Sheehan: Cubs Did Good
Baseball Prospectus’s Joe Sheehan has some good things to say about the Nomar trade, from the Cubs’ perspective. First, he blasts the Red Sox:
The Red Sox didn’t have to trade Garciaparra to get Mientkiewicz. They could have had him, yesterday or today, for whatever version of Justin Jones haunts the lowest levels of their minors.The Red Sox downgraded from Garciaparra to Orlando Cabrera, and they threw in a good hitting prospect (Matt Murton) for the privilege. That’s not just a bad trade, it’s an awful one. Cabrera has been one of the worst hitters in MLB this year, and his superior defense has slipped a notch, in part due to a bad back. There’s still a big difference between him and Garciaparra defensively, it’s just dwarfed by the offensive difference between the two.
And in praise of Jim Hendry:
The Red Sox essentially gave their playoff spot to the Cubs. Quite frankly, I have no idea how Jim Hendry pulled it off, but he made a massive upgrade to his lineup without giving up anything more than some his second-tier-—albeit pretty good—-prospects. Given that prospects have less value to the Cubs now that Dusty Baker is their manager, that’s just an excellent use of resources. The Cubs, who had been playing better for a couple of weeks, become the favorite for the NL wild card. That’s very impressive for a team that looked done just before the All-Star break.
The win today made it all the more exciting.