Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Snakes Score

I don't care how many prospects Billy Beane got for Dan Haren, the Snakes came away with one of the best pitchers in the game. This guy is the real deal and this deal changes the balance of power. Brandon Webb and Dan Haren match up to our dynamic duo punch-for-punch, and the experience factor puts them over the top. Hell, Webb has won a Cy and Haren started the '07 All-Star game! Our boys are good, but they've yet to establish that kind of track record. I know it is silly to talk about "balance of power" when we will be lucky to stay out of last place and the Snakes will be defending a title, but we can always dream, no? We will get some dream match-ups in our series against AZ: Webb vs. the Hurra-Cain, Haren vs. the Linkster, etc. Looking forward to that.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Snakes got better. The doggers picked up Kuroda and the Pudres traded a minor leaguer for Jim Edmonds. Maybe Edmonds is on his last legs, he was hurt last year, but can still provide some power and spent a career being a very good outfielder. Kuroda may not have the upside that the doggers think, but he is a serviceable pitcher that should be able to throw a fair number of innings. Haren is huge. Remember the guy had an ERA of somewhere just above 1 for much of last year. Valverde was a very good closer last year and was traded in a separate deal. As Mr. Malo puts it, "he is a fungible closer, and Arizona has a lot of live young arms." Advantage - not Giants.

JC Parsons said...

I agree, the pickup of Haren is very big. I am not quite so ready to say he will be better than LinceCain. I don't think his upside is quite as high, however he is a great #2 and would be the ace on many teams. Just add him to the list of super pitchers in the NL West. That, combined with the ball parks, make our division a tough one to score in. This is just more reason to stick with defense and pitching.
Edmonds is a non move, I know Zo still has some Cardinal yearnings, but I doubt he finishes the year.
I do think the snakes are pretty mellow about dumping their closer (47 saves doesn't happen too often!) but they probably know something. I also doubt that Kuroda will have much impact but he's a good bottom of the rotation type.
Meanwhile, as each day passes we get closer to resigning Feliz (again!)which will make me quite ill.
Boy, Roger is going to put up a stink. I bet our wonderfully rascist society lets him off.

Anonymous said...

Can someone tell me why we are (SF Chronic, today, Dec. 19) interested in Mr. Anna Benson? Anyone? Please......?

Also, a note to Pete Rose. No, most definitely, "juicers" do not make you look like a choirboy. Cheating in an attempt to perform better, win more, or prolong your career is not the same as betting on your team, and, by inference, perhaps putting out a variable level of performance to cover a spread. Not even Michael Vick makes you look like a choirboy.