Jon Garland traded to Los Angeles

by Jim McLennan on Sep 1, 2009 12:16 AM EDT in News Comment 82 comments

Jon Garland has been traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. SI's Jon Heyman broke the news of the trade on his Twitter feed. Per KTAR's feed, it's "for a player to be named later. Player needs to clear waivers." Gambo, through KTAR, is saying "D-backs will pay remainder of salary this year and potentially buyout for next season," which certainly makes it seem we should be getting someone semi-decent in return if we're also playing Garland's salary.

As quoted in the comments, one source has Tony Abreu as the potential PTBNL He's a 24-year old infielder, who has hit .347 in 48 games at Triple-A. Could he be our starting second baseman of 2010? Other reports - but I want to stress these are as yet completely unconfirmed - have the player as Dee Gordon, a shortstop with blazing speed, who's the son of Tom Gordon. However, that may be confusion caused by the second trade the Dodgers made this evening, getting Jim Thome from the White Sox for another low-level infielder, believed to be Justin Fuller.

The news was formally broken on the Diamondbacks' broadcast at 9:34, but the writing seemed on the wall earlier, given his departure from the Diamondbacks' dugout just after the trade deadline at 9pm AZ time. He seemed to be saying his goodbyes to the team at that point, though somewhat surprisingly, he was one of the people high-fiving Justin Upton after his eighth-inning homer tied the game - which would have been after his trade!

It was somewhat plaintive to see his bag outside the visitor's locker-room in the late innings of the game.He was scheduled to start the last game of this series on Thursday. He may still do so, but if that's the case it'll be from the home dugout. No word on who will take the mound for Arizona.

Generally, dealing with your divisional rivals, especially for a starting pitcher, is something that you tend not to do. However, with Garland being a free agent in little more than a month, and with the Diamondbacks being a) out of the divisional race, and b) most unlikely to pick up the $10m team option, this seems like the kind of move where you get something in return for the player, rather than nothing. Garland would probably not even have been a Type B free-agent, so we would have received no compensation for losing him.

The Diamondbacks pretty much got what they wanted from Jon during his time here: they were only able to afford him due to a combination of the economic meltdown and his poor 2008, where his ERA was up to 4.90. But he reverted to his previous form this season. Garland pitched pretty well over 27 starts with Arizona, despite a record of only 8-11. His hit, walk and homer numbers all ended pretty close to his career numbers, as was his ERA+ - that ended at 106, while his overall number there is 104.

I can't say I am too surprised to see him go. I wouldn't be surprised if there was still some tension reverberating around the Arizona clubhouse after his remarks in July concerning his team-mates: "We're going out there and playing like a last-place team. I don't see any fight. I don't see anyone that wants it." While likely born out of frustration, and not entirely unjustified either, it will hardly have done anything to improve relationships with others on the roster. There is certainly a perception that Garland's interest in winning may have been less for the team, than his impending free-agency.

It's interesting to see that most reports have us paying Garland's salary for the rest of the season, and the buy-out on his option [which I've no doubt he'll now exercise from his end, so he gets the bigger payout]. That probably means we are on the hook for about $3.5 million. Based on this, I would certainly like to think we are getting a fairly decent prospect in return from Los Angeles, but as with the Jon Rauch trade, we'll just have to wait and see for the details to be made public [or for something to leak out].

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WTF!?

Seriously. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.

You know how you get to Carnegie Hall, doncha? Practice.

by soco on Sep 1, 2009 12:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

Good idea, Dbacks. We lost a pitcher now let’s give another up.

Feh.

BRING BACK THE PRETTY TRENT!

by mrssoco on Sep 1, 2009 12:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well

I agree with the idea of trading him, but I’m going to need more details and some time to process this, especially since he was traded to the Dodgers.

You know how you get to Carnegie Hall, doncha? Practice.

by soco on Sep 1, 2009 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah...about that trade

Trading to a rival is one thing, but trading a starting pitcher when we are rather low on starting pitchers? Huh?

