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 Tuesday, April 4
Say what?
 
 A couple of Opening Day roster moves have left ESPN.com's baseball columnist Rob Neyer scratching his head.

Neyer told ESPN.com users that players like Gary Gaetti and Brian Hunter, plus the lack of a left-hander in the Royals' bullpen, raise questions as the 2000 season gets under way. He also talked about some great baseball books and where some of today's managers rank in baseball history.

Check out this transcript from Neyer's April 3 chat and find out what new ballparks he is eager to visit.

Kevin: What do you think of replacing Tim Wakefield with Pete Schourek as the No. 3 in the rotation? Would it be better to have swapped out Jeff Fassero for Schourek and put Fassero in the bullpen? I think Wakefield has been throwing strikes and deserves to start the season as number No. 3.

Rob Neyer: There are two ways of looking at this: One is that Wakefield is rubber-armed, so he can pitch three or four times a week and relieve pressure on the bullpen. The other is that Wakefield is rubber-armed and can be counted on for 200-plus innings as a starter, thus relieving pressure on the rotation. At this point in baseball history, I tend to give Jimy Williams the benefit of the doubt.

Warren Cromartie: I will ask you again: If the Royals offered you the general manager's job, would you accept it and leave ESPN in the dust?

Rob Neyer: Nope, because I'd be lousy at the job. But if they offered me a position as Assistant to the Assistant Traveling Secretary, I'd be outta here.

Thomas: How long before Ryan Anderson joins the M's starting rotation? He looked awfully good against the Phillies (Sunday). But what do the M's do with seven starting pitchers?

Rob Neyer: Look, pitchers are fragile beasts, and Brett Tomko's already been sent to Tacoma. If Anderson continues to pitch well, I suspect we'll see him in Seattle this summer. By the way, I'll be in Tacoma Friday night to watch Anderson pitch, and with luck I'll report on this in a special Saturday column.

Jonah Falcon: The Yankees put Lance Johnson on their final 25 man Opening Day roster. Does he still have enough juice to hit triples and be productive off the bench?

Rob Neyer: Johnson's not a bad fourth/fifth outfielder, especially if he's cheap. I still haven't figured out where the Yankees are going to get any production from the DH slot, though. Anybody know what's going on there?

UVAcav: Will the next edition of Total Baseball be published after the 2000 season or the 2001 season? If I'm only going to buy one large stat book, would you recommend TB or the Baseball Encyclopedia?

Rob Neyer: I've not heard anything about a new Total Baseball, so I'm assuming we have to wait until next spring. I think it's the best, and anyway, last I heard The Baseball Encyclopedia was looking for a new publisher.

Eric Hathaway: In your opinion, is Erubiel Durazo a star in the making or just an everday first baseman.

Rob Neyer: I guess it depends on your definition of "star." I do think Durazo will quickly become one of the top five first basemen in the National League.

Teufel: Does Herk Robinson think he is going to get a ring from the A's organization? His has contributed mightily to the A's cause. How good will Sal Fasano be?

NEYER'S FILE
ESPN.com's Rob Neyer writes a daily baseball column from March through October. His book "Baseball Dynasties," co-authored with Eddie Epstein, has just been published, and can be ordered from Amazon.com.

Rob Neyer: Well, Herk probably should get a ring if the Athletics win the West. As for Fasano, he's no kid, but he's better than what the Royals have at catcher. Lousy deal for R's.

InveNUStus: I was intrigued by your comment about how you'd rather be a baseball fan in 2001 than 1941. It's refreshing to hear that amid all the talk of how the game was better then. What in particular makes you say that?

Rob Neyer: Geez, where do I start? If it were 1941, a good percentage of the best players wouldn't even be allowed to try out for a major league team. And if you didn't live in one of 10 cities, you might never see a major league player except in newspaper photos.

Mattingly23: At this point, wouldn't you have to say that the Blue Jays are a better team than the Red Sox, considering their starting pitching depth and a solid, if unspectacular, lineup?

