Jays, White Sox wilt under deadline pressure
Halladay should’ve been dealt, while Peavy no sure thing in Chicago
Darren Calabrese / APThe Phillies, Dodgers, Red Sox, Rangers and Angels were all among the teams in the hunt for Roy Halladay. So why didn't the Blue Jays get a deal done?
Q: What are the chances that the Cardinals will be able to sign Matt Holliday to play for them after this season? I think St. Louis would be a great fit for an Oklahoma boy.
— Stephen Shoemaker, Tulsa, Okla.
A: As I’ve written here above, and in the past, I believe St. Louis is the absolute perfect landing spot for Holliday on a couple of important levels.
First of all, as you mention, Holliday is indeed an Oklahoma boy, having been raised in Stillwater, where his father was the baseball coach at Oklahoma State. While I believe Holliday could thrive under the scrutiny of a New York or Boston, he’s a very down-to-earth family guy with a couple of kids, and St. Louis works on that level.
But what drives Holliday professionally is an intense desire to win, and so what better manager to play for than Tony La Russa? Also, the Cardinals organization doesn’t have the payroll capabilities of the Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers, but there’s no question about their commitment to putting a championship team on the field.
Lastly, there is a track record — Mark McGwire, Larry Walker and Jim Edmonds, to name three — of players acquired in mid-season by the Cardinals who love playing there so much that they decide to stay.
A potentially complicating factor here is Holliday’s agent — Scott Boras, who always likes to maximize his clients’ free-agent status. But barring an offer that blows everybody else out of the water — such as the Yankees gave to CC Sabathia — I think there is a very strong possibility of Holliday staying put in St. Louis. As he has said in the past, Boras works for him — and not vice-versa.
Q: A couple of years back, everyone was speculating on a Beltway World Series between the Orioles and Nationals. Which of those two teams do you feel has the best chance at short-term post-season plans?
— Bill Atkinson, Colonial Heights, Va.
A: How about neither? The Orioles are headed in the right direction as an organization, and certainly are in far better position than the Nationals. But the big roadblock for the Orioles is the ultra-tough AL East.
The Rays have shown that it can be done, so we know it’s possible. But realistically, you know the Yankees and Red Sox have the resources and organizational intelligence to compete for the World Series every year. (The Rays have the talent, but may not be able to stay on that level due to their severe financial restrictions.)
The Orioles do have several pieces in place for a near-future potential contender, led by their outfield of Nick Markakis, Adam Jones and Nolan Reimold.
There is little argument with the idea that Matt Wieters is an All-Star in the making, and there are some quality young arms, with more coming, led by Chris Tillman (although recent Orioles history tells us not to get too carried away just yet).
And, I’ve always been an Andy MacPhail fan; the lessons he learned putting together a contender in Minnesota are serving him well in Baltimore.
The Nationals are a different story. The organization still hasn’t recovered from the drain on talent and resources caused by the takeover by Major League Baseball and move out of Montreal.
Deposed general manager Jim Bowden added his own layer of misguided policy, collecting physically-gifted-but-questionable-makeup types such as Wily Mo Pena and Lastings Milledge — none of whom amounted to much.
The latest failure is being unable to sign last year’s first-round draft choice, and apparently heading for a repeat with Stephen Strasburg, this year’s No. 1 overall pick.
This is a mess that is going to take awhile to fix. At least they have a nice ballpark working for them.
Q: The Padres’ Rule V pick — Everth Cabrera — looks like a steal. After coming off the disabled list, he has taken over the shortstop job. What would he have to do in the second half to be considered for the NL Rookie of the Year?
— Lorenzo, San Diego
A: It’s going to be tough for Cabrera to emerge as a serious Rookie of the Year candidate among a solid field of candidates led by Colby Rasmus, Dexter Fowler, Andrew McCutchen, Ryan Hanigan, Casey McGehee, Tommy Hanson, J.A. Happ and Randy Wells.
But that doesn’t take away from the favorable impression Cabrera is making in San Diego. He is displaying excellent defensive skills, as well as speed, while hitting in the .250s with little power — not bad considering he is making the jump all the way from Class A to the big leagues.
The good news for Cabrera is that considering the Padres are buried in last place in the NL West, he should get plenty of playing time in the final two months of the season.
Cabrera, 22, is one of the few Nicaraguan-born players in the big leagues. He was picked out of the Rockies’ organization after being named to the Class A South Atlantic League All-Star squad in 2008.
With Troy Tulowitzki entrenched, the Rockies have their long-term answer at shortstop, so this is a great opportunity for Cabrera — and he’s taking advantage of it.
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