Garza gets fresh start in Tampa
Posted on February 15th, 2008 – 9:20 AMBy Joe Christensen
Delmon Young and Matt Garza both have tremendous upsides. Both were frustrated when they felt their previous organizations were holding them back, and both are getting a change of scenery this spring.
Garza, pictured here in the St. Petersburg Times, showed up for camp with the Tampa Bay Rays and reflected on last spring with the Twins. He told beat writer Marc Topkin, it was “a shock” when the Twins sent him back to Class AAA Rochester at the end of spring, going with a rotation that included Sidney Ponson, Ramon Ortiz and Carlos Silva.
“That was disappointing,” the 24-year-old right-hander said. “They kept a couple guys I felt I was, I could have done maybe, probably, even better than. It was a rude awakening, a humbling feeling.”
Knowing he has a job as the projected No.3 starter, Garza said he’ll use the spring trying to improve rather than impress.
“My whole mentality was, ‘Win a spot, win a spot, win a spot,”‘ Garza said. “Now it’s more get ready for that spot and take it to the next level. Try to be that guy. Everyone wants to be that (Johan) Santana. I want to take it to the next level.”
111 Responses to "Garza gets fresh start in Tampa"
Good luck to you in Tampa, Matt G.
I wonder if Matty G will go clubbing down there after getting rocked just like he did up here? Nothing like him going to The Lodge to unwind after giving up 8 runs.
Fu*kMattGarza.com
Matt’s got a good point about the mentality of Twins spring training and trying to win a spot instead of just focusing on your game and preparing for the season. It seems we’re perpetuating this cycle with our current young pitchers due to the Hernandez signing. I think he’ll do really well in Tampa, and I’m glad we’ll only have to face him a couple of times. My feeling is he’s going to bring his ‘A’ Game against the Twins every time.
Hopefully. both Matt G and Young will be future stars.
I agree, GENO. This was one of those deals that I really do hope ends up helping both teams and all of the players involved succeed. Garza showed some immaturity with the Twins, but that doesn’t mean his complaints were without merit.
I hope he and Bart can help make the Rays more competitive in their division.
JimCrikket-I think Matt and Young are pretty much a wash.I think we may regret losing Bart.The Rays insisted on Bart being part of the package.
Does Garza every stop talking about how good he is?
GENO,
IMO Garza’s vs Young’s upside comparison will be a TKO for Delmon.
I would take Harris plus Pridie over Bartlett.
If Morlan makes it in MLB, then the trade becomes more even.
Bartlett was a 29 year old “shortstop” for Twins and now the Rays but he really is nothing more than a utility player for most organizations and really developed late and will have a short career at short.
Let this be a lesson to the Twins that holding guys back to save money doesn’t always improve their attitude.
i agree with you jake and shaitan look what we could have got for garza in 06 soriano i think we would of had a great chance to win a wordl series that year now it is to late cause we are rebuilding. but then again terry ryan was in charge i think it would be best for him to get out of town and let smith do it all. cause dont think for a minuet that he had most the say in the santana deal that’s why we got what we got for him terry ryan is a cowarad and a quitter and didnt want the pressure this year with all of the free agents.
The Twins would NEVER have picked up Soriano’s salary.
That trade was all talk.
glander
If’s Garza’s value was so high don’t you think he was worth more than 2 months or Siriano. Giving up your best prospect for a rent a player is how a middle market team kills itself. A team like the Yankees can do that because they refill in Free Agency. A team like the Twins can’t afford to make that mistake.
it was a good trade for BOTH clubs …
What would you rather have,
Two months of Soriano?, or
Five years (or more) of Delmon Young?
Jake,
I disagree with you on Bartlet. He will be 29 in Oct. Though he was aparently a late bloomer he still hasn’t reached his ceiling. From the scouting reports I’ve seen and IMHO he’s above average on both O and D.
