Notes, quotes and comment

The Modern Era committee made its Hall of Fame selections and rejections Sunday.

It corrected one injustice by selecting Alan Trammell. It repeated another by leaving Marvin Miller out. And it committed a highly predictable error by electing Jack Morris.

That last is not a popular position in Minnesota. Morris was born and raised in St. Paul, he had that marvelous Game Seven to win the 1991 World Series, and he has a role in the Twins telecasts. (He's awful in that role, but that's the norm for FSN, which seems content to have analysts a generation behind the times.)

But the truth is, Jack Morris will be among the very worst pitchers in the Hall. (Rube Marquard and Jesse Haines are probably worse.) He was, as I said here, only once the best starting pitcher on the writers' ballot during the 15 years he was eligible. And he wasn't the best starting pitcher on the Modern Era ballot either. Both Tommy John and Luis Tiant have better credentials.

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The winter meetings officially begin today in Orlando, Florida, but two of the biggest moves of the offseason have already happened: Shohei Ohtani signed with the Angels, and (pending a physical) Giancarlo Stanton will be traded to the Yankees.

I really don't get the Stanton hysteria. Yes, he hit 59 homers. Yes, he's a top-of-the-charts power hitter. He also has a long history of injuries -- 2017 was only the second time he's played 150 games. And his presence, plus that of Aaron Judge, probably means the Yankees are not going to be contenders in the Bryce Harper derby next winter.

Given a choice between Stanton and Harper, I'll take Harper. And it's not close.

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Nor do I see Ohtani as a perfect fit with the Angels, although for his price tag imperfect fits are quite acceptable. Where do they get him the at-bats he desires? The outfield is pretty full with Mike Trout, Justin Upton and Kole Calhoun. DH? They're paying Albert Pujols $24 million a year though 2021, and he can't move anymore.

And if Mike Scoscia comes out of spring training saying, "We weren't really serious about giving him at-bats."  that's not a good look. They're going to give Ohtani a legitimate opportunity to play or have a grumpy Ohtani -- and a reputation for deceit.

But all that can be a useful problem, if they handle it right.

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Back to the Stanton trade. I snorted the other night at the office when I read the Associated Press lead to the trade story:

After helping the New York Yankees to five World Series titles, Derek Jeter might help them win another.

The notion that Jeter is being a sleeper agent for Brian Cashman is silly. The notion that Jeter is over his head in running a major league franchise is not.

And what is obviously true here is that Jeter's ownership group overpaid for the Marlins and are undercapitalized. Their primary goal this winter to unload debt, and the biggest piece of debt they inherited from Jeffery Loria's inept outfit was Stanton's contract.

Jeter tried to send Stanton to the Giants or Cardinals; Stanton, armed with his no-trade clause, refused. Ultimately, it came down to sending him to the Yankees for a pittance or having his contract on the books, and Jeter's group can't afford that contract.

Jeter may well have mishandled the trade talks by exposing his lack of alternatives, although that lack of alternatives was fairly obvious. The biggest mistake, however, was overpaying for a teardown project. They should have let Loria go bankrupt.

Barry Larkin, Alan Trammell and the golden age of shortstops

Alan Trammell in 1987 hit
.343 with 28 homers, 109 runs
and 105 RBIs for a division
winners— and lost the MVP
to George Bell. Ridiculous.

In the spirit of good will toward all, I've been trying to deduce why the writers have twice bypassed Barry Larkin for the Hall of Fame.  For that matter, I've been stumped for even longer by the same question as regards Alan Trammell.

Larkin was the superior player, but both were far better than several of the shortstops already enshrined in Cooperstown.

Larkin did miss the equivalent of about two seasons in his prime to a series of injuries —a half season here, two weeks there, a month over there — but he was one of the most well-rounded players in history. He did everything well.

Except, perhaps, time his career.

Trammell, I think, suffers in comparison to his contemporaries Cal Ripken and Robin Yount. Both were better hitters — not that Trammell was a slouch at the dish -- and until Yount moved to the outfield, Trammell was never better than the third best shortstop in the American League. It's rather akin to Duke Snider, who was the third best centerfielder in New York City in the 1950s. Snider was great, but Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were greater still.

Barry Larkin won just one
Gold Glove, but there was this
fellow in St. Louis ...

And then there's Larkin.

Larkin's first season as a regular was 1987. Ripken was in his prime and Ozzie Smith and Trammell were getting ripped off in the MVP votes (both finished second to "run producing" outfielders who didn't really generate more offense). (Yount had already become an outfielder.)

By the end of Larkin's tenure, we had the Trinity (Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Normar Garciaparra) — plus Miguel Tejada winning an MVP, Omar Vizquel winning 11 Gold Gloves, and the rise of Edgar Renteria and Orlando Cabrera, who have both had pretty distinguished careers.

No matter who you want to put in the top 10 all time shortstops, no matter how you want to order them, I would say at least half of them have to overlap with Barry Larkin's career. At least. I might go so high as eight of the 10.

And one of them is Barry Larkin. Trammell might be too. If he's not, he's real close.

Larkin figures to win induction in 2012. Trammell, not so much. He and Tim Raines appear to be the biggest blind spots in the electorate right now. Some would say the voters' anti-steroid stance is, but I view that as a work in progress. They're arguing that one, pro and con. Raines and Trammell are just being overlooked.