Blazers Make Several Moves - 2034

[JohnC]

Montreal

In an effort to try and salvage what has been a nightmare start for the Blazers, the team announced several moves today:

Aki Kondo was sent to AAA New Jersey. He has had a couple of good starts but this is a move that will hopefully help him get his confidence back. We expect to have him back up to Montreal before the season is over. We think he is going to be a good one and this is just a minor set back for him. Chris Brown will take his spot in the rotation for now. He has pitched well out of the pen this year but this isn't viewed as a long term solution.

Atilio Seabra was placed on waivers. This is a tough move for the team as they really like his versatility and power. The team hopes that he will clear waivers and make end up back on the team this season. Scotty Lorimer was recalled from AAA to take his roster spot. Not known for his bat, Lorimer was called up for his defense and speed.

Top rookie Benjamin Dale was removed from the starting lineup. His bat has been everything the team was hoping for but his poor defense in left field became too much to overcome. Veteran Adam Parrish takes over in left field. While no slouch with the bat himself, he provides much better defense in the outfield.

Finally, in a move to try and help the bullpen, young closer Alberto Ramirez was called up from New Jersey. Ideally he was to spend the entire season at AAA, however the team is in a desperate state at the moment and is trying to shake up the roster.

[RonCo]

It's a season where all the wheels fell off at once.

[udlb58]

[JohnC]

I don't get it Tyler.. LOL. You will need to dumb it down for me a little.

[RonCo]

Like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

[JohnC]

Ooooooh.... I get it now. lol.. Thanks Ron. He may very well be right, but there is no way this team can continue like this. We may wait too long to get back in contention, but it will turn around...and not sink!

[RonCo]

I like a good Titanic joke as well as the next guy.

[udlb58]

I like a good Titanic joke as well as the next guy.

Topical

As for Montreal. There are a couple of changes that I like (Parish for Dale; Ramirez in), some others feel more like desperation (Brown for Kondo, Seabra on waivers). I don't think you should be desperate John. Seabra is as good as ever, guys who are primarily playing against LHP are just subject to a few bad outings spoiling their numbers, since they don't get a ton of plate appearances. Seabra did have an 0-19 stretch, but he's 11 for 33 outside that stretch, and the power will still be there (though it hasn't been early, I believe it will correct). If I had $4.5m I'd definitely be putting in a claim. With Kondo and Brown, if you get anything at all from Brown in the rotation, it will be pure luck. He's never been good, and is a Borderline SP, which means his stuff will always perform under his rating (see Troop and Ramos; and Ramirez on my team). Kondo is a flyball pitcher, so Parish coming in should help him (and Troop/Pena/Tonche as they are Neutral).

[RonCo]

I think Seabra is more caught in a roster pinch than anything else. Sometimes you sacrifice something to make another thing happen. When you're a 34.5-year-old guy, the sacrifice can hurt.

You would expect Seabra to be playing on a big league roster again soon either way, though.

[JohnC]

hmmm.. I gotta disagree to a certain extent on your classification of a borderline SP always performing under his ratings. I don't read too much into that label the game puts on a player. Just like we don't read too much into the Scouting Report (in Troop's case...he is a stud). In this case it is simply because the 3rd pitch isn't rated at least a 6. I have seen many, many cases over the years where a pitcher with that label has gone on to dominate, or be very good year after year. If the primary pitches are rated high enough (like Troop) then they have the ability to do that. Brown is simply a case of trying to catch lightning in a bottle for a sim or 2..

As far as Seabra goes...I removed him from the lineup because I wasn't happy with his DF, not his bat. However, I did remove him from waivers yesterday and made a different move in order to keep him and play him at a position that suits him better.

[RonCo]

I think Brown will be fine.

[usnspecialist]

brown clearly isn't a long term solution, but as a Band-Aid he should be ok.