And he will still improve. I will agree that some of his errors were unacceptable. Mental errors. Lack of concentration. But, he got to a lot of balls that avg SS’s wouldn’t have. And I think the Twins were optimistic They could fix the concentration thing. Maybe the reason they let him go was undisclosed clubhouse issues? I bet he has a few good years in Tampa. I hope so.
Garza never had the mindset to be a frontline big game pitcher aka josh beckett. he’s too flakey. atleast in tampa they have kazmir to be the guy
I hope Garza has a good career in TB. I think that this will end up being a good trade for both clubs.
LeCroy signed with the A’s.
I loved Garza’s talent, and this staff will miss him terribly!
I will regret having to trade him in the Delmon Young deal for a long time I’m afraid because I think by the end of the season this year Garza will be the ACE of that staff, and an all star pitcher in 2009.
I think he wins 15 to 18 games in Tampa Bay this season with 240Ks. That’s the kind of talent he has.
I like Young, I would have loved Upton or Crawford, and I would have much rather have seen us trade Slowey, Bonser, and Dunesing, or Blackburn instead of Garza.
Garza is ACE material… top pitching prospects are not ACE material, and we don’t have another ACE guy in minors other than Guerra right now.
Bartlett is an above-average shortstop. Him and Garza were the price to get Young. Talentwise, the trade maybe leans toward TB. Looking at what the Twins need, I think Young’s bat will bring more wins to the club than Garza or Bartlett. Garza could have won 15 games for the Twins this year, but whoever fills his slot is going to win 9-10 for sure, maybe more.
So this year Garza could maybe have given the Twins five or six more Ws than his replacement in the lineup. You are losing five or six games by the trade. Delmon will have a much greater impact than that on the win column.
SID
Garza vs Delmon… great pitcher vs great hitter. history always says take the pitcher.
I agree Harris and Pridie over Bartlett
But we still have Morlan who would have been a great prospect to be our closer of the future so we could trade Nathan.
Now we have a team that jetisoned all of it’s expensive players… finally paid it’s young stars, and is now contemplating paying 12 million for 3-5 years to a closer who is going to be 38-39 at the end of that contract, but they wouldn’t have paid 15 million for 5 years to Hunter to keep him, when we had nothing to replace him with in the minors, but we have 23 pitching prospects in the minors (granted someone would have to be converted into a closer like Aguillera was, or Nathan was, or Mariano Rivera was, or Eck was… you know something that Gardy seems to believe is suddenly impossible!).
The team may have given up too much to get Delmon Young.
The team was forced to take table scraps for Santana.
The team got nothing in return for Castillo, or Silva
And the Twins didn’t sign a top line free agent yet again.
So while I’m trying to focus on the team at hand it’s hard when the team at hand had so much potential to be better than they are right now!
JP,
An ACE is more than wins… it’s a guy to battle the top line starters…
There was a potential at one point in time where we could have had a front line of
Hughes, Liriano, and Garza… which would have been the top young rotation in all of baseball.
We didn’t get the 1st guy because the rest of the trade sucked, and the 3rd guy was traded away.
That is one move that Terry Ryan would not have made, and for better or worse with the rest of his decisions over the last 18 months of his tenure, I would have been ok with us not getting Delmon Young.
I’m hoping I am wrong. I want Delmon to hit .320 with 30 homers and 110 RBI.
He’s capable of it, but again Garza is an ACE that could win 18 games… that’s not just 18 wins, that’s wins against quality pitchers almost every time out. HE could be that kind of dominating pitcher. Now we have no ability to dominate unless Liriano is 100% healthy, and sober.
BC,
I couldn’t agree more on Garza except I think this will be his “stretching his wings” year. 09 he serves notice. Ace for the balance of his career. Excellent stuff. Great mechanics! Fantastic bulldog mindset. Big strong kid. I’m gonna miss him too.
My feeling on Bart is expressed on earlier post. We gave up a lot for Young. But I’ve read he should develope into a perenial MVP canidate. Gonna be fun watching him grow. Also watching Garza and Bartlet perform well.
