Thursday November 20, 2003
 

BASEBALL BLIPS
 

KEN BRETT LOSES BATTLE TO BRAIN CANCER

Of course, we all know his Hall of Fame brother, George, more. But Ken Brett had a very respectable 14 season major league career. Yesterday, he passed away at the age of 55.

People are talking a lot about how well he pitched in the 1967 World Series for the Boston Red Sox, at the age of 19. He pitched 1 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, becoming the youngest pitcher in World Series history. The World Series is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, Ken Brett was the fourth overall pick in the 1966 draft out of high school, meaning his ascent to the big leagues was rapid. But more interesting to me is that, after the World Series showing in 1967, Brett did not play in the major leagues at all in 1968. Then pitched just 8 games with the Red Sox in 1969.

Ken Brett is also known as being one of three players to play for 10 different major league teams. Brett played for the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, California Angels, Minnesota Twins, and Los Angeles Dodgers before spending the 1980 and 1981 seasons playing with George and the Kansas City Royals.

Brett’s time with the Twins was quite brief. He pitched just 12 1/3 innings in 9 relief appearances at the start of the 1979 season. The Twins released him, the Dodgers signed him and he spent the rest of the season with them.

Ken Brett had a career record of 83-85 (with 11 saves) with a 3.93 ERA. Of the 349 games he pitched in, he started 184 of them. The lefty averaged about a strikeout every other inning he pitched. Brett was an All-Star in 1974 while pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He finished that season with a 13-9 record.

But Brett could also hit a little bit. A career .262 hitter in 347 at bats, Ken Brett also hit 10 home runs. He also was an above average fielder.

So despite the fact that he wasn’t a Hall of Fame caliber player, like his brother George, Ken Brett was a very good baseball player. He had plenty of great moments in his career, even if one of them was giving up the 700t^h career home run to Hank Aaron. He was later a broadcaster for the Angels and the Mariners.
 

IBANEZ SIGNS WITH SEATTLE

At first glance, the Mariners signing of OF Raul Ibanez to a 3 year contract for $13.25 million makes little sense. Last season, they had the best defensive outfield in the majors, with Randy Winn in left, Mike Cameron in center and Ichiro in right. So, where does Ibanez fit in?

Well, first, Cameron is the #1 free agent centerfielder on the market. Should Cameron decide to sign elsewhere, the picture becomes much clearer. Ibanez would play left field with Randy Winn moving to centerfield, where he played for Tampa Bay in previous seasons.

However, what if Mike Cameron re-ups with the Mariners? Well, there are a couple of options. First, the Mariners could trade, or non-tender Randy Winn, opening up left field for Ibanez. Second, keep Winn too. That scenario becomes a bit more complex, but I tell you what, it does leave the Mariners and manager Bob Melvin with a number of options.

Let’s remember that in Ibanez’s eight major league seasons, he has played in 629 games. Here is the breakdown of games played, by position: LF- 252, RF - 146, 1B - 121, DH - 90, CF - 2, 3B - 1, C - 1.

So, he probably shouldn’t play CF, 3B, or C. But, why can’t he play some 1B and some DH? Ibanez is not a very good defensive 1B, but he’s not a very good LF or RF either. But, there is no question, Raul Ibanez can hit. So, what options do the Mariners have?

If I were in charge, here’s what I’d do. Randy Winn, Mike Cameron, Ichiro Suzuki, Raul Ibanez, John Olerud and Edgar Martinez are all very good major league players. Olerud and Martinez are getting to the stage of their careers when they can use some days off. So, I would play Ibanez at first base twice a week. I would DH him once or twice a week. I would platoon him with Randy Winn in some righty/lefty situations. If Cameron ever needs a day off, Winn could move to center. If Ichiro gets a day off, Ibanez could play in RF. Essentially, in any 7 game period, I would play Ichiro 6+ games, Cameron 6+ games, Martinez 5 games, Olerud 5 games, Winn 5 games and Ibanez 6 games.

The following season, 2005, a decision would have to be made on Winn. Who knows if Ichiro will be back after next season. 2004 will probably be the last season for Edgar Martinez. In other words, I don’t think that the Mariners signing of Ibanez would not have made sense had it been a one year deal. But by signing him for three years, I think it is a very good signing for the Mariners.
 

