Chemistry Lesson
Whenever a team with talent fails to produce the expected amount of victories, the pundits usually blame that scapegoat chemistry. Something about the mix of players supposedly caused the whole to be less than the sum of its parts.
When the New York Mets of the early 1990s finished last instead of first despite the addition of high-priced free agents like Bobby Bonilla, chemistry was cited as the problem. The dreadful falloff of the Baltimore Orioles after 1997 was traced to chemistry. And of course the failure of the highest-priced team in baseball, the New York Yankees, to win the World Series any of the past four years, can be traced to the chemical change that occurred when veterans like Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Joe Girardi, Scott Brosius, and Chuck Knoblauch were removed from the mix.
The pundits, and especially the handwringers, usually agree that the best chemistry comes from a group of players who came up together through the farm system. Only by riding buses and sharing dilapidated motel rooms do players create the kind of bonds between men that allow them to drive each other home from third with less than two outs.
The reason, supposedly, that the Yankees are in such a void these days is that they have stopped building through the farm system and have brought in a bunch of mercenary free agents. Forget the fact that the championship teams of the 1970s were all bought and paid for, and consisted of a bunch of guys who hated each other. Only by returning to their roots, the reasoning goes, will the Bronx Bombers return to glory.
Hogwash.
The Yankees’ fortunes have no doubt plummeted since they started trading away prospects for veterans. But the aforementioned cogs of the 1998-2000 championship clubs were all acquired from other teams. Not a one came through Columbus. Meanwhile, who is it that anybody thinks is the Jay Buhner of the 21st century? Brad Halsey? Jake Westbrook? Eric Milton? Ed Yarnall? Scott Seabol? Ricky Ledee? Juan Rivera? Brandon Claussen? Stop me before I name an all-star. Or even a top tier player. (Yes, I know, Alfonso Soriano. But you can’t find me a GM who wouldn’t trade Soriano straight up for Alex Rodriguez.)
Meanwhile, the teams that have succeeded in the past several years have hardly been built on a nucleus of home grown players. Witness last year’s champs, the Boston Red Sox. Johnny Damon was signed as a free agent. So was Manny Ramirez. Kevin Millar, Mark Bellhorn, David Ortiz , Keith Foulke, and Curt Schilling too. Boston traded for Bill Mueller, Orlando Cabrera, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez, Tim Wakefield, and Jason Varitek (though he played his entire big league career for the Sox). Of the regulars on the 2004 Championship team, only Trot Nixon came through the farm system.
The St. Louis Cardinals are another example. The only home grown players on the last year’s pennant-winning squad were Albert Pujols and Matt Morris. Everybody else—Edgar Renteria, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Jason Isringhausen, Mike Matheny, Larry Walker, Reggie Sanders, Tony Womack, Jason Marquis, Chris Carpenter, even Jeff Suppan—came via trade or free agency, and all within the past five years. In fact, the Cardinals revamped three-quarters of their starting rotation in 2004 alone, with no ill effect on the chemistry.
Going back a year farther, the Florida Marlins did not take particular advantage of their farm system. Most people cite strength up the middle as a key to success. But the Marlins’ catcher (Ivan Rodriguez,) shortstop (Alex Gonzalez) and centerfielder (Juan Pierre, whose sprints in from the outfield symbolized the pure joy of playing baseball) were all imports.
Yet that Marlins team was boiling over with chemistry. If they had had any more chemistry, the Bush Administration might have cooked up reasons for an invasion of South Florida. The Marlins were seriously undermatched against the Yankees, yet they won easily in six games for reasons that have little to do with how long the players knew each other, but had everything to do with chemistry. After the championship year, Rodriguez went to Detroit, Derrek Lee was traded to Chicago (for Hee Seop Choi--oops, my bad), Brad Penny was dealt to the Dodgers, and Carl Pavano signed with the Yankees.
Do the Marlins still have that chemistry today? Certainly they have a talented pitching staff. Do the Cardinals have chemistry after changing their catcher, shortstop and second baseman in the 2005 off-season? Do the Red Sox, who let two-fifths of their rotation escape to free agency? With four weeks to go in the season, the answer is yes for two, and possibly all three of those teams.
Chemistry is tricky. It’s easy to identify its absence. The 2005 Yankees are the most obvious example, and the Dodgers are doing a pretty good imitation of it. And some years, chemistry isn’t enough to overcome superior talent. The Minnesota Twins have had lots of chemistry over the years, but it hasn’t gotten them past the first round of the playoffs.
But can you create chemistry? Probably not. It’s nearly impossible to imagine how a group of 25 grown men with egos as big as their biceps will get along together. But you can recognize good chemistry and make sure you don’t screw it up. There are countless examples of GMs who are guilty in this regard.
Paul DePodesta did it to the Dodgers in the middle of 2004, trading away team leader Paul Lo Duca, and did it again in 2005, unloading Shawn Green and ignoring Jose Lima and Adrian Beltre. Brian Cashman did it in 2001, letting Martinez, Knoblauch, and Brosius get away in the same year that O’Neill retired. Billy Beane did it to the A’s in 2005, trading away two thirds of the Big Three and getting so very little in return (although that teams seems to put together a second-half run no matter who they throw on the field).
In recent years, Cashman has tried to atone for those his chemistry mistakes by re-signing players like Martinez and relievers Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton long after the gas was out of the bottle. But in baseball, like in chemistry, there are some reactions that you can’t undo.
