I am pretty sure I have never appreciated Twitter more than during this trade season in baseball. Never have I seen so much information flowing so readily leading up to trades. In recent years we had webpages at the big sports sights with pretty regular updates about any rumors, but with the immediacy and 140 character limit the updates were frequent, quick, short and concise.
Of course, we also get some really silly, or maybe stupid, Tweets, too…
The first one comes from before Ubaldo was traded and makes me really wonder where some people get their rumors…
@TroyRenck I am so mad if Reds offered Volquez/Chapman/Mesoraco for Jimenez, and we turned it down. Why would D.o.D so this?!?!
This was tweeted at Troy Renck from @AustinS_57. I would have to agree with Austin in that if, and that is one out-of-nowhere IF, the Reds offered up that package for Ubaldo and O’Dowd didn’t take it, yes, WHY OH WHY?!? Of course, no way the Reds offered this package and I never even saw anything close to it. Mesoraco was, and still is, off limits in the trade market. Volquez is a proven big league starter and Chapman is a flamethrower in the truest sense of the word. Never at any point has it been speculated from any of the beat writers (Renck included) or the national writers that a package close to this was offered.
Austin was throwing kerosene on the fire.
[[[[ For serious Ubaldo trade coverage from BSB; the mistreatment of Ubaldo and what the Rockies got in return ]]]]
Next comes a tweet from @2outRBIs soon after the trade was announced on Twitter:
@TroyRenck with the acquistion of #McBride, do you anticipate the retirement of #Helton?
As I tweeted shortly after; that is one amazing use of his Jump to Conclusions mat. Helton is having the most consistent (in a good way, not an Ian Stewart way) year of any Rockies player at the plate and because the Rockies received a player that is considered nothing more than an organizational player Helton is going to retire now? Apparently this was a prevalent thought on Twitter tonight as Drew Goodman had this to say on his Twitter account moments after the game ended in San Diego tonight:
Helton not retiring…
Helton must get to 2,700 hits to make the Hall of Fame, or so I think. He cannot retire and because the Rockies got a throw-in from the Indians in the form of a guy who will play first base for the Rockies AA team for the next few seasons is not reason enough to scare Helton into retirement.
Finally, we have this gem from @troycoverdale. I tweeted that the Rockies were raped by Cleveland, a tweet I would probably dial back a bit now but it is real hard for the Rockies to come out ahead on this one, Coverdale responded in a manner in which he did not believe me (who would? Anyone that knows me knows I am nothing more than a blowhard with a pea sized brain). I tweeted back, he tweeted at me, etc, etc and then comes this argument from Coverdale was to why Rockies fans should not be sad to see Ubaldo leave Colorado:
@TravisLay_BSB: How is he “top tier”? Record right about .500, only big year was last year, & that lasted until ASG. He’s Edwin Jackson
He’s Edwin Jackson, eh? I won’t even worry that Coverdale brings Ubaldo’s “record” into the argument. Anyone who uses a pitchers wins and losses in any argument immediately is not worth arguing.
But let’s compare Ubaldo and Jackson.
2010
Jackson: 214 hits in 209 1/3 innings, 3.86 FIP, 1.395 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, 3.8 WAR
Jimenez: 165 hits in 221 2/3 innings, 3.10 FIP, 1.155 WHIP, 8.7 K/9, 3.7 BB/9, 6.3 WAR
2011
Jackson: 141 hits in 128 2/3 innings, 3.21 FIP, 1.415 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, 3.1 WAR
Jimenez: 116 hits in 122 innings, 3.48 FIP, 1.336 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 3.5 BB/9. 2.5 WAR
2010 there is no comparison. Coverdale in a later tweet said Jimenez hasn’t been any good since the ASG in ’10 but I guess he missed Jimenez’s August last year in which he had a sub three ERA and an opponent’s batting average against of .204. And Jimenez has been a lot better lately (not counting tonight which I think is fair considering the circumstances).
In 2011 Jimenez has been a bit of an enigma, I admit, but still allowing fewer hits than innings pitched and his strikeout rates are still great and his FIP is not bad, either. Really his year has come down to untimely walks and more home runs allowed than recent history. People keep talking about his decreased velocity, Coverdale included, but I’ll take 97 any day and there are very, very few pitchers in baseball history who continue to touch 100 as the seasons wear on.
Twitter is a wonderful place (follow me!) and there is a ton of great information, this past week has certainly proven that, but there are some laughable tweets too.
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7 comments
Forsythe P Jones
July 30, 2011 at 10:46 PM (UTC -6)
Well, I understand you’re point, but until we actually see the results of this trade in a few years time, I think saying the team was ‘raped’ is a bit of an overstatement. I’ve actually read very little where anybody thinks that the Rox did anything but well in this trade. But, as I say, like any evaluation, it takes years to get any ‘real’ results. I’ve got a lot of affection for the Chief, but I will be very curious to see how he does in the AL. I wish him well, but I can see him really laboring with the grinders and, frankly, better teams he’ll have to face. I can only imagine him sweating his way through five t-shirts while, say, Boston just sits there and waits him out for 120 pitches in five innings. I mean, he’s done that in the NL. I think this turns out to be a wash, outside of people’s affections for the guy. Cleveland won’t be his last team.
CodenameDuchess
July 31, 2011 at 1:28 AM (UTC -6)
You may be right but I still think giving away a front line starter (Solid #1, Great #2) for a guy who some organizations project as a number 3 and others see as a solid relief pitcher, a 1B that will never see the big leagues beside the occasional injury relief, a sinker baller who appears average at best in double AA, and a legit prospect. If Pomeranz doesn’t turn into a solid front line guy and Alex White doesn’t outperform his current projections this trade is a huge fail.
Maybe I would feel differently if Ubaldo was making $10-15MM a year but he is a guy who we had locked up at a very attractive rate. Dollar for dollar we can not go out and buy his production and unless Pomeranz is Clayton Kershaw and ready to produce at 21/22 next year we are wasting the prime years of Tulo and Cargo.
Kevin fitzgibbons
July 31, 2011 at 5:47 AM (UTC -6)
This entire current Rockies team should be embarrassed. It was their shabby play that made this awful day a reality. Booooooooooooooopppooooooop
Travis Lay
July 31, 2011 at 6:09 AM (UTC -6)
“booooopoooop”??? LOL!
At this point we can hope for the best – think Matt Holliday trade – but we won’t have any idea until the end of 2012 at the earliest.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we won’t really all hate the deal when Ubaldo throws 8 innings of 1 run baseball for the Indians this week.
Forsythe P Jones
July 31, 2011 at 7:10 AM (UTC -6)
I can’t disagree with any of this.
As to the main point of the post, yeah, ‘low-information’ readers/voters aren’t doing this country, or themselves, any favors. That Reds tweet reminds me of all the inane questions you read on a chat…’YanksRool44:Eduardo Nunez for Ryan Braun and Zach Greinkee. Who says no?’ It’s a sad reminder of how stupid a lot of people are.
Logan Burdine
July 31, 2011 at 8:21 AM (UTC -6)
I stopped following Troy Coverdale because of those absurd Ubaldo tweets.
John
July 31, 2011 at 9:22 AM (UTC -6)
I keep thinking how some of my friends felt after letting Cliff Lee go…a guy who said he wanted to be in Philly and retire there. No way is O’Dowd this crafty but hopefully in 2 years the Rockies can muster the balls (And Mulah) to try and sign him back because he was the only Ace I can really remember in a Rockies Uniform (Astacio?).