Rob Neyer: Well, that's how I picked them. But while the Red Sox are relying on an old, injury-prone rotation, the Blue Jays are relying on a young, injury-prone rotation. So I'm not truly convinced one way or the other.

Timbo: What are the Red Sox doing with retreads like Gary Gaetti and Pete Schourek on the roster? I know Dan Duquette likes picking up players off the scrap heap, but these guys (especially Gaetti) are ridiculous.

Rob Neyer: As much as I love him, Gaetti really has no business on a major league roster at this point. After a hot start in Florida, he did absolutely nothing the last week or two of spring training. The Red Sox need another bat, and he ain't it. As for Schourek, he might be OK until one of the prospects is ready.

Tommy Boy: How do the Astros resolve the Berkman vs Ward conundrum? Let Berkman fester in AAA, or a trade?

Rob Neyer: The Astros just may hang on to Berkman for a while. There's a chance they won't pony up the cash to re-sign Jeff Bagwell, and if that happens, Berkman would be a nice alternative.

Nnguy: Mandatory Rafael Furcal question: What should we expect in 2000? I have a hard time believing he won't beat out Walter Weiss. Heck, even YOU could beat out Weiss!

Rob Neyer: Bobby Cox says he hopes to get Furcal 300 at-bats, starting twice per week at shortstop and once at second base. I think Furcal is going to be a great player, but let's not get carried away just yet. He's still only 19.

Steve Furcal: My theory is that the Braves call up guys like Andruw Jones and Furcal so early so that, when they become free agents, they won't quite be at their peak value yet. Then they can sign them again, before they really take off. What do you think?

Rob Neyer: I think that the Braves bring up guys like Andruw Jones and Rafael Furcal because they're great players, and great players often are ready for the major leagues when they're still quite young.

SkyMan: Can you recommend a good book on sabermetrics?

Rob Neyer: I regret to say that I cannot. The best overview on the subject was once "The Hidden Game of Baseball," but that book was published more than 15 years ago and a lot has happened since then. I believe that, sometime soon, some enterprising fellow will write a sabermetrics primer that will sell a fair number of copies.

Paul Martin: Why don't the Cardinals give J.D. Drew an every day job? Don't you think he would become a better player than just platooning with Eric Davis?

Rob Neyer: I think the Cardinals have four good outfielders -- assuming that Davis is healthy -- and if La Russa's smart, he'll get each of them close to 500 at-bats this season. Let's wait a bit before we get on La Russa for not playing Drew. It might just be a one-day thing.

Randy Knorr for MVP: What do you think of the Rockies picking up Brian Hunter? That's just what they need, someone who can't get on base. I also hear that they have a great young Class A prospect named Guy Bialostocki who has a great eye and can hit the ball a mile. He's had some trouble with the law, but what do you think of his chances?

Rob Neyer: I'll be honest, I've never heard of Gary Bialostocki, but Class A is a long ways from the National League, especially for a guy who's apparently had some personal problems.

As for Hunter, I have no idea what he's doing in Colorado. Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd has been talking about OBP a lot lately, but then you look at today's lineup and you see Tom Goodwin and Mike Lansing batting one-two. So I'm not sure what's going on out there.

Littledog2: Speaking of the Yankees left field/DH problem: Lance Berkman to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano. What do you think?

Rob Neyer: Good deal for Yanks, but the Astros don't need another shortstop prospect, given that they already have two of them. And I don't think Soriano is going to hit enough to play third base, which is where Houston is going to need help soon.

Stevo: Great Mets win (Monday). Are you still sure with your prediction? Now is a chance to not look like a fool.

Rob Neyer: No, I'm not sure at all. After three games and two victories, it has become quite apparent that the Mets, led by The Great Derek Bell, are going all the way. Thanks for setting me straight.

Bosoxinexile: What is Bill James doing these days? Is he writing anything that I can read online?

Rob Neyer: Online? Not that I know about. But he's got a short article in the latest Playboy (no, really), and he's working on a couple of new books that I'm hoping he'll actually finish soon.

