So long, Chris Iannetta. I will miss you.
Here were the positional leaders in WAR in 2011 according to Fangraphs:
1. Troy Tulowitzki 6.3
2. Carlos Gonzalez 4.1
3. Chris Iannetta 3.3
Here are the leaders in WAR in 2011 according to baseball-reference.com:
1. Troy Tulowitzki 5.8
2. Todd Helton 2.7
3. Carlos Gonzalez 2.6
4. Chris Iannetta 2.6
For some reason Iannetta wasn’t good enough for Dan O’Dowd and Jim Tracy. Keep in mind that WAR is a cumulative stat so if Iannetta wasn’t essentially benched the last few weeks he might have been more valuable that Helton and CarGo according to BR.com!! AND THE ROCKIES TRADED HIM!
Today the Rockies traded Iannetta to the Los Angeles Angels for pitcher Tyler Chatwood. To top it off the Rockies are reportedly close to inking Ramon Hernandez to a two-year deal worth somewhere around $6.5MM.
Keith Law gives his thoughts and I just love this:
Iannetta scarcely got a fair shake from Jim Tracy, who’s one of the worst tactical managers in the game today, and he’s much better off out of the organization.
I have been ragging on Tracy for quite some time and especially with how he handles younger players. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Iannetta take off in LA.
What did the Rockies get in return?
Chatwood turns 22 in about two weeks. He is a right hand pitcher who started 25 games for the Angels last year (first year of Major League baseball). He had a 4.75 ERA and according to his FIP and xFIP he was actually lucky and could have finished with an ERA just under 5.00. Chatwood strikes out about 4.5 batters per nine innings but he also walks about 4.5. Just ask Ubaldo Jimenez how well a 1:1 ratio worked for him in 2011 at Coors Field. Chatwood doesn’t induce a ton of ground balls and allowed almost one home run per nine innings pitched.
Chatwood is almost exactly the kind of pitcher the Rockies should NOT bring to Coors Field.
I will say that Baseball America ranked Chatwood the second best prospect in the Angels farm system prior to the 2011 season. He was not in BA’s top 10 for Anaheim (Los Angeles, whatever) prior to the 2010 season. He made a big jump on many scouts prospect’s list between February 2010 and February 2011 because in 13 starts at high A ball he struck out nearly 8 batters per nine innings and in 12 starts in AA he struck out 4.74 batters while walking only 3.56.
Maybe the Rockies think they can turn him for another player but realistically they didn’t get a lot for Iannetta.
Who catches for the Rockies in 2012?
Many watched Wilin Rosario, one of the Rockies top prospects prior to the 2011 season, flail at the plate towards the end of the 2011 season with the Rockies. In 57 plate appearances with the Rockies at the end of last year he batted .204/.228/.463 – terrible. Rosario has never played in AAA and in Tulsa last year (Rockies AA affiliate) he batted .249/.284/.457 – he got on base about as frequently as our old baseball challenged friend Jose Lopez. And that is in AA! Thus far in the Dominican Winter League he is batting .224/.273/.457.
Rosario is not ready for the Major Leagues.
The Rockies know this and instead of entrusting Iannetta to full time duty in 2012 they signed Hernandez. Hernandez is 35 and will be 36 in May of next year. He was an All-Star in 2003 but has not appeared in more than 100 games since 2008. He has split duties the past three seasons and is a slow footed catcher who is a decent hitter at this stage in his career. Mind you, the Rockies are not getting anything more out of Hernandez that they didn’t already have in Iannetta.
I am guessing the Rockies signed Hernandez with the intent of him mentoring Rosario next year. But right now, for 2012, the Rockies just got worse today.
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11 comments
1 ping
Peter Bacich
November 30, 2011 at 10:01 PM (UTC -6)
I don’t know if I agree with the notion that they got “Worse”. I have been digging into sabremetrics for a few years ago and I developed a player evaluation formula which gives points for positive production variables and punishes them for negative performance variables. You have standard production (No RISP) and a weighted production component (RISP) which is then standardized for Plate Appearances. According to my analysis Ramon Hernandez was the 5th most productive Catcher per plate appearance in 2011. Ianetta wasn’t far behind at 7th. I do think Angels won this trade however…..
Cole C.
November 30, 2011 at 10:50 PM (UTC -6)
Dealing Dan appears to be attempting to deal the Rox another 4th place finish.
Montana Steve
December 1, 2011 at 2:23 PM (UTC -6)
I think we all knew this day was coming. I just would have liked to receive more on our end. Sigh.
Jake Fearing
December 1, 2011 at 2:24 PM (UTC -6)
The game is not all about defense. What has he done at the plate in his 6 season career?
