Dodgers - Acquired Maddux
Los Angeles Dodgers - Acquired P Greg Maddux from the Chicago Cubs for SS Cesar Izturis.
The Dodgers have Furcal signed for quite a while and also have Wilson Betemit on the roster. Izturis was the 3rd-best SS on the active roster and if Izturis isn’t a shortstop, he isn’t a major leaguer. No future with the Dodgers and unless he starts playing like it’s 2003 again, no future anywhere.
Well, except for the Cubs! The Cubs are too open-minded to subscribe to that recent baseball prejudice, favoring offensive players who have some kind of offensive value. Cedeno’s pretty much blown his shot, quitting after April (like everyone else on that team) and unlike Neifi Perez or others, will actually be held accountable for his lack of quality play. Izturis will, in the near future, be the Cubs starting shortstop and will either be a good comeback story or the latest eternally employed Cub joke. My money’s on the latter - 2003 remains the only time he was ever a good player.
Maddux has had an ERA over 5 each of the last 3 months after starting out 5-0, 1.35 this season, but his peripherals have been a bit better than that and he seems to have gotten caught up in the malaise that’s affected the entire team. Maddux is doing it with smoke and mirrors, but I expect him to have an ERA in the 4.20-4.50 range the rest of the way. That’s hardly a spectacular way to end a great career, but the Dodgers aren’t playing spectacular teams. Maybe the Dodgers will now give Hendrickson and Tomko guns with one bullet in the chamber and hope they get the hint?
Dan Szymborski
Posted: July 31, 2006 at 09:16 PM |
24 comment(s)
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1. Didi Dodo Doodoo (1k5v3L)That wpuld be because now you don't have to face him this Thursday, yes?
Dan's probably right - Izturis is living off of 2003 a lot like Rico Brogna got rich somehow stumbling into a 100 RBI season.
Is there really that much difference between Izturis and anyone of Ronny Cedeno/Ryan Theriot/Freddie Bynum? I suppose Izturis is the best defender of the 3 - Theriot the fastest, Cedeno the most offensive upside, and Bynum...is well, Bynum.
I think Izturis makes for a nice utility IF because of his glove -- basically, he could nicely fill the role that Dumbsty loves Neifi in.... but if he's not already - he's not the type you of player you should be paying 7 figures for (but hey, neither is Neifi.... so who cares).
What's amazing to me is how much this deadline seemed to be such a buyers market. Huff and Abreu both seemed to go for well below what I think most people expected --- and I'm having a hard time coming up with a bigger prospect than the fallen from grace Joel Guzman that got moved at the deadline.
Frankly - I think Hendry blew this by waiting too long. Walker in particular could have fetched a lot more if the Cubs had talked to the Mets before Jose Valentin discovered the fountain of youth -- I'm not saying a Milledge or Pelfrey, but I think he could have brought more back than an A ball prospect.
Walker's been on the trading block since about November. Either Hendry was asking for the moon, or the interest just wasn't there. Rightly or wrongly, Walker has garnered the reputation while with the Cubs as a platoon player who hits okay but is a terrible fielder at 2B. He had the misfortune of being on a team with a manager who undervalued his primary offensive strength (taking walks).
The A-ball guy looks to be decent - nice scouting reports, and he's only 19. Better than than some 24-year-old guy repeating AA for the third year who strikes out 13/9 but also walks 6 and throws like he's one slider away from multiple arm surgeries. The Walker trade was miles better than the Maddux deal.
They are planning to move Cedeno to 2B.
As for the trade, I was thinking: Is there a player in MLB that the Cubs could had traded for who --
A. Would get 500 ABs on the Cubs; and
B. Would give the Cubs less of an improvement than Izturis?
it's because now the Dbacks will face him a few times in the nl west pennant race.
Well -- that does make it the first sign of growth I've seen out of the Cubs in this downward spiral of a season... at least now, they're trashing the player after the trade rather than while he's still their unwanted property.
By the time my cryogenically frozen body is resurrected, fitted with MLB-legal bionic implants, and I can put on the Cubby blue, launch some homers and draw 120 walks a year -- they might actually learn that's a good thing.
A. Would get 500 ABs on the Cubs; and
B. Would give the Cubs less of an improvement than Izturis?
Is Shawon Dunston still in MLB?
Not surprisingly, that's not what multiple LA papers are saying.
The story there is that Hendry WANTED top prospects for Maddux, but came down on his demands on Monday before the deadline and took Izturis instead.
I thought it was the Padres they were paying salary to from the Walker deal...
But anyway, what is the plan here? It sounds like Hendry finally figured out this season is a lost cause, but then wrote off 2007 as well already. How depressing. Walker + cash for a 19-year-old prospect? I thought there was a specific window of time (i.e. Zambrano & Prior) for the Cubs to make their push. I guess you don't need a #5 starter for the playoffs, but Walker for a teenager? Because Dusty won't start Walker everyday? What is the plan? Is this a push for 2008, 2009? What about next year? Can someone explain the master plan to me?
Like God and Mooninites, the master plan is beyond our comprehension. It's better to believe and let Him do his work.
I hoped that Hendry would make a big announcement this week that the organization is committed to Greg Maddux, the greatest pitcher we'll see in a long time, retiring as a Chicago Cub. I think it would have done a lot to shore up fan support, and the franchise could use that at the moment.
Pennywise and pound foolish, this team.
Yes, they're giving money in both deals. They're paying the rest of Walker's salary and they're paying the difference between Maddux's and Izturis's (about $2mil). They saved absolutely no money by making these trades (but they've saved a lot by keeping Dusty and not hiring an interim manager).
I mention this because Jim Hendry, middle infield evaluator extraordinaire, calls Cesar "arguably, before his surgery, the best shortstop in the National League," which would be true if Eckstein, Renteria, Reyes, Furcal, Rollins, and Billy Hall all died of plague yesterday. Am I missing something about Zebulon Junior here? Whose one good season was a hot .288 / .330 / .381 ? Who may or may not be the fielder he was before he went under the knife?
Not that it makes much of a difference.
They are planning to move Cedeno to 2B.
I'll believe he is the starting second baseman when I see it. Cedeno, Izturis, and Neifi are all under contract for next year. Any guesses as to how this is going to work out?
Another one of Zebulon Terry's closest comps is Danny Murtaugh. Maybe Izturis is going to be the new manager.
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