I’m kind of hooked on Carl Crawford, so I’ve been watching D-ray games for a long time. Young was consistant last year, not spectacular.
Garza you might be correct on… it might take until 2009 for him to mature as a MLB starter.
I just think we gave up too much.
BC,
I hope you’re wrong.
BC-
I have no doubt that Garza could do very well this year, but I still think Kazmir will hold the title of “ace” for the Rays at the end of the year.
Crawford would not have been traded, even for Garza.
Of course, anyone would have rather given up the people you mentioned instead of Garza, but trades are two-way. The Rays would have been stupid to do it. I would have liked to give up Punto and Tyner for Delmon……
Garza and Young are about as identical as two prospects could be right now, but they play opposite positions. The Rays needed pitching, the Twins needed young hitters. How can you complain abou this?
I know consensus can be 100% WRONG, BUT
in the 2007 Baseball America Prospect Handbook, when Garza and Young were both still prospects:
Three SEPARATE analysts ranking the top 50 prospects ranked Young 3rd, 7th and 3rd. - Garza 17th, 19th and 17th.
And most other scouting services were in that ballpark.
Last years stats would not change that result very much.
I LIKE YOUNG BETTER THAN GARZA.
Sane,
You sound kinda wishy washy on Young compared to Garza.
Sane, I’m an old pitcher, I side with pitching… it’s what I fall back on.
I loved Garza’s potential…
…………
KB the guys I mentioned were hardly comparable to Tyner and Punto.
Trading 3-4 guys that would, or could all be major league starting pitchers for one up and coming ball player is hardly a horrible deal.
But we are talking about the past that cannot change, but comparing my offer to Punto and Tyner that was a slap dude…
I like Garza better than Young…
And paul… I hope I’m wrong too.
Paul,
I have some history facing Delmon as an opposing HS coach.
He was (is, I hope) phenomonal.
Best HS hitter I have seen - Delmon.
Best HS pitcher I have seen - Josh Beckett. (in Area Code Games)
well, I have to go grade some tests…
Young will be a better player than Garza. It is tough to get rid of Garza though.
Sane,
I bet Young scared the crap out of your avg run-of-the-mill HS pitcher.
I do thing this year we really test our pitching depth that we have in minors. during spring training, we will have upwards of 8 pitchers competing for the final spots. and whoever cant handle it, we got prospects in the wing to step up. I think the runs are lacking to support the pitchers so the move had to be made.
BC
Dont forget about Tyler Robertson. But I see your overall point, The Twins will miss Garza very much.
“I would have much rather have seen us trade Slowey, Bonser, and Dunesing, or Blackburn instead of Garza.”
Wow… That is a profound statement. That would put you in line with exactlly 100% of Twins fans and their front office staff…
Do you really think the Rays would have taken a Bartlett/Dunesing offer? Or really any deal with any of those players?
Paul,
Luckily, we were able to throw pretty good pitchers at him, but he was still very intimidating.
And his HS and travel ball reputation preceded him.
I am sure some of our relief pitchers were praying for the continued good health and success of our starting pitchers.
my rotation is
1. lirrano=opening day vs hunter who goes 0-4
2. baker
3.livian
4.boof
5. blackburn= many would put perkins,
humber, but i dont think they called up blackburn w/o wanting to give him a shot at the rotation this year, if he makes some adjustments like he did in the afl. we could have a decent starting 5.
dan,
Slowey?
slowleys good but it will be a battle with pitch count and what not.
Paul,
The only way we ever got Delmon out, was by pitching outside the strike zone.
Most of the time he was patient.
However, he did believe(correctly) that he could hit any pitch in any location.
So, sometimes he did chase.
And sometimes he did miss.
His strike zone awareness is much better now.
BC, the Tyner/Punto comment was intentionally over the top, I know you aren’t that dumb. But the point was that you have to give something to get something.
