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On the Casey trade...
Of all the players the Tigers could have acquired as a left-handed contact hitter, at a reasonable price, Sean Casey was probably the best. He is a player of declining skill and he did have a serious back injury early this season - two broken bones that placed him on the disabled list for six weeks. But he is still a solid hitter, who does not strike out a lot. He remains a good hitter to have up with runners on base and less than two outs. The pitching prospect the Tigers gave up for him, right-hander Brian Rogers, was an 11th round draft pick out of college a few years ago. He is a sinker-slider pitcher, with a sidearm type motion, who has only been used in middle or long relief in the minor leagues. He throws about 90 mph and scouts I talked to about him Monday said he has a limited ceiling. He is being projected, at best, as a long reliever in the major leagues and it is a long shot that he will stay for long in the major leagues - if he makes it at all. What the Pirates got out of the deal was financial relief. Casey is making $8.5 million this season on the final year of his contract. The Tigers will pay him between $2.8 million and $2.9 million for the remainder of the season. He is eligible for free agency after this season. The risk here comes in sending Chris Shelton to the minors. Will it be good for him because he has obviously struggled at the plate? Or will it hurt his psyche? He seems like a strong kid emotionally, but there is no ready-made answer for that one. Also, Dmirti Young has been swinging a lot better from the left side than the right side. This puts some pressure on him to produce from the right side when the Tigers face left-handed pitching. The Twins have good left-handed starters and the Tigers will also see lefty starters when they play in New York and Boston next month.
The good part is that Casey is an outstanding person, who is well-liked by everyone in baseball. That will help take some of the sting out of Shelton being so coldly farmed out to make room for him. He also has a track record that his teammates have to respect. Do I think this was a good move? Yes, I do. Does it guarantee the Tigers anything? No, it does not. It was a tweaking of their roster, but nothing overboard. Given their lofty spot in the standings, that is about all they needed.
posted by Pat Caputo at
12:03 PM
9 Comments:
Casey- Sounds like a good move to me. Shelton- DY says hitting coach at Toledo is vey good. Shelton swings very hard and his swing does not seem compact enough. It does not seem smooth, as some of the good hitters. I agree with you he swings at bad pitches. Has anyone looked at films from the early part of the season to see if there has been some kind of change. But who am I to say. DY- Do the tiger brass give their players eye test? Most of us have a dominate eye. Vinny.
daver,
although i do like the trade because i think a lot of casey, i did like the idea, too, of platooning shelton with young at first base. but a good thing about the trade is that it gives the tigers options and insurance if something does not go well with young. they can call shelton back and still have a left-handed bat in casey.
caputo
thinkingman,
i agree with you that this is more than a minor deal because they farmed shelton out. however, i doubt it will have a bad bearing on the mood in the clubhouse. if ballplayers understand one thing, it's business. and talking to shelton today, it was obvious he didn't like the move, but understood it.
caputo
vinny,
the question marks about shelton when he was in the minor leagues was whether he was a good enough athlete to sustain success at the major league level. he is an ok fielder at first, but limited. as a hitter, he does seem to struggle to recognize pitches. it's why he lets good ones go by and swings at some bad ones. he is smart, hardworking and been taught well, but you can't teach a hitter to recognize pitches. it's a skill, it's tool, it's what separates hitters at the major league level. maybe shelton, now that pitchers have adjusted to him, doesn't have the talent to adjust back. time will tell.
caputo
daver,
i was stunned at how poorly young played first base last night. i've viewed him as underrated at the position and a pretty athlete for his size, but that was beyond bad. the good part is that casey is solid defensively and hits lefies as well as righthanders. they can just dh young righthanders - if monroe's legs will hold up in the outfield. he's had some injury issues lately.
caputo
danfman,
thanks for the stat, but that isn't the only one that indicates clutch hitting. i do remember when the tigers played the pirates early in the year casey being a tough out with runners in scoring position. most baseball people feel he is a good hitter to have up in the middle of a rally because he doesn't tend to kill them.
caputo
Pat. you're great on the radio and I have a lot of respect for you. But I have to call you on something. Saturday during your show a caller suggested that the Tigers should trade for Casey, and send Shelton down to work on his swing. You blew him off, and went on a mini-rant about not taking any more dumb trade calls. Turns out they did exactly what the caller suggested, and what you blew off. I had to call you on the carpet for that, because I know you're a stand up guy. I just found it ironic that this is exactly what they ended up doing.
Keep up the great work Pat, I can't get enough of you on the radio.
tom,
you're the second person to comment about that. but i honestly don't remember the call. if i was wrong, so be it. i'm not always right. don't claim to be. and i'm certainly not into hurting anybody's feelings. so if i am eating crow today, fine. and if i offended anybody, trust me, it wasn't intentional and i feel bad about it.
caputo
Pat, I knew I could trust you to be a stand up guy about it. Thanks man.
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