Sometimes Spring is Where Dreams Die
by Phil Gurnee on Mar 31, 2009 11:27 AM PDT
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PrintEvery spring some new buck will make an impression and realize their boyhood dream, but for even more the dream ends, and they have to begin the long journey home as they try to figure out what the future holds without them on a baseball diamond.
Chuck Tiffany was a local boy from Charter Oak High School (Covina) who had grown up a huge Dodger fan and was thrilled when Dodgers drafted him in the 2nd round (2003), as he dreamed of pitching at Dodger Stadium. Manny the coach who sits in front of me had told me that Tiffany was the best pitcher his team had ever faced and we looked forward to watching him warm up in the Dodger bullpen in the not to distant future.
It wasn't some far fetched thought, in his first pro season he started a combined no-hitter in May, then upstaged himself two weeks later with a seven-inning perfect game. He finished the season by reaching double-digit strikeouts in each of his last four starts. Then in 2005 he put together a great 20-year-old A+ season and was the 10th best prospect according to BA with the best curveball in the organization. Back in 2005 when Billingsley and Broxton were rocking the Jacksonville Five to a championship, Chuck Tiffany was trying to do the same thing in the Florida League Playoffs. Scroll down that link and you will read about the exploits of Billingsley, Broxton, and Tiffany.
However Ned had other idea's for our Tiffany and decided to trade not only Edwin Jackson but also Tiffany for proven closer Baez and journeyman Lance Carter. It was the first time that Ned would stick a dagger in my heart but it would not be the last. Baez proved that his peripherals were not closer worthy and soon lost the job. Carter was awful and was sent to Japan. Edwin Jackson was terrible for a few years but showed some promise last year and is now entrenched in the Tiger rotation. As much a fan I was of Edwin Jackson it was the loss of Tiffany I lamented the most.
Just like many other young pitchers his Dodger dream ended and now his major league dream has probably ended as well. Soon after being traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays he succumbed to shoulder problems and underwent rotator cuff surgery. He came back but has never been the same so yesterday the Rays released him and the future looks bleak for someone who just a few years ago dared to dream of Chavez Ravine and the applause when he took the mound for the 1st time.
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re:
He’s in the Mike Shaperson wing of the dubious all-star performers because of the one player per team rule.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
by Phil Gurnee on Mar 31, 2009 12:04 PM PDT up reply actions
When that deal was made
I labeled it the kind of deal that was “franchise destroying.” That is, we got so little for so much that it would likely cost the Dodgers more than, for example, the Pierre signing. Ned’s first year was marked mostly by that sort of deal – the Hendrickson trade also typifying it. As it turns out, because of today’s sad news, Edwin Jackson is what remains of that trade, but even so it was still costly. Jackson has been worth 3 wins since traded and should be worth another 1.5 wins in 2009 (his last year before FA, IIRC). So the Jackson/Tiffany trade only ended up costing us apx. $20M.
The Navarro trade piles it on… big. Navarro has been worth about 4 wins since the trade. Hendrickson was worth almost 1 win. Navarro projects to be worth another 6-8 wins before he hits FA, which will bring the net on that trade to about -10 wins, or $50M.
I took some heat here (well, it was DePo4Pres at the time) and on DT for overreaching and calling these trades “franchise destroying,” but I think I can still stick by that. Ned cost us $70M in those two trade alone and with Tiffany’s upside at the time of the trade (assuming the Dodgers did not know something that made it very likely Tiffany’s career would die to an injury), the trades could easily have cost us over $100M.
Thankfully, and much to my surprise, Ned has gone from Franchise killing to merely average. We are still a long way from where we could have been with DePo, but these last two off-seasons have given me some hope that Ned will not bury our potential dynasty (Santana trade not withstanding).
re:
The first time I saw your name was on DT when you decried the Aybar and Betemit deal and at that time what put me off was the hyperbole you used to describe that deal which was basically one of the few even trades Ned has made.
Those deals certainly have set back the franchise as have others that Ned has engaged in but he’s yet to destroy the franchise, he’s simply making it easier for our competitors to remain within a stones throw.
Patience is for those who die waiting for something to happen
by Phil Gurnee on Mar 31, 2009 12:50 PM PDT up reply actions
I didn't feel as strongly about that one
though I did (and still do) think it was a bad deal. Of course, now we have neither (which in Betemit’s case is a good thing). Aybar had a head case issue two years ago, missing all of the ’07 season, and still managed a better two year run (2007-2008) than Betemit. Since the trade, Aybar is +1.5 wins (again, in spite of missing a full year) over Betemit. So Ned cost us a minimum of $7M on that deal too. More if you consider the issues we have had at 3B and that we very well might not have dumped Santana for $2M if Aybar was manning 3B, but now I am really starting to reach.
It’s crazy to me that Ned has been able to luck out with all these prospect trades, not, of course, that he made good deals, because that never happened. Just that Ned had set the foundations for various potential trades that could have ended up on a level below Pedro-Delino. We’ll see how he fares with Carlos Santana.
Dodger Fever: Catch it every summer; head to the ER every October.
by Tango and Cash on Mar 31, 2009 12:16 PM PDT reply actions
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