March 22, 1999

Transaction Analysis

March 8-21

by Christina Kahrl

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ANAHEIM ANGELS

Optioned INF Nelson Castro to Erie (AA); assigned Ps Mark Harriger and Ramon Ortiz and C Bret Hemphill to extended spring training; assigned Ps Mike Bovee, Mike Butcher, Brian Cooper, Seth Etherton, Lou Pote and Keith Troutman, and C Fausto Tejero to their minor-league camp. [3/10]

Optioned CF Norm Hutchins and P Geoff Edsell to Edmonton. [3/15]

No real surprises among these cuts. Hutchins could end up making Garret Anderson look like a good hitter. Both Ramon Ortiz and Bret Hemphill are apparently healthier than they've been in years, so each will probably get called up at some point this season, especially with the recent injuries to Jason Dickson and Matt Walbeck.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

Waived OF Yamil Benitez. [3/17]

Under the right circumstances, Benitez could be a semi-useful fourth or fifth outfielder. He has some sock, but his value would have to come on a team that has plenty of people getting on-base to maximize the value of his power. The Diamondbacks aren't that team.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Optioned Ps Darin Blood and Chris Fussell, 3B Ryan Minor, and 1B Calvin Pickering to Rochester. [3/18]

Hope springs eternal, except for the Orioles when they have Will Clark under contract, and Harold Baines under contract, and Chris Hoiles under contract, and Cal Pickering is more important to the future of the franchsise than any of these DH/1B options. If you have to define hope for O's fans, it's that Pickering doesn't get dealt for some other old, expensive bat or an even older, more expensive pitcher.

BOSTON RED SOX

Signed RHP Ramon Martinez. [3/11]

Assigned Ps Robert Ramsay, Bob Wolcott, Rich Garces, Jack Cressend, and Brian Rose to their minor-league camp. [3/12]

Released 1B Bob Hamelin; outrighted LHP Joel Adamson to Pawtucket; optioned RHP Marino Santana and CF Michael Coleman to Pawtucket; optioned Cs Steve Lomasney and Shea Hillenbrand to Trenton (AA); assigned Ps Ryan Karp and Kirk Bullinger to their minor-league camp. [3/17]

Optioned P Juan Pena to Pawtucket. [3/19]

Martinez' deal could end up being for three years and $24 million, even if it isn't likely that he'll pitch much before September. Over the last several years, he's been wild and pretty ineffective after you remind yourself that he was pitching in Chavez Ravine, so moving to the DH league and Fenway aren't going to help long-term. In terms of having to put up with signing superstar's siblings, the Red Sox aren't nearly as well-off as the Expos. Sure, Wil Guerrero isn't a great ballplayer, but he also isn't as expensive as Ramon, and playing second, he doesn't seriously handicap his team relative to the other second basemen in the league. I guess that the way I look at it is that to justify Ramon, Pedro is going to have to do much more for his team than Vlad Guerrero will have to do for his in exchange for keeping Wil around. Having already signed Pat Rapp and Mark Portugal, the Red Sox seem to be setting themselves up for some expensive disappointments.

Other interesting tidbits: the Hammer wasn't the answer, but that means that, to their credit, the Sox are still looking at Brian Daubach for some playing time at first base and DH. Michael Coleman is still out of favor, but once Darren Lewis comes crashing down from last year's high, the Duke may decide to overlook some things. Meanwhile, some solidly adequate pitchers go down, but this is the Red Sox, so I expect we'll see every single one of them back up at some point.

CHICAGO CUBS

Assigned LHP Brian McNichol, and RHPs Kyle Farnsworth, Elvin Hernandez, and Jason Ryan, and C Pat Cline to their minor-league camp. [3/17]

Optioned OF Roosevelt Brown and 2B Chad Meyers to West Tennessee (AA). [3/18]

Optioned 2B/SS Jason Maxwell and LHP Phil Norton to Iowa; assigned LHP Scott Watkins to their minor-league camp. [3/19]