AndyW: I read on ESPN how Davey Johnson was considering a platoon a few weeks back. Not a righty/lefty, but a junkball/heat platoon. This makes such common sense, I was amazed I never heard of this type of thing before. What is your thinking on this, and can you recollect it ever being tried before?

Rob Neyer: To my knowledge, it's not been been tried before. Might make a lot of sense, too. Some years ago, I read a study suggesting that managers should platoon guys based on their stats against ground-ball and fly-ball pitchers. And it was a persuasive argument.

Kcmatt: Do you think the lack of a lefty in Kansas City's bullpen will hurt them? How common is it for a team to completely forsake a lefty in the pen?

Rob Neyer: The lack of a lefty in the bullpen won't hurt them nearly as much as the lack of a brain in the manager.

Brockster: What kind of numbers do you think Mo Vaughn will have after a so-so season last year?

Rob Neyer: I think Vaughn, if he's healthy, will make a nice comeback. In fact, before the Angels traded Jim Edmonds, I figured they'd surprise a lot of people with the their offense this year. I still think that, but to a lesser degree, and the pitching will keep them from contending.

Benny new jersey: Can you say something good about the Met? Ever?

Rob Neyer: Mr. Met carries his head well.

Jonah Falcon: Do you think arm, shin, and elbow protectors will be outlawed finally if the player has no injury to protect?

Rob Neyer: No, I don't, and for two simple reasons. One, any such change would (I think) have to be approved by the players. And two, there are more hitters than pitchers.

Koop: If the Twins' Matt LeCroy hits 25 home runs this year, will that make up for his inability to catch?

Rob Neyer: Depends on how pronounced his "inability" is. If it's simply that he can't throw, then I don't really see that as a big issue, given how little the running game means in today's Baseball, the Power Edition. The Twins are not a great organization, but the presence of LeCroy and David Ortiz on the roster is a good sign.

Lisantti: Have you read Bob Costas new baseball book and if so, would you recommend it?

Rob Neyer: I have an immense amount of respect for Costas. He's smart, he knows his baseball history, he even knows a fair amount of sabermetrics. But I flipped through his book last night, and it didn't seem like there was enough material to justify spending $22. I guess I wish he'd had the time to write a bigger book.

Buhbis: How can you discount Gaetti for his poor run lately in spring training? I admit, he shouldn't be on a roster, but find better rationale than his spring performance. You yourself were dismayed about how much weight people put on spring showings!

Rob Neyer: That's a fair criticism. My point is that the Red Sox justified his presence by pointing to his great early stats, but then they didn't boot him off the roster when his stats went in the crapper.

Jonah Falcon: How do you think a unified umpiring set-up (no AL and NL umpires, just MLB umpires) will benefit baseball? Do you think we'll finally have a better strike zone?

Rob Neyer: I have no idea if the unification will make a difference in the strike zone. I think the best thing about umpire unification is that with a bit of intelligent scheduling, some of the umpires will get to spend more time with their families. So maybe they won't be so cranky.

Billy: Any stadiums (new or otherwise) you are looking forward to visiting this year?

Rob Neyer: Just one, really. I will finally visit Yankee Stadium in the next month or two. As for the new ones, I've been in enough of them to know what they're about, so I'm not particularly excited about PacBell or Comerica or any of the other corporations. I've heard good things about PNC, though, so I might get to Pittsburgh next year.

RobFan: What do you think of Bobby Cox as a manager?

Rob Neyer: Bobby Cox is, along with Davey Johnson, one of the two great managers of our time. And if you're wondering about Tony La Russa, I would rate him in the next group, with Joe Torre and somebody else whose identity escapes me.

Thanks for all the great questions, I hope we can do this again next week. For those of you who have not already been exposed to my tireless self-promotion, let me tell you that my book "Baseball Dynasties," co-authored with Eddie Epstein, is now available in just about every decent bookstore across this great land of ours. 		 


ALSO SEE
Rob Neyer chat archive