Anatomy of a Team: Chicago Jayhawks

(Age, position in parentheses next to name)


Starting Rotation:
Andres Silva (39, SP): Originally acquired during the 1st season of Gleeman World from the Muertrier (now known as the Vigilantes) along with RP Stan Ramsey for 3B Brandon Sheffield, RP Quinton Becker, and a minor league arm. Granted free agency after the conclusion of Season 5, then re-acquired at the beginning of Season 8 along with RP Jimmie Estrella and RP Bernard Griffith in return for SP Ted Roberts and RP Max Burke. Chicago also picks up the remainder of Silva's contract.

Trade analysis: Becker imploded upon arrival to Montreal, while Ramsey gave the 'Hawks 34 passable innings before becoming a pumpkin himself. Sheffield is now an above average performer on the Vigilantes, owning a solid .280/.334/.505 career line in about 4000 career at bats, although his glovework is a bit shaky at third. Silva, however, has been one of the better pitchers on several excellent Jayhawk squads of the recent past. Sheffield is just 27, though, and has time to even out the value of the trade. As for the 2nd deal, the Jayhawks pick up the biggest asset (Estrella) and the biggest millstone (Silva, while still effective, is very expensive) in the trade. Too early to pick winners.

Miguel Torres (37, SP): Signed as a free agent during Season 8 for 2 years at $11.4 million.

Jackson Jenkins (25, SP) Acquired (Season 7), along with LF Mark Sakamoto, from Anaheim in exchange for CF Byung-Hyun Yosida, RP Grover Rowand, and $3.5 million to pay for Rowand's contract.

Trade analysis: Hard to do, since I was personally involved in this deal, but let's look at the facts: Jenkins hasn't been very good as a Jayhawk, but Yosida has been equally bad as an Anteater. Both are 25 years old, and both are talented enough to outperform their current rates of production. That's roughly a wash. Rowand has been very good as Anaheim's closer, but he's 39 years old, while Sakamoto put up a mediocre half-season for the 'Hawks before being dealt to Vancouver for a relief prospect. Difficult to call this one.

David Gates (26, SP): Acquired, along with 3B Ralph Ramirez, via trade (Season 8) from the Yankees in return for 2B Tino Simon.

Trade analysis: Gates has been solid so far; he's no stud, but he fills a hole in the rotation cheaply for the foreseeable future. Ramirez is a solid 3B prospect with very real power. He'll remind Jayhawk fans of Chili Rogers. Simon is cheap, and can certainly get on base, but he lacks the range to be much of a 2B. It's early, and the teams certainly had different needs, but this looks like a very good move for Chicago.

Oswaldo Dotel (28, SP): Acquired in trade (Season 6) from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now the San Juan Rincons) along with RP Jose Lugo in exchange for CF Pat Shinjo, RP Omar Rincon, and $2.7 million.

Trade analysis: Shinjo is still in the minors, but doesn't have the bat to start at the ML level. He'd make a good defensive replacement at CF/2B. Omar Rincon, since traded, has been anywhere from bad to awful. While Lugo's bad control makes it unlikely that he'll ever be a good big leaguer, Dotel has at least given the Jayhawks one good season. A Jayhawk win, but it's been all downhill so far for Dotel.


Bullpen:
Ramiro Prieto (23, ClA): Acquired via trade (Season 7) from Tacoma in return for RPs Paul Black and B.C. Ortiz.

Trade analysis: Too early to reach a verdict, although Prieto is undeniably the best player in the deal.

Ross Livingstone: (32, SuA): Signed as a free agent (Season 8) to a 1 year, $5.2 million deal.

Pablo Johnson (26, SuA): Acquired, along with SP Shane Barkett and RP Luis Valdez (Season 7), from the D-Rays (the current Rincons) for SP Seth Adams.

Trade analysis: Adams has been solid, although the injury he suffered with the Jayhawks seems to have had some sort of lingering effect. The 'Hawks received a nice bag of youthful goodies in return. No clear winner yet.

Bernard Griffith (25, SuB): Acquired via trade in the aforementioned Silva deal.

Ricardo Alicea (30, SuB): Claimed off of waivers from the Syracuse Fightin' Boeheims (Season 7).