OTHER BASEBALL TRANSACTIONS

Brad Ausmus signed a 2 year-$4 million deal to stay with the Houston Astros. I know a lot of SABRmetricians don’t like him at all. If you look at his stats, he’s one of the worst hitters in the big leagues the past three or four seasons. As poor a hitter as he is, he is a great defensive catcher. His Zone Rating and Range Factors are well above the league average. Again, that means nothing to me, but to some it does. He is known as being a good leader. He handles a pitching staff well. He’s won two Gold Gloves. And, as a member of the Houston Astros, it’s huge that he has Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell on his side. Personally, I was thinking that if Ausmus was available for about $1 million, the Twins should have gone after him. The reason - insurance in case Mauer struggles. Who better to have on the bench teaching Mauer defense and game calling? (OK, Tom Prince would be good too, but that isn’t likely) And, if worse came to worse, I would still rather have a 35 year old Brad Ausmus as the every day catcher than Matthew Lecroy.

Milton Bradley and the Cleveland Indians reached an agreement on a one year contract yesterday, to avoid arbitration. Bradley, who has been a problem child in his professional years with both the Expos and Indians organizations, really had a breakout season last year in Cleveland. He had to be considered, along with CC Sabathia, as a possible All-Star representative for the Indians. Unfortunately, he was hurt shortly after the All-Star break and missed the rest of the season. His final numbers were - .321 with 10 home runs, 56 RBI and 17 stolen bases. A pretty good defensive outfielder, Bradley showed his 5-tool talent that had been projected for a couple of years.

Mark Shapiro is definitely moving the Cleveland Indians in the right direction with some of the moves he has made. Bradley came from the Expos. Jody Gerut came in a trade with the Rockies. Alex Escobar came from the Mets (along with Matt Lawton). Coco Crisp came from the Cardinals. Between those four outfielders, their outfield could be solid, and set for a few years.
 

COSTE IN MEXICO

Last week, I wrote that Fargo, ND, native, Chris Coste had signed a minor league deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was also invited to major league spring training camp. Of course, the question becomes: Who caught for the Brewers in 2003? The primary catcher was 35 year old Eddie Perez. He made $500,000. He played in 107 games and got 350 at bats. He hit .271/.304/.420 with 17 doubles, 45 homers and 11 RBI. The other catcher was Keith Osik. He made $455,000. He played in 80 games and got 241 at bats. He hit .249/.342/.324 with 2 homers and 21 RBI. Both are now free agents.

In other words, I think that Coste should be given a legitimate shot at making that Brewers team. The Brewers are cutting more and more salary in an attempt to field a team at $30 million. Coste, who would make the league minimum, can be at least be effective enough to land a back up catcher role, or even a utility position, since he has played catcher, 1B, 2B, 3B, RF and DH in his professional career.

Now, Coste is playing in the Mexican Winter League for the Obregon Yaquis. So far, he has played in 33 games, 12 at 1B and 19 at catcher. I’m sure he is still getting his ankle back to 100%. Here are his updated numbers in Mexico:

SETH’S TOP FREE AGENTS

Every week, I’d like to update my list of the top 3 free agents available at each position. With Raul Ibanez signing with the Mariners, the first of my top 3’s has signed, so I will now update the list. Ibanez was my #2 left fielder available, so I moved Jose Cruz, Jr, up to #2 and inserted Reggie Sanders. Any thoughts or arguments? E-mail me.

That’s it for today. I’d love to hear your thoughts on anything you’ve read above, or anything sports-related, or TV related, or, well, anything you would like to know about me. So, e-mail me and I’ll be happy to share some information, an opinion, or whatever.

One other question, I would appreciate your thoughts on is a little business. What do you think about the possibility of me including advertisements on this site. I definitely do not want to have pop-ups, because I think those are incredibly annoying. But if an advertisement could just be a link, I don’t think that’s so bad. If anyone has any advice on what I should do regarding ads, please e-mail me and let me know. Hey, if you own a company or work somewhere that you think might be willing to pay me to advertise for them, let me know. Maybe we can work something out. All I know is that this is fun to write up and research this site, but it does take a lot of work and a lot of time. So, just let me know what your thoughts on such a thing would be. Thank you!

Back to Archives           Home