Tagged: joel hanrahan

A Pair Of Trades

1. Pirates trade UT Eric Hinske to the Yankees for minor league P Casey Erickson, and minor league C/OF Eric Fryer


The gist of this trade is clear.  With the recent news that Yankees OF Xavier Nady will be out for the season, New York was looking for a utility guy to spell Nick Swisher in right field occasionally.  On the Pirates side of things, they’re as usual, completely out of the playoff picture, getting anything for three months of Alex Rodriguez Eric Hinske,  is a gain.

Trade Grades:

Yankees-B+


Pirates-A-

2. Nationals trade OF Lastings Milledge, and P Joel Hanrahan to the Pirates, for OF Nyjer Morgan, and P Sean Burnett


I needed an excuse to unload on the Nationals, and here it is, just dropping into my lap.  Why do you trade a top outfield prospect, and a okay relief pitcher, for a outfielder having a freak career year, and a mediocre pitcher!!!  Horrible move for the Nats, adding another poor arm to their bullpen mess.  Congratulations Neal Huntington!  You did something right!  Perfect time to sell high.

Trade Grades:

Nationals-D

Pirates-A

Keys To Success/Failure: Washington Nationals

I am starting a new feature, Keys To Success/Failure, it will be
a sidebar link.  For the first
installment of this feature, I will look at a failure, a team that can’t even
spell their name correctly…

 

The Washington Natinals National

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Keys To Failure

Everything!  Alright, in all seriousness, the Keys
To Failure (Hitting, Starters, Bullpen or Fielding) for the Nationals.

 

And the Keys are…

 

Fielding

 

Bullpen

 

Why Fielding?

The Nationals rank last in
the majors in Defensive Effiency, at .669.  Over the course of 150 games, (according to UZR/150), the
Nationals defense will cost their team 72 runs!  The only starter on the team who has a positive UZR/150 is
3B Ryan Zimmerman, who has a highly respectable 16.6 UZR/150.  The main defensive culprit for the
Nationals has been Adam Dunn, at first base he is a lawn ornament, and owner of
a -48.6 UZR/150, and in left field, his primary posistion, he owns a -36.7
UZR/150!  The Nats won’t be able to
do anything about this however, Dunn is the best hitter on a suprisingly good
hitting team, and only a madman would keep him out of the lineup.  (Note: A player’s UZR/150 shows how
many runs he will cost or save his team over 150 games, an approximate season.

 

Why the Bullpen?

The Nationals have overhauled
their bullpen twice this season. 
They do not have a closer, they were recently spotted using Kip Wells,
Garrett Mock, and Joel Hanrahan in a closer by committee.  Injuries, journeymen, the castoffs of
others, the Nats bullpen is an unsolvable mess.

 

A Solution?

There isn’t one, they need
their poor defenders in their lineup for their bats, and there is no way to fix
the bullpen.