USA Today: Shandler: Some stats still anomalies one-quarter into season

Mike Napoli second in taters!...When do the stats become meaningful!?

A study done at the “Statistically Speaking” blog at mvn.com determined that a batter’s contact rate (at-bats minus strikeouts, divided by at-bats) becomes meaningful at 150 plate appearances. This is fairly close to the May 15 date. It is also the only batting stat that becomes meaningful that early. Home run rates take twice as long. Batting averages never reach a level at which we can consider them statistically meaningful, at least not within 650 plate appearances.

However, contact rates can give us a good sense of batting average potential. Both Howard (61%) and Cano (89%) are within a reasonable variance from their history, which means they should be able to put .200 in their rearview mirror soon.

On the pitching side, strikeout rate takes only 150 batters faced, or about five or six starts to become a statistically reliable measure of performance. That means Chien-Ming Wang’s rate of 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings probably needs to be taken seriously, even though his previous seasonal high was only 4.7. Lee’s 7.4 rate, a strikeout higher than he posted during his 2005 breakout season, is probably for real at some level as well.

Conversely, Fausto Carmona’s 3.3 strikeout rate has to be of concern after he posted a 5.7 in 2007. Warning flags must be up for Justin Verlander (5.5 this year, 8.2 in 2007) and Ian Snell (5.7, 7.7) too.

AP: Shields pitches 1-hitter, Longoria homers in ninth for Rays

James Shields pitched a 1-hitter and Evan Longoria’s two-run, ninth-inning homer snapped a scoreless tie and gave the Tampa Bay Rays a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.

Shields (4-2) rebounded from the second-shortest outing of his career to post his second shutout in his past three starts. The 26-year-old right-hander limited the Angels to Brandon Wood’s one-out single in the third and retired the last 17 batters he faced after hitting Erick Aybar with a pitch in the fourth.

Angels starter Jon Garland allowed no runs and four hits in eight innings.

What the Future Holds for Brandon Wood | Baseball-Intellect

A break down on Angels prospect Brandon Wood.  An excerpt is below:

By striking out as much as he does, Wood puts a cap on his batting average and in the process puts a cap on his OBP since Wood doesn’t walk enough to make up for a sub-par batting average. His MLE (Major League Equivalency) for batting average is around .230.

If Wood hits .230, his OBP still comes out in the .280 - .310 range. If you bump his average up to .250, his OBP becomes more respectable. If he is able to hit .270, Wood will have a great deal of value because his OBP will be at a more than acceptable level. One reason for the high K% is the problems he has with pitch recognition, which is one of the more difficult things to improve upon, though it is doable.

Santana tosses four-hit shutout as Angels blank Royals

The days of the horrendous home/road splits are nearing to a close…

So was this the best game Ervin Santana ever threw?

“So far,” said the Los Angeles Angels’ unbeaten right-hander, a sly smile spreading across his face.

In his first complete game since the night he got his first major-league victory in 2005, Santana (6-0) allowed four hits and no walks and struck out nine in a masterful 4-0 victory Monday night over Kansas City.

AP: Cust’s homer starts 8-run fifth, A’s beat Angels 15-8

Jack Cust went 4-for-4 with a go-ahead homer that triggered an eight-run fifth inning, Emil Brown had four hits and an RBI and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 15-8 Thursday night to gain a split of the four-game series.
...
Cust, whose two-out error fielding error in left field led to five unearned runs in the Angels’ second inning, gave Oakland a 7-6 lead in the fifth with his second homer of the season and first in 40 career at-bats against Angels pitching.
...
Los Angeles starter Nick Adenhart, called up from Triple-A Salt Lake after middle infielder Maicer Izturis went on the disabled list with a strained lower back, gave up five runs, three hits and five walks over two-plus innings in his major league debut.
...
Pitching on three days’ rest, Adenhart got the side out in order in the first but walked four consecutive batters during Oakland’s four-run second.

Of Adenhart’s 37 pitches that inning, 24 were balls. But the Angels grabbed a 5-4 lead in the bottom half with five unearned runs. Cust opened the door with a humiliating two-base error, as Garret Anderson’s lazy flyball popped out of his glove when he camped under it.

