has potential to carry him to the majors. But one thing should definitely be clear and not really be up for discussion; he can’t play shortstop at the major league level.
Shameless self-promotion two:
I’ll be on the air tonight with Pat Dillon during the Everett Aquasox pregame show. You can listen live via their internet site, or old fashioned radio at 90.7 on the FM dial.
And, if you’re looking for a reason to go watch the Aquasox this year, how about Casey Craig, who I called the potential steal of the draft last year. In his first 32 at-bats, he’s hitting .313/.463/.438 with a 9/7 BB/K ratio. Not bad for a 19-year-old in the Northwest League. Look for Craig to move up the charts pretty quickly in the soon-to-be-updated future forty.
Shameless self-promotion: Today’s free article at Baseball Prospectus is my column on whether Edgar should retire. Free means even those of you who have suffered head trauma of some kind or have another reason not to subscribe to BP Premium can read this and see what you’re missing.
If you were a little leery about getting too excited about an A ball prospect, it is now okay to bust out the word phenom. King Felix has been promoted to Double-A San Antonio at the ripe age of 18, after the hitter-happy California League poised little challenge. During his time in San Bernardino, he posted a 2.74 ERA in 92 innings, giving up 85 hits, walking 26, and striking out 114. He leaves the Cal League as the league leader in wins and strikeouts, and he was 4th in ERA. He’ll likely end the year in San Antonio, but if he continues to dominate, don’t be surprised if he’s throwing in Tacoma next spring, and there’s a real chance he could be in Seattle by next summer. At age 19. This kid is for real.
Things that Dave Henderson just said that are demonstrably false:
Randy Winn always really heats up late in the year, he’s just a late starter
Winn’s three-year split:
Pre: .290/.348/.426
Post: .291/.350/.439
Umm.. no. Last year, sure (.679 OPS v .889 OPS). But even the year before that, it was much closer and reversed (.842 OPS v .795 OPS).
Winn always hits over .290 (do I even need to get into that one?)
Ahhh, fish, barrell.
Don’t be fooled by a shiny two months, Jason. Inge is about as craptastic a hitter as you can get. Here’s his career for you:
League G AB AVG OBP SLG
AL 337 1005 0.215 0.275 0.343
AAA 142 487 0.255 0.319 0.444
AA 78 298 0.258 0.313 0.409
A 155 559 0.238 0.317 0.404
1,005 major league at bats and a .275 OBP? I’m sorry, but you just don’t make that kind of leap from “one of three or four worst hitters in baseball” into a good player overnight. There’s absolutely nothing in his history that would suggest he has the ability to sustain any kind of marginal offensive performance. He has 2400 career at-bats as a professional, and they all led to one giant conclusion: He can’t hit. His 165 at-bat hot streak doesn’t change that. In his 3 previous major league seasons, he hit .180 (189 at-bats), .202 (321 at-bats), and .203 (330 at-bats). He’s been given two extended trials as a major league semi-regular and posted on base percentages of .265 and .266 respectively. At least he’s consistent, right? Right now, there are only two major league regulars posting OBP’s below .265; Tony Batista and Neifi Perez.
Brandon Inge is an awful major league hitter, his 2004 numbers to date notwithstanding. You don’t want him on the roster, much less having to give up something of value to get him.
Three things —
I feel soooo good to see Olivio in an M’s uniform, it’s nutty. What a great freaking trade.
The cash in the Garcia’s deal is supposedly Ben Davis’ salary. It’s not Garcia’s contract, or anything like it. This deal was a steaaaaaaaaaaaal, folks. A steal. Lock up Bavasi, because he cleaned out that franchise like the Hamburgler on a meth bender.
Okay, maybe not, but man.
The stupid musical cues you’re hearing are because it’s “country music night” here in Seattle, noted center of the country music scene.
Update: don’t hang around Bloomquist, Miguel! He wants your talent to rub off on him — don’t let it happen!
I don’t think they’ll be trading for Brandon Inge any time soon — he’s on the 15-day DL with a broken finger. I don’t understand the negative sentiment, though. He’s a tremendous defensive catcher and was hitting .303/.374/.491 before hitting the DL.
Nearly as positive news as the deal itself were Bavasi’s remarks in subsequent interviews. Talks of trusting the young pitching in the organization and spending heavily on offense during the offseason is exactly the blueprint this organization should follow. Rather than signing Ron Villone as a lefty reliever, give George Sherrill a chance, and invest the money saved into impact hitters which the organization does not possess. If the M’s really are going to give their crop of young hurlers a real opportunity in 2005, and are going to spend significant amounts of money to upgrade the offense, this team can contend next year. This does not have to be a long rebuilding process. Let’s hope this is just round one in the complete overhaul of the way this franchise assembles its rosters.
So, whats next? I’d expect Rich Aurilia, Ron Villone, and Mike Myers to all find themselves new homes within the next week or two. Clearly, the M’s are willing to make a deal now, rather than wait til the deadline, if they get a package in return that they like. Despite the rumors, I doubt Jamie Moyer gets moved. He has total control over his future, and at his age, I’d imagine stability is just as important to him as a chance to pitch for a contender, especially if he believes this team can contend in 2005. His contract is reasonable, so there is no rush to dump him before he becomes an albatross, as there is with Bret Boone. I’d imagine the club will find a taker for Boone at the deadline, though they may have to toss some more cash into the deal and be willing to accept little talent in return.
Spiezio has probably played himself out of any trade value, which is unfortunate. Stick him on waivers and see if someone bites. At this point, just clearing his roster space and dumping that contract would be a success.
I don’t expect Franklin to be traded, though I still think selling high would be a good idea here. The club lacks incentive to move him, since he is performing decently and relatively inexpensive. At this point, though, his value is as high as it will ever be, and fetching a midlevel prospect while clearing his salary off the ’05 books would be a wise transaction.
The Garcia trade was the big one that will actually bring talent in return. The rest of the moves will likely be contract dumps, bringing little more than longshot prospects or roster filler in return. But the more successful contract dumps this team can achieve, the more they will have to chase names like Garciaparra, Glaus, and Beltran during the offseason. Let’s hope most fans have the forsight to see that addition by subtraction is a wise strategy, and that the M’s continue along the path that they started blazing yesterday.
Oh, and for the love of God, please don’t trade for Brandon Inge.
I don’t understand people who aren’t fully behind this trade. Here are the points to consider, as I see them:
One more thing I thought of today — it’s really too bad Rafael Soriano isn’t healthy for all of this, because he probably would have taken Garica’s spot in the rotation, assuming he hadn’t already taken Meche’s.