Musings

So way to go Wraith with bringing us down after your "bad feeling." Man, what would we do without him?

:-D

In all seriousness, though, the Carrasco DFA is unsurprising yet disappointing all the same. From all accounts Hector was very popular with his teammates, and his second half performance last year was of fairly high quality. So why dump him now? Seems to me that the Front Office is risking a dip in clubhouse chemistry and giving up a potentially solid second-half effort. For comparison, consider that everyone's saying that Kelvim Escobar will undoubtedly improve further in the second half because he's "a second-half guy," by his own admission. Granted, Escobar has been dominant throughout this season anyway, but it does support the notion that it's not unusual for a pitcher to be "off" in the first half of the season and "on" in the second. Perhaps Scioscia/Stoneman felt that Carrasco just wasn't going to turn it around. All the same, I don't think the DFA was the best option. They've used the "phantom injury" card for underperformers (such as Anderson) in the past, so why not now? Why not thoroughly examine him for some sort of injury (elbow inflammation? Shoulder tightness?) stick him on the 15-Day, and then have a nice excuse for a longer rehab assignment? It's not as though Carrasco was truly blocking anyone--yes, Speier's coming back soon, but what about sending down whoever took his spot in the first place? Then again, I suppose that Bootcheck is out of options and DFA'ing Hector was preferable to doing the same to Chris, who by all accounts is the better of the two.

Hillenbrand's DFA, on the other hand, is completely expected. I had very high hopes for him this season, as for some inexplicable reason he's one of my favorites. Don't ask me why--I suppose it's that the guy's go so much potential. He just couldn't get it done, though, so off he goes. I'm happy for him that he at least effectively disproved the notion that he's a permanent clubhouse cancer--despite his comments last week, the Angels insisted that he was a relative class act, all things considered.

I'm just not sure that we'll actually get anything for either player. Carrasco I could see going to a non-contender for a low-level prospect--or perhaps, like Edgardo Alfonzo before him, he'll just fade away into obscurity. I hope not. Hillenbrand's options, though, are rather limited--we know the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Giants, and Diamondbacks won't want their former player back, though I suppose the Giants could possibly be persuaded, given that they don't have any strong options at first. Other teams that have no use for a 1B/DH include the Cardinals, Royals, Pirates, Indians, A's, Dodgers, Mets, Mariners, Devil Rays, Marlins, Nationals, Reds, Rangers, Astros, or Brewers.

Looks like the Yankees really are the only team that could be remotely interested--and even they've said their interest is only mild. Could this be the end for Shea?