Hey, sports journalist dudes, let's hold off on the "who won by not trading for Santana" scuttlebutter until, say, the All Star Break?

Especially when you include the "it's too early to judge" caveat!!!

I love writing the "lester no longer trade bait" a couple days after he throws a no-hitter. Some hard hitting journalism there.

Has any pitcher ever been traded during a season in which he earlier threw a no-hitter? I'm assuming not.

Nevertheless, what a haul that would have been for the Twins: Ellsbury, MAsterson, Lowrie and another minor leaguer (Bowden?).

Seriously, as a Red Sox fan I cringe when thinking about that potential deal. Obviously Santana is great and obviously there are no guarantees about Jacoby, Masterson, and Lowrie going forward, but I'm pretty happy that those guys are still here.

When's the Lowrie-Lugo move going to happen? On Baseball Today yesterday Gammons (I know, I know) said something like "Lowrie will be taking over for Lugo in 2 weeks..."

I know we spent a lot of time talking about that package from Boston, as well as the supposed Hughes, Kennedy, Jackson deal from NY, but I'm not convinced those deals were on the table at all. If they were, I believe they were off before the trade could have been completed due to the cascade effect of Pettitte coming back.

As soon as the rumors started, my three most preferred packages were Kershaw/LaRoche/______, Adenhart/Wood/Willits/_____ or Morrow/Jones/Truinfel/_____. I don't think any of those deals were ever discussed. Still, it seems like Seattle would be much better off with Santana instead of Bedard (probably not good enough to contend, though). The Angels are playing well and have their rotation set with 5 good pitchers and two somewhat worthy young replacements.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, have plenty of young talent that is cheap enough to support a star salary in a major market, have a gaping hole at the back end of the rotation being filled by Loaiza and chaff, appear to be locked into a divisional deathmatch with Arizona for this year and several to follow, have had no problem scoring runs with LaRoche injured, and play in a park that fits Santana pretty well. I thought they were a good fit at the time and I still believe they would have been the best fit.

The players the Twins received in the deal have not stood out. Center fielder Carlos Gomez has leveled off after a quick start

That's an interesting statement considering that Gomez hit .230/.247/.310 through April 22 before getting a day off (20 games), and has hit .319/.363/.528 (20 games) since then. But hey, no one cares about the Twins anyway, so I can't blame him for not noticing.

Will, my assessment of that sentence was that we watched the first game of the season where Gomez looked so flashy, then looked at their current stats and saw his OBP in the tank and assumed that those two events explained the entire season chronologically.

That's an interesting statement considering that Gomez hit .230/.247/.310 through April 22 before getting a day off (20 games), and has hit .319/.363/.528 (20 games) since then. But hey, no one cares about the Twins anyway, so I can't blame him for not noticing.

Good point- Gomez has looked impressive the few times I've see him. If he can get on base at .360, he could slug .400 and still be valuable.

Good point- Gomez has looked impressive the few times I've see him. If he can get on base at .360, he could slug .400 and still be valuable.

you mean like Jacoby Ellsbury?

you mean like Jacoby Ellsbury?

It would be, except that Ellsbury hit for a significantly higher average (unadjusted) and drew more walks than Gomez (though Gomez made strides in 2007 on that). Gomez is two years younger, so he may have Ellsbury in him. But if the Twins wanted a ready-now CF, Gomez was a reach. Based on his career progression, he probably needed a year at AAA to prepare himself. But he made his strides in plate discipline while going up a level, so he may be better than people think in the second half this year.

It looks like Santana's increased home run rate is continuing this year. Would that still be considered statistical flukery, or is there a possible explanation otherwise? Has he lost some speed off his fastball, or anything of that sort?

The last two years his velocity is down a little over 1mph from 2006.

It looks like Santana's increased home run rate is continuing this year. Would that still be considered statistical flukery, or is there a possible explanation otherwise?

Hey, maybe Santana's departure for the NL is what is causing the AL HR rate to drop!

When's the Lowrie-Lugo move going to happen? On Baseball Today yesterday Gammons (I know, I know) said something like "Lowrie will be taking over for Lugo in 2 weeks...

Last year, Coco's and Lugo's problems on offense were their low OBP's. Obviously, Drew was a disappointment, but he got on base, maybe not enough to warrant all his weak grounders to 2b w/ men on base, whatever.

This year Coco (and Ellsbury) and Lugo are getting on base enough to not be hated. The regular with the worst OBP is Pedroia. He is striking out more (1/2 K's in ~2/5 PA's) and walking less (1/2 BB's in ~2/5 PA's) and his power is down. SSS and all that, but Pedroia is the on offense to be talked about. I realize defense is relevant in comparisons between Lowrie and Lugo, but that is not the issue. The issue is will Lowrie put up a .350 OBP with the range of Lugo?

The issue is will Lowrie put up a .350 OBP with the range of Lugo?

I dunno. You'd have to guess he'd be a bit more sure-handed, no?

I think most projection systems had Coco ~= Jake, and Jed ~= Julio, in terms of what they'd OBP/OPS for 2008. Each guy would be roughly the equal of the primary guy they'd be battling against for the AB's.

And boy do I like seeing the 9th inning Jake-Coco-J. D. OF, it means just about everthing's gonna get run down, and that the Sox are leading, of course!

This year Coco (and Ellsbury) and Lugo are getting on base enough to not be hated...

You haven't been around here much, have you? Lugo is more hated than ever. I agree, though, that his offense is fine and he'll end up being a reasonably valuable player for this team.

I was speaking about their offense in an objective sense. But yeah, the hate is still there.

About Pedroia, it should be 1/4 BB in ~ 2/5 PA's.

Would that still be considered statistical flukery, or is there a possible explanation otherwise?

The AL is AAAA.