LA Times: Buzzie Bavasi, former Dodgers GM, dies at 92

He may have bled Dodger blue, but he was still a front-office Giant:

“I’ve had to take the abuse for that over the years, but that’s fine,” Bavasi told The Times in 2005. “Stay around long enough and there’s going to be abuse.”

Although his reputation as a dynamic baseball executive became somewhat tarnished during his time with the Padres and Angels, Bavasi will be remembered best for building championship Dodgers teams while staying within the budget of parsimonious owner Walter O’Malley.

BA: Adenhart to Debut on Short Rest

Angels righthander Nick Adenhart, the top pitching prospect in the organization, was called up today from Triple-A Salt Lake to make his major league debut against Oakland.

Ben Badler makes a lot of good arguments for why this is a less than optimal decision on the part of the Angels, but I think this one is the most telling:

It all points to an imperfect storm for Adenhart, a pitcher with premium raw talent who hasn’t yet put the finishing touches on his command. Despite his 0.87 ERA, Adenhart has walked 15 batters (4.4 per nine innings) in 31 innings, and last year in Double-A he walked 65 batters (3.8 per nine). To top it off, Adenhart will face the Athletics, a patient team that is second in the majors in walks.

This is a high-risk decision, one which the Angels would have been wise to postpone for a while.

Angels’ top prospect Nick Adenhart to make major-league debut

Because he can’t be any worse than Dustin Moseley…

Nick Adenhart, the 21-year-old right-hander who is the Angels’ top pitching prospect, will make his major league debut tonight against the A’s on three days rest.

Adenhart, who was recalled from triple-A Salt Lake after Wednesday night’s game, is 4-0 with an 0.87 earned-run average in five starts, including Sunday’s win over Fresno, in which he gave up an unearned run in eight innings and threw 98 pitches.

Scioscia said Adenhart, who underwent reconstructive elbow surgery as a high school senior in 2004, would probably make three starts in place of Dustin Moseley, who returned to the bullpen this week.

Adenhart, who mixes an excellent curve and changeup with his fastball, has appeared dominant this season but has struggled with his control, walking 15 and striking out 19 in 31 innings. He has not given up a home run.

Deseret News: Salt Lake Bees: Bee-utiful start — Streaking Bees win 13th straight; record now 21-1

Salt Lake saw its first nine batters reach base, and except for a couple of base-running snafus, might have put up more than the five runs to spot Adenhart an early — and as it turned out — insurmountable lead. When Reggie Willits struck out to end the inning, the Bees had batted around, had rocked Fresno starter Ryan Sadowski for six straight hits and had accounted for three RBIs before a pair of walks and a double by Bobby Wilson accounted for the final two runs.

Detroit News: ‘Freak of nature’ haunts Robertson, halts win streak

No, no...it’s not Daphne the intern. It’s Vladimir Guerrero that’s haunting Nate Robertson.

As Nate Robertson was reminded once again with a damaging home run on Friday night in the Tigers’ 4-3 loss to the Angels, inside, outside, up, down, anywhere he can get his bat on the ball, Guerrero can be dangerous.

“He’s a freak of nature,” Robertson said. “I don’t know what else to say. I threw him the kitchen sink in that at-bat. I threw everything I had. I went away from him, came back inside and he got me.”

He came back in on his hands, in fact and Guerrero still got him.

“It kind of reminds me of the other pitch he hit off me for a home run, about three years ago,” Robertson said. “It was going to bounce and he hit it out.”

What are you going to do?

Top 7 :: Best Long Term Baseball Contracts

Chan Ho Park is still upset he didn’t make the list of Worst Long Term Baseball Contracts

This week, showing that we’re not all about negativity, here are the best long-term contracts ever signed in terms of the value that they returned.  For the purposes of the list, it does not count when a guy is just coming into the league, they would have to sign a contract afterwards, so Prince Fielder’s rookie contract can’t be on here even though it’s about as good of a deal as you can have.  The same goes for fliers taken on a guy - Chris Carpenter’s deal with the Cardinals would top that list.  These are long-term deals that actually ended up working out well, and they are kind of hard to find.....