Sad to see Maxwell go down, since he was the best choice for the utility infield job available. Unfortunately, Manny Alexander seems to be Sammy Sosa's best friend on the team. If that meant just keeping Manny, it wouldn't be quite so horrible, but if it means another wasted 200 at-bats, in terms of outs, errors, baserunning blunders, and blown double-plays, that's a pretty expensive friendship. Brown may end up coming back relatively soon, especially if Robin Jennings blows his shot at the fifth outfielder job. As for demoting all of the young starting pitchers, that's a pretty clear sign that the Cubs will either live with Scott Sanders or Kurt Miller as their fifth starter. It also probably means Andrew Lorraine is going to get the last spot on the staff, as the token second lefty in the pen.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Optioned P Lorenzo Barcelo to Birmingham (AA), and P Dwayne Jacobs to Winston-Salem (A); assigned OF Aaron Rowand to their minor-league camp. [3/10]

Reassigned Ps Luis Andujar, Aaron Myette, Tanyon Sturtze, Kip Wells and Curtis Whitley, SSs Jason Dellaero and Ricky Magdaleno, OF Dwayne Hosey, and C David Toth to their minor-league camp. [3/17]

No real news here, although it's mildly disappointing to see Andujar and Hosey get sent down so quickly, since both could be useful to a major league team. Man, talk about a straight line... let's just let that one go. Don't be surprised to see Myette and Wells in the rotation by the August or roster expansion. Rowand will get every opportunity to shoot through the organization; I'm pretty optimistic about his chances. Barcelo is effectively out for the year, so sending him down isn't really a surprise, since he'll be recuperating from major surgery. Yep, it's already that kind of year for the Sox, talking about what's going to happen in time for next year.

CINCINNATI REDS

Optioned LHP Jim Crowell and RHP Keith Glauber to Indianapolis; assigned 1B Rod McCall and 2B/3B Jason Hardtke to their minor-league camp; released UT Pat Listach and LHP Joey Eischen. [3/11]

Optioned C Jason LaRue and RHP Rob Bell to Indianapolis. [3/12]

Waived RHP Todd Williams. [3/15]

If Hardtke goes postal over losing out this time around to Mark Lewis and Pokey Reese, I can't say I'd blame him. Interesting to see that the Reds tried to move Todd Williams through waivers; early on, they were bragging about his improved velocity. He can definitely help a major league team.

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Optioned OF Scott Morgan and 3B Russell Branyan to Buffalo; optioned Ps Willie Martinez and Richard Negrette to Akron (AA); assigned Ps Jim Brower, John Burke and Travis Driskill, Cs Angelo Encarnacion and Steve Soliz, and OF Dave Roberts to their minor-league camp. [3/14]

Optioned Ps J.D. Brammer and Jimmy Hamilton to Akron (AA); assigned Ps Jamie Brown, Dave Telgheder and Mike Walker to their minor-league camp. [3/19]

Assigned RHP Paul Wagner to their minor-league camp. [3/21]

No real surprises among these cuts, although that Buffalo team is beginning to look like it could take the Pirates pretty easily.

COLORADO ROCKIES

Optioned RHPs Lariel Gonzalez and Steve Shoemaker, INF Juan Sosa, and RF Edgard Clemente to Colorado Springs; assigned C Mark Strittmatter, INF Christ Sexton, and OF Jeff Barry to their minor-league camp. [3/21]

No surprising cuts here, as Clemente wasn't really ever in the race for the 14th slot for position players.

DETROIT TIGERS

Assigned Ps Dave Borkowski, Mike Drumright, Willis Roberts, Francisco Cordero, Apostol Garcia, Eric Hiljus and Nick Skuse, OFs Ben Candelaria and Pedro Swann, and INF Jason Bates to their minor-league camp. [3/14]

Optioned P Matt Drews to Toledo; reassigned P Bryan Corey to their minor-league camp. [3/19]

Signed 1B Bob Hamelin to a minor-league contract; optioned P Will Brunson and 3B Gabe Alvarez to Toledo; assigned Ps Jeff Weaver and Brian Looney, C Javier Cardona, and OF Ricky Cradle to their minor-league camp. [3/21]

Let me see if I can sort out the logic. The Hammer was good enough to DH for the Tigers until they added Bip Roberts. Bip Roberts wasn't good enough to hold off Geronimo Berroa, who was let go because the Tigers needed to sign Gregg Jefferies, who in turn isn't really good enough to hold off... Bob Hamelin. Well, if I'm a pizza baron and I let someone else spend my money, I don't know if I'd be entirely happy. Unlike a certain pizza baron, Kimera Bartee isn't my favorite player, so maybe I should just cut Randy Smith some slack, bad taste in ballplayers aside. Playing everyday, Hamelin will be an adequate DH, a step up from Jefferies. Just letting Gabe Kapler play is apparently much too easy and sensible.

