Comfortably Numb
Down for the Eight Count
Canes fans were disappointed at the trade deadline as two minor deals, one bringing in a utility outfielder from St. Louis - Frank Knaus - and another bringing in a rental middle reliever from Halifax - Glen Jackson - failed to address the two issues in making a run to the pennant this year. Those two issues: adding some power to the 23rd best team in home runs, to add some big innings to a nice on base team percentage, and some additional good bats to an infield that only had David Washington (20 HR, 88 RBI) to boast about.
The boasting was short-lived. Washington chose to parlay his newly refound fame in the free agent market, assuming his aging body would support another nice year like 1972. Unfortunately, his body chose to reply 2 weeks later, as he tore a hamstring pulling into second during a game in mid August which will have him back for the playoffs but with some obviously diminished capabilities.
Meanwhile the middle infield suffered its 8th through 10th injuries of varying lengths and severity over the last two weeks. In addition to that jab, Biloxi's young ace, Chad Nieman (9-6, 2.86 ERA) went down with a ruptured triceps in early August, and he's expected to miss the first round of the playoffs. Doug Crossen (11-12 and 1-6 since mid July) took a batted ball off his head during this difficult time and toughed it out, but showed some obvious effects. These body blows and head shots led to a nasty slump in August and early September where the team suffered several extended losing streaks and went 14-21, despite some strong starting pitching from the remaining starter corps.
Free at Last!
In other free agency news, Biloxi's front office chose not to extend an offer to David Mcbeth (15-12, 3.91) as he was requesting $13.5 million for 4 years, and negotiations quickly broke down from that starting point. Manual Espinosa (12-6, 3.22) chose to sign a $5 million extension over 2 years in the one piece of good news over the last couple of months.
Off the Cane Fields
In order to deal with the weaknesses exposed by the Washington and Nieman injuries, the front office has chosen to promote "Friar" Barrientos and Willie Coffey from AAA Nome, to varying degrees of success. Barrientos (5 HR) is learning first base as he enters the bigs, always a challenge; but he's responding well and is growing in confidence week by week. Coffey (0-5) looks badly overmatched and will probably get demoted to middle relief to start next year - or may return to the cold clutches of Nome baseball.
Maldonado Watch
Supes Current Rating: Plastic Man - Able to stretch singles into doubles frequently (3rd in the WL with 43). His value will best be seen in the future, but for now he's a nice role player on a good team.