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Sep 1, 2009 1:17 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We are

officially the Arizona Athletics now because were are mirroring the trade philosophy of Billy Beane.

Badgers! Badgers! We don't need no stinkin badgers!

by haas on Sep 1, 2009 2:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

No Webb, no Garland.

Giving away players; shedding contracts to save money, great…..

"If there's nothing wrong with me, maybe there's something wrong with the universe!"

by unnamedDBacksfan on Sep 1, 2009 12:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Um....

actually, we traded 1 month of Jon Garland, as well as salary that we would have had to pay him anyway, for a Dodgers prospect. I’ll take it.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 3:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Live it up then

I don’t have to like it

"If there's nothing wrong with me, maybe there's something wrong with the universe!"

by unnamedDBacksfan on Sep 1, 2009 4:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

YES YOU DO

There’s no differing opinions at the Snakepit!!? What are you thinking, sir??

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hope...

we got Ethier for him. But we probably didn’t.

by jazzbo13 on Sep 1, 2009 12:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't.

Ethier is a douche.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 3:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wasn't that fond of Garland either

But it’s hard to feel anything about this trade until we know who’s coming back, and if this will help us keep another player (Like Webb or Davis). I have no idea what the Dodgers have. A middle infielder or a pitcher would be nice. A twentieth outfielder or a fourth catcher? Not so much.

"We...probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." — Terry Bisson

by Scrbl on Sep 1, 2009 9:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not really sure

how this would help us keep another player, since we’re still paying Garland’s salary and his buyout.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

In order to see it

you need to close one eye, tilt your head and completely overlook the part about us paying his salary next year. That’s what I did.

"We...probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." — Terry Bisson

by Scrbl on Sep 1, 2009 8:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oooh.

Yeah, there it is. Thanks!

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thursday

is gonna be weird

by eel on Sep 1, 2009 12:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This is another reason

why signing Garland was better than resigning Johnson. Garland has trade value and durability. Johnson…not so much.

I am really looking forward to seeing these PTBNLs, especially if they’re called up immediately.

by venomfan on Sep 1, 2009 2:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

So basically,

you can’t wait until these players are named?

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 5:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Worst Management in Baseball

Pathetic

by NASCARbernet on Sep 1, 2009 12:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Puh-LEEZE

Garland was on the trading block as soon as the team realized the 2009 playoffs were out of the picture. Hold off on throwing management under the bus until you see what we get in return.

Speaking of which, does anyone know what we’re getting for Rauch?

by venomfan on Sep 1, 2009 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

by ZonaBacks10 on Sep 1, 2009 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeh...i guess

I really hope we got someone solid, because God only knows what our starting pitching is going to look like next year

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Sep 1, 2009 1:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Haren, Schertzer, Davis

Is not a bad probable top 3.

We’ve got a lot of mix and match pieces to fill in the back-end as well. I don’t think Garland was the piece that turns us into a play-off caliber team.

by Counsellmember on Sep 1, 2009 1:20 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah.

I think Garland wouldn’t have been a piece to our team next year, and might as well get a player in return. Scherzer still has ALOT to earn, as much as I like his potential.

by ZonaBacks10 on Sep 1, 2009 1:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tru tru

Starting three should be ok, but i really dont like being so thin after that. In the end though I guess it does matter when we might very well be bad again next year.

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Sep 1, 2009 1:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well

Remember, the trade free’s up more money to plug those holes.

I agree we are now very thin at SP. I think we make a move in the off-season. Garland;s deal was just a bit much for a guy who was never really more than a mid-rotation starter.

by Counsellmember on Sep 1, 2009 1:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Will the FO spend money to fill those holes.

More importantly, will they spend it well.

