Baseball Thread 6 - Steve Garvey's got a lot of mouths to feed

True story: My dad got some tickets to a banquet (I have no idea what for) to an event at the Detroit Yacht Club, featuring athletes from several Detroit teams. I know Henry Boucha was there at one, Bob Kowalkowski of the Lions and John Mengelt of the Pistons.
Me, being the well-red inquisitive 9-year-old, I asked every one of them a question. For most, it was "How much money do you make?"
For Martin, it was "What punch did you throw at Dave Boswell in the Lindell AC in 1969 when you were coaching the Twins?"
Everyone else laughed; dad turned Crimson; Martin looked like he wanted to kill my dad cause he thought he put me up to it.
During the autogrpah session, I went up and asked again. "I'm serious, I just want to know."
"The right one," Martin replied.
The next year we went to another banquet at the DYC; Dad's words to me were "Don't ask how much money they make and if Martin's there DON'T ask him what punch he threw."
I still remember it vividly 36-37 years later.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4353256

Cards' gets Holliday. I didn't expect to see Brett Wallace to go, but oh well.

 

I don't know these prospects well, but beane was right, no? He made a profit (prospects-wise) on this.

 

Absolutely. Wallace alone might have been too high a price given the way Holliday's production has dropped off and the fact that he is going to be a free agent after this season. The Cardinals better win it all with this one.

 

Cardinals get a huge upgrade in LF (partially because Holliday is good).

They also, iirc, get two first-round picks if Holliday is offered arbitration and leaves.

That's a good haul for Wallace, who I do like a lot as a prospect. They just can't afford to waste Pujols' prime years.

 

I think this is a better trade for the Cardinals in the long run, too. They lose Brett Wallace who is a highly regarded third baseman out of Arizona State and their first overall pick in 2008, but they get to keep Ryan Ludwick who has done a lot better since coming off the DL.

 

Of course, they would still have Ludwick even if they didn't trade Wallace.

 

Weren't initial reports before the All-Star break saying that Ryan Ludwick was going to be a part of the package? I could be mistaken, but I thought I remember reading that.

 

I don't remember seeing that, but it really doesn't matter. The names of players rumored to be in the discussion isn't what I'm evaluating. I'm talking about what they actually had to give up in the deal.

 

In that regard alone, I agree with you. Wallace for Holliday is a fine deal, but the A's got much more out of the deal than they should have. Wallace's numbers in the minors are very similar, if not better, than Holliday's in the majors.

In 27 games with Memphis and Springfield, Wallace hit .380 with eight homers and 29 RBIs. Holliday struggled to get to eight homers halfway through the season.

 

Thing is, I've read that most scouts don't see Wallace as a third baseman in the bigs, they believe he would have to be moved somewhere else. So say the Cardinals would move him to first base -- there's Pujols there to block him. In other words, they wouldn't have a place to put him in St. Louis, which made him expendable in a trade to help them acquire something they did need -- a big bat.

 

I don't know what numbers you've seen but this season, Wallace is hitting .289 with 11 homers and 35 RBI in 350 total at-bats (128 at AA, 222 at AAA).