FLORIDA MARLINS

Assigned Ps Hector Almonte, Bobby Rodgers and Nelson Lara, Cs Chris Norton, Ryan Robertson and Ramon Castro, INFs Amaury Garcia and Nate Rolison, and OFs Fletcher Bates, DaRond Stovall, Jaime Jones and Julio Ramirez to their minor-league camp. [3/14]

I'm not too busted up by the demotion of Castro. Sure, Jorge Fabregas is an awful player, but catcher of the future or not, Castro needs to demonstrate a more consistent ability to hit above A-ball before he deserves a serious crack at the job.

HOUSTON ASTROS

Assigned Ps Tony McKnight, Wade Miller, Derek Root and Brian Sikorski, Cs Pedro Lopez and Marc Ronan, SS Julio Lugo, 3Bs Chris Truby and Carlos Villalobos, and OF Brent Bowers to their minor-league camp. [3/15]

Assigned RHPs Jose Cabrera, Jeff McCurry, Brian Powell, and Bob Scanlan, UT Casey Candaele, and 2B/SS Carlos Hernandez to their minor-league camp. [3/21]

No shockers here, although Lugo is the man who will eventually turn Ricky Gutierrez into a Royal or something. What's really interesting about this list of cuts is that it's looking like the infield at New Orleans is already stacked, so if Russ Johnson doesn't end up making the cut, one of Villalobos, Truby, or Hernandez is going to lose out. Wade Miller could come be the guy who comes up in a hurry if (or should I say once?) something goes wrong with Sean Bergman and/or Chris Holt. Last year's hand injury isn't the sort of injury that should greatly affect his development, and he's arguably the best pitching prospect in the organization after Elarton.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS

Released LHPs Allen McDill, John Cummings, and Jamie Walker, and RHP Brian Bevil. [3/14]

Optioned OF Mark Quinn to Omaha; optioned LHP Scott Mullen to Wichita (AA); optioned CF Dermal Brown to Wilmington (A); reassigned Cs Jeremy Hill and Paul Phillips to minor-league camp. [3/16]

Released OF Tony Tarasco; optioned RHP Dario Veras to Omaha; assigned 1B Joe Vitiello, 3B Rico Rossy, OF Steve Gibralter, LHP Rick Krivda, and RHPs Joe Roa, Kennie Steenstra and and Dave Swartzbaugh to their minor league camp. [3/18]

Assigned Ps Bart Evans, Orber Moreno and Ken Ray, and 2B Jed Hansen to Omaha. [3/21]

I always think it's somewhat entertaining to see which talented players get cut by bad ballclubs. In this instance, the Royals are being amusing in their own way. Jermaine Dye doesn't really have anything over Quinn or Tarasco, but then the organization didn't make a high-profile trade for either of them. I'm very surprised to see the pitchers who got cut. Several of them (Krivda, Veras, Roa, Steenstra, Evans, and Swartzbaugh) are veterans with several years of experience in the high minors, all of whom have had some limited success in one form or another. The Royals are desperate for pitching, but they're still looking at Erik Hanson and Pete Smith and Don Wengert, all of whom may be too bad for Omaha, but good enough for the Royals.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS

Optioned Ps Arnold Gooch, Mike Judd, Steve Montgomery and Ricky Stone, and OF Hiram Bocachica to Albuquerque; optioned Ps Eric Gagne and Luke Prokopec to San Antonio (AA); optioned P Randy Galvez to San Bernadino (A); reassigned Ps Dan Hubbs, Matt Heges, Matt Jarvis and Gavin Osteen, 3B Pete Rose Jr., 1B Jason Thompson, and C Hector Ortiz to their minor-league camp. [3/16]

The "Hit Prince" doesn't make it, again.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Assigned Ps Hector Ramirez, Ryan Henderson and Tim VanEgmond to their minor-league camp. [3/15]

Assigned RHPs Reggie Harris, Jim Converse, and Rod Henderson, LHPs Brian Passini and Horacio Estrada, C Jeff Alfano, 1B Kevin Barker, SS Santiago Perez, CFs Anthony Iapoce and Chad Green, and OF Scott Krause to their minor-league camp. [3/17]

Assigned C Alex Andreopoulos, DH Brandon Cromer, and INF Luis Ortiz to their minor-league camp. [3/21]

There are a few moves here that are a crying shame. Scott Krause deserved a better shot at a job, but the Brewers are spinning their wheels with Alex Ochoa. Ochoa may end up being one of those great generational mysteries, in that it will end up being essentially impossible to explain existence to future generations. "Dad, why did Alex Ochoa get to play?" "You weren't there, son, I can't explain it to you. It just seemed like a good idea at the time." Meanwhile, none of these moves are that surprising in themselves. Barker will almost certainly be up by July if he doesn't struggle in Louisville, while Santiago Perez's chances depend on the Brewers trading Jose Valentin.

MINNESOTA TWINS

Optioned P Mark Redman to Salt Lake City; optioned Ps Matt Kinney and Danny Mota, C Chad Moeller, 2B Cleatus Davidson, and OF Anthony Felson to New Britain (AA); reassigned Ps Ryan Mills, Gary Rath and Steve Wojciechowski, 3B Michael Cuddyer, and 1B Chad Rupp to their minor-league camp. [3/16]

Optioned OF Brian Buchanan and P Brent Stentz to Salt Lake City; reassigned Ps Jose Espinal and Kevin Ohme and C Matt LeCroy to minor-league camp. [3/19]

Sold OF Mel Nieves to the Daiei Hawks of the Japanese Leagues. [3/21]

It isn't going to surprise anyone to hear that you'll see some of these guys come back this summer. I won't be surprised at all if Buchanan gets a crack at the LF job at some point. Kinney, Rath, and Redman will all get opportunities with the Twins if they don't do too badly or hurt themselves in the meantime. Cuddyer and LeCroy are both in a position to come up quickly. The sale of Nieves is somewhat surprising, since I was thinking he had a reasonable shot of breaking camp with the team. But with Doug Mientkiewicz looking like a lock at first, and with Corey Koskie taking over at third, they're already scratching to find playing time for Ron Coomer, and Nieves' best position is DH.

MONTREAL EXPOS

Optioned LHP Ted Lilly, RHP Guillermo Mota, 1B/LF Fernando Seguignol, INFs Jose Fernandez and Geoff Blum, OF Chris Stowers, and C John Pachot to Ottawa, and CF Peter Bergeron to Harrisburg (AA). [3/20]

The Expos' demotions are even more depressing than the Pirates', because Lilly and Bergeron could end up making significant impacts. I guess I'm not that busted up about this. Lilly is probably going to be up after a dozen starts, while Bergeron is only one easily accomplished bad stretch from Orlando Merced away from getting a job.

NEW YORK METS

Assigned Ps Octavio Dotel, Dan Murray, Paul Wilson and Jason Isringhausen, and OFs Scott Hunter and Terrence Long to Norfolk; assigned RHP Grant Roberts and INF Mo Bruce to Binghamton (AA); assigned OF Juan LeBron to St. Lucie (A); sent C Yohanny Valera, OFs Jerry Brooks and Jason Tyner, and INF Jorge Toca to their minor-league camp. [3/16]

Released RHP Oscar Henriquez. [3/17]

Since I'm not really sold on the claims that Mets are past their kinderslagging ways in the minors, I'm moderately worried about seeing Dotel handed back to the Mets' minor league staff, let alone the walking wounded like Izzy and Wilson and Roberts.

NEW YORK YANKEES

Named Don Zimmer interim manager. [3/15]

Assigned RHPs Dave Pavlas and Chris Nichting, UT Tim McIntosh, and 3B Mike Coolbaugh to their minor-league camp; optioned RHP Luis DeLossantos to Norwich (AA). [3/17]

Talk about cruel ironies, with the Gerbil now managing the evil pinstriped crew. Some uncharitable, unforgiving, and perpetually unhappy Beantowners would argue he's been on Steinbrenner's payroll all along.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS

Re-assigned Cs Cody McKay and Willie Morales and LHP Sean Lawrence to their minor-league camp. [3/12]

Optioned RHP Blake Stein and INF Mark Bellhorn to Vancouver; optioned RHP Jeff D'Amico to Midland (AA); assigned LHP Mark Mulder and OF Chris Sheff to their minor-league camp. [3/13]

Optioned LHP Juan Perez and C Danny Ardoin to Vancouver; optioned RHP Luis Vizcaino to Midland (AA); assigned RHP Tony Chavez, 1B Jeff Ball, 1B/LF Brian Lesher, and OF Mike Neill to their minor-league camp. [3/20]

I guess I'm resigning myself that what these moves really mean is that Marc Holzemer is going to be on the Opening Day roster as the second lefty. Subtracting Stein from the rotation race leaves only Jay Witasick, Brad Rigby, Gil Heredia, and (at least notionally) Mike Oquist battling for the fourth and fifth spots. Ardoin's demotion probably guarantees that Mike Macfarlane isn't going to be one of the veteran catchers the White Sox end up trading for in the next 48 hours.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

Assigned LHP Randy Wolf to their minor-league camp. [3/11]

Assigned Cs Andy Dominique and Kirk Pierce, 1Bs Pat Burrell and Steve Carver, INF Carlos Duncan, 3B Lou Lucca, and OF Reggie Taylor to their minor-league camp. [3/14]

Assigned RHPs Ron Blazier, Joel Bennett, Cliff Politte and Mike Welch, C Adam Millan, INF Jose Flores, OF Wendell Magee Jr., and PR Lou Frazier to their minor-league training camp. [3/21]

The only real news here is that Burrell will be back, Duncan will get touted, and Wolf and Politte will almost certainly start a game for the Phillies this year. This is the farm system with the least talent of any organization, so I think we just covered almost all of the news worth mentioning about their up-and-comers for the next three months.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Optioned LHP Jimmy Anderson, SS Abraham Nunez, 3B Aramis Ramirez, 1B Ron Wright, CF Emil Brown, and LF Chad Hermansen to Nashville; optioned OF Alex Hernandez to Altoona (AA); reassigned Ps Jim Baron and Johan Lopez, C Mel Rosario, and 2B Jeff Patzke to minor-league camp. [3/17]

Black Wednesday for the Bucs, as they demoted every good young player ready to play in the majors that they had, with the long exception of Warren Morris. We all knew it was coming, but it doesn't make it any easier to accept.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

Optioned 3B Chris Haas and Ps Rick Heiserman and Garrett Stephenson to Memphis; optioned Ps Matt DeWitt and Chad Hutchinson, SS Jason Woolf, and OF Luis Saturria to Arkansas (AA); assigned LHP Rick Ankiel, SS Brent Butler, SS/2B Adam Kenndey, 3B Jose Leon, and OF David Hulse to their minor-league camp. [3/15]

Gave 2B Carlos Baerga his outright release. [3/17]

Releasing Baerga cost the Cardinals $200,000 that almost anyone could have told them to save. Now they're hot and heavy in the business of trying to get Fernando Vina from the Brewers, which makes plenty of sense for both teams. The Cardinals are trying to win this year, and Vina's career prospects aren't great for the long-term, but are certainly much better than playing David Howard or Pat Kelly or Placido Polanco. A Renteria-Vina combo on the deuce would almost certainly be the best in baseball, and that would be a tremendous asset for what's shaping up to be another bailing-wire and duct-tape rotation. Add in the defensive improvement of getting a full year from Fernando Tatis, Eli Marrero, and J.D. Drew, and the Cardinals could really end up surprising some people with their defensive play.

SAN DIEGO PADRES

Signed RHP Trevor Hoffman to a four-year contract. [3/9]

Optioned RHPs Will Cunnane and Bryan Wolff to Las Vegas; assigned RHPs Jeff Darwin, Mike Harkey, and Jose Mercedes, and LHP Shane Dennis to their minor league camp. [3/21]

The only real surprise here is mine, in that Mike Harkey was in somebody's camp somewhere.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS

Released LHP Trevor Wilson. [3/15]

Optioned RHP Tim Crabtree and C Yorvit Torrealba to Fresno; assigned RHPs Jason Grilli and Pedro Feliz, LHP Aaron Fultz, OF Dan McKinley and 2B Jay Canizaro to their minor-league camp. [3/21]

Okay, releasing Trevor Wilson also surprised me, if only for the amount of coverage it got. I've been consistently mystified by the number of people saying Wilson had a shot at a rotation spot, since I believed that the Giants have more sense than that. Of course, I'm also surprised by how much people are talking about Allen Watson starting for the Mets, but that's probably just one of those dopey New York things. Don't be surprised if Grilli's back up and in the Giants' rotation by May.

