Reassessing "Reassessing the Kearns Trade"

[registerthis]

Once again, Gary Majewski is NOT injured. He's just not a good reliever or even a reasonable facsimile of a good reliever. He's not even a good reliever in AAA.

Bray maybe someday will be a good reliever, but you saw him pitch last year. He wasn't anything special. Even if he were healthy, he'd probably still be taking his lumps.

Meanwhile I just looked up a list which ranked Austin Kearns as the 10th best RF in MLB for THIS season to date. If I trade that, I want a closer. I mean, it's great that you'd be willing to trade Kearns and Lopez for something the Reds didn't get for Kearns and Lopez, but at some point you need to recognize the sizable gap between what you'd have been willing to do and what was done.

I only think the trade was awful because it always was and because it missed its window for success last year and because the Reds are now short on talent as a result of it.

This should be stickied, really. Not better way to sum up the failure of the trade than this.

[BRM]

Interesting quote from Majewski today. From C. Trent's blog.



Grabbed Majewski, and he seemed OK considering the year he's had (his sister dying recently, injuries in spring training). I asked him if he was looking forward to playing for the Reds as a healthy pitcher, and he had an interesting quote that I'll share.

"If I go up there and do half of what I did (in 2005 when he was with Washington), then I'd be happy ... and shove it up everybody's ass."

[Always Red]

Interesting quote from Majewski today. From C. Trent's blog.

Wow, John Wilkes Booth sounds a little bitter; wonder who he's pissed at?

The Nats, Bowden, the Reds, or the Reds fans who booed him?

[hebroncougar]

Interesting quote from Majewski today. From C. Trent's blog.

I like it. Now get it done Gary.:)

[Caveman Techie]

Well considering how much hate and bile he gets from the fans, I don't blame him. I'd have an additude also.

[BuckeyeRedleg]

If he goes up and does half of what he did in Washington (in 2005) he'll be DFA'd.

You see, that's the problem. The guy actually thought he was great in 2005.

Sounds to me like he's damaged goods all the way around.

[Caveman Techie]

Yeah cause a 2.93 ERA is sucking. :rolleyes:

[registerthis]

Yeah cause a 2.93 ERA is sucking. :rolleyes:

For a starter, it's great.

For a reliever, it's practically meaningless. Rheal Cormier and his 1.90 ERA are proof positive of that.

[Caveman Techie]

Oh, so ERA isn't an average number of runs a pitcher would give up in 9 innings of pitching whether it's as a starter or reliever?

Bob Wickman, who everyone here thinks would of been a better target for the trade last year had a 4.18 ERA at the time of the trade and he was able to bring it down to 2.67 on the year so is that .26 difference in ERA what makes or breaks a reliever?

[BuckeyeRedleg]

Yeah cause a 2.93 ERA is sucking. :rolleyes:

I think you might have missed the part where he thinks if does half of what he did in 2005, he'll have redemption.

Half of what he did in 2005, sounds a bit like 2006 to me.

No thanks.

[M2]

Yeah cause a 2.93 ERA is sucking. :rolleyes:

2.93 is fine, but it was a few kinds of lucky. A guy who puts that many runners on base and allows that much contact could have easily been above a 4.00 ERA, particularly if he was no longer in a division with three HR deflating pitcher's parks.

[RichRed]

Oh, so ERA isn't an average number of runs a pitcher would give up in 9 innings of pitching whether it's as a starter or reliever?

Bob Wickman, who everyone here thinks would of been a better target for the trade last year had a 4.18 ERA at the time of the trade and he was able to bring it down to 2.67 on the year so is that .26 difference in ERA what makes or breaks a reliever?

The point is that ERA is an especially misleading stat for a reliever because so much of his job is how he does with men on base. If he comes in with 2 men on, allows a 3-run homer but gets the next 3 batters out, his ERA for that appearance is 0.00 but he sure didn't do his job.

Hold percentage, WHIP, K/BB and K/9 are better measuring sticks.

[HokieRed]

Are you all ready for Brendan Harris, All-Star, this year's Dan Uggla? Current line: .358/.402/.468/.870.

[VR]

Are you all ready for Brendan Harris, All-Star, this year's Dan Uggla? Current line: .358/.402/.468/.870.

Will he beat out Lopez?

[registerthis]

Oh, so ERA isn't an average number of runs a pitcher would give up in 9 innings of pitching whether it's as a starter or reliever?

RichRed explained it pretty well. What a reliever would give up over 9 complete innings isn't important because the reliever's only in to face a few batters. A good reliever will typically have a low ERA, but not all relievers with low ERAs are good.

[boognish]

Are you all ready for Brendan Harris, All-Star, this year's Dan Uggla? Current line: .358/.402/.468/.870.

It's kind of interesting to look at...though Harris can't keep this pace up, "the trade" would look significantly better in the present if Harris currently had Castro's roster spot--I'm still not sure which sport Keppinger + cash is better than Harris, but IMO it isn't baseball--and Rauch had been the RHP in the deal instead of Maj (as several on the board suggested last July).

Still not the best ROI, but I think I could have found myself focusing on the warts of those two position players we gave up and rationalized the return much more easily.