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Jason Michael Barker

There have been several interesting moves made in the last week. Let's spare ourselves the formalities, and dive on in to the analysis.

Kevin Brown signs with the Dodgers. You say that's a seven-year contract? No comment.

Padres, Blue Jays swap pitchers. A potentially good deal for both sides. The Blue Jays added 28-year old Joey Hamilton, a solid lock for 200 innings in the rotation and some insurance if/when Roger Clemens is dealt. He's no Clemens performance-wise, but he'll at least eat up the innings.

Hamilton's career took an interesting turn three years ago. In 1995 he had a wonderful year, in which he started 30 games and pitched 204.1 innings with a 3.08 ERA. He was a control pitcher that year, allowing just 56 walks in those 204.1 innings, or roughly 2.5 walks per nine innings. As with many pitchers, the control came at the cost of strikeouts, as he fanned only 123 batters, about 5.5 per nine innings.

Then in 1996 the strikeouts rose dramatically, to 184 in 211.1 innings (7.8 / 9 IP), and so did the walks, to 84 (3.5 / 9 IP), and it seemed he had developed into more of a power pitcher. In 1997, however, control was the thing once again. 192.2 innings, 124 strikeouts (5.8 / 9 IP), 69 walks (3.2 / 9 IP). Any guesses for how he pitched last season? No, he didn't revert to being a power pitcher, although his strikeouts increased slightly, to 147 in 217.1 innings (6.1 / 9 IP). But he didn't show great control, either, walking 107 batters in 1998, or 4.4 per nine innings. After a rough start, Hamilton really pulled it together in the second half of the season, going 7-4 with a 3.13 ERA over his last 15 starts.

All that said, I think he'll be a good addition for the Jays. He's never been injured or overused in his career, he's always done a good job inducing a ton of ground balls, and for the most part he's very consistent -- start to start, month to month and season to season, you know what you're getting from him.

In exchange for Hamilton, Toronto gave up three players, starter Woody Williams, reliever Carlos Almanzar, and minor-league outfielder Peter Tucci. For Williams, 1998 was just his second season as a full-time starting pitcher, and he made the most of it by pitching 209.2 innings with a solid 4.46 ERA. He has a tendency to falter as the game wears on, however, and he didn't pitch well after the All-Star break, perhaps due to fatigue. Used correctly, he can be a very effective pitcher.

Almanzar appeared in 25 games for the Jays after spending the 1997 season at AAA Syracuse. He has a great changeup and decent fastball, and has always had good K:BB ratios in the minors, which is a good predictor of future success. He could win a spot in the Padres' bullpen out of spring training. Tucci has a good bat, but at 23 was probably too old for single-A, where he spent much of 1998.

Edgar Renteria dealt to St. Louis. There were rumors that the Cards would try to add a quality middle infielder, and now they've done it. Renteria is a stellar talent with a great glove and the ability to get on base. His lack of power may be his only shortcoming, although it could come with age -- he was just 22 last season, yet it was his third full year in the bigs.

After a great rookie year (.358/.399 OBP/SLG) he slipped a bit in 1997, but came back in 1998 to post a .347 OBP. Any time you can get that much offense from your shortstop PLUS a good glove, it's a bonus. He's also fast enough to steal 50 or 60 bases a season, but he needs to improve his success rate. You may remember Renteria from the 1997 World Series, in which he had the series-winning hit in Game 7 off of reliever Jose Mesa.

To get such talent, however, the Cardinals had to give up quite a bit, including highly-touted shortstop Pablo Ozuna, who won the Midwest League (high-A) batting title last season with a .357 clip, while hitting ten triples and stealing 62 bases. The Marlins also added former #1 pick Braden Looper, a future closer with great stuff, and lefty Armando Almanza (great name), projected as a setup man in the Majors.

Mariners acquire Butch Huskey. With Jay Buhner injured and possibly moving to 1B this spring, Seattle addressed a need by adding Huskey, who primarily plays right field. At the press conference, GM Woody Woodward announced that Huskey would be the regular right fielder to start the season, but he should have checked his platoon splits first -- Huskey kills left-handed pitching, but he can't hit righties to save his life. He would make a great platoon partner for Raul Ibanez, a left-handed hitting outfielder the M's have sitting around collecting dust.

In exchange for Huskey's services, the Mariners sent minor-league reliever Lesli Brea to the Mets. Brea's 1998 numbers (3-4, 12 saves, 86 K in 58.2 innings) look good, but keep in mind that he was playing in the Midwest League, which is very friendly to hitters. Yes, that's the same league where the afore-mentioned Ozuna won his batting title, which simply serves to make Pablo's stats look even better. Brea also walked 40 men over the course of those 58.2 innings, meaning that while he might have good stuff, he's far from polished.

There are ups and downs to each of these two players, but basically this deal is potentially good for both sides. The Mariners addressed an immediate need by adding a decent hitting outfielder, and the Mets picked up a hard-throwing young arm in exchange for a player they didn't really need anyway.

 

about the author

Jason Michael Barker just finished up his last final of the quarter, and he was quoted as saying that academia might as well take a long walk off a short pier. You'll only burst his bubble if you remind him that he has to go back to school in a few weeks when you write him at jmb@strikethree.com.