Results tagged ‘ Wandy Rodriguez ’
Wandy Rodriguez: Worst Spring Pitcher Ever.
Interesting observation from Matthew Pouliot @ Hardball Talk:
Astros ace Wandy Rodriguez gave up four runs — two earned — and walked five in 3 2/3 innings Thursday in a loss to the Mets. And this is what passes for one of his better spring outings.
The loss left Rodriguez 1-2 with an 8.10 ERA in three starts this spring. Since 2006, the left-hander is 4-17 with a 7.44 ERA during Grapefruit League action. He’s allowed 96 runs — 86 earned — in 104 innings. During that same timeframe, he’s 63-65 with a 3.89 ERA in the regular season.
What makes it especially odd is that Rodriguez turns it on the moment the regular season starts. April is actually his best month, as he has a 3.17 ERA in 28 career starts. His next best ERA in any month is a 3.81 mark in July.
That’s just redonkulously odd.
Now contrast that to these Mariano Rivera tidbits:
From 2006-2011, Rivera appeared in 44 official exhibition games, pitched 43 1/3 innings, allowed just 19 hits (.130 OBA) and 5 walks (0.55 WHIP), gave up only 2 earned runs (0.42 ERA), and struck out 54 (11.2 K/9 inn).
So basically, the anti-Wandy Rodriguez lol.
Major League Baseball: Waiver Wire 101
No waiver wire move. No Cody Ross. No World Series title?
Every year, major sports-media outlets make a huge deal out of the MLB trading deadline. But is the coverage of the deadline overblown?
Once July 31 passes, teams officially are no longer allowed to make formal trades with other clubs; however, every front office is well aware of the month of August, also known as Waiver Wire month.
Just last year the San Francisco Giants were huge benficiaries of some waiver wire magic when they picked up playoff hero Cody Ross from the Florida Marlins.
If it weren’t for Ross’s clutch play in the NLDS & NLCS the team would have never gotten to the World Series, let alone have won it.
This year shouldn’t prove to be different. One or more teams in the hunt will make moves via this process and some of them will undoubtedly pay off in big ways.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with the process, it goes something like this:
Any player under contract may be placed on waivers at any time. If a player is waived, any team may claim him. If more than one team claims the player from waivers, the team with the weakest record in the player’s league gets preference. If no team in the player’s league claims him, the claiming team with the weakest record in the other league gets preference. In the first month of the season, preference is determined using the previous year’s standings.
If a team claims a player off waivers and has the viable claim as described above, his current team (the “waiving team”) may choose one of the following options:
- arrange a trade with the claiming team for that player within two business days of the claim; or
- rescind the request and keep the player on its major league roster, effectively canceling the waiver; or
- do nothing and allow the claiming team to (1) assume the player’s existing contract, (2) pay the waiving team a waiver fee, and (3) place the player on its active major league roster.
If a player is claimed and the waiving team exercises its rescission option, the waiving team may not use the option again for that player in that season. If no team claims a player from waivers in three business days, the player has cleared waivers and may be assigned to a minor league team, traded, or released outright.
The waiver “wire” is a secret within the personnel of the Major League Baseball clubs; no announcement of a waiver is made until a transaction actually occurs. Many players are often quietly waived during the August “waiver-required” trading period to gauge trade interest in a particular player. Usually, when the player is claimed, the waiving team will rescind the waiver to avoid losing the player unless a trade can be worked out with the claiming team
Have curveball. Will travel?
Who knows who is going to be moved off the wire this August, but if I was pressed to bet on one I’d have to go with the Houston Astros‘ Wandy Rodriguez.
He’s owed a modest $2.3 million for the remainder of this season, but $36 million over the next three years.
Not all scouts are convinced that his stuff translates well in the A.L. East, but provided Houston comes down on it’s pre-deadline price tag (the team was asking for one or two “can’t miss prospects” in return for eating some of his salary) a team like the Yankees, White Sox or Twins might roll the dice on the guy.
As always, we’ll see soon enough.
Buster Olney Weighs In On Waiver Trade Candidates
Wandy Rodriguez: Waiver wire claim in waiting?
ESPN’s Buster Olney talks waivers in his latest blog post, and I can’t help but join in.
- The Twins are currently seven games out in the AL Central. If they slip further from contention, Olney wonders what will happen if they place outfielder/designated hitter Jason Kubel on waivers later this month. He projects currently as a Type B free agent. I wonder if the draft pick alone would compel a non-contending AL team to make a claim, with less than a million bucks remaining on his contract after August.
- Olney sees such a scenario as possible for Rays reliever Kyle Farnsworth, who profiles as a Type A. He could see the Blue Jays jumping in for the draft picks, though I imagine the Rays would keep him for the same reason.
- Would Reds catcher Ramon Hernandez or Padres closer Heath Bell make it to an NL contender? Or would Type A status again factor in? Olney sees the A’s pulling back Josh Willingham rather than dumping his contract, probably because he’s a Type A currently. I wonder if Willingham would accept an arbitration offer though.
- Cubs first baseman Carlos Pena is a good candidate to be moved as a salary dump, with half of his $10MM due in January.
- Astros lefty Wandy Rodriguez is expected to clear waivers, with over $38MM left on his deal through 2014. Just to play devil’s advocate: Wandy is a bargain this year with just $2.27MM remaining, so it’s possible one contender could decide they can stomach three years and $36MM from 2012-14, and make a claim.
- Guys like Carlos Quentin and Jeremy Guthrie would be claimed, but dealing them in the offseason probably makes more sense.