Our system was painful one-sided to pitching prospects, and we needed to remedy that. Granted, we gave up our best pitching prospect, but we also got back probably the best hitting prospect in the game, not just their system……he’s 22 and wansn’t that far behind Hunter’s hitting stats in one of the best years Torii’s ever had.
i do see alot of kenny orgers in slowley in the fact that he just wins, so maybe him, but it will defnitely be a battle.
rogers
Garza in a TB uni will be interseting. And it’ll make things especially fun the first time he takes the mound against the Twins.
Or when Young and Harris or Bartlett step up to the plate for their new teams. Think Bartlett will be close to the top of the lineup?
Do you really think the Rays would have taken a Bartlett/Dunesing offer?
Great point RyanW. We as fans tend to look at players we don’t want as having some magical value to another team. As demonstated by numerous suggestions to “throw Punto/Rincon/Reyes in” when it comes to “upping trade packages”
here, for you guys who have drank the coolaid on garza.
IP K/BB WHIP ERA
garza 83 67/32 1.542 3.69
lincecum 146 IP 150/65 1.278 4.00
gallardo 110.3 101/37 1.269 3.67
hamels 183.3 177/43 1.124 3.39
kazmir 206.7 239/89 1.379 3.48
shields 215 184/36 1.107 3.85
the only number he compares in is era and that can be attributed to the twins stellar d. he also gives up too many hits for a power pitcher and doesn’t have the strike out rates. plus these other guys weren’t protected by one of the best bullpens in the league. garza was pulled early when struggling. i would take both of tampas young studs before garza. don’t believe the hype. the twins sold high on garza.
B Sizzle:
The biggest thing that I think gets missed when considering Garza’s potential is that he’s going to be playing in the AL East now. That means he could see lineups like New York and Boston as much as 8 times a year.
That’s going to be the real test of his make up.
Of course, Young’s not exactly moving to a walk in the park with the strong pitching in the AL Central.
T, that it will. i just never saw him as an ACE with capital letters like some did on here. he was never dominating like a liriano was when he was on. or like lincecum or hamels, etc. he was good, but never lights out.
do you seriously think the yankees and redsox are going to be worried about garza on the mound. i think not. he doesn’t put the fear in hitters. they know they can get him sooner or later.
both kazmir and shields pitched in the al east and put up a lot better numbers than garza. i just don’t see him dominating any time soon.
Thinking about the possibility of Hughes,Liriano, Garza is pretty insane and how it truly could have happened. However like many have pointed out we needed offense rather than pitching and the Garza trade made sense. We get a pretty good hitting guy in Harris that can play 2B for us. I don’t have scouting or anything like that but I believe if he played SS for the Rays most of the year he ought to be able to handle 2B for us.
I don’t know that we would have gotten Delmon Young for a combo of guys like Bonser/Baker/Slowey/etc. but it’s too bad a trade like that didn’t go down. We have so much excess there that a quantity for quality trade would have been nice. No names come to mind but I’m sure there were young above average/high potential guys out there we could have had.
All this said, I’m excited I think Garza was a bit overrated and Delmon was actually cheap because his first year wasn’t overwhelming. I for one am excited about this year.
another guy in the over hyped department is phil hughes. he’s good but not going to be blowing people away. his fastball isn’t overpowering but has a good hook. solid not spectacular
Yeah, I think Garza’s value may be overstated by some on the blog. Do I think he’s got great potential? Sure, I do. But do I think he’s going to be the next Beckett or Santana? Probably not. Look, whether the trade works out in the Twins’ favor or not, I will find it hard to criticize Mr. Smith yoo much over the deal because he dealt from a strength (pitching) to improve a big weakness (hitting). It’ potential for potential and, IMO, it was worth a shot b/c Young has enormous potential, too. Btw, losing Bartlett doesn’t cause me to lose any sleep, either. If Pridie develops (and the Twins have a very good track record of identifying young talent), the outfield will be a strength for years to come, largely b/c of the trade with Tampa.
i hope by the end of the year either robertson, manship, or swarzak has stepped it up and is in the majors. i don’t care to see a bunch of 26 year old AAA arms like blackburn or duensing, if they were any good they would have been up here sooner.