SEATTLE MARINERS

Optioned Ps Damaso Marte, Aaron Scheffer and Cam Smith, and OF Kerry Robinson to Tacoma; optioned Ps Brian Fuentes and Dennis Stark to New Haven (AA); assigned Ps Marc Kroon and Marcus Moore to their minor-legue camp. [3/15]

Outrighted RHP Maximo de la Rosa to Tacoma; optioned LHP Jordan Zimmerman to New Haven. [3/19]

TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS

Optioned LHP Ramon Tatis to Durham; assigned Ps Larry Casian, Steve Cooke, Travis Harper, Santos Hernandez, Mark Hutton, John LeRoy, Bobby Munoz, Steve Ontiveros, Bobby Seay and Mark Sievert, Cs Toby Hall, Paul Hoover and Tom Wilson, SS Aaron Holbert, INF Chris Martin, LF Brooks Kieschnick, and CF Luke Wilcox to their minor-league camp. [3/12]

Released LHP Tim Davis. [3/17]

Optioned RHP Bryan Rekar and LHP Mike Duvall to Durham; assigned RHP Roger Bailey, LHP Erik Plantenberg, C Cesar Devarez, INF Dave Silvestri, and CF Terrell Lowery to their minor-league camp. [3/21]

If there's something to think about here, it's just counting up the number of guys with major league experience to their credit. Rekar, Tatis, Casian, Cooke, Hutton, Munoz, Onto... and they haven't even had to cut Bobby Witt yet. At any rate, I think it's interesting, in that all of these guys aren't going to get a major league job coming out of camp this year, and yet here we are, a year after expansion, with 22 more jobs available, and none of them are going to these guys, any of whom might make a dandy posterchild for that bad old "expansion pitching" chestnut we'll hear about as soon as somebody like Benito Santiago hits three homeruns in a week in April.

TEXAS RANGERS

Assigned Ps Derrick Cook, Doug Davis, Ryan Glynn, Brandon Knight and Eric Moody, and C Cesar King to their minor-league camp. [3/15]

Assigned LHP Corey Lee to the minor-league camp. [3/17]

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Assigned 2B Brent Abernathy, Ps John Bale, Leoncio Estrella, Ben VanRyn and Clayton Andrews, SSs Joe Lawrence and Felipe Lopez, and OFs Mike Peeples and Vernon Wells to their minor-league camp. [3/10]

Announced the retirement of 2B Joey Cora. [3/11]

Assigned Ps Mike Gordon and Luis Arroyo to their minor-league camp. [3/13]

Fired manager Tim Johnson; named Jim Fregosi manager. [3/17]

Assigned RHP Vicente Palacios to their minor-league camp, and optioned 3B Casey Blake to Syracuse. [3/21]

I'm genuinely glad for the Blue Jays. Whatever the ethical or clubhouse considerations of Tim Johnson's slippery grasp on the truth, the real potential bonus is that Jim Fregosi has a pretty good track record as a manager, and will be hard-pressed to be nearly as brutal with his starting pitchers in terms of the workloads he imposes on them. This might be just what the doctor would have ordered for Joey Hamilton or Kelvim Escobar or Chris Carpenter.

In other news, put me at the front of the line among people not sad to see Joey Cora go, again. Cora's attempt to blackmail his way onto a postseason roster by holding his own professional self-esteem hostage was lame, and the Indians' decision to hurt themselves with their sympathy for his nonexistent plight (Cora had gotten to the playoffs before, after all) was one last years' strangest roster moves. It's sort of sad, in that he's losing out to a non-prospect like Homer Bush, instead of somebody like Ronnie Belliard, but it's also about time. Cora had his moments, and was fun to watch, but he had already gotten his second and third chances (with the White Sox and the Mariners), and wasn't exactly entitled to a fourth once he couldn't cut it in the field.

Christina Kahrl is an author of Baseball Prospectus. 
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