5. Manny Ramirez
When he turned down Cleveland’s deal and signed with Boston for 8 years and $160 million, it seemed like an insane amount of money, until two things happened—A-Rod signing for almost $100 million more, and Manny being…a guy who was worth it.  He has finished in the top 20 of MVP every year including the top 10 each year but one (plus he would be the MVP so far this season), has two titles, and a World Series MVP.  He also has 260 homers and a batting average well over .300.  It’s amazing that even in the last year of such a massive deal that he is still giving them value.

Country Genius: Cobb’s Player of the Day: Bert Blyleven

Ricky Cobb on hot feet, curveballs, and whether Bert Blyleven really belongs in the Hall of Fame.

Did he achieve his potential?

If one were to answer this question “no” he would essentially be setting the bar on Blyleven’s potential at a Thor, God of Thunder-like level. And yet you can’t help but wonder if he should have won 300 games. His peripherals suggest over 300 wins and immortality in the Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, Bert didn’t have the (guts) of a Jack “I’ll Rip Your Head Off, #### Down Your Neck, and Beat You 8-7” Morris.*

*Then again, perhaps it was because he didn’t get nearly as much run support.

Boston Herald: Torii Hunter has heard hate at Fenway

Though the Red Sox have done a great deal to remake the image of Fenway Park in recent years, visiting players continue to voice concerns about fan conduct. The latest example came from Angels center fielder Torii Hunter.

Hunter told the Press-Enterprise of Riverside, Calif., that until the last couple of years, he regularly heard racist taunts when visiting Fenway as a member of the Minnesota Twins.

“I’ve been called whatever they call me - a lot - since I was a kid,” Hunter told the newspaper. “My first five or six (years), I was ‘That N-word.’ Some people would chant that out, some people would throw beer or whatever . . . batteries.”

...He had, however, informed Red Sox slugger and close friend David Ortiz - with whom Hunter spent six seasons as a teammate in Minnesota - of the racist comments he’d encountered. Ortiz remains dismayed that such behavior occurred in his home ballpark.

“He told me those complaints before, but what can I do about it?” said Ortiz. “You know how it is. When you play for the other team, you’re going to hear some (stuff) like that - wherever you’re at. He’s aware of that.

“(But) he heard some stuff that I’m surprised at. One of the security guys told me it was true. They were screaming that kind of stuff at him. That’s not right.”

The Press-Enterprise article…

30 Years Ago Today, Lyman Bostock Tried to Forfeit His Salary

Mired in a horrendous slump after signing a rich free-agent contract with the Angels in November 1977, the former Cal State Northridge and Manual Arts High star told owner Gene Autry, in essence, he didn’t deserve to be paid.

...

Autry, through general manager Buzzie Bavasi, declined the offer. Baseball regulations also would have forbidden it, but Bavasi appreciated the gesture.

“He came into my office and told me he was reluctant to take his salary,” Bavasi recalled 10 years later. “He said, ‘I’m not doing my job.’ But I told him, ‘I won’t let you do that.’ And he says, ‘Why not?’ So I told him, ‘What if you hit .600 next month? You’re sure as hell not getting any more money out of me.’ “

Unmoved, Bostock donated a month’s salary to charity.

After April 22, Bostock hit 312/379/399, good for an OPS+ of 124.  Of course, you know what happened next.

Where do Bullpens Come From?

I’m trying to study the creationism vs evolution debate, at least in regards to a species known as “major league relievers”

So far, I’ve looked at the Angels and Orioles, and two posters on my blog have handled the Pirates and Mets.  I’m trying to see how many current relievers, focusing on the key members, where converted starters at the major or minor league level or if they have pretty much always been relievers.  Any help is appreciated, posted here or on my blog.

L.A. Times: Arte Moreno picks up tab (RR)

David Ruprecht...stick to politics!

Owner Arte Moreno surprised some three dozen Angels fans by inviting them on an impromptu shopping spree in the team’s gift store after Friday night’s home opener.

Merisa Jensen, a 25-year-old USC senior from Lancaster who has attended the last five Angels’ home openers, said she and her sister Rachel were standing outside Angel Stadium about an hour after the game when Moreno and his wife, Carole, came out and began talking with some of the 30 to 40 people still milling about.

“Suddenly he walked over to the Angels store . . . opened the door and let in the whole group of people,” Jensen said.

The souvenir shop was closed, Jensen said, but Moreno told workers to ring up a T-shirt for everyone. Cashiers gave everybody a hat too.

