Leaving Montreal was Hawk’s best move
Getting off the Expos’ turf may have saved Hall-of-Fame career
Mark Elias / APBaseball was more than just hitting for Andre Dawson. "For me, I always wanted to be a (five-tool) player, and I didn't want offense to overshadow defense,'' Dawson said. "Eight Gold Gloves are what stand out more for me.''
Q: Which major league team has the most productive scouting system over the past 10 years? I am especially interested in the Angels; is their preference for going after high school players paying off?
— Ben Evers, La Palma, Calif.
A: Ten years is a long time in baseball — during which most every team will go through good and not-so-good periods of drafting and developing players. Three franchises that stand out recently are the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies.
The Twins have turned into a higher revenue/high payroll team with the opening of their new stadium, but their long run of success in the AL Central has been due to drafting and developing their own talent — names like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, etc.
The Rockies follow a mid-market model, and often put an entire lineup of homegrown talent on the field — Ubaldo Jimenez, Jeff Francis, Aaron Cook, Jhoulys Chacin, Chris Iannetta, Todd Helton, Clint Barmes, Troy Tulowitzki, Ian Stewart, Ryan Spilborghs, Dexter Fowler, Seth Smith all qualify.
The Rangers are winning the AL West in part due to some tremendous young homegrown talent — Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Julio Borbon, Tommy Hunter — and used another (Justin Smoak) to help land Cliff Lee in a deal.
If you had asked this question a couple of years ago, the Angels would have been one of the first teams mentioned. Their run of success in the Mike Scioscia era definitely has been keyed by homegrown talent, but they have hit a little bit of a lull recently.
When you're promoting 30-ish journeymen such as Cory Aldridge and Paul McAnulty from Triple-A to help your big-league roster, and can't fill bullpen spots with quality arms from within your organization, you know the upper tier of your system is void of top prospects.
That said, watch for outfielder Mike Trout — yes, another Angels' first-round pick out of high school. He was the youngest player (19) in the recent Futures Game, will be in the big leagues by 2011 for certain, and many scouts believe he will be a star real soon.
Q: Explain to me why Charlie Finley, who drafted and signed over a dozen Hall of Famers, won three straight World Series titles with the A's, and was heralded as an innovative genius, is not in the Hall of Fame?
— Mark, San Diego
A: Finley's A's did indeed win three consecutive World Series (1972-74) — the only franchise to do so besides the New York Yankees (1998-2000), (1949-53), (1936-39).
However, by my count, the Hall of Fame list only includes Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Rollie Fingers — certainly an impressive group, nonetheless.
Finley's innovation was a mixed bag — everything from having players wear white shoes, paying players to grow moustaches, employing a player whose sole duty was pinch-running, promoting the use of orange baseballs and the designated hitter, and perhaps his most-brilliant idea that wasn't adopted — advocating for all players to be free agents every year (in theory flooding the market and holding down salaries).
But when you talk about Finley's 21-year tenure as A's owner, you can't ignore the warts — namely, overbearing micromanagement and frugality, and an adversarial relationship with his players. And those warts are what have kept him out of the Hall of Fame, as many in the game disagreed with and even despised him.
The Mike Andrews incident in the 1974 World Series was inexcusable — forcing Andrews to falsely sign an affadavit saying that he was injured after committing two errors in a Game 2 loss. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn overruled the move and reinstated Andrews to the World Series roster.
Then-star outfiedler Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson was released after critizing Finley over the firing of Alvin Dark (and went onto sign with Boston), and Finley threatened to send stars Jackson and Vida Blue to the minors at different point during contract disputes.
And you can't forget Finley's attempt to dismantle the A's in 1976 by selling Fingers and Joe Rudi to Boston and Blue to the Yankees. The sales were voided by Kuhn, who used his 'best interest in baseball' powers that Finley challenged in court (and lost).
Q: What are the chances the Cardinals could acquire Joba Chamberlain from the Yankees? His numbers are terrible, but Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan works miracles and they need help in the bullpen.
— Stephen Shoemaker, Tulsa, Okla.
A: The Yankees won't be giving up on Joba Chamberlain any time soon, I'm sure. He's a part of their short-term future, even though he hasn't yet met expectations in the setup role.
But that doesn't mean the Cardinals won't be active in the trade market. I think you'll see them add pitching — most likely a starter, as Brad Penny's comeback has stalled, and the No. 4-5 starters currently are Jeff Suppan and converted reliever Blake Hawksworth.
They'd love to trade for Roy Oswalt — who wouldn't? — but the price is steep in terms of money (close to $40 million if Oswalt's 2012 option is picked up) and prospects, so we'll see how things unfold leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.
The bullpen has performed very well — in the top four in the NL in ERA. But the six core relievers — Ryan Franklin, Jason Motte, Kyle McClellan, Mitchell Boggs, Denys Reyes and Trever Miller — have been used extensively. So that part of the staff also could get a boost.
Tony DeMarco is a contributor to NBCSports.com and a free-lance writer based in Denver.
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