abreu in pinstripes - a scary thought
Abreu, Lidle sent to Yankees for prospects
Pure salary dump here. Pat Gillick rids the Philles of Abreu's monster contract (a godawful $15mil for next year alone with a $16mil option for 2008) and throws in Cory Lidle, whose picture appears in the margins when you look up "mediocrity" in the dictionary.
When it comes to Yankees trades, the natural instinct of your average Sox fan is to point and laugh and talk about how dumb said trade was. This one's no exception; I've heard that Abreu is lazy, that he's only hit one homer in two months, that he's not going to have that much of an impact on the Yankees' lineup. The New England Chickballers are not, as you might have noticed by this point, your average Sox fans, and I'll say it straight-up: Bobby Abreu in right field at Yankee Stadium is a terrifying thought.
So Abreu's not hitting homers like usual -- it's not affecting his slugging percentage much. As of this second, Bobby Abreu's 2006 SLG is .434. Last year, it was .474, and SLG fluctuates much more than other offensive statistics. He's got 25 doubles, 2 triples, and 8 home runs; his BA is .277. They're not his 2004 numbers, but they're not anything you'd want to sneeze at.
You've also got to consider the frequency with which Abreu walks. He's got 91 on the season, and his OBP of .427 (!) is good for third in the NL. Put him in the AL and he's tied with Jeter for third over here. He's still an absolute beast at the plate, and the only thing that makes him less valuable as a player is the size of his contract; since that's never been a concern for the Yankees, I'm not seeing a downside for the Bombers here. Offensively, the AL East race just got even tighter.
The Lidle part of this deal isn't all that impressive; the extra warm body probably makes the Yankees organization feel slightly better about giving up C.J. Henry, who could develop into something special. The last time Lidle pitched in the AL, his ERA was 5.75. He'll apparently be taking over for the absolutely dreadful sack of fat known as Sidney Ponson, who's gone 4-5 with a 5.79 ERA this season. Nevertheless, it's hard to get any worse than Ponson, so while the Lidle trade isn't anything special, it's not a stupid move.
Conclusion: Brian Cashman is a lot smarter than many people think, and Pat Gillick just got fleeced in a salary dump.
*
In other Phillies news, second baseman and hotass-in-residence Chase Utley went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to an even 30.
Pure salary dump here. Pat Gillick rids the Philles of Abreu's monster contract (a godawful $15mil for next year alone with a $16mil option for 2008) and throws in Cory Lidle, whose picture appears in the margins when you look up "mediocrity" in the dictionary.
When it comes to Yankees trades, the natural instinct of your average Sox fan is to point and laugh and talk about how dumb said trade was. This one's no exception; I've heard that Abreu is lazy, that he's only hit one homer in two months, that he's not going to have that much of an impact on the Yankees' lineup. The New England Chickballers are not, as you might have noticed by this point, your average Sox fans, and I'll say it straight-up: Bobby Abreu in right field at Yankee Stadium is a terrifying thought.
So Abreu's not hitting homers like usual -- it's not affecting his slugging percentage much. As of this second, Bobby Abreu's 2006 SLG is .434. Last year, it was .474, and SLG fluctuates much more than other offensive statistics. He's got 25 doubles, 2 triples, and 8 home runs; his BA is .277. They're not his 2004 numbers, but they're not anything you'd want to sneeze at.
You've also got to consider the frequency with which Abreu walks. He's got 91 on the season, and his OBP of .427 (!) is good for third in the NL. Put him in the AL and he's tied with Jeter for third over here. He's still an absolute beast at the plate, and the only thing that makes him less valuable as a player is the size of his contract; since that's never been a concern for the Yankees, I'm not seeing a downside for the Bombers here. Offensively, the AL East race just got even tighter.
The Lidle part of this deal isn't all that impressive; the extra warm body probably makes the Yankees organization feel slightly better about giving up C.J. Henry, who could develop into something special. The last time Lidle pitched in the AL, his ERA was 5.75. He'll apparently be taking over for the absolutely dreadful sack of fat known as Sidney Ponson, who's gone 4-5 with a 5.79 ERA this season. Nevertheless, it's hard to get any worse than Ponson, so while the Lidle trade isn't anything special, it's not a stupid move.
Conclusion: Brian Cashman is a lot smarter than many people think, and Pat Gillick just got fleeced in a salary dump.
*
In other Phillies news, second baseman and hotass-in-residence Chase Utley went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to an even 30.
posted by Suzie at 5:11 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home