Everybody except Moreno. Jensen said he was handed a lengthy sales receipt, which he signed.

SI.com: Heyman: Back with the D-Backs

Heyman in Da Winehouse, with Back to D’Blacks…

NL picks: Pennant: D-Backs
AL picks: Pennant: Indians

Bless You Boys: Former Tigers Coach Billy Consolo Passes Away

Bless you, indeed.  Billy Consolo.

Here’s some sad news for long-time Detroit Tigers fans.  Former coach Billy Consolo, who was a coach for the team from 1979 to 1992, and again in 1995, passed away yesterday from an apparent heart attack.  He was 73 years old.

In addition to his coaching career, Consolo played for 10 years in the major leagues.  The six teams he played for were the Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Los Angeles Angels, and Kansas City Athletics.  He played at shortstop, second base, and third base throughout his career.

You know, Mike McClary and I were just talking about Consolo a couple of days ago.  I was telling him about the article in last Sunday’s Boston Globe, in which Joe Torre claims that he was the first to employ a bench coach when he asked Don Zimmer to join his New York Yankees coaching staff in 1996.

That couldn’t be, Mike said.  Consolo was Sparky Anderson’s bench coach, but maybe they just didn’t call that job “bench coach” back then.

EV Tribune: Cactus League sets attendance record

Not much of a Bonds effect in Scottsdale, but I can’t imagine attendance will hold up well in SF.

The just-concluded Cactus League season set records for total attendance and per-game turnout.

“Not too bad,” league president J.P. de la Montaigne deadpanned Thursday.

Attendance this year was 1,316,160 for 177 games, which comes out to about 7,436 fans per game.
Once again, the top turnstile count was recorded at Mesa’s HoHoKam Park, home of the Chicago Cubs. The defending champions of the National League’s Central Division drew 181,280 fans in 15 games, and their average attendance of 12,085 was almost 22 percent higher than the runner-up San Francisco Giants.
The Scottsdale-based Giants suffered a slight drop in attendance from 2007, perhaps due to the absence of all-time home run leader Barry Bonds. Still, their per-game count of 9,929 was 10 percent better than the third-place Seattle Mariners, who train in Peoria.

“They did almost 10,000,” de la Montaigne said. “I think anybody would be happy with that.”

Angels assistant Preston Gomez struck by a truck at a Gas Station

Hope for a full recovery.

An 84-year-old baseball veteran and special assistant to the Los Angeles Angels’ general manager was seriously injured Wednesday when a pickup truck struck him at a gas station, police said.

Preston Gomez suffered major head injuries after he walked around gas pumps at a Chevron station in Blythe, about 220 miles east of Los Angeles, and was hit by Jesse Mashore, 31, said Blythe police Sgt. Jeff Wade.

Wade called it an “unfortunate accident,” and said Mashore was holding Gomez’ hand when police arrived, about 220 miles east of Los Angeles. Mahore was not arrested.

MLB.com: [Kelvim] Escobar has right shoulder tear

Angels right-hander Kelvim Escobar disclosed today that he has a tear in his pitching shoulder and is concerned that it is a career-threatening injury. Surgery, he said, is a possibility.

“I’m concerned—I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Escobar told reporters. “I don’t even know if I’ll be able to pitch again.”
...
“I’m still young,” he said. “I’ll be 32 in two weeks, but retirement is getting into my head, because it’s hard to rehab. I want to be out there playing, and I’ve done everything I can do to be healthy.”

Escobar will continue to try to strengthen the shoulder with workouts, but he admitted that surgery could be a possibility.

“They would look at it and fix whatever I have,” he said. “But that would take 10 months to recover from. They’re not sure I’d be able to come back after surgery. This could be the end of my career.”

Escobar is in the second year of a three-year, $28.5 million contract.

Cardboard Gods: Wilker: Ron Guidry

I watched Guidry’s 18 K masterpiece over my pal The Late Great J.J. Smuggo Mohl’s tenement apt...while his semi-clad moms danced the treacherous Tom Collins stumbelina jig in front of an open window. Now THAT was scary!

