Like every other sport, league, conference, whatever, baseball is a copycat game.
As is the media, when it comes to surveying the landscape — so in keeping with the modern trend here are my takeaways from baseball’s smorgasbord of Trade Deadline/Garage Sale/Roster Juggling that took place earlier in the week.
1. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear the Orioles were 25 games under, rather than over, the .500 mark.
I get that they needed help at the top of the rotation, a No. 1 guy, and didn’t get one. Instead they got a rental as a piece of the puzzle. But Jack Flaherty is a 27-year-old rental who would appear to be signable long term and has No. 1 starter and postseason experience.
I don’t want to go all off as Mike Elias’ PR guy, but it wasn’t exactly like shopping at a Goodwill store. The price was reasonable and the item is young enough to almost look new. The GM gets a pass here, knowing this could go either way in the next two months.
If Flaherty turns out to be less than what’s already in the tank, it’s a minor consequence. But he’s the same age as the three middle men in the rotation, so it would be a big win if it works — now, and possibly down the road. I’m not a betting man, but if I was, those are the kind of odds I’d like.
2. “Meaningful games in April” is the new motto for too many teams.
Having lived through so many years of pining for those meaningful games in September and October, Orioles fans can appreciate what is happening now. If they can find space deep in their heart, they might also find a soft for Mets (and Yankees, egads) fans who wonder what happened to all those promises made by owner Steve Cohen.
Fans who laid out premium dollars for those “premium” games in the last two months of the season should at least have the option of trading in those tickets form some “meaningful games” next April.
3. Baseball’s “insiders” are no different than the average fan.
When teams don’t do what they suggest, they’re being remiss in their duties. One such expert, who deserves to go nameless, spent most of his afternoon setting up the Elias and the Orioles for potshots for not getting the No. 1 starter he should have known was not available.
And it wasn’t just the Orioles. The Reds, baseball’s other exciting young first-place team generating tons of attention, were likewise blistered for not going all-in for a needed starter, despite having a pair of potential stars close to coming off the injured list.
The bottom line here is that most of the projected, or suggested, trades are like throwing mud against the wall — something has to stick, but for the most part it’s just a mess, much like most of the speculation.
4. Without question the biggest winner was Houston Astros owner Jim Crane.
You have to turn the clock back here. Justin Verlander won his third Cy Young Award in his sixth season with the Astros and then left for free agency when Crane either couldn’t or wouldn’t match the Mets’ offer of $86.6 million for two years, with a performance-based option of $35 million for a third year.
Four months into the season the Mets, after unloading Max Scherzer and his $86.6 contract, sent Verlander back to the Astros — along with more than $50 million. So, in exchange for two mid-level prospects, Crane got his ace back, basically for free.
5. The big loser – New York Mets fans.
See above. Enough said.
6. The best debate: Who got the better gift, the Astros or the Rangers?
To Be Determined.
7. The best, and most intriguing matchup: The possibility of Verlander and Scherzer dueling in a take all game for the American League Championship Series.
A reward for Lone Star State fans and a reminder of what was supposed to be for the ones in New York.
8. The biggest loser: Baseball.
Hands down, Cohen gets the individual award for making George Steinbrenner look like a penny-pincher, then indulging in the kind of economics that can only be explained, or allowed, in baseball.
Collectively the game itself takes the biggest hit here by allowing the Cohen-style trades to continue. Those who frequent this space and pay attention (all of them I’m sure!) have heard this rant before, probably more than they’d like. But as long as there is space here and baseball allows teams to pay salaries of players on opposing teams, the rant will go on.
Any system that allows a team to lose its best pitcher in open market bidding (free agency), and basically get him back at little or no cost, is one that defies description.
Although corrupt would be a nice start.
Jim Henneman can be reached at JimH@pressboxonline.com
Photo Credit: Colin Murphy/PressBox