Winter Meetings Roundup

Great site, generally-awful commenters.

I don’t know what I’d do without it, though. :-P

Duke trade gets an A-, Blum signing gets a D+ (he’s at least versatile), and Church departure gets a C+. Boyer departure might get a C-, but that’s nit-picking.

But there’s also risk in Putz’s arm.

If Kevin Gregg ever gets 3/20, the only feasible reasoning I can imagine involves some sort of nation-devastation tragedy. At least, I would hope that that’s the only way Gregg would get 3/20. But that is a valid point. Quality relievers are becoming hard to find.

I don’t imagine that there’s anybody around in the free agent pool who merits a 40-man spot more than Abreu does, since he can provide insurance at Triple-A or a backup role in the majors for injuries.

Also, wasn’t it a hernia? I mean, I guess that’s sort of hip surgery, but… yeah, not exactly. If I recall correctly, of course. If I’m right, that’s less concerning that hip surgery in the short/long runs and shouldn’t have hampered him all that much. But if it was hip surgery, I wouldn’t be confident on seeing him return fully to previous form anyways, so this is fine too.

Blum is a glove with veteran leadership and supposed pinch-hitting abilities. Sure, those two attributes may not have much value to some, but Towers likes them and Towers has had success before. I’m willing to buy into some of his ideas based on track record, because what’s the point of being a fan if you’re going to be pessimistic all the time, right?

Anywho, Abreu’s line as a pinch-hitter in 51 career PA’s is .286/.294/.367, miserable on its own before you note that his BABIP in those PA’s is .382. Now, SSS is unquestionable, but it certainly doesn’t inspire confidence that Abreu needed incredibly favorable luck to only be a little bit below a .300 OBP pinch-hitter.

Of course, It’d be irresponsible for me to not mention that Blum’s line isn’t spectacular in its own right, a career .250/.338/.318 (.318 SLG? .068 ISO? – not that Abreu’s is much better, really) in 274 PA’s, but I’ll certainly take the dramatic improvement in OBP, particularly with a stable .304 BABIP. If my bench bats can sustainably reach base 1/3 of the time they’re called to the plate, I’ll be more than satisfied.

Consistently high averages, but consistently low OBP’s. That’s incredibly concerning, particularly since a guy of his size isn’t likely to hit for a ton of power in the major leagues. He has the same problem that guys like Francoeur have – they swing themselves out of favorable counts on mediocre pitches.