When I was a boy I was afraid to bicycle past a Doberman pinscher who was, according to the kid who owned him, so fierce that it often chewed through its chain and went on bloodthirsty rampages. I was afraid of the night terrors that tore me from sleep and sent me screaming through the house. I was afraid of ending up in a situation where I would be forced to eat fruit. I was afraid of death. I was afraid of bullies. I was afraid of girls. I was afraid of our basement. After I saw The Shining I was afraid of our bathtub. I was afraid of the three-note Duracell ditty that ended with the sectioned battery slamming together. I was afraid of nuclear bombs. You could be sitting there on the floor of your room, sorting your newest baseball cards into their respective teams, and it could all vanish in one bright flash. I was afraid of everything ending. In light of all those fears, I can’t really say that I was afraid of Ron Guidry. I mean, I wasn’t afraid Ron Guidry was going to leap out from behind a snowbank and bash me with a rock. I wasn’t afraid Ron Guidry was going to force me to touch my tongue to a frozen metal pole. I wasn’t afraid Ron Guidry was going to burn our house down. And yet, when I hold this 1979 Ron Guidry card in my hand, even thirty years after he went 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA—numbers so astounding they seem inhuman, merciless, obsidian, obscene—to lead the 100-win Yankees past my team, the 99-win Red Sox, it’s as if I’m holding a small box made of thin, fragile glass, a scorpion inside.

Angels’ Garret Anderson nearing big milestones

Garret Anderson and the HOF?  (dives head-first into standing vat of jasmine reviving bath salts...no luck...contact BIAUSA)

Right now, Anderson is probably not a Hall of Fame player, but some successful seasons in the twilight of his career may change that. According to baseballreference.com, of the 10 most similar batters at age 35, only Tony Perez and Kirby Puckett are in the Hall of Fame.

That just makes reaching those numbers that much more vital if Anderson is to one day be enshrined.

“I wouldn’t say it’s important, but I would say it would be an honor to because it’s something you’ve earned,” Anderson said. “In my mind, just the way I think, I’d take a different approach to it—like I’m thankful and blessed that I am able to perform at this level this long and a lot of people don’t get that opportunity. I’d take more of an approach that people would say is humble. I feel blessed that I’m here. I don’t take it for granted.

Adenhart making statement to be Angels’ fifth starter (RR)

Where have you gone, Lackey and Escobar,
Halo-nation turns its lonely eyes to you…

If Nick Adenhart isn’t the Angels’ fifth starter to open the season, it won’t be because of anything he has done — or failed to do — this spring.

The right-hander, 21, continued to make his case to hold down a spot in the Angels’ rotation until John Lackey or Kelvim Escobar returns by pitching six shutout innings in an 8-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants on Thursday.

Adenhart allowed three singles and walked two while striking out six. In five Cactus League appearances, he has allowed 18 hits and six runs (half on one three-run mistake to Arizona’s Jeff Salazar) over 182/3 innings (2.89 ERA) while striking out 13 and walking three.

OC Register: Miller: Harmony surrounds Angels this spring (RR)

And extravagance matters to worshippers of the mound
But it’s a harmony in my head

This is the sort of harmony that exists among this team, the comfy chemistry the Angels have wrapped themselves in all spring. Of course, they haven’t lost a game yet, and even detergent and dirt get along until the agitation starts. But still, this is notable entering a season in which the Angels again are forecast to rise as one and after a season in which the Dodgers nearly lit each others’ eyelids on fire.

Perhaps you recall the 2007 Dodgers, the drama kings who turned Los Angeles into a city of two tales, one about the young and ambitious and the other about the old and crabby.

“We’re trying to win a championship,” Torii Hunter said. “There’s no way we’re gonna feud. We aren’t dating another guy’s girl or anything. As long as we’re not messing with each others’ wives or girlfriends, we’re good to go.”

No, the ‘07 Dodgers’ behavior didn’t reach those depths, but there’s a whole fresh season of potential ahead for them, too. So perhaps the next bunch of baseball cheaters will have nothing to do with performance-enhancing drugs.

Rosenthal: Angels learning why rotation depth is vital

Loader Robo basic function...set to go.

Two of the remaining free agents, Jeff Weaver and Horacio Ramirez, are ill-suited for the American League. David Wells, though, might be intriguing on a short-term basis. And the trade market should intensify in the next two weeks.

