The Jason Kendall Trade

I wasn’t planning on posting this here…  as I had written it at another blog.  However, the more I think about it, the more I like my impression of the Jason Kendall trade:

We’re doing Billy Beane the favor… and we throw in the prospect.

Billy Beane needs to cut salary because this year looks lost. He looks at his roster and sees a catcher he no longer needs, but to whom he owes $3 Million to. He thinks, “Who needs a catcher? Oh, the Cubs!  I can snag a prospect!” Billy of course called Hendry:

Beane: ‘Hey Jim, you really need a catcher don’t you?’
Hendry: ‘Hi Billy. Yes, we need a catcher. What, are you offering Kendall?’
Beane: ‘You know, Kendall’s one of the best character guys we have… and we’re still in this thing. But, it’s ownership again. You know, they want me to cut the budget. I think we’re a good match. Listen, you guys are running three lefties out there in your rotation… and I don’t think Marshall is going to stay healthy or wi…’
Hendry: ‘Billy, I can’t do that. Don’t even try.’
Beane: ‘Okay okay. Listen, you need to unload Bowen… and I want to shave some salary. How about this… I’ll send you Kendall and about a Mill because it’s all I can do, you know? In return, just send Bowen, plus you have some AA guy… Bivins, or something?’
Hendry: ‘It’s Blevins. Jerry Blevins. You want him? You’re already unloading salary onto us… what do you need him for?’
Beane: ‘I just need to save face. I can’t just do the trade for Bowen, you know? And come on, I’m asking for a AA relief pitcher. What are the odds he’ll do anything in the show? Look, you’re getting Kendall, you need Kendall. What do you say?’
Hendry: ‘Okay, and you’ll send the cash? I do need Kendall, you got a deal.’
Beane: ‘Excellent. Hey, you got Barrett from us and he was great for you guys for awhile… and Kendall will be too.’

Hendry’s not very bright.  It took him 50 years before realizing a team needs a good leadoff man…  and a few more that it helps to have solid defense at the catcher position.

I’m awaiting to see how much cash went from Oakland to the Cubs.  I’m confident they’re not paying all the remaining salary.  In the meantime, why you’d rock the boat with a team that’s winning at a .750 clip since you addressed the catcher position in the first place…   is beyond me.  It’d be one thing if we added offense, but we didn’t.

Jason Kendall – .226 avg. – .261 obp – .281 slugging %

Koyie Hill     -    .156 avg. – .222 obp – .281 slugging %

…  and Hill was starting to hit the ball hard.  Kendall has a solid history offensively, but this year he’s been awful.  Now, the media will tell you he’s been hitting lately and that in his last 25 games, he’s had a batting average over .290.  Don’t buy it.  He was hot for a spell in late June and here are the July numbers:

.229 avg.  -  .229 obp  -  .286 slugging %

In other news, I’m going to address defense once again.  I’m dumbfounded in how little value the Long Ball Loonies have for it.  The amazing thing is…  their icon, their hero, Bill James, who started the revolution, has enormous value for defense.  Even just this year, he wrote on how one Red Sox player’s defense had a dramatic effect on overall team performance.  Here’s a link and some highlights:

Things have looked different this year. Coco’s been on a bit of a hot streak at the plate — a fact that’s been much discussed. He’s also been on a bit of a hot streak in the field. I’ve seen this mentioned a couple of times in the internetoblogosphere, but it hasn’t gotten much mention elsewhere.

That’s about to change. This morning, Bill James wrote in an email, “It seems to me that the BIGGEST factor in our team’s performance over the last week or so has been that Coco has been just unbelievable in center field…he’s just catching EVERYTHING that looks like it might be trouble. There’s been no gap in right center, no gap in left center, nothing getting over his head and nothing has been landing in front of him.”

As Bill wrote, “It’s not that he’s been making spectacular catches; it’s that he’s been making plays that had me scared shitless look they were no problem.” Sort of like A-Gon did last year. The thing is, nobody expected A-Gon to have anything but a noodle bat. That’s not the case with CC; perhaps that’s why his performance has gotten little-to-no recognition.

At least not from the hoi polloi; the same obviously isn’t true on Yawkey Way. “If Coco had been 11-for-20 with the bat over the last week, everybody would be talking about that,” Bill wrote in his email. “If he’d had a few good games as a reliever, like Okajima, everybody would be talking about that. But he’s just had this unbelievable streak in center field, and…nobody has noticed. Nothing about it in the papers, guys on TV haven’t said anything about it (that I’ve heard), radio guys haven’t said anything that I’ve heard. I tried to find his defense day-by-day to see how many putouts he has had in the last week, and I couldn’t even find THAT, let alone some up-to-date information about how many catches he’s made that were difficult plays that could have killed us.”

It’s amazing what the Long Ball Loonies don’t notice.

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