russ ortiz

by amettrick on Jun 14, 2006 2:41 AM EDT Comment 18 comments

the diamondbacks just designated russ ortiz for assignment. now i realize that he's been awful since he made the move to arizona, but i think he might be worth a shot. dave duncan has a long history of straightening out veteran pitchers and the guy is only 3 seasons removed from winning 21 games for the braves. the d-backs have 10 days to release him, waive him, or trade him, and it seems unlikely they'll find any trade partners willing to take on the $22 million left on his contract, which means he'll likely end up a free agent, and probably a cheap one. it never hurts to have another arm. any thoughts?

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no, thanks

Ortiz walks way too many guys for my tastes.

The 26th Man

by 26thMan on Jun 14, 2006 3:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

no, thanks

If Dunc can't get the rest of the staff to not walk so many, how do ya think Russ Ortiz will fare? I mean, Mazzone was already his pitching coach...

big fat NOOO!!!.

Reverend Redbird

by erik on Jun 14, 2006 7:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I dunno

I'm torn about this one. There might be something to be said for having him if we need to package up 2 of the four FAs to get enough prospects to land an impact player this summer. For example, you send Mulder to the Dodgers for prospects and Marquis to Arizona for prospects and then ship all those to Florida for Willis. That would give you Carp, Willis, Ponson, Supp, and Ortiz with Reyes in the wings. I really really would like to see Reyes in the rotation this year but I also understand TLR and DD liking the extra starter.

Now I will say that Ortiz was particularly horrible this year but if you get rid of Marquis then DD can focus on Ortiz who might be more likely to listen. (Cheap shot at marquis...couldn't help myself) If we still had Wainwright and Reyes in AAA then I would say no way but the whole extra starter thing is kinda to my liking. Maybe a better idea is to get him and stash him away in AAA for awhile and let Reyes pitch in the bigs.

He might be worth a look though. But would he get to us. Don't we have last claim on waivers?

by azruavatar on Jun 14, 2006 8:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Waivers

Anyone claiming him on waivers has to pick up his contract, so he won't be claimed. Once he is released anyone can sign him.

by mikedallas23 on Jun 14, 2006 12:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ahh

I didn't know that - and once he passes waivers he is free to sign anywhere? And they sign him to a new contract even though he still gets paid under the old one? I'm a little confused... forgive my ignorance

by azruavatar on Jun 14, 2006 12:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just like we're doing with Ponson.

Baltimore is paying him $8M to pitch for us; we're paying him 1M. Although baltimore was trying to get out of having to pay it due to the aruba thing and afaik there hasn't been an update on that recently.

by SleepyCA on Jun 14, 2006 1:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I believe

that the Diamondbacks are still on the hook for $22 million, but a team can sign him to a new deal, presumably a minor-league deal. I think Tony Womack is still being paid by the Reds and the Yankees while playing under a minor-league deal with the Cubs.

by ryanisforever on Jun 14, 2006 12:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

walks

he does walk an ungodly high number of batters, but still found a way to win despite that. there's still a chance thats something dunc could fix. i just think that he'd be worth a look, especially if he'll agree to work down in aaa for a bit. it sure would give us more flexibility to trade away one of our starters for an impact bat.

The St. Louis Cardinals: No Curses, No Excuses, Just Wins

by amettrick on Jun 14, 2006 1:08 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

If you sign him

i think he is good enough to put in the rotation why send him to AAA to not get help from Dunc.The guy was on a team that made it to the Series i thik more than anything he need a change of pace.Remember a couple of years ago in AZ Shil had a problem with questec in that stadium maybe thats messed with him and hes starting to nibble.Which only gets you in trouble then you pitch worse and then your released because your being paid a lot.Bring him our way trade Mulder get prospects and get a bat and another pitcher.

by sportsmanspark78 on Jun 14, 2006 2:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No way

He's always had a really high WHIP which is anathema to TLR and DD. He had a couple of good years, and his ERA was not dominant then, either.

I don't see an upside on him at this point, even if we could sign him for the league minimum.

by BozCardsFanSF on Jun 14, 2006 2:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

you don't see upside...

to signing a guy to the minimum when he has proven he can win? what is "upside" to you?

by lopey986 on Jun 14, 2006 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

"proven winner"

is one of those phony tags Joe Morgan likes to put on guys when he doesn't have anything more insightful. Ortiz's wins are mostly a function of his playing for good teams. If he had those kinds of peripherals with the Royals, then we wouldn't even be talking about him.

The 26th Man

by 26thMan on Jun 16, 2006 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with you that proven winner

may be an overrated title but let's be realistic here. He's been in the bigs for 9 years. Of those nine years:
5 years under a 4.5 ERA
6 years with 14+ wins
7 years with a 6+ k/9 rate (how many of our starters can boast that - this year he has a 8.34 k/9 rate)
5 years with a sub-.750 OPS against

If I had to wager a guess as to his weaknesses they appear to be two-fold (career wise - I don't know about this year.) 1) He walks too many batters and 2) he doesn't get enough groundballs.

Here's my point. He's not going to be an ace. But I feel pretty comfortable that given the ST. Louis atmosphere and DD's tuteluge that he could at least match the production of any of our 4 FA starters. If you can sign him for 1 million (or less) plus incentives - why would you not??? That let's you move two pitchers and still have a solid 5 by inserting Reyes and Ortiz. It doesn't cost us anything but a few $$. It's like Ponson. Who has more value this year - Ponson or Mulder. Ponson obviously because he costs so much less. He's not doing that much better but he's costing about 6 million less. If you sign him and move Mulder it could save us a few million and not cost us anything in the standings.

He's not a Ace or a postseason starter but he allows you the flexibility to acquire a more explensive player this year. DD and TLR have a good track record with these types of players. If he allows us to trade multiple starters for prospects to package for a big bat or a better pitcher, then I say its a low risk high reward move. Pitching is at a premium so it makes sense to fill the backend of the rotation cheap.

by azruavatar on Jun 16, 2006 9:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs