Grady Sizemore Trade Rumors: The Real Reason This Deal Won’t Happen
Last week, MASNsports.com’s Phil Woods turned the baseball world on its head when he reported that the Cleveland Indians have had “conversations” with the Washington Nationals about trading center fielder Grady Sizemore and stating pitcher Fausto Carmona, and the blogosphere hasn’t shut up about it since. I count myself among the main perpetrators—at least most other writers didn’t propose a return package for the Indians’ two highest-profile players.
Now the (eight) million dollar question is: Does this rumor have legs?
Weekly Wroundup (1/24/11-1/30/11): Trading Sizemore, Bryce Harper’s Value, and Ruining the World Series
It’s been a busy few days here at Wahoo Blues! If, for some reason, you didn’t read all of our posts this week, here’s what you missed:
Link of the Week: Bartolo Colon and The Worst Sports Headline of All Time
Before the New York Yankees signed Bartolo Colon, much ink was spilled over the possibility of a return to the Cleveland Indians.
People mentioned his history with the Tribe, for whom he won 75 games from 1997-2002. They brought up the deal that sent him to the Montreal Expos, in which the Indians received Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, and Grady Sizemore (who could now be on his way out, too). And a few even broached his 2005 AL Cy Young award.
But Colon’s most enduring legacy has nothing to do with his pitching prowess. Posterity will remember him best for being the subject of this article from 2007.
In addition to being extremely poorly written (“Colon surrendered four runs — three runs — in six innings of work”), the piece features what may well be the most unfortunate headline of all time:
Royals To Get A Taste Of Angels’ Colon
Wahoo Blues Featured in BallHyped’s “Best Sports Blogs of 2010″ Book
BallHyped.com’s “Best Sports Blogs of 2010″ eBook is now available! The compilation, available in a free download, is billed as “more than 200 pages of some of the best sportswriting from the blogosphere in 2010.”
Wahoo Blues had the great honor of being featured in the book. “2011 Baseball Hall of Fame: The Case for Roberto Alomar” can be found on page 162.
Many thanks to Bryan Milne and the BallHyped team for the recognition and all their hard work!
The Trade That Would Have Changed Everything: Grady Sizemore for Matt Cain
All the talk of the Washington Nationals’ interest in Grady Sizemore and Fausto Carmona reminded me of an article I wrote at the end of the 2009 season, in which I suggested the Cleveland Indians send Sizemore to the San Francisco Giants for right-handed starting pitcher Matt Cain. In retrospect, it wasn’t a particularly strong argument, and my repeated mentions of Sizemore’s batting average and Cain’s ERA while ignoring their OBP and FIP, respectively.
Still, my proposal made a good deal of sense (if I do say so myself). The Indians had an abundance of young, interesting outfielders vying for playing time and a need for rotation help; and the Giants was in need of an offensive upgrade after scoring just 657 runs in 2009, and the presence of Tim Lincecum meant San Francisco had a spare ace to trade.
Hindsight is 20/20, but had this deal gone down, it would have been an unequivocal win for the Indians last year. Sizemore missed almost all of the 2010 season and struggled mightily at the plate even when he was in the lineup (.211/.271/.289). Cain, meanwhile, outperformed his peripherals once again, posting a 3.14 ERA and 4.0 WAR for San Francisco. But beyond that, it’s not an exaggeration to say that this trade would have completely changed the course of the season.
