Back from my so-soon day off! It didn't go quite as expected, but I was nonetheless out-of-town and unable to update. So, I've got a couple stories to mention today:
Riggleman? Or Wiggleman? Either way, he's out.
Jim Riggleman was the manager of the Washington Nationals until yesterday. I think the Nats are an interesting team - they're not good, but they're not atrociously bad and they often have periods of sustained success, although not usually enough for them to find .500 by the end of the year. Riggleman had been managing them since 2009 and was in the final year of his contract, with next year being a club option. The option had yet to be picked up. Riggleman, as the story goes, brought the issue to his GM and basically said "we need to have this conversation or I won't be on the team bus today." The GM declined to have the conversation; Riggleman resigned. And on top of it all, he does this while the Nats have won 11 of their last 12. I get a manager resigning mid-season... but when a team is on the upswing?
Maybe Riggleman was trying to use that as leverage to get his option picked up or his contract extended further. It'd be a reasonable, opportunistic move and I wouldn't blame him for that. There's no guarantee the Nats will have a winning stretch as good as this one later this year. But if his boss doesn't want to have that conversation, that's his business. As a manager, just as a player, or any other employee in the world who's contracted, you've signed a contract and you have to honor that. What disappoints me here is that Riggleman, who is a career sub-.500 manager, did not honor his contract. His gripe was with the front office, but really, the people who feel this the most are the players. It's the players he's abandoned, and I can't imagine any team will be chomping at the bit for a sub-.500 manager who abandoned his players because of a contract dispute, in the middle of a winning streak.
Maybe the Nats had no intention of picking up his option. I think that's likely. But even still, he's contracted. It's Riggleman's responsibility, in that case, to honor the contract and manage his team through the last day of it. If management doesn't extend him, well, that's unfortunate for him, but that's the business sometimes. After all, there's no clause in those contracts that dictates that his bosses have to extend or negotiate with him mid-season. The onus of that is on him and, unfortunately, he took a less-than-honorable path in dealing with it. A wiser man would play out the year, get let go, and talk about the good times he had in Washington and how he'll miss the team and that he thinks its unfortunate management didn't pick him back up. It leaves doors open. It makes you look good. Jim Riggleman, apparently, is not that wise. I can't see many doors being open to him in the Major Leagues after this episode.
Speaking of "the business"...
Who expects to get traded right after signing a 3-year, $9-million dollar contract with the only team they've played for? Devin Setoguchi certainly didn't. But that's exactly what happened to him. The 24 year-old winger for the San Jose Sharks was dealt to the Minnesota Wild on a draft-day trade yesterday. Accompanying him on the trade was the Sharks' 1st-round pick in the draft (28th) and prospect Charlie Coyle (San Jose's first-round pick last year). This delightful package was all for Wild defenseman Brent Burns.
I'll admit. I have no idea who Brent Burns is. I know that he's a solid defenseman who will help out the Sharks in that department, but I also know that he's in the last year of his contract next year and will command a high price. I also know that he's 26. Setoguchi, on the other hand, I know more about. I know he's a dynamic winger who had a 30-goal season in 2008-09. He's tailed off a bit since then, but he's still scored 20 and 22 goals in the last two seasons, respectively. He's also tied up, contractually, for 3 years now, and he's only 24 - lots of time to continue to develop.
Setoguchi has a habit of disappearing for the Sharks. He's a bit of a feast-or-famine player, if you will. Some might argue that his production will decline further playing on a team that's not as loaded offensively as the Sharks are. In truth, from a team need perspective, I like the Setoguchi-for-Burns trade. It's smart for the Wild - knowing that Marion Gaborik left in free agency and that Burns has the same agent, they got maximum market value for Burns while they could. And, to the Sharks credit, he's an instant upgrade for them defensively. Setoguchi was expendable for them because of their offensive depth. I feel like the Sharks overpaid, sending basically 3 solid players/prospects to the Wild for a single All-Star defenseman that they might only have for a year. But if he gets them over the hump and into the Stanley Cup Finals next year, they'll come up smelling like roses.
As for the Wild, assuming Setoguchi can produce on a line that doesn't have Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau on it, he provides them an offensive boost they desperately need. Charlie Coyle could develop into another offensive playmaker and so could the player - Zack Phillips - that they used the Sharks' draft pick on. So all in all, I feel like the Wild got the better end of the deal, but only if things pan out right. To the Sharks' credit, Burns is a proven defender and could be a top-2 defenseman for their team. There aren't questions about his ability to produce relatively to his linemates, as there are for Setoguchi.
The NHL isn't known for blockbuster draft day trades, so this was quite the surprise to me. But I like it - it's a good trade for both teams and, if all goes right, will make both teams better in 2011-2012.
One more NHL note...
The Winnipeg Jets are back. No offense to Atlanta and the now-departed Thrashers, but... it sort of warms my heart to know that we'll have another Canadian team in the NHL, that it'll be a Winnipeg team, and that they'll be the Jets again. As it should be.
Another MLB note to close out.
There was an unlikely pitchers' duel last night between the A's Guillermo Moscoso and the Phillies' Vance Worley. Moscoso pitched seven shutout innings, allowing 2 hits in that time. Worley pitched 6 shutout innings, allowing only one hit. The relievers continued the shutout until the bottom of the ninth, when Ben Francisco, pinch-hitting for the pitcher, delivered a 2-out RBI single to close out the game. Moscoso is in his first year as a starter with the A's and has delivered a 2-3 record and 2.68 ERA so far. Worley is also in his first full year as a starter as the 5th-man in the Phillies All-Star rotation; he's managed to fit right in with a 3-2 record and 2.44 ERA so far, something the Phillies are likely happy to have with Roy Oswalt now on the disabled list with an as-of-yet unspecified back injury.
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