HUH? Earlier today Oakland demoted Pena, Menechino and Tam to the minors -- which can be justified by numbers, tho I think it's panicking in Pena's case -- but HOW do you justify trading a guy with a .390 on-base pct for John Mabry???

The \"other\" Giambi sent to Phils (espn.com)

A "one-dimensional" player? (And that's one of the smarter GMs talking.) Does Mabry have *a* dimension?

White flag trade.

(A's ... not the Phils)

On-base percentage isn't that meaningful a stat for a slugger-type like Giambi.

Imagine--a story about a salary-dump trade and the Phillies aren't the team dumping the salary! (Although I can't imagine Jeremy is making all that much. It's not like he's on Jason's level.) But the last-place Phils are only 4 games out of first in the NL Least despite a 4-18 road record.

But Jeremy's NOT a slugger type... true he has 8 this year, but he's never topped 12 in any of his part-time seasons. Yeah he's slow, but runs are runs, and the fact that he's not a big earner yet either just makes a trade for Mabry mystifying...

I would categorize him as more of an Olerud type than a slugger, but his big bro didn't show that much power young either. The trade is so strange, you wonder if there's something we don't know about. Why would you trade a reasonably good everyday first baseman who is just reaching his prime, for an over-the-hill, unimpressive backup 1st basemen/corner outfielder? He can't be that expensive, he's really only one had one season as a regular player. This just makes no sense.

Just checked his salary--1.065 million. Hardly seems high enough for dumping.

from the article in the Phila. Daily News about the trade...

[quote] ...Mabry was a pinch-hitter who is now with his sixth organization in the last three years. Giambi had started 42 games for Oakland and had almost as many RBI (17) as Mabry has at-bats (21). And Giambi's eight homers immediately rank him second on his new team, behind only Pat Burrell's 11.

The first question, then, is why astute A's general manager Billy Beane called Phillies counterpart Ed Wade Tuesday afternoon and proposed the swap.

Part of the answer might be that Oakland went out that night and lost for the 14th time in 17 games, and Beane appears determined to shake up his roster. Trading Giambi was only one of a dramatic series of moves the A's made yesterday; they also shuffled several players between Oakland and Triple A Sacramento.

There were also reports Giambi, an outspoken soul, had made it obvious he was unhappy to be separated from his brother; 2000 AL MVP Jason Giambi signed a $120 million free-agent contract with the Yankees during the offseason.

Then there's this: Four days before his brother signed, Jeremy was cited in Las Vegas for possession of a small amount of marijuana. He was fined, and authorities dropped the citation.

Wade was undeterred.

"We did that part of our homework in the last 24 hours to make sure there were not any issues we were unaware of," he said. "We're satisfied with Jeremy's makeup.

"He brings a lot of intensity. I don't know him real well, but I understand he's a real loose guy who lets it all hang out. He's not overly inhibited. But we've had guys like that. A little looseness isn't the worst thing in the world."

Uninhibited? The month before Pat Burrell's Penthouse interview that raised so many hackles in February 2001, another ballplayer contributed a question-and-answer story that was even more revealing: Jeremy Giambi.

Beane's explanation for the trade to the Bay-area media: "Jeremy was off to a good start but we were concerned he was too one-dimensional."

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[quote]Originally posted by Bill W:
But Jeremy's NOT a slugger type... true he has 8 this year, but he's never topped 12 in any of his part-time seasons.

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Two homers in his Phils debut tonight. Unfortunately, lousy relief pitching and poor defense (including misplays by Rolen and Lee) caused them to lose again...4-20 on the road! Yet they're still only 6 games out of first.

Sorry about the Phils loss, Joe. Nice walk-off Grand-Salami by Vidro, eh? The guy's a hitting machine. You know I love ya, Joe, don'tcha? Joe?

Expos only 1.5 out of first place now. When did the NL East become the suckingest division in baseball?

I was wondering... Did the A's dump Giambi as some sort of MLB-conspired plot? Oakland's been on the contraction short-list for a few years now, no? Is Beane in cahoots with Budwig? Is a multi-zeroes buy-out on the horizon? Are the A's history in 2003? Paranoid minds want to know...

[quote]Originally posted by Seph:
Sorry about the Phils loss, Joe. Nice walk-off Grand-Salami by Vidro, eh? The guy's a hitting machine. You know I love ya, Joe, don'tcha? Joe?

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You're just saying that 'cause you wanna get into my pants...I hope...please??

[quote] Expos only 1.5 out of first place now. When did the NL East become the suckingest division in baseball?

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Just this year, when the Braves are finally (I think) falling to earth and the Mets were overrated by a lot of people this year.

[quote]
I was wondering... Did the A's dump Giambi as some sort of MLB-conspired plot? Oakland's been on the contraction short-list for a few years now, no? Is Beane in cahoots with Budwig? Is a multi-zeroes buy-out on the horizon? Are the A's history in 2003? Paranoid minds want to know...

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If Bud still wants to get rid of two teams (and the arbitrator rules that they can), with the Twins deal for stadium funding approved by the state, that ought to mean they'll choose another team. From their point of view, not mine: if not one of the Florida teams, why not Oakland? They don't have a new stadium and they're apparently getting rid of higher salaries now. And that would help solidify the Giants once the Bonds era is over and the charm of PacBell wears off.