Shysterball: Gagne’s Activation: Innocuous Roster Move, or Sabermetric Test Case?

I believe it was noted page-turder/hurler Cal Koontz that said…“No matter how innocuous something is, somebody can always take it the wrong way.”

Daniels too has the opportunity use the Gagne-Otsuka situation as a platform to exploit sabermetric thinking. Specifically, the Billy Beane-patented “pump and dump” strategy in which Beane instructed his field manager to designate his less-than-best reliever as the “closer,” allowed them to collect a healthy save total, and then traded him away for a greater return than the were probably worth by virtue of the unwarranted value teams place on the save stat. Billy Taylor and Billy Koch are the two examples that spring to mind, each of whom Beane managed to dump to other teams for better players (though Beane was arguably a victim of the pump and dump, albeit a seemingly willing one, in acquiring Koch from the Blue Jays in the first place).

Unlike Washington’s adoption of the Jamesian relief-ace strategy, we need only read the rumor wire to see if Daniels is trying to turn Gagne and his $6 salary into trade bait for a desperate contender by allowing him to rack up a handful of easy, one-inning saves. Though the season is still young and Texas could theoretically contend, it’s certainly what I’d do if I were in his position.

Whatever happens, this is the first time in years I’ve cared about what’s happening in Texas.