Saturday, August 30, 2003
"According to the Oakland Tribune, the A's were interested in BlueJays P Kelvim Escobar, but the Twins blocked a deal by submitting a waiver claim. The BlueJays subsequently pulled him off waivers."
Interesting. I wonder what J.P. could have gotten in return from Billy?
And another:
"According to Orioles VP Jim Beattie, he doesn't expect to make a trade this week. Pat Hentgen, Buddy Groom, Tony Batista and Jeff Conine have reportedly cleared waivers."
Boy, if I'm Pat Gillick, I'd give a long hard look at Batista. Given his contract and his current performance, I bet he could be had on the cheap. I know the good folks over at U.S.S. Mariner are desperate to pick up Matt Stairs and Tony Clark. I can't blame them on Stairs--who wouldn't want a lefthanded bat with a career .860 OPS (.951 so far this year) making less than $1 M? (How the hell did he clear waivers?) Both Stairs and Clark would be substatial upgrades to the Mariner "bench" (I'm looking at you, McLemore). But is Tony Clark worth taking over Batista?
Batista's a career .767 OPS, but he's only hitting .685 this year. Clark's got an .810 OPS this year, due to an impressive .507 SLG. But Batista could fill in and be the everyday 3B, pushing Cirillo to the bench or the road, whereas Clark is, shall we say, more limited where he can play. Batista, a former shortstop, might even be an improvement with the glove over the Mariner's current 3B. (Batista leads Cirillo in ZR and RF this year.) Batista's only 29 (assuming his Dominican passport is correct), and it's hard to believe that he's really washed up already.
After looking like the best, most balanced team in baseball, the Mariners are seriously faltering. Gillick's smart not to panic, and, say, trade Brandon Clausson for Aaron Boone. But if it's just a matter of a couple of million and not giving up anybody good, I think Batista is worth the risk for Seattle (he's even a free agent in '04). The clock is ticking.