BSizzle, sometimes pitchers take a while to develop. Their prime often doesn’t begin until they are in their late 20’s. I agree that Blackburn and Duensing aren’t necessarily something to get too excited about, but if they perform well, that’s good for the club, isn’t it?
Just in our division, would anybody not take Verlander, Bonderman, or Carmona over Garza. Can anybody name a 22 year old hitter in our division better than Delmon Young right now?? how anybody can not like this trade is beyond me.
yeah, but we already have boof, baker, slowey, perkins, to fill those roles. we need another plus pitcher for the top of the rotation.
B Sizzle,
Blackburn has been injured for several years.
He was unable to condition (overweight) because of the injuries until last year.
To say that “if they were any good, they would have been up here sooner does not apply in all cases.
sane , didn’t know the injury history, hope he can pitch, we’ll need it
With Garza in TB, the Twins should save plenty of money on diamond dust this season.
Garza’s constant spitting before every pitch was so gross and annoying.
BSizzle,
Also, the Twins start their college draftees at the High Rookie level.(Elizabethton)
Four years and four promotions later they get to MLB. (Age-26)
Garza and Slowey were exceptions because of their unbelievable K/BB ratios.
True, but none of these guys have really dominated at the AAA level except for slowey. if they can’t compete with slowey, that worries me because he is very hittable.
i wasn’t saying they are terrible, i just hope they have better young pitchers step it up and get up here sooner than later. i don’t want to see robertson, swarzak and manship in AAA 3-4 years from now like these guys, then things went wrong
wouldn’t you rather have a 22 year old robertson here in the second half than a 27 year old duensing. i sure would.
I think the Twins will find a gem or two for the rotation among the current candidates. I hear what BSizzle is saying insofar as Blackburn is probably the most unlikely to succed of all the guys we are talking about (aside from the Boofeteria, that is), but I still think there is a chance for guys like Blackburn.
That depends on performance this year, BSizzle. If Duensing out performs Robertson, I want to see Duensing. In general, performance is more important than age.
As long as Tampa has Scott Kasmir and a healthy Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza won’t be THE ace. He can be an excellent number 2, an ace in waiting 
james shields is twice the pitcher garza is. no way he beats him out for the second slot. look what he did in the al east last year as a rookie. twice the pitcher
Robertson would have to dominate High-A, AA and AAA and get three promotions in one year to get to MLB this year.
That is just short of impossible.
I would prefer that he not be pushed that hard.
Young, Harris, and Pridie for Garza, Bartlett, and Morlan, Wow, the Twins got a deal. I like Garza’s potential, but Young’s is off the charts. Barlett and Harris are really equals for Barty fields better, and Harris hits better. Pridie is the player that will really make this trade standout, a supurb CFer who can really hit. Just give him a little time and he’ll impress.
Personly, I see Garza as a guy with a high ceiling but he is currently a two pitch pitcher. To be an “ACE”, he must be able to consistantly command his stuff, Garza does not do that yet. I see him as a either a Smoltz, or more likly, a Bonderman.
Garza is overrated because velocity is overvalued.
Every hitter in MLB is a fastball hitter.
Location, movement and command of secondary pitches is the difference between Minor League success and MLB success.
sane, right on my man
Agreed Sane.
garza - 5.18 innings per start
shields - 6.97 innings per start
The only thing I could add to your assessment, sane, is change of speed. A good off speed pitch can make an average (or even below average) fast ball very tough to hit. See, Glavine, Tom.
Garza can take all of his nervous spitting he does on the mound and keep it in Tampa. I’ve never seen a guy spit 8 times between EVERY pitch.
Now we just need to calm Joe Nathan and all of his nervous antics on the mound. How can a guy who looks like a nervous wreck on the mound have so much ice in his veins?…..