Bum Marte (28, LrA): Acquired via trade (Season 8), along with RP Alfredo Craddock, from the Buffalo Europeans in return for 3B James Sparks, SS Walker Tucker, and 1B Ross Stein.

Trade analysis: Craddock is a minor league lifer, so it's essentially a 3-for-1. Marte isn't anything special, but he's useful as a 5th starter or long reliever, a guy who can soak up innings. He's also just making the minimum this season. The three prospects going to Buffalo all have flaws that will likely prevent them from being serious contributors on an ML team. Sparks is your classic tweener, in that he can't hit enough for a COF, but can't play 3B. Stein has power, but will probably struggle to post a .300 OBP as a 1B. Tucker has the most issues, in that he doesn't have any plate discipline, can't drive the ball, and isn't really a SS. There's really very little talent actually being exchanged; Chicago essentially received the only player that matters.

Jose Lugo (26, on the 15-day DL): Acquired via trade in the Oswaldo Dotel deal, mentioned above.

Catchers/DH's:
Juan DeSoto (23, C): Acquired via trade (Season 7) from Boston in "The Deal" (details at http://gleemanworld.blogspot.com/2008/05/blockbuster-alert-masato-beckett-to.html).

Trade analysis: Whether this deal becomes worth it for the Red Sox hinges on whether Beckett and Masato can lead the Red Sox to a WS victory. It's already a win for the Jayhawks, who received an entire farm system (and a couple of quality young MLers) in return.

Tomas Martin (23, C): Signed as an international FA (Season 4) to a $4.5 million bonus.


Infielders:
Paul Kirby (28, 1B): Acquired via trade (Season 8) from the New York Yankees in exchange for 1B Carlos Bennett and LF Jacob Hooper.

Trade analysis: It's early, but this trade clearly fits a need for the Jayhawks, as Kirby looks like a legitimate upgrade over Bennett. I'm not sure what Bennett accomplishes for the Yankees. Same goes for Hooper, who looks like a long shot to be anything more than a reserve OF on a decent team. Point goes to the Jayhawks.

Robinson Perez (27, 1B): Acquired via trade (Season 8), along with Sticky Kelly, from the San Antonio Sting in return for SP Javy Cedeno and 1B Gary Haynes.

Trade analysis: It may be early, but the early returns aren't very promising for San Antonio. Cedeno now has 529 big league innings under his belt that suggest he's not a legitimate major league pitcher, and Haynes isn't going to improve enough to ever become a big leaguer himself (he's 26). Kelly doesn't project to be anything more than a spot starter/long reliever, but that probably already makes him more valuable than Cedeno. Perez is a force against LHP, and makes an excellent platoon 1B. He's also capable of playing in the OF in a pinch. A very nice deal for Chicago.

Stu Butler (24, 2B): Drafted (Season 3) in the 1st Round (28th overall).

Gene Tessmer (27, SS): Acquired via trade (Season 7), along with Victor Thomas and Lawrence Nation, from the Tacoma Downpour in exchange for C Wilt Knotts, 3B Clayton Osborne, and 3B Tony Cairo.

Trade analysis: Too early. Cairo hardly played with Tacoma before departing for free agency, so it's essentially a 3-for-2. The other two players on Tacoma have yet to reach the majors, but are good prospects. Thomas, Nation, and Tessmer are all on Chicago's ML roster, and are all playing well so far.

Robert Carter (31, SS): Signed as a free agent (Season 8) to a 1 year, $1.57 million deal.

Victor Thomas (25, 3B) Acquired via trade (Season 7) in the aforementioned Tessmer deal.

Edgardo Diaz (29, 3B) Claimed off of waivers (Season 8) from the Monterrey Conquistadores.


Outfielders:
Nash McCartin (28, LF): Acquired via trade (Season 7) in "The Deal" (mentioned above).

Shawn Robinson (23, CF) Acquired via trade (Season 4), along with 2B Ivan Trajano, from the Bureaucrats in return for SP Johnnie Clark and 3B Cookie Morris.

Trade analysis: Fan-favorite Morris never made the big leagues with Washington, and Clark, while useful as a back-end starter, served little purpose for a Bureaucrat club going nowhere. He's now toiling away in AAA for the Mets. On the Jayhawks' side Trajano has already moved on to Colorado Springs. That leaves Robinson, who figures to be a solid producer at CF for the Jayhawks, both with the bat and glove. Looks like a Jayhawk win.