The starters who are or could be available include the Brewers’ Claudio Vargas, Chris Capuano and David Bush; the Cubs’ Jason Marquis and Sean Marshall; the Dodgers’ Hong-Chih Kuo, the Padres’ Justin Germano; the Indians’ Cliff Lee; and the Reds’ Matt Belisle.

Another option for Reagins is to wait, see how quickly Lackey and Escobar recover and become more active, if necessary, before the July 31 non-waiver deadline. The danger in such a strategy is that the Angels quickly could be playing from behind — their April schedule is more difficult than the Mariners’.

MLB: Lackey out of action for 3-4 weeks

Angels ace John Lackey has been diagnosed with a strained right triceps after an examination on Friday by Dr. Lewis Yocum, team orthopedist. He will be shut down without baseball activities for three to four weeks, at which time he’ll be reevaluated.

Lackey, the reigning American League ERA champion and an All-Star for the first time in 2007, pitched 1 2/3 innings on Monday and said he felt fine afterward. But the elbow became sore the following day, and a bullpen session on Wednesday did not go well, he said.

A Magnet Resonance Imaging examination taken at Biltmore Imaging on Friday confirmed the club’s diagnosis of a triceps strain. This was in a different location than a forearm ailment that had caused Lackey to get a late start in his spring workouts.

Thanks to Wimmer.

Rosenthal: Angels may regret not going for A-Rod, Cabrera

Here’s the problem: The Angels have yet to reach the World Series with Vlade Guerrero as their only true offensive force. Even if they kept Guerrero beyond ‘09 — a decision that would not be without risk — they likely would remain one slugger short. Hunter, for all his gifts, isn’t that guy. Neither is infielder Brandon Wood, the team’s top hitting prospect; one scout compares him to Travis Fryman, who was a five-time All-Star but not a monster.

A-Rod and Cabrera are monsters.

If the Angels didn’t want to give A-Rod 10 years at age 32, it’s difficult to fault them. But Cabrera, who is nearly eight years younger, likely would have responded to the Angels’ professionalism under Mike Scioscia the same way he has responded to the Tigers’ culture under Jim Leyland. As one scout says, “It’s like taking Miss America, making her even better-looking than she already is and putting her back in the pageant again.”

Well...they do play at Comerica Parks.

L.A. Daily News: Angels’ new GM Reagins says he’s in charge

Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey...Snap it Pal!

One look at the scene said total control. It was a guy comfortable in his element, the lord of his own manor. It is a picture that said, “I am here, I am in charge and I am ready to stand by my decisions.” But there is a much different perception about Reagins and how much influence he wields on Angels player-personnel decisions.

To read the stories since Reagins was made the surprise choice to succeed Bill Stoneman, it sounds as if the 41-year old is just a figurehead in the whole process, baseball’s version of the Queen of England.

Queen is a new one on Reagins. But he has heard other descriptions of his new role.

“Puppet,” Reagins says between sunflower seeds. The word seems to amuse him. Most guys wouldn’t smirk at the thought they are somebody’s Pinocchio. Reagins shrugs. “I can’t change that perception,” he said. “I think that’s going to be out there. I’d be naive if I didn’t think that was going to be out there.”

LA Times: For Angels’ Rivera, it could be wait till next year (RR)

Juan Rivera has been labeled the odd man out in an Angels outfield that features Torii Hunter, Vladimir Guerrero, Garret Anderson and Gary Matthews Jr. Chances are, Rivera will be the odd man in.

“We have a congested outfield, and there is a perception that we have to move him,” General Manager Tony Reagins said of Rivera before Tuesday’s 8-4 exhibition victory over the San Diego Padres.

“We’ve had conversations with other clubs, but I’m not looking to trade this guy. He’s going to be an important part of the team. He provides depth and versatility. And you have to look long term. The makeup of the team could be different in 2009 and 2010.”

Rivera, who hit .310 with 23 home runs and 85 RBIs in 2006 before missing most of 2007 because of a broken leg, could replace Garret Anderson’s production—for a much cheaper price—if the Angels don’t pick up Anderson’s $14-million option for 2009.

Another significant roadblock to a trade of Rivera, who is batting .412 this spring: The Angels probably wouldn’t get equal value. Though the Braves, Mets, Giants and, possibly, the Padres, are looking for an outfielder, they probably wouldn’t trade a starting pitcher, frontline reliever or premier prospect for Rivera.