BC
This is ancient history in terms of the blog but I would have taken the hitter in Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson and Jeff Bagwell for Larry (the cable guy) Anderson. And I’m an old pitcher as well.
Boneyard,
I am going to claim that I covered the off-speed pitches in “command of secondary pitches”, but you clarified any ambiguity in the statement.
While throwing off-speed pitches might suffice in the minors, commanding the off-speed pitches is crucial for success in the Majors.
do you seriously think the yankees and redsox are going to be worried about garza on the mound.
…I don’t think you understand what I said. Garza has to face the Red Sox and Yankees. Which is going to be something he’s not used to doing.
AKA: Bad.
I would have rather had Santana/Lirano/Garza than Hughes/Lirano/Garza… but that is beside the point.
Even Garza lovers have to admit that 07 was a pretty disapointing year for him. A 1.35 WHIP at Roch, then a 1.54 WHIP at the ML level do not suggest ace in all CAPS. He will be a good starter, but I think his ceiling shrunk a little last season.
i don’t care what a pitcher does as long as he’s effective. if johan santana picked boogers from his nose and ate them between pitchers during his cy young seasons i couldn’t have cared less.
sorry just think its funny for people to comment on garza and his spitting
B.C.
I’m still thinking about “history says to take the pitcher” but everyone is with you on this:
The team may have given up too much to get Delmon Young.
The team was forced to take table scraps for Santana.
The team got nothing in return for Castillo, or Silva.
And Hunter.
Cesar Tovar, (Pepe)
I don’t agree with BC. I don’t think we gave up too much for D. Young. We stole him. The rest, it’s easy to agree with.
Cesar Tovar…
Thanks, but developping hitters over the years isn’t nearly as hard as it is to find potentially great pitchers. That’s where I’m coming from… when all things are equal the pitcher is more valuable.
_________
Bill K.
Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson is probably the second worst trade in all of sports history. The Hershall Walker trade was the worst. I was so over emotoinal about the Santana trade. I still think it’s going to go down as a stinker…
As for Bagwell for Anderson… looking at it in hindsight yep, but good teams looking to be great will trade a bat to get a pitcher any time. Larry Anderson was having a very solid year, and the Red Sox were in the Hunt, and NO ONE knew that Bagwell (steroids maybe????) was going to be the monster that he became in Houston.
Look at Langston to the Expos, or Pedro Martinez to the Expos, Doyle Alexander to the Tigers.
The Mariners got some guy named Randy Johnson, and a couple of other stiffs. The Dodgers traded Pedro for Jeff F’ing Treadway, and Delino Deshields. The Tigers traded John Smoltz.
I believe all those teams ended up benefitting because the Dodgers made the playoffs, and Treadway had like 14 pinch hits that next season, and DeShields was an all star. Langston was a rental, but the Expos showed that they were trying! Doyle Alexander won 12 games in a row before losing to the Twins in the Playoffs, and we all know about those other three guys and their hall of fame careers as going down as probably the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th best pitchers of our generation.
Clemens, Johnson, Pedro, Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine (pre Santana, Peavy… those kids)
BC,
Then you agree with Craig.
Trade Morneau for any pitcher on anybody’s roster and it will all work out because WE GET A PITCHER!!!!!
BC
Touche, Great comeback. Those are all great points. We can all find trades somewhere in history that bolster one side of the debate over the other, but you found some really GOOD ONES!
I still like Delmon Young in a Twins uniform though.
why would somewone get attached to a right handed pitcher who just throws hard. those guys are a dime a dozen. radar gun prospect. kc royals have been full of them. mcdougal, hernandez, affeldt etc. all throw, no control leads to getting spanked
I’m still thinking about “history says to take the pitcher” but everyone is with you on this:
Hi there. I”m somebody…and I don’t recall electing you to be my representative.
