Reese Kaplan -- Only $1 Million Improves 2 Positions

With the team rapidly heading downhill and picking up steam, it’s time for the front office to make some hard decisions.  Obviously with the big money invested in Yoenis Cespedes, Jay Bruce and, to a lesser extent, Todd Frazier, they are not going to take any actions because they all have a track record that suggests what they are experiencing is merely a slump 

However, there are other players whose performance bear greater scrutiny and that’s where the guys paid the big bucks in the front office have to decide if they are committed to winning or merely resting on their laurels.  (The last time I checked their laurels included the humiliation of 2017, so I’m not sure why they wouldn’t want to change that outcome). 

Two easy changes to make will cost in aggregate about $1,000,000 in total.  While that’s hardly pocket change to you or me, the fact is that a baseball team with revenues in the hundreds of millions should not be penny wise and pound foolish.  You are either in this game to win or you are in it to fleece the public.  Hint:  the public is easy to convince to part with their money if you put a good product on the field.

So what two changes are easy and cheap to make?  I’m glad you asked.

Jose Reyes' awful start last year was legendary.  Proving the old adage about even a broken clock being right twice a day (analog ones, anyway), his manager’s refrain about “having to get him going” actually paid off in August and September though most of the season he was hurting the team badly. 

He was brought back here this year partially for that late season rebound and partially to act as a mentor to young Amed Rosario with the thought being that similar upbringings, a common language and the fact that way back when Reyes was a highly regarded star player would help propel Rosario into that same level of performance in the big leagues. Oh yeah, he was also brought back because the Rockies are paying him $4 million in salary, too.  

Thus far it’s been a colossal failure.  Rosario got a free pass last year due to teammate Dom Smith’s .198 batting average, but he’s doing no better this year and you could actually make a case he’s regressed.  There’s no power there and almost no effort being made to utilize his speed. 

Now take a look at the rather offensive offensive numbers put up by Mr. Reyes and you see he’s not helping in that regard either.  He’s batting just .139 with 1 HR which accounts for his only RBI.  He’s stolen 2 bases.  That’s it.  To me, that’s a bad investment of $2 million. 

So if Reyes is neither helping Rosario nor helping the team, say adios and bring up the red hot Gavin Cecchini.  Granted, Cecchini is not in the same defensive class as Rosario, but perhaps the specter of competition for playing time will be a better motivator than the smiling and ineffective Reyes.  He  would cost about $500,000.  

(This part was written before yesterday's surprising decision by Sandy Alderson.  Feel free to skip the third part below the asterisks since Harvey's already gone, but my recommendation may or may not be what they inevitably do.  Right now with Harvey DFA'd they need to fill his roster spot temporarily with someone on the 40-man roster).

Right now Matt Harvey’s pitching is abominable, but it’s not for that reason that a change is long overdue.  If all of the talk about improving the culture of the ballclub is for real, then you send a major signal to the rest of the team by cutting him loose right now.  Any player who puts his own self interests ahead of playing to win should not be tolerated.  Remember the Dom Smith incident in Spring Training?  That was a good example of holding people accountable for their actions.  It’s time to do the same with Matt Harvey.  Now factor in that he is going to depart as a free agent anyway and that each time you use him he actually is hurting the team and it’s the ultimate no-brainer decision to make.  You’ve already budgeted and spent his salary.  It’s a sunk cost.  If you could replace him with a minimum waged player then your incremental cost is just $500,000. 

With his role in now in the bullpen, releasing him opens up a spot on the 40-man roster and thus clears the way for Tim Peterson to get his rightful promotion to the big leagues.  All the 27 year old right hander has done over 12 games is pitch to a 1.26 ERA with batters hitting a miniscule .122 against him.  He is not doing it with mirrors, either, as last year he was 4-3 with a 1.14 ERA over the entire season with batters faring only slightly better at .176.  Now who more likely give you a chance to win when summoned from the bullpen, Matt Harvey or Tim Peterson?

Are you with me?  So for an investment of $1 million you rid the team of two unproductive players (for different reasons) and you open up two 40-man roster spots.  Since Cecchini is already on it, that gives you flexibility going forward.  What a great way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo by actually demonstrating that character and winning are more important than payroll dollars...


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A bonus third minimum wage addition solution is afoot as well.  Jason Vargas has ignominious distinction of pitching 4.2 innings, giving up 11 hits, 6 earned runs (including three home runs), walking two and seeing his ERA drop by 6 runs.  That's how bad his 2018 season has gone.

On March 20th Vargas had surgery on his broken hamate bone and 5 weeks later was pressed into duty in the starting rotation mostly due to the ineffectiveness of Mr. Harvey.  It turns out Mr. Vargas is rustier than a '63 Karmann Ghia.

While some have advocated cutting him after two horrific starts (not happening), and others have advocated sending him to the minors a'la Steve Trachsel and Hunter Pence, I have a third option.  All we need is for Sandy to dictate to the medical staff words to the effect that he has had a setback in his non-pitching hand and needs to go on the DL.  Then, using the rules of MLB, assign him to the minors rehab..

Here's the rule that allows you to do it.  A player, "may be assigned to a Minor League Club for the purpose of injury rehabilitation for a maximum of 20 days in the case of non-pitchers and 30 days in the case of pitchers."

As to the ethics of the phantom injury, well, Sandy is in good company.  If you follow the news lately, if you're the one in charge it's apparently now perfectly acceptable to dictate your own medical reports.  :)

While Jason Vargas is on his month-long hiatus (preferably not in Las Vegas which could screw with anyone's head), you get the opportunity for an extended look at the man who held down the fort recently, Corey Oswalt.  You've burned his 2018 option already so, other than airfare, there's nothing lost in bringing him up again.  He's pitching to a 3.60 ERA in the PCL, so that's pretty good.  He's struck out 19 in 14 IP and has nearly a 5:1 strikeout to walk ratio.  I'd take him with his rookie lumps right now while Vargas rights his ship out of public scrutiny.

The best thing about this approach is it doesn't require you to expose Vargas to waivers (assuming his three options have already been used), it doesn't require you to ask his permission (though he may need to be complicit in Sandy's script), and it allows both of them to save face rather than officially being demoted or admitting that the signing was a mistake.  

What do you think of this modest proposal?