04/25/24
May 22, 2002
Giambi Looking for Some Brotherly Love.: Jeremy goes to Philadelphia for backup outfielder John Mabry. Meanwhile in Chicago, Mark Prior, the "best college pitcher ever" (as proclaimed by Baseball America), shows his stuff for the first time against the Pirates. Sheesh, talk about pressure.
yeah, I can't understand this at all. Beane said "We thought Giambi was a bit one dimensional"... ok, and he goes out and trades for a crappy pinch hitter? WTF? I can't think of any way that this could work out for the As.
posted by Bernreuther at 12:22 AM on May 23, 2002
There has to be more to this than we're being told. Here are some possible reasons: 1) Drugs - but I haven't heard any rumours. 2) Fights - brawling with your teammates might do it 3) Misdirected punishment - "So your brother went and signed with the Yankees, eh? Well, now you'll pay! We've traded you to Philly! Muhahahah!" 4) Trade demand - but he's really not in any position to do this, and no reports came out about it 5) Head injury - Beane bumped his head and made the trade before getting medical attention 6) Bud's Edict - to prove that other teams can't compete with the rich teams, he's ordered the A's to make a trade that will stymie any chance of a 2001-type comeback.
posted by grum@work at 09:40 AM on May 23, 2002
Packed stadium. Suffocating pressure. 6 innings. 10 strikes. 2 walks. Not bad young cubby. A fine debut. Welcome to the big leagues.
posted by jacknose at 01:02 PM on May 23, 2002
The Giambi trade is neither particularly stupid or conspiratorial. THe A's are losing. Jeremy Giambi is an unrestricted free-agent next year, and has been grousing about the A's not resigning his brother. He is their leftfielder (terrible) and their leadoff hitter(trying hard, but anybody who thinks speed is undesirable in a leadoff hitter, has been spending too much time crushed by the weight of their Baseball Prospectus). They have Adam Piatt in AAA who is showing all signs of being ready for the bigs. They have Esteban German, an outstanding prospect to be the A's leadoff hitter of the future, and quite conveniently a second baseman to replace the stinky Frank Menechino. So where's Giambi going to play if they want to look at Piatt and German. DH? That's going to be David Justice's job. 1B? Well, as the Phillies are about to find out, Giambi is a terrible first baseman. And I predict that Carlos Pena will get it going and they'll bring him right back up. Where do they have holes? Well, they could maybe use a left-handed bat off the bench. And, despite everything you hear, John Mabry is a perfectly adequate left-handed bat off the bench. Forget about your preconceptions about the trade. Look at their current lineup right now. I really think even subtracting Giambi, this lineup looks about as good as it did before and like a much better lineup for 2003, which is what the A's should be thinking about now.
posted by pastepotpete at 07:54 PM on May 23, 2002
That actually cleared up this trade, Pete-- thanks. It's stillsubtraction by subtraction to me, but it no longer feels like Billy Beane lost his head. If nothing else, John Mabry doesn't wear batting gloves. There aren't too many guys on that list nowadays. Him and Vladi and I don't know who else.
posted by yerfatma at 09:11 PM on May 23, 2002
mark grace doesn't wear batting gloves (unless it's really cold).
posted by moz at 12:44 AM on May 24, 2002
he keeps his hands warm on those cold days by smoking like a chimney :) I like the barehand guys... There are a couple more too but noone memorable...
posted by Bernreuther at 01:51 AM on May 24, 2002
The thing about the trade is, I can understand them wanting to move Giambi for whatever reason, but John Mabry? Why a team that's probably already looking to 2003 trades for a 31-year-old utilityman who doesn't hit much is beyond me. There are reasons, I'm sure, that Beane wanted to unload Giambi. But surely he could've gotten more.
posted by nath at 03:11 AM on May 24, 2002
an article on baseball prospectus did mention a past drug bust in december with jeremy (pot). and either neyer or bp did mention that this trade was so spectacularly lopsided that it was, in a way, intentionally a message that they were unhappy with giambi. that is to say, it wasn't the usual kind of bad trade teams make (jason lane for pat mahomes? why, i shall make that trade with you, sir!). most teams don't understand how easy it is to find relief help, but they mostly all do understand how easy it is to find bench help, and certainly oakland does.
posted by moz at 12:41 PM on May 24, 2002
the giambi for mabry trade is the worst trade of beane's i've ever seen. the only saving grace could be if giambi has a very large contract, and i don't believe he does. on first blush, it looks really, really awful. awful the way that anakin's actor in episode two performed.