Monday, December 22, 2003
ONLY LESS WORSE THAN BEFORE, aka LATIN BEAT
First Tejada, and now the O's have reportedly signed Javy Lopez.
Two things strike me about this deal. 3yrs, $23M is a lot of money to spend on a player who the year before last was given up for dead. Sure, setting the record for HRs at catcher for a season is nothing to sneeze at, but one of these things is not like the others:
.271 EqA
Heck, consider that he's a 34-year-old catcher with a career .292 EqA (he was a solid offensive player between '95 and '99), and look at those last two years: .235 and .336. If you're the GM of a ball club, which one would thing think is the fluke year? And are you willing to live with the consequences if you're wrong?
Secondly, I have the sad suspicion that the O's are the only club courting Guerrero, and these Latin signings are in part a move to assure Vlad that good ol' Baltimore is Hispanic heaven.
I honestly hope Vlad doesn't end up with the O's. Even with all this new offense, they are still only half a team. Without a near-overhaul of the pitching staff, they don't have a chance to get ahead of three other, better clubs in their division. Sound similar? I'd hate to see history repeat itself, and a new cast of characters find themselves in a big mess again.
.258 EqA
.235 EqA
.336 EqA