Bret Ray (26, CF): Acquired via trade (Season 7), along with RP Paul Black, from the Philadelphia Phenomenauts in return for SS Phillip Bergman.

Trade analysis: Bergman only lasted one season as Philly's shortstop, putting up an awful .617 OPS. Released after the season, he's yet to sign with another club as of this blog entry. Neither Black nor Ray figure to be all that great, but both can contribute on a ML team for the major league minimum. Bergman was a bad placeholder for a last-place squad for one year. The Jayhawks are clear winners here.

Gary Riley*** (26, CF): Acquired via trade (Season 7), along with RF Joaquin Cordero, from the Boise Mashers in return for C Will Carter.

Trade analysis: Carter's bat went completely limp after leaving Chicago, but the pitching staff has improved since his arrival; whether or not the two are interrelated is hard to say, but Carter does have a reputation as an excellent pitch-caller. Riley doesn't belong on a major league roster; he's probably going to be sent down when RP Lugo comes back from injury. Cordero has some potential, but his ceiling is probably as a fourth outfielder. No clear winner or loser here.

Lawrence Nation (24, RF) Acquired via trade (Season 7) in the aforementioned Tessmer deal.


*** For the purposes of this part, we won't count Riley as part of the 25-man roster, since I'm assuming that he'll be sent down upon Lugo's return from the DL. I could be wrong, but that's just my best guess, since he seems redundant as the team's 3rd CF, and being left-handed, cannot handle 2B (not that such a trivial matter stopped frymaster, but that's another matter entirely ;-)).


Acquisition Breakdown:

FAs (ML): 3 (Torres, Livingstone, Carter)

FAs (MiL): 0

FAs (International): 1 (Martin)

Acquired via trade: 18 (Silva, Jenkins, Gates, Dotel, Prieto, Johnson, Griffith, Marte, Lugo, DeSoto, Kirby, Perez, Tessmer, Thomas, McCartin, Robinson, Ray, Nation)

Claimed off waivers: 2 (Alicea, Diaz)

Amateur Draft: 1 (Butler)

Rule 5 picks: 0

Originals: 0


Age Breakdown:

>27 years old: 13 (Jenkins, Gates, Prieto, Johnson, Griffith, Lugo, DeSoto, Martin, Butler, Thomas, Robinson, Ray, Nation)

27-30 years old: 8 (Dotel, Alicea, Marte, Kirby, Perez, Tessmer, Diaz, McCartin)

31-34 years old: 2 (Livingstone, Carter)

>35 years old: 2 (Silva, Torres)


Summary:
This is one hell of a young Jayhawk team, and one with an embarrassment of riches in the minors. The majority of the team, not surprisingly, has been formed through trading. He's certainly done well through that method, peddling his veterans off for youth. The offense is legitimately good, and very young; no regular is more than 28 years old. They'll clearly score plenty of runs this season, and for the foreseeable future. The defense is also pretty solid; although Tessmer's glovework and arm are erratic at SS, and Kirby plays first like a DH, all of the other Jayhawks can hold their own at their respective positions. The downfall of this team, not surprisingly, is likely to be its rotation. Silva doesn't figure to be able to pitch very deeply into games, and may need an extra day off here and there. Torres figures to be more of a workhorse than Silva, but his stuff is slipping. After that, it's a bit of a crapshoot as to what you'll get in terms of performance. Jenkins slots in as the #3, and certainly has talent, but hasn't performed so far. Meanwhile, Gates and Dotel are guys that figure to be long relievers or AAA insurance on a better team. In the bullpen, Prieto, Livingstone, and Johnson are all talented enough to be assets, and Marte can ably fill in for any of the starters due to injury (which is a real issue, since Silva and Torres are rapidly aging, and Dotel is fragile) or ineffectiveness. Griffith is also solid. The relief shouldn't figure to be too much of a problem. The 'Hawks might be playing a bit over their heads right now (their 17-9 record belies a .535 expected winning percentage), but they've only recently called up many of their young stars. Look for them to take a wildcard slot this season; they should certainly compete for the division crown by Season 9, by which they'll likely have improved their rotation, either through trade or by calling up one of their many talented prospects.