Logan Burdine
December 1, 2011 at 2:33 PM (UTC -6)
He’s had TWO seasons in which he had over 400 plate appearances. In both of those years, he posted a WAR well over 3.0 (WAR does take into account offensive contributions) and an OBP over .370. That is excellent production from a catcher and the eight spot. Plus, he’s 28 and cheap, unlike Hernandez who will be 36 next year and the Rockies will have to overpay for his services. Keith Law said it best. The Rox never gave him a chance. O’Dowd hurt his team with this trade. They’ll be giving up on Wilin sometime around July 2o13.
Travis Lay
December 1, 2011 at 2:38 PM (UTC -6)
We have seen how Tracy and O’Dowd treat young players, too. If Wilin comes up at some point in 2012 and has 2 bad weeks at the plate he will be sent down. This team’s leadership does not have the patience required to let young hitters develop. As Ian Stewart and Dexter Fowler how much leeway they had with the team the past few seasons.
Bret Pittenger
December 1, 2011 at 10:02 PM (UTC -6)
The Rockies, have a ton of talent, and a terrible GM, Manager, and Pitching Coach. Iannetta was never given a fair shake. He will end up being an above average major leaguer, while at best, Chatwood is a 3. They are throwing darts with a blind fold on at pitching prospects. They need to invest in somebody other than Tulo and Cargo.
Logan Burdine
December 2, 2011 at 11:11 AM (UTC -6)
Well said.
Drew Pappas
December 2, 2011 at 2:04 PM (UTC -6)
I disagree with this entire article. The Rockies aren’t a better team with Iannetta as the starting catcher. If there is any blame on Tracy for the catching situation, its for letting Yorvit go. He’s been the best catcher we’ve had in awhile. With the stick and calling a game. Iannetta is not the answer. Year after year he’s been given the starting job and through his terribe at-bats and his fondness for only drawing walks…he played himself out of Colorado and I couldn’t be happier. How many time did he come up with 2 outs, a runner on base, and just took a walk. You hit 8th!!!!!! Of course guys are going to throw around you to face the pitcher. So your job becomes if the pitcher misses and puts a pitch across the plate, you better be swinging to drive in a run and help win your team a ballgame. Every time Iannetta came up in this situation he would let the count go to 2-0, then take a strike, then let it go 3-1, then walk or possibly watch another strike go by before he walks the pitch later. THAT IS NOT A GOOD AT-BAT. All it does is inflate his OBP which makes us put more value in him. Which is stupid. He did the same thing Garrett Atkins did. Let’s keep a 3rd basemen who ONLY hits 3-run homeruns when the Rockies are leading 8-3. If the Rockies are losing by 1 in the 8th and Atkins has 2 on…he won’t go bomb bomb then. Just like Iannetta would take a walk in the 19th inning with a runner on and a pitcher on deck. He doesn’t have what it takes to win games. So give us Chatwood. Every team needs arms. Not underachieving catchers.
Logan Burdine
December 2, 2011 at 2:20 PM (UTC -6)
Interesting that you bring up Atkins to make your point. The Rockies would kill to get the kind of production at third that he put up from 2005-2008. Ian Stewart hasn’t even come close.
Also, we don’t agree on Torrealba at all. He’s a slap hitter who routinely slugs in the .300s.
I’d rather a guy take a walk in front of the pitcher than swing at bad pitches and make an out. Ultimately, having the pitcher make the third out is a much better result than him leading off an inning. Plus, if that theory were true, why aren’t there more 8 hitters posting abnormally high OBPs? It’s just not realistic.
Michael
December 2, 2011 at 6:16 PM (UTC -6)
Although I am not crazy about this trade I believe that for once the Rox dealt from strength. They have several catchers that seem serviceable along with a big prospect on the way. Iannetta will never have a higher trade value because of the terrible state of catchers in the majors right now. He is a 235 career hitter with a little pop, bad home away splits who likes to take pitches. He definitely got a big boost to his OBP by hitting 8th last year as seen by the fact that when he was moved up in the order in september his OBP dropped 30 points with a quickness. I agree that Chatwood is the wrong type of pitcher as a starter for Coors Field but I think he could be very good out of the bullpen (better control and similar fastball to Brothers with an improving changeup) if the Rox keep him. Chatwood is still at 21 a big prospect and hopefully O’Dowd will look to flip him to get a true impact player before his flyball ways hurt him at Coors.
The Rockies master plan is almost complete and baseball won’t know what hit’em |
January 16, 2012 at 4:35 PM (UTC -6)
[...] Iannetta was sent to the Anaheim Angels before they became focal points in the baseball world by signing Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. [...]