But therein lies the question: "Who is Steve Trachsel?" Trax (as I have decided to call him from now on) is a 13 year MLB veteran who has spent most of his career in the NL. He spent one year (2000) in the AL east split between Toronto and Tampa Bay. His stint in the AL could have gone better. Between the two teams he combined for a 8-15 record and a 4.85 ERA. Basically that is what we would expect from Benson ERA-wise, I'm sure a lot of that record had to have come from being on a rather poor Tampa Bay team in 2000. But a deeper look raises more eyebrows.
He hasn't averaged more than 6K's/9IP since 2001. Last year he couldn't break the 5 mark and his K/BB ratio was a rather heinous 1.01. Eww.
And all of this was in Shea, a pitcher's park. It doesn't bode well for Trax here in Baltimore. But I always try to find the bright side........well.......umm.....AH!
Here is the bright side. HE WILL BE COMPETING WITH PENN AND OLSON FOR THE SPOT. This could be little more than just some added depth now that Benson is down for the year. I know we all heard that line before when Ramon Ortiz (AKA "He who's name shall not be spoke") but you got to think that Trax would be better than..you know who. He had a pretty decent year on the surface, peripherals not withstanding and he would probably be with a team right now if it were not for 2 rather bad outings in the playoffs.
Somewhere, someone is ready to raise hell about the Maine deal. Well, I say this to those people. You can't predict injuries folks, they happen. These are things you simply can't predict and hindsight is 20/20. you can say I told you so all you want but it doesn't change the position we are in now. WE got Benson, he was a solid guy last year, the trade was worth it - bad things happen....again.
2 comments:
I can't complain about Trachsel. Yeah he's not the direction I would like to have gone. But for a change he represents the Orioles making the best possible decision available. And more than that, the Warehouse acted quickly and decisively on this issue.
That's a HUGE sign of improvement for the front office.
Either that or Angelos is just out of town this week.
James here (with my internet alterego)
Agree with you on all fronts here. It is also good to know that he will be in direct competition with Penn, and probably Olson and Guthrie, for the job. He isn't just waltzing into it.
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