Picking Apart Texas' Deadline Deals
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by user ASwaff
Although the Texas Rangers didn’t get the bullpen help they were looking for at the trade deadling (and actually traded their setup man for another bat), they were definitely one of the big winners. This is mainly because they got a lot without giving up a lot. At least, they got a lot of immedate help without giving up much of what they needed right now.
Carlos Lee:
This is one of the two biggest acquisitions made in the last weekend of trading, right up there with the New York Yankees picking up outfielder Bobby Abreu. He came in to fill a big hole the Rangers had been dealing with all season in left field, since Brad Wilkerson has not worked out as well as they’d hoped. Lee is one of the best hitters in the game, and should provide a boost to Texas’ power hitters (namely Mark Teixeira and Hank Blalock) who have been seriously underproducing this season. Since coming to Arlington, Lee is batting .538 in three games.
But, oddly enough, Texas may be on the verge of gaining a reputation as being a a vacuum for power hitting. Although Lee is batting .538, only two of his seven hits have gone for extra bases, and neither one was a homerun. He also has just one RBI in his three games. Granted, it’s only three games, but he needs to hit the homeruns that Texas is expecting him to hit. As stated before, Wilkerson leading the team with 15 homeruns is not what you expect to see from this kind of lineup.
Kip Wells:
The Rangers get an adequate starter here. Wells has definitely underperformed expectations the last few years, but the Rangers should finally have a legitimate number four starter. That will be nice, considering the large drop off in performance after their number two starter they’ve had all season. It also brings home a Texas boy. Wells hails from Houston, and went to college at Baylor University.
All they had to give for Wells was minor league reliever Jesse Chavez, who is a project at best. He had a 4.42 ERA in 38 games for Double A Frisco, and a 4.50 ERA in one game for Triple A Oklahoma.
Wells had a breakout year in 2002, going 12-14 with an ERA of 3.58. He posted a respectable ERA in 2002 and 2003 (3.43), but managed to post a record of just 22-23 with a weak Pittsburgh team. Since 2003, however, Wells has a record of 14-30, and an ERA of 5.05. Wells also ran into some injury troubles this season, resulting in just seven starts. But, he has shown marked improvement lately, posting a 1.83 ERA in his last three starts, and a 3.16 ERA for the month of July. Hopefully he can bring that momentum into Texas. But, it should also be taken into account that he was pitching in a pitcher’s park in Pittsburgh. This move likely means that, after tonight’s start, John Rheinecker’s season in the Majors is done. He is 0-2 with an ERA of 8.15 in his last four starts.
Matt Stairs:
The best thing I can figure for the Rangers making this move was the improve their hitting against right handed pitching. Texas is second in the AL in batting average against leftys, but ninth against rightys. Stairs is hitting .267 against right-handed pitchers this season, well above Texas’ team average. The Rangers have also had a hole at DH this season, generally making it a platoon situation to give position players a rest. This move probably means a lot less playing time for Brad Wilkerson, who was only hitting .240 against right-handed pitching this year, and had taken to starting a lot in the role of DH. Texas may also have taken into account that Stairs has had good success against Texas’ three AL West opponents, batting .282 (13-46) with a homerun and seven RBI.
As with Wells, the Rangers gave up a player that won’t help them in their immediate future. But, Jose Diaz was a better prospect than Chavez. In 28 appearances (27 in relief) for Triple A Oklahoma, Diaz had a 0-0 record and four saves with a 3.28 ERA. He also had 46 strikeouts in 35.2 innings.
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Date
Mon 07/31/06, 2:11 pm EST