"Yeah I could have been king, but maybe I already am king. Hail to the king baby." Ash from Army of Darkness

by Turambar on Sep 1, 2009 1:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Davis is probably gone

homie doesn’t seem to like Hinsch. Webb will get resigned and will pitch well next year. Petit will be a fantastic #5 if he continues his current form, which means we need 1 more piece. And 1 backup in case Petit comes down with an incurable case of suck.

by venomfan on Sep 1, 2009 2:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

-1

Another unedjumicated comment.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 3:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

hmmm

I really don’t know what to think.. I guess I’ll wait for the second half of the news to come in before I pass judgement.

by ZonaBacks10 on Sep 1, 2009 12:40 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

we better get someone good for this

do we even know who we got for rauch yet?

by BattleMoses on Sep 1, 2009 12:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This isn't as surprising as Rauch's trade

If this increases the likelihood of resigning DD, I’m happy.

I think we all knew that we weren’t going to keep both Garland and DD.

Or if we get a real leadoff hitter, I’d be happy (we haven’t had one in a long time…) But if it’s Dee Gordon, we probably have some waiting..

by eel on Sep 1, 2009 1:02 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We haven't had one

since we traded Flip…

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 3:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree that we don’t have one now, but I don’t think Flip is the prototypical lead off guy that a team really wants.

by eel on Sep 1, 2009 1:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fine

No problem. As long as we are getting a piece back.

Two Players to be Named Later. It’s like Christmas presents under the tree; you can see the boxe you just can’t wait to find out what’s inside. C’mon Construx!

by Counsellmember on Sep 1, 2009 1:04 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

so its for two players not one?

by BattleMoses on Sep 1, 2009 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He was referring to the Rauch trade in addition to the Garland deal.

When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome again. True story.
-Barney Stinson

by Red Reign on Sep 1, 2009 2:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry.

Should have read ahead.

When I get sad, I stop being sad and be awesome again. True story.
-Barney Stinson

by Red Reign on Sep 1, 2009 2:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, no

Sorry. I was referring to the PTBNL we also recieved for Rauch.

Two total.

by Counsellmember on Sep 1, 2009 1:08 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Oh ok

who do the Twins even have?

by BattleMoses on Sep 1, 2009 1:14 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know the rules for PTBNL

But someone somewhere said it was a player on the 40-man roster.

Not that this piece of information means anything to either one of us, apparently. But it’s all Ive heard.

by Counsellmember on Sep 1, 2009 1:16 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Steve Gilbert

Reports that we are paying the rest of Garland’s salary for this year, as well as the buyout of his 2010 option.

We should be expecting a nice haul in return.

Wear your own fur.

by Sprankton on Sep 1, 2009 1:29 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Excellent

I will ALWAYS pay more for a better prospect. Dodgers have given up a lot of talent over the last couple of seasons in order not to take on any additional salary. Maybe we can make out well, here.

Of course, it’s not really my money.

by Counsellmember on Sep 1, 2009 1:33 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah

And the dodgers do have some pretty talented prospects… I hate PTBNL.. The anticipation!

by ZonaBacks10 on Sep 1, 2009 1:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Dodgers

are all-in at this point. I think they see the writing on the wall and know that Manny is going to bolt after the season. We’ll see how good they are next season with no Manny or Thome. I’m trusting management on this one but trading to the enmy to make them better is treasonous. Hopefully this pays off with the PTBNL.

Badgers! Badgers! We don't need no stinkin badgers!

by haas on Sep 1, 2009 2:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know

I think Manny’s suspension might mean he’s going to take the option that everyone assumed he wouldn’t take.

"I can't accept and won't concede that this is who we are..."

by kishi on Sep 1, 2009 2:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why

is it treasonous? Garland’s not gonna agree to exercise his option with the Dodgers, he’s gonna opt out and bolt for free agency, even though he’s not really THAT great a pitcher to begin with.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 4:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

After further review and a minor hangover

I’m ok with the trade. it’s not like the Dbacks traded Babe Ruth or in this case, Cy Young to the enemy. I’m glad we’re getting a player considering we would have got nothing at the end of the season had he opted out and bolted somewhere else. It gives a chance for our young pitchers to get some big league action so we know what we have next season. Who’s replacing Garland, Buckner?

