Omar’s Steal

Kris Benson has a torn rotator cuff, forcing the Orioles to sign Steve Trachsel. I think we can now conclusively credit Omar Minaya with a steal for getting John Maine (and Jorge Julio, since cashed in for El Duque) for Benson. (Of course, re-signing Benson in the first place was a bad idea). For the record, at the time I was in favor of dumping Benson but less than enthused about what the Mets got for him – more here.
Pity poor Leo Mazzone, asked to make a rotation with both Trachsel and Jaret Wright function. If Mazzone can pull this off, he really does deserve to be the first pitching coach in the Hall of Fame.

6 thoughts on “Omar’s Steal”

  2. Some of the miracles that he accomplished with the Braves for 14 consecutive seasons should’ve already cemented him in Cooperstown & nothing in Baltimore should do anything but add a few extra notches. Notice that the Braves’ streak ended (and for the first time, pitching became an albatross, to the point of giving away a young powerhitting 1B for pitching & saving $$) the first season sans Leo.
    Shortly having success from folks like Jon Thomson, John Burkett, Denny Neagle, Odalis Perez, Alejandro Pena, the aforementioned Jaret Wright….I could go on – all of whom had some of their best seasons in years w/Atlanta that no one expected – can probably be directly attributed to Leo. Sure, Smoltz, Maddux & Glavine were studs, but Leo’s entire staff was always pretty stout, even during the steroid years.
    And to think that he was yet another that Time Warner let go because of money. Oh, I hate those b@$tard$ for ruining my team.

  3. I would guess that Steve Trachsel is largely immune to coaching by this stage of his career. Certainly no effort to make him work faster has ever accomplished anything.

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