It looks like this is the end for Grady Sizemore's Big League career, after his release by the Phils, the worst team in baseball.
Sizemore had one of the great What If careers in the Majors, ruined by the macro effects of micro surgery.
Perhaps you're recalling the glory days of 2005-08, when Sizemore was a five-tool monster for the Indians, averaging 27 home runs, 41 doubles, 8 triples and 29 steals, a .372 OBP, a gold glove in center field and an All-Star berth. One of the true stars of the game, he piled up 24 wins against replacement by the age of 25.
On top of all that, he's Hollywood good-looking, humble and articulate. The year after his debut, female TV viewership of Tribe games tripled. Through his fourth full season, Grady Sizemore was Barry Bonds, without the scowl.
But even before the snow melted in the winter of '09, Sizemore's career was crashing to Earth.
Prior to Spring Training, he suffered a hernia that hobbled him through practice and into the season. An elbow injury plagued him from May on, absenting him from 55 games, hampering his production and requiring surgery in October.
And it only got worse. From May of 2010 through 2012, Sizemore suffered all 10 plagues but locusts. Microfracture surgery on his knee and disc surgery on his lower back relegated him to the sidelines for all but 104 games over the next four years. The Red Sox gave him a chance last year, but he hit .214 and drifted to the containment area for damaged veterans in Philly.
Shockingly, though not surprisingly, Ruben Amaro, Jr. handed the 32-year-old a $2 million contract for the 2015 season and Sizemore rewarded him with about what you would expect -- below replacement-level output before his dismissal this weekend.
Remember the 24 wins over his first five full seasons? He's cost his teams a win over the last six years.
So a sad goodbye to Grady Sizemore, whose body failed him and whom the scalpel forsook. For a brief glimpse, he was all that and more.
Showing posts with label Ten Plagues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ten Plagues. Show all posts
14 July 2014
Texas Rangers: Missed It By That Much
If you picked the Texas Rangers to win the AL West, or to compete for a Wild Card, or at least to outplay the Oakland A's, you're not alone. Texas has won 90+ games each of the past four seasons, annually sports a lineup of big-boy bats and worked a pair of deals this year for a couple more boppers.
But as the great philosopher Maxwell Smart observed:
"Missed it by that much."
The Rangers are not going to win the AL West. They are not going to compete for a Wild Card. They are currently 20.5 games behind Oakland and the gap widens daily.
The Rangers are, in fact, in last place in Major League Baseball. They trail the Cubs, the Padres and even the Astros. One more loss drops them behind the Toledo Mud Hens.
Texas represented the American League in the World Series in 2010 and 2011. Since then, they've lost Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Cliff Lee, C.J. Wilson, Michael Young, Mike Napoli, Joe Nathan, Mike Adams, David Murphy, Bengie Molina and Chris Davis. They traded a superb player, Ian Kinsler, for a superb hitter, Prince Fielder.
What they have left is Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Yu Darvish. Fielder is done for the season after contributing three home runs. Free agent signing Shin-soo Choo is up to his on-base ways but not much else. Number-two starter Colby Lewis sports a 6.54 ERA.
Somewhere between locusts and slaying of the first born have come a plague of Ranger injuries. Fielder is done due to a neck injury after playing every game of the previous three campaigns. Infield phenom Jurickson Profar -- the reason GM Jon Daniels traded Kinsler -- can thank a shoulder tear for keeping him off the field. Outfielder Kevin Kouzmanoff's .362/.412/.617 brilliance lasted until April 23 and neck surgery. Catcher Geovany Soto is toast after tearing a ligament in his knee. Rotation cog Matt Harrison lasted four starts before a spinal nerve flared. DH Mitch Moreland's on the shelf following ankle surgery. And Derek Holland, the team's second-best pitcher, has yet to visit the mound.
Oh, the humanity!
The results have been grotesque. The team isn't hitting. They're not fielding. After Darvish, they're not pitching. They're third in the AL in stolen bases but first in caught stealing (a miserable 65 for 104). They're last in the league in ERA and ninth in on-base and slugging. With starters like outfielder Michael Choice, who's hitting .177, imagine how painful their bench is. (Here's some help: Carlos Pena, who's hitting .136 with one home run, is not the worst backup on the roster.)
So the Rangers are done in 2014. The question is whether their window was closing or whether return from injury will catapult this squad back into contention next year. Watch whether Daniels starts flipping veterans in order to restock the barren upper levels of the farm to know which way they perceive themselves.
But as the great philosopher Maxwell Smart observed:
"Missed it by that much."
The Rangers are not going to win the AL West. They are not going to compete for a Wild Card. They are currently 20.5 games behind Oakland and the gap widens daily.
The Rangers are, in fact, in last place in Major League Baseball. They trail the Cubs, the Padres and even the Astros. One more loss drops them behind the Toledo Mud Hens.
Texas represented the American League in the World Series in 2010 and 2011. Since then, they've lost Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Cliff Lee, C.J. Wilson, Michael Young, Mike Napoli, Joe Nathan, Mike Adams, David Murphy, Bengie Molina and Chris Davis. They traded a superb player, Ian Kinsler, for a superb hitter, Prince Fielder.
What they have left is Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus and Yu Darvish. Fielder is done for the season after contributing three home runs. Free agent signing Shin-soo Choo is up to his on-base ways but not much else. Number-two starter Colby Lewis sports a 6.54 ERA.
Somewhere between locusts and slaying of the first born have come a plague of Ranger injuries. Fielder is done due to a neck injury after playing every game of the previous three campaigns. Infield phenom Jurickson Profar -- the reason GM Jon Daniels traded Kinsler -- can thank a shoulder tear for keeping him off the field. Outfielder Kevin Kouzmanoff's .362/.412/.617 brilliance lasted until April 23 and neck surgery. Catcher Geovany Soto is toast after tearing a ligament in his knee. Rotation cog Matt Harrison lasted four starts before a spinal nerve flared. DH Mitch Moreland's on the shelf following ankle surgery. And Derek Holland, the team's second-best pitcher, has yet to visit the mound.
Oh, the humanity!
The results have been grotesque. The team isn't hitting. They're not fielding. After Darvish, they're not pitching. They're third in the AL in stolen bases but first in caught stealing (a miserable 65 for 104). They're last in the league in ERA and ninth in on-base and slugging. With starters like outfielder Michael Choice, who's hitting .177, imagine how painful their bench is. (Here's some help: Carlos Pena, who's hitting .136 with one home run, is not the worst backup on the roster.)
So the Rangers are done in 2014. The question is whether their window was closing or whether return from injury will catapult this squad back into contention next year. Watch whether Daniels starts flipping veterans in order to restock the barren upper levels of the farm to know which way they perceive themselves.
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