Badgers! Badgers! We don't need no stinkin badgers!

by haas on Sep 1, 2009 11:42 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm hoping it's Buckner,

although I’m sure Augenstein will be a September callup, too.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Augenstein

Has been assigned to the Arizona Fall League. So I don’t think we’ll bring him back up this year. He had injury issues.

My brother: Did you see the genre of this song [Wake Up by Arcade Fire]?
Me: Isn't it Alternative?
My brother: No, it was funeral. Most depressing thing ever. I s*** you not. Go look it up.
Me: ::checks iTunes:: That's the album title.

by IHateSouthBend on Sep 1, 2009 5:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I knew that,

but I wasn’t sure if being called up would trump it or not.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 6:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

dodgerthoughtsRT @truebluela: Whoa! RT @dbackswriter Word among some #Dodgers players is the PTBNL in Garland trade is Tony Abreu (must clear waivers)18 minutes ago from TweetDeck

If its Abreu, I’m pissed. He could have started at 2nd base for the Dodgers next year, allowing Hudson to walk. Not anymore.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/abreuto01.shtml

by Tripon on Sep 1, 2009 2:53 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm not.

That’s like being happy that the Dodgers were able to let Gonzo and Nomar walk because they had some young kids to take over.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 4:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did you see Gonzo's year with the Dodgers?

And Nomar became the back up 1st baseman at the end of 2008. Not exactly unreplaceable players.

by Tripon on Sep 1, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's my point.

O-Dawg’s having a good year this season, but why do you think that’ll continue? He’s only getting older. In fact, I hope he parlays his good season in 2009 into a massive contract w/ the Dodgers.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm a Dodger fan, I wanted Aberu to be the 2nd baseman next year.

by Tripon on Sep 1, 2009 4:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ooooh.

That makes a lot more sense now. Awesome!

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Now I feel silly

for not realizing that beforehand. I’ve seen you before.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well

I think the dbacks could be a very interesting club next year. You have a likely starting rotation of Webb, Haren, Scherzer, Davis and perhaps Petit. The bullpen is young, but Qualls is supposed to be ready by ST, and there is a young group of arms that have good stuff, besides, cheap craft vets in the bullpen are relatively easy to shop for. The position battles next year should be interesting with the guys already on the team, 1b with Allen and Jackson, LF, with Jackson, Parra, Byrnes. CT with Parra and Young. 2b with Ryal and Roberts. Snyder could stay as the backup catcher or be traded if they have a good feeling about Hester. Yeah we’ll be young, but I think it shows some promise with some veteran arms up front. It depends on how well they can mash and their health.

I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused....

by piratedan7 on Sep 1, 2009 3:10 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wait

Who wants to wear your red shoes?

"We...probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." — Terry Bisson

by Scrbl on Sep 1, 2009 9:13 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's been whispered to be

it’s Arte Moreno ;-)

I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused....

by piratedan7 on Sep 1, 2009 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I spent all day

trying to make that fit into the song.

"We...probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." — Terry Bisson

by Scrbl on Sep 1, 2009 8:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Value for Garland

After looking through the dodgers system I can see just a handful of players that I hope Byrnes has targeted:

1. INF Andrew Lambo – Scouts say, “Strong hitter with bat speed, fluid swing, plate discipline and ability to use whole field giving him unlimited offensive potential. Hits pitchers from opposite side and stays inside ball.”

2. P James McDonald – Scouts say, “His fastball tops out at 93 mph, his curveball and changeup are very good, and adding the three pitches together with sharper command makes a nice package.”

3. P Josh Lindblom – Scouts say, “His fastball is in 93 – 95 mph range with plenty of late life, his curveball, flashes solid potential, but is inconsistent, his splitter shows a good feel for the pitch and acts sort of like a change-up and he has a standard change up.” He was a closer at Purdue.

4. P Chris Withrow – Scouts say, “His fastball is in 92-96 mph range, his curveball has a tight spin and sharp break (usually throw it in the 70 mph range) but he can throw it for strikes. His changeup has the most work to be done but he shown the potential to improve his usage of it. His mechanics are smooth and controlled.”

Keep your fingers crossed we land one of these guys.

Peace & Love, Peace & Love.

by SnakebitForever on Sep 1, 2009 4:28 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

We beat #2 tonight, IIRC.

And we’ve beat him at least twice before tonight.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 5:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

(twice that I can think of offhand)

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 5:22 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

4.1 IP in his career against us

Bit of a small sample size for any judgment, no?

"Win, or die" -- Marquise de Merteuil

by Jim McLennan on Sep 1, 2009 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

What?

My implication wasn’t that he sucks, so much as that if he can’t beat us, he might as well join us?

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Please not McDonald

He’s loaded the bases every time we’ve seen him. Too erratic. We already had a pitcher like that , in Pena, and traded him away this year.

Badgers! Badgers! We don't need no stinkin badgers!

by haas on Sep 1, 2009 11:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

James McDonald

is NOTHING like Tony Peña.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 12:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was hoping it’d be Lambo from the moment I’d heard about the trade on the Dbacks telecast.

by liquid! on Sep 1, 2009 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

The prospects you listed would be a massive overpay exchange for one month of Garland.

Lambo is probably the best hitting prospect the Dodgers have, McDonald projects to be a 3rd starter in the league, which is better than Garland is, Lindblom can pitch now and has closer potential, and Chris Withrow is the Dodgers best pitching prospect and likely number one overall.

Let me put it this way, would you trade Jerrod Parker for a pitcher of Garland’s caliber? Of course not.

by Tripon on Sep 1, 2009 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

true dat

but you’re the ones initiating the trade, hence, you have to pay what the market will bear, true? You can’t expect “value” when it’s a sellars market.

I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused....

by piratedan7 on Sep 1, 2009 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Of course,

SnakeBitForever would also probably make a better GM than Ned Colletti.

Seriously, the guy gets lucky with ONE trade (the Mandy trade) and now everyone forgets how he’s been such an idiot his entire time in LA.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, hard to get too worked up about this without knowing the PTBNL, but we better do better than “semi-decent” for me to feel good about this. As I’ve said before I thought Garland at $7.5 next year was a good value (cost minus buyout cash) and have thought that even more so lately with Scherzer’s struggles.

I have no knowledge of the two 2B prospects being tossed about (Abreu and Gordon), but unless they’re exceptional, that surprises me as well. Roberts and Ryal have done nothing to prove that they cannot handle 2B next year — either defensively or offensively (both are near 400 OBP since their call ups, both over 830 OPS).

I’ll miss Garland. Watching him up close this year I really felt that he was an undervalued MLB starter.

"Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America."
-- Bruce Catton

by njjohn on Sep 1, 2009 6:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Tony Abreu would more than likely

go straight in to our 2B spot. He’s a legitimate prospect who rocked AAA this year. Roberts is not the caliber of player that he’s made out to be this year, this will be his Augie Ojeda 2007 season. Ryal, I don’t know nearly as much about, but I’m suspicious on what he’s actually capable of doing at a big league level. But then again I wasn’t really sure about this Mark Reynolds guy 2 years ago either.

Go DBacks!

by AJforAZ on Sep 1, 2009 10:11 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hope so, but I’m not convinced. Ryal has pretty similar stats. A lower BA with more power, but similar OPS. And I"m concerned that Abreu’s OPS jumped 330 points moving from AA to AAA. We’ll see.

"Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America."
-- Bruce Catton

by njjohn on Sep 1, 2009 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Let Abreu and Ryal

duke it out for the starting 2B spot in Spring Training next season. A little competition never hurt anybody.

"In the future, I want to be a fossil. Or, at least have my feces be fossilized"
-Pygalgia

by DbacksSkins on Sep 1, 2009 1:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sure… but (as I posted in the newer thread), what did we really gain by perhaps slightly improving our 2010 2B when we could have protected ourselves in what we needed more: SPs.

"Say this much for big league baseball - it is beyond question the greatest conversation piece ever invented in America."
-- Bruce Catton

by njjohn on Sep 1, 2009 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs