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Highlights of the…Emoo News Vol I, Edition II
May 23, 1997
By Alex Wassem.
General Manager of the Smart Alecs
The 1997 baseball season has reached the ¼ mark and, as with every season, there are plenty of surprises to be had. Who knew the Pirates would be as competitive as they have been thus far? Actually, A.J.’s Flyers had a somewhat sound strategy in signing Lieber, Loiselle, Loaiza and Schmidt to contracts. Unfortunately, it hasn’t translated into many wins. My opinion of the Pirates has not changed. I still believe that, as the season unfolds, the Pirates will slowly slip in the standings losing more than they win. However, I also believe they’ve done a nice job of acquiring players to replenish the system…
…Jose Guillen is proving me wrong. I thought he was given the call to Pittsburgh prematurely. Early on, as he struggled batting around .150. Since then, however, he has stepped it up. Any 20-year old kid in the majors for the first time who can dip to .150 and not have hit bother him has a strong mental makeup. Regardless of what Guillen does for the remainder of ’97, he’s a long-term find for Pittsburgh. I’m just disappointed he wasn’t optioned to AAA to start the year because I would have been all over him in the Ultra phase. Kudos to Mr. Nelson….
…The Suns pulled the trigger on a trade that stands to give them two excellent building blocks. Andruw and Chipper Jones look to put the Suns back on the map in 1998. Chipper is locked into a $.020 contract through 1999 making him one of the best bargains in the league. He qualifies at 3B or SS this year, hits for average and power and can even steal an occasional base. Having Chipper and the for-real Scott Rolen at the corner next season gives the Suns potentially the best 1-2 third sack combo in the EMOO league. Andruw is in the option year of his contract. The Suns, by signing him for another 3 years or so, will probably have another bargain basement find. As we all know, Andruw can fill up all four Roto categories. There’s been some question this year in Atlanta regarding his attitude but the veterans in the clubhouse will not let him become a distraction. The Suns did have to part with Greg Maddux and Raul Mondesi but, in terms of dollars and cents (sense), this was an easy trade to justify on their part…
…On the other side the Smart Alecs gave up one of their two franchise players (the other being Jeff Bagwell) inherited during the spring of ’96. Jones was penciled into a three-year raise practically before the paint was dried on owner Alex W’s nameplate. The Alecs expected a three-year rebuilding process but now find themselves in solid position to contend for a league championship in only year #2 of the rebuilding effort. From a statistical standpoint, this trade made sense to the Alecs. The team knew going into opening day that pitching would make or break the club. The starting pitching started from the gate slowly. Maddux, with or without a bad hamstring, will elevate this staff. The Alecs have gotten strong pitching early on from Pedro Astacio; Tony Saunders and Steve Cooke have pitched well at times. Denny Neagle has done what the team expected of him when they signed him to a long term contract in the offseason. Mondesi gives the team a glut of outfielders but this also allows the team to trade one of them off if the need arises. Joe Randa at 3B will fill in for the demoted Shane Andrews until he learns how to hit the offspeed pitch. The one area of weakness for the Smart Alecs continues to be at closer. Owner Alex W. is still contemplating whether or not to take his chances without one other than Ugueth Urbina. There is one offer on the table he is mulling over…..
…The Mooners made, what on paper at least, seemed like the logical move in demoting Tom Glavine for a week in April as the Braves were traveling to Mile High to face the Rockies. After Glavine was done, the braves had scored a 10-0 shutout of the Rocks. This goes to show that, regardless of the opponent or the field, good pitching still will beat good hitting more often than not. Glavine falls into the short list of pitchers that I would always go to bat with regardless. He’s certainly no Terell Wade. This also reminds us that even the Rockies are mortal as Hideo Nomo proved last season in Denver….
…Poor Bill Swift. He can’t throw from the mound to third base without getting an owey. And let’s not forget about poor Pete Harnisch, who, after seeing the speech by the ex-big leaguer with mouth cancer, decided it was time to quit. Little did he realize how tough it is to give up the snuff. More than a month later, Harnisch has yet to be reactivated to the roster. And the Brainiac award goes to the Mets duo of Jason Isringhausen and Bill Pulsipher. Isringhausen, after an interview discussing his relief over having tuberculosis rather than cancer, thought the mike had been turned off when he called the Mets representative sitting next to him "Jew Boy". Pulsipher, upset over a poor AAA outing and not getting the call up to New York, decided to take his frustrations out on the clubhouse wall. The wall won by TKO, further delaying Pulshipher’s return…
…Mel Rojas got his first opportunity for a save in the Cub’s 19th game of the season. He blew it. Signed to a multi-year million dollar contract by Chicago (and a 27 cent contract by the Thunder), Rojas has an ERA of 6.00 with 3 saves in mid-May. This is just another reminder that high priced closers are a risky commodity…
…Speaking of closers, enjoy the value while you can for Rod Beck. Off to a sensational start, Beck has started to cool off and has seen his ERA soar to 4.08, higher than his 1996 ERA. Granted, he has 14 saves already but does anyone expect San Francisco to maintain its winning pace through the dog days of August?…
…JD Drews is commonly considered the top amateur talent in the country and the odds-on favorite as the first pick in the upcoming amateur draft, a pick owned by the Detroit Tigers. However, he has also chosen agent Scott Boras to represent him. This makes for a sticky situation in that Boras has long been known as a tough negotiator. Today in the South I NCAA Regional Baseball Tournament, Drews hit his school-record sixth grand slam home run in the seventh inning to become college baseball’s first ever 30-30 player in a Florida State 16-2 romp over Central Florida in Tallahassee. Said Drews, "I was just fortunate that I got a good pitch to hit and it ended up out of the ballpark." And modest, as well!!! Informed sources on the EMOO circuit tell me that the Xpress front office is quietly starting talks with agent Scott Boras as we speak…
…Upon returning from scouting some talent in the Midwest regional, GM Alex W. of the Smart Alecs happened by the article in the Scottnel Gazzette dated May 13, 1998 and felt compelled to respond. This excerpt was culled from the op-ed in the local newpaper:
"What GM Scott Nelson has managed to do in just the past two months to turn over the Suns is nothing short of amazing. What he’s done is position the Suns to be competitive for the next 3-4 years in this league. That young outfield could be the talk of the league in years to come and he’s built an infield that’s very deep and flexible. The Suns have cap flexibility to sign some of these youngsters to long term contracts if they produce like they appear they will. If Nelson can add a pitcher or two, say a productive Paul Wilson or Pete Harnisch and the emergence of young Kerry Wood in late ’98, they’ll have some excitement in Scottnel. Rather than hanging Nelson in effigy, the good fans should congratulate him for his shrewdness and foresight. They have a fine, young team and I’ll stand by Scott Nelson any time."
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