La Russa on Making Trades
Good afternoon…
Just some notes, opinions and info to help tide you over until the Cardinals get underway @ Pittsburgh Friday night …
- In light of a mini-controversy ignited by comments he made in Philadelphia, manager Tony La Russa wants to clarify something: he hopes his team can be upgraded via trade, but he doesn’t advocate the raiding of the farm system to get it done.
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak continues to look for help, but has said he won’t sacrifice the future for a “Band-Aid” solution.
“My position is the same it’s always been since I’ve been here,” La Russa said. “And that is, if you can improve your team, you should try to do it as long as it’s reasonable. I think the key word there is ‘Reasonable.’ I’m not saying we should dump all of our resources (prospects) to improve. But you can use your resources if a reasonable deal comes along.”
La Russa told me he objects to having the trade debate being portrayed as a La Russa vs. Mozeliak thing. And he doesn’t want to be portrayed as someone being willing to throw Mozeliak under the bus if the first-year GM doesn’t swing some deals to help the team in the 2008 stretch run.
“I don’t want to get in the middle of this,” La Russa said. “I don’t like the way it’s being framed.”
- La Russa, however, made some very strong comments in challenging the organization to make trades, and so he should not be surprised that there was a big reaction to his words.
- My thought on this? La Russa and Mozeliak have different responsibilities. I don’t blame La Russa for pushing the team to make deals, reasonable or otherwise. But I don’t blame Mozeliak for wanting to weigh immediate needs against what’s best for the organization overall, and how immediate moves could impact 2009, 2010, etc. As I wrote the other day, Mozeliak has bosses, too. The wishes of Bill DeWitt and Jeff Luhnow factor into this process, and it is clear that they’re committed to building up the player development.
- La Russa manages the players. Mozeliak manages assets. They are not always on the same page; no manager and GM are, because they’re assigned different duties. Just keep that in mind.
But I think La Russa and Mozeliak work pretty well together, and perhaps TLR is sensitive to the perception that he’s calling out the young GM.
- As some readers have pointed out (correctly I believe): by speaking out the other day and pressing for a trade, La Russa wanted to convey to his players that he was fighting for them. He has asked them to give maximum intensity and effort, and that commitment has led to a good season, and the players like to know that the manager is pushing on their behalf.
Moving on …
- The Cardinals were holding their own against LH pitchers for a while this season, but they’re trending the wrong way. Since May 23, the Cardinals are batting .251 with a poor onbase (.310) and slugging (.392) percentage against lefty pitchers.
- The Cardinals are on a seven-game run against LH starters. In the first five games, they’re batting .223 with an awful .268 OBP, and a .362 SLG against the lefties (including LH relievers). Other than a few solo homers, they were unable to get much going against Ted Lilly, Sean Marshall, Cole Hamels, J.A. Happ and Jamie Moyer.
- Two more lefties to go in Pittsburgh: Zach Duke on Friday, and Phil Dumatrait on Saturday. And then it’s a RH, Ian Snell going against the Cardinals on Sunday.
- La Russa would like to add someone who can hit behind Albert Pujols. But even after cooling off for the last month (with signs of heating up again), Ryan Ludwick still ranks fourth in the NL in combined onbase-slugging as a cleanup hitter.
- Cardinals need to jump on the Pirates early. And it should happen, if track records mean anything. The Cardinals have the best first-inning run differential in the majors this season, outscoring opponents by 30 runs in the 1st inning. And the Pirates are the worst in MLB in the first inning this season, being outscored by 34 runs.
- Pujols has hit 20 homers at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, the most by a visiting player. Lance Berkman (12) is second.
- The Pirates lead the majors in batting with runners in scoring position and two outs, .288. The best among them in those situations are Jack Wilson amd Nate McLouth, at .375.
That’s it for now…
-B
Bernie,
Do you think Albert is in a slump at the moment? Seems like he is expanding his zone lately and looking really frustrated.
On another note, I don’t find it surprising that the Cards are hitting worse against LHP. To me, the lefty/righty match-ups seem like they would perpetuate the problem that some (most?) of the Cardinals lineup has with hitting LHP. That said, Tony has not been following his match-up scheme as religiously the past week or so, e.g., Duncan starting against LHP, rather than starting Mather. Any idea why?
LPD