Though I agree it stinks we couldn’t get a slightly better package for Santana, I don’t feel we gave up too much for Young (since we also get Harris and Pridie)
pedro martinez never had to be sent down to AAA to work on things, that can be assured. don’t ever mention him and garza together again. its disrespectful of the greatest pitcher of the generation
just look at the sim scores on baseball reference. delmon young is compared to tris speaker and roberto clemente. garza gets mark portugal and jason davis. who got the better end of the trade again???
by the way, did anybody watch liriano whip some tampa tail last night on fsn. thats an ACE pitcher right there my friends. unhittable. never saw that from garza.
plus it should be fun to watch atleast one of our middle infielders be able to hit a homer. harris should be a great twin
Garza was left at Rochester last year while Baker and Slowey were promoted ahead of him.
Garza @ AAA last year 4-6, 3.62.
That doesn’t look like a dominant #1 MLB pitcher should look at AAA.
His MLB stats to date are 8-13, 4.47.
If he is supposed to be a Lincecum or a Verlander, he has disguised it very well.
Million dollar arm.
Ten cent brain.
Garza is young with a great arm. I think he has a lot of upside potential and I wish him well.
Having all of those great pitching prospects last year did us little good … we lost a lot of close games, that’s all … I like a great pitching staff, but not at the expense of having a powerful lineup … good hitting usually beats good pitching …
I hope Young & Garza trade works out well for both teams. If both players have monster years, both teams could finish in 3rd place this year!
B Sizzle-Did say you say Liriano whip off his hard slider on FSN? If you did that,s encouraging.The speculation was because of TJ surgery,he would have to change his delivery on the slider.They said the violent arc he put on his slider made it such a dominant pitch.That’s very encouraging.
im telling ya CORY PATTERSON!!!!!!!!!!! (I know this has nothing to do with this article)
GENO,
Liriano throwing his slider NOW tells us little about the chances of that motion reinjuring his arm in the future.
Later, we may hear that he SHOULD HAVE changed his motion, but didn’t.
I hope that never happens, but I wouldn’t be too encouraged until he proves he can withstand that violent slider release over the long term.
Read this great article on MLB 25 and under team. Would make for a gross team! ha Mauer made it, but as a backup.
http://mlbfleecefactor.com/2008/02/16/dream-teams-baseballs-top-youngsters/
sane-The fact that he .is even throwing the slider(vs soft tossing)shows that his recovery from TJ surgery is on course or maybe ahead of course.Obviously, he will be monitored every step of the way by staff.
GENO,
I think the FSN reference was to a replay of a 2006 game with Liriano vs Scott Kazmir and the TB Rays.
I agree that anything indicating that his recovery from TJ surgery is on or ahead of schedule is great news.
The question of whether he can throw a risk-free yet effective slider is still to be answered.
You never know how trades will turn up - especially those on deadline during a pennant race. Yep, Randy Johnson, Nolan Ryan and Pedro Martinez traded And two teams Rangers and White Sox not recognizing Sammy Sosa’s talent.
Frank Robinson was a primo player - his results there - when Reds traded him for Milt Pappas - a decent pitcher for his time.
We’re all great managers in retrospect.
Guzman still hanging tough — as he does on DP..
Nationals Middle Infield Situation
Feb. 16, 2008
According to the Washington Post, Nationals’ manager Manny Acta feels Christian Guzman and Ronnie Belliard will be his starting shortstop and second-baseman at the start on the 2008 season. This makes Felipe Lopez the odd man out. Acta has not committed to the starting tandem above, however, and stated that Lopez will be given “every chance to win a starting job…either at second-base or shortstop”.
Lopez hit just .245 in 2007. He had 9 HR and 50 RBI, with 24 steals. His OBP was poor, however, at just .308.
i agree that comparing garza to pedro is a little ridiculous.
btw..walters says maeur could be in line for $100M in 2010. i believe it.
http://mlbfleecefactor.com/2008/02/17/joe-mauers-2010-price-tag/
