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November 9, 2007 07-08 Offseason Joe Janish

Argument Against A-Rod

There is an extremely well-written piece at the Hardball Times by John Brattain titled “Battling Boras“, that I highly suggest you read. In a nutshell, it is Brattain’s response to several of the outrageous claims made by Scott Boras in touting his most expensive client — and by the end of the article you can see how Alex Rodriguez is NOT worth $300M. For example, would you pay Chipper Jones that kind of money? Yet, looking at the recent numbers, Chipper compares very closely to A-Rod. Go and read it for yourself.

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. isuzudude November 9, 2007 at 3:59 pm
    I have a question unrelated to the topic above (sorry, Joe.) Does anyone know what happened to former Met pitching prospect Shane Hawk? I know he was drafted in the 4th round in 2003 and put up some pretty nice numbers while in a relief role at single-A ball in ’03 & ’04 (WHIP under 1.00, more K’s than IP). Unbeknownst to me, after 2004, he never threw another professional pitch in his life. Did he get hurt? Arrested? Killed? Anyone have this answer? Assuming he kept pitching the way he was, certainly by now he would have made a very nice addition to our pigsty of a bullpen.
  2. joe November 9, 2007 at 4:07 pm
    Wow! Shane Hawk! He was basically the LH version of Philip Hughes, and his presence was probably the secret reason the Mets were OK with trading Scott Kazmir (sorry to bring that up).

    As of this time last year, Hawk was still trying to make a comeback from various shoulder surgeries. This from Scout.com:

    It has been over two years since talented left-handed hurler Shane Hawk threw a pitch in the Mets farm system. Surgeries to repair two tears in his labrum and another in his rotator cuff before a subsequent surgery prior to the start of the 2006 season has kept him on the shelf, but he’s set to resume throwing during Instructs.

    I don’t have a subscription to Scout but if anyone does, maybe they can give us the rest of the scoop? From what I can tell he did not pitch in 2007, but was placed on the 60-Day DL back in May. He might still be with the organization, as I haven’t seen anything about his release. Will try to dig up the scoop.

  3. isuzudude November 9, 2007 at 4:17 pm
    Thanks, dude. Good info. Makes you wonder what could have been if he stayed healthy. Another Billy Wagner in the making?
  4. joe November 9, 2007 at 6:01 pm
    He would have been our Joba Chamberlain. Which brings up an interesting point: fans can get all excited about Joba, or a Mike Pelfrey, or a Tim Lincecum, etc. — but with these extremely high ceiling, high-powered pitchers, who often have violent deliveries that put tremendous stress on their arms, all it takes is one injury and blam! Hot prospect to out of baseball in the blink of an eye.

    So that’s why you have to either stockpile plenty of arms — figuring one or two might work out — and/or trade away great arms while they’re healthy and have value. That’s not to say it was a bright idea to trade away Scott Kazmir, but for every Kazmir there are four or five Shane Hawks. Such a crapshoot.

  5. isuzudude November 10, 2007 at 9:06 am
    While we’re on the topic, I’ll give you another name to look up: Adam Walker. 6’7″ lefty we acquired in 2001 from Philly in the Wendell/Cook trade. I remember hearing at the time he could be a huge future star, but I see he completely fizzled out after the trade, making just 14 pro appearances before calling it quits in ’03. Any news?
  6. Micalpalyn November 10, 2007 at 10:23 am
    Note to Joe: This blog cares little for Arod!!

    We’ve adhered to the commissioner’s slot recommendations,” Minaya said. “We’ve been good citizens. But not all the teams have done that, and the competitive balance is not fair. We have to take that position under review as an organization…..Omar

    There’s fodder for a post!!!
    This was in the context of the new top ten Mets prospect list. I greatly disagree with the assessment because this list does not include the 4-7 AAAA players currently part of the Mets roster. All who are a LITTLE better than predecessors, Ober Moreno, Jeff Duncan, Grant Roberts, Pat roach and Jeff Keppinger.

    Baseball screwing itself (translation- Bud selig is screwing baseball), If they continually allow teams to pee on the rules (recomendations).

  7. skibolton November 12, 2007 at 10:19 am
    If arod does manage to get 30 million per year, what is that going to do to the asking price of guys like cabrera, tex, and howard when they hit the market. If the market for these guys ends up in that kind of price range, more players are going to become available at the trade deadline the next several years, and less teams are going to be involved due to financial restrictions. It’s ironic that this could be the second time arod destroys the competitive balance in baseball.
  8. joe November 12, 2007 at 10:29 am
    That’s a scary and legitimate point — particularly since Teixeira is also a Boras client.

    I can see it right now — next winter, Boras has his “book” expounding on the 50 reasons why Tex is better than and therefore more valuable (read: costly) than A-Rod.