Armando No Mo
Posted by Chris - 01/06/07 at 04:06 pmIf you’re a Giants fan with a pulse, then you know that within the last 24 hours the Giants have shipped off much maligned closer Armando Benitez to the Marlins for RHP Randy Messenger. After Benitez’s meltdown in New York it was only a matter of time before something was done. He was conveniently held out of the lineup the following game with knee problems and bam, he’s gone the day after.
In the mean time, Brian Sabean is pissed off. In a Mercury article he sounds off on the teams poor performance as of late.
“We had three players who weren’t available except for one at-bat (Tuesday) and that wasn’t Armando’s fault. Tonight we had three hits and looked as dead as a doornail, and that’s not Armando’s fault.
And on older players on the team not making consistent starts (Bonds, Durham, Klesko, etc.)
“Ask the guys that can’t answer the bell every day,” said Sabean, whose own job is on the line. “Once we find out who’s ready to play every day, then we’ll have a better answer to about what we have internally.”
This has irked me, and many other fans who follow this team. Goodbye old whipping boy Mando and say hello to new whipping boy, Brian Sabean. The teams performance should land squarely on the shoulders of the man who assembled that team. Any GM who expects Bonds (42), Aurilia (35), Vizquel (40), Roberts (35), and Klesko (36) to (A) Play most of the season without getting injured or experience nagging injuries and to (B) Not decline at all in performance, is bonkers.
I can see that Sabean wants to fire up the team, to get the team playing well but you ripping apart a flawed team isn’t going to turn them into superstars. Like it or not, Sabean is going to have to ride this year out and not deal away prospects for crappy veterans. Use the draft to improve the farm system, hold onto what you’ve got, and look forward to the next year. Good GMS are the ones that don’t make desperation moves and can ride out the tough times.
Back to Randy Messenger. The 2.66 ERA looks nice but most of his other stats are a little sketchy. Low K’s per 9 and he appears to have been giving up a lot of hits. At this point he looks to have been real lucky to this point. His fastball slider combo does have some promise but his command is generally poor, and that has hurt him the most. For those that saw Dusty Baker last night on Baseball Tonight, don’t listen to him on that Messenger will be the favorite for saves in San Francisco. Hennessey will be the favorite for now and others like Correia might get shots too.
At the end of the day the Giants shed Benitez, while paying over 5 million of his salary to do so, and pick up a unspectacular arm in Messenger. The Giants obviously felt that Armando had to go and didn’t care about eating the salary. Benitez in all regards is a better pitcher than Messenger but the Giants felt that had given Benitez all the chances they could give.
Comment Starter: How do you feel about this trade?
June 1st, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I’ve seen some people say that the Giants could have gotten more if they had traded Benitez before, like in spring training. Baloney! Yusmeiro Petit was the best that was offered before the season and while he had prospect status coming up, he has an unspectacular arm too, he gets by without a great fastball, and most scouting reports that I’ve read said that he’s probably going to get exposed when he makes the majors. And right now we don’t need a starting pitcher.
The nice thing about Messenger is that he has pitched well in the minors as a reliever plus was lights out good the first half of 2006: 3.19 ERA, 23K in 28 IP, 2.2 BB/9, 7.3 K/9, 3.3 K/BB. Then he was rocked by bad luck the second half, BABIP of around .360, low strand rate, and due to overinflated 13% HR/flyball (10% is mean that most regress to).
And as bad as his peripherals are today - 2.66 ERA despite 4.6 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 1.3 K/BB, .330 BABIP, 1.52 WHIP - his FIP is only 3.33, and any bullpen can use that type of bullpen performance. And he has 6 holds in 22 appearances, as he has been pitching setup for the Marlins and has recently been pitching more innings, like he’s in long relief or something, so that could free Russ Ortiz to do more setup/closer type of work. And given the way Bochy likes to use all his relievers in different situations (all except closer that is), I expect him to go with anyone and everyone for a while until someone rises to the top of the food chain and get to close exclusively.
June 1st, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Oh, I like the trade, better than just DFAing Benitez. With Messenger, we make up for the draft pick we lost in order to sign Benitez and we still get something for all the money we’re spending on Benitez still (salary rest of season plus the deferred payments). And since he’s a local kid (he grew up in Sparks, Nevada), maybe he does a little better while pitching at home, he’s already mentioned that family will be coming down to see games now. He has also been pitching setup for Florida - he has 6 holds - so he can take over the setup role should Hennessey move into the closer role or at minimum, just be another quality arm Bochy can go to when things get hairy. Even with the bad peripherals, he has given up runs in only 4 out of 23 appearances.
June 5th, 2007 at 10:57 am
Hey OGC,
I guess I shouldn’t really call Messenger “unspectacular” because he does have what most like to call a “live arm” throws hard, low 90s and supposedly has a good slider. He, like most major leaguers, have the talent to perform, it’s just whether or not he’ll actually ever do it is the question. His track record in the majors though isn’t much to look at but he is young and could always improve.
I’m also in agreement with you on that it’s better to get something for Armando than just DFA him. At least they got something for him.