August 26, 2058
by Valerie Davies for the Yellow Springs World
No sooner had he gotten established in the locker room, newly acquired pitcher Antonio Baldez, after just two games for the Yellow Springs Nine, was flipped to the playoff contending Charm City Jimmies for underachieving pitcher Ty Vanetta. In addition to a lot of extra letters in his name, Vanetta also gives up a lot of extra homers, 19 on the year and counting.
The move is clearly because GM Rob McMonigal found the idea of keeping Baldez and his 6 million a year until 2061 contract unpalatable, after just accepting it from one of the savviest teams in all of the BBA, the Sacremento Mad Popes. In fact, as noted in my prior article on the first trade, I was surprised he'd agreed at all, because of Baldez's track history.
The thing to keep in mind with Baldez is that while scouts think his makeup is off the charts, with stuff ratings in the double digits and three "blue bar" pitchers, he's never been able to put it all together. His career line is 96-111, which isn't that awful, and wins aren't everything. But his career ERA is 5.17. His career WHIP is 1.47. His career HR/9 is 1.5. He's only managed 14 WAR in over 1600 innings pitched. His FIP is slightly better at 4.71 but his FIP- is 108 and has never been below 94 in a full season.
Those aren't 6 million dollar numbers. Hell, they aren't even "stay in the BBA numbers" but because of what the scouts keep saying, despite their known unreliability, Baldez keeps getting chances.
Newest Niner, Ty Vanetta
But it's not like McMonigal got a great return here. Vannetta, younger at 25 to Baldez's 29, is 12-12 with a career ERA of 5.33, albeit in only 319 innings pitched, so there's still some time to turn it around. He has similar WHIP at 1.47, HR/9 at 1.5 and career FIP at 5.17. The scouts also like him far less. "He's a career swingman," said one to me. Another stated that his chances of being a BBA starter were next to nil.
The return was so poor that one BBA GM publicly criticized the trade, while Nashville, never a team the Nine wants on their side, felt it had been a smart move by McMonigal to offload Baldez.
So with the return not being good and the player going away having so much untapped potential, why make the deal? I asked McMonigal and he was pretty blunt.
"Look, I was happy to give Baldez a try or I wouldn't have made the deal with Sacramento," said McMonigal. "but I also didn't necessarily see him as a long-term part of our future. And especially not for several more seasons. So I let it known he was available, and I liked the deal I got. Vannetta's a similar player, but younger. I felt like we could mold him and if not, he would make a good, affordable bullpen piece."
So this is about the money? I followed up?
"Until we're in the playoff hunt, Valerie, everything is going to have a financial piece to it. Yes, I looked at the numbers. And honestly, based on Baldez's stats, his salary figure just didn't add up to me. I saw an opportunity to move on from a contact I was uncomfortable with. Maybe he'll finally figure it out and be a bargain for Dave [Charm City's GM]. Maybe he'll suck like he has everywhere he's been so far. I will say, if he had been a three million dollar player instead of six, he'd be starting for us right now instead of on a plane or using one of those Bikini Doors."
McMonigal has a point. With the team struggling to keep fans in the seats, using lots of promotions, reduced ticket prices, old but popular players, and other gimmicks, he can ill afford to release a player making what Baldez does.
For the player, the ignominy of playing for his fourth team in the same season has to be hard. My heart does go out for him and his family, but if the past is any indication, the Nine may have dodged a long term, expensive bullet. Or given my crosstown rival paper yet another piece of ammunition in the ongoing war to have McMonigal removed as GM.
Place your bets.
