Under The Knife 7/26/24

Deadline Looms

Every year, I wonder why no team does what Doug Melvin did in 2008. In early July, he knew he needed a pitcher and CC Sabathia was not only available, but one of the best in baseball. He knew Sabathia was a talent fit and had assurances he would be a culture fit as well, willing to go all out despite the fact both Melvin and Sabathia’s people knew a long term deal wasn’t happening.

By doing that move early, the Brewers got five extra Sabathia starts. The team went 4-1 while Sabathia’s OPS against was miniscule. He functionally replaced Seth McClung and became the clear ace (no offense, Ben Sheets) on a very mediocre pitching staff. They made the playoffs, didn’t go far, and Sabathia moved on.

The time to get more than one start out of pitchers or some extra at-bats from your big addition has come and gone. The deadline is somehow magnetic, with most coming together in the last 48 hours and this has always seemed sub-optimal to me. Yes, decisions aren’t all made and an early move might be an overpay if the market’s not set.

Then again, Doug Melvin gave up four players in that deal, including two hot hitters in Matt LaPorta and Michael Brantley (who was the PTBNL). One of those had a good career. I can’t even remember the other two without looking it up. Rob Bryson made it to AAA for 13 games, while Zach Jackson pitched in 12 games for Cleveland. You could argue the trade value on Brantley alone (which it basically is), but parades > prospects from my view. There’s not enough GMs (or whatever title they have) willing to make moves these days. Maybe they need a mustache.

On to the injuries:

TROUT

For a while now, I’ve been comparing Mike Trout to Ken Griffey Jr. However, that’s not instructive with this latest episode. I’ve reached for others, but aside from pure time comparisons, like the contemporary injury to JT Realmuto - similar injury, similar surgery, different timeline and success - it’s still not that instructive. Something went wrong here and didn’t for Realmuto, who had the more standard, successful outcome.

That Trout only made it a few innings after being cleared to start a rehab assignment is telling. This is about comfort and not feeling that. There’s nothing Trout did in one at bat and a couple innings in the field that he didn’t do during the actual rehab work. Probably more, given the standard programs.

The biggest downside here would be that the meniscus has torn again and they’ll try to trim it again. More likely, they’d remove what’s left, a simple operation that often takes a couple weeks to come back from but has some long term consequences. Trout may already be feeling some of those, but again, we’re talking about years, not months and if Trout needs an extensive Dwyane Wade style program to play each day, he should also note that Wade hasn’t had a knee replacement here five years post-playing and age-42.

Subscribers will learn about Mason Miller’s quirky injury, returning rotation in Dodgertown, and three All-Stars on the IL, one likely for the season, plus a lot more. Five bucks, friend.