When the New York Mets of the early 1990s finished last instead of first despite the addition of high-priced free agents like Bobby Bonilla, chemistry was cited as the problem. The dreadful falloff of the Baltimore Orioles after 1997 was traced to chemistry. And of course the failure of the highest-priced team in baseball, the New York Yankees, to win the World Series any of the past four years, can be traced to the chemical change that occurred when veterans like Paul O’Neill, Tino Martinez, Joe Girardi, Scott Brosius, and Chuck Knoblauch were removed from the mix.
The pundits, and especially the handwringers, usually agree that the best chemistry comes from a group of players who came up together through the farm system. Only by riding buses and sharing dilapidated motel rooms do players create the kind of bonds between men that allow them to drive each other home from third with less than two outs.
The reason, supposedly, that the Yankees are in such a void these days is that they have stopped building through the farm system and have brought in a bunch of mercenary free agents. Forget the fact that the championship teams of the 1970s were all bought and paid for, and consisted of a bunch of guys who hated each other. Only by returning to their roots, the reasoning goes, will the Bronx Bombers return to glory.
Hogwash.
The Yankees’ fortunes have no doubt plummeted since they started trading away prospects for veterans. But the aforementioned cogs of the 1998-2000 championship clubs were all acquired from other teams. Not a one came through Columbus. Meanwhile, who is it that anybody thinks is the Jay Buhner of the 21st century? Brad Halsey? Jake Westbrook? Eric Milton? Ed Yarnall? Scott Seabol? Ricky Ledee? Juan Rivera? Brandon Claussen? Stop me before I name an all-star. Or even a top tier player. (Yes, I know, Alfonso Soriano. But you can’t find me a GM who wouldn’t trade Soriano straight up for Alex Rodriguez.)
Meanwhile, the teams that have succeeded in the past several years have hardly been built on a nucleus of home grown players. Witness last year’s champs, the Boston Red Sox. Johnny Damon was signed as a free agent. So was Manny Ramirez. Kevin Millar, Mark Bellhorn, David Ortiz , Keith Foulke, and Curt Schilling too. Boston traded for Bill Mueller, Orlando Cabrera, Jason Varitek, Pedro Martinez, Tim Wakefield, and Jason Varitek (though he played his entire big league career for the Sox). Of the regulars on the 2004 Championship team, only Trot Nixon came through the farm system.
The St. Louis Cardinals are another example. The only home grown players on the last year’s pennant-winning squad were Albert Pujols and Matt Morris. Everybody else—Edgar Renteria, Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Jason Isringhausen, Mike Matheny, Larry Walker, Reggie Sanders, Tony Womack, Jason Marquis, Chris Carpenter, even Jeff Suppan—came via trade or free agency, and all within the past five years. In fact, the Cardinals revamped three-quarters of their starting rotation in 2004 alone, with no ill effect on the chemistry.
Going back a year farther, the Florida Marlins did not take particular advantage of their farm system. Most people cite strength up the middle as a key to success. But the Marlins’ catcher (Ivan Rodriguez,) shortstop (Alex Gonzalez) and centerfielder (Juan Pierre, whose sprints in from the outfield symbolized the pure joy of playing baseball) were all imports.
Yet that Marlins team was boiling over with chemistry. If they had had any more chemistry, the Bush Administration might have cooked up reasons for an invasion of South Florida. The Marlins were seriously undermatched against the Yankees, yet they won easily in six games for reasons that have little to do with how long the players knew each other, but had everything to do with chemistry. After the championship year, Rodriguez went to Detroit, Derrek Lee was traded to Chicago (for Hee Seop Choi--oops, my bad), Brad Penny was dealt to the Dodgers, and Carl Pavano signed with the Yankees.
Do the Marlins still have that chemistry today? Certainly they have a talented pitching staff. Do the Cardinals have chemistry after changing their catcher, shortstop and second baseman in the 2005 off-season? Do the Red Sox, who let two-fifths of their rotation escape to free agency? With four weeks to go in the season, the answer is yes for two, and possibly all three of those teams.
Chemistry is tricky. It’s easy to identify its absence. The 2005 Yankees are the most obvious example, and the Dodgers are doing a pretty good imitation of it. And some years, chemistry isn’t enough to overcome superior talent. The Minnesota Twins have had lots of chemistry over the years, but it hasn’t gotten them past the first round of the playoffs.
But can you create chemistry? Probably not. It’s nearly impossible to imagine how a group of 25 grown men with egos as big as their biceps will get along together. But you can recognize good chemistry and make sure you don’t screw it up. There are countless examples of GMs who are guilty in this regard.
Paul DePodesta did it to the Dodgers in the middle of 2004, trading away team leader Paul Lo Duca, and did it again in 2005, unloading Shawn Green and ignoring Jose Lima and Adrian Beltre. Brian Cashman did it in 2001, letting Martinez, Knoblauch, and Brosius get away in the same year that O’Neill retired. Billy Beane did it to the A’s in 2005, trading away two thirds of the Big Three and getting so very little in return (although that teams seems to put together a second-half run no matter who they throw on the field).
In recent years, Cashman has tried to atone for those his chemistry mistakes by re-signing players like Martinez and relievers Jeff Nelson and Mike Stanton long after the gas was out of the bottle. But in baseball, like in chemistry, there are some reactions that you can’t undo.
posted by John Rosenthal @ 12:38 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home