Cafardo, never one to avoid a pig pile if it means a good chance to suck up, gets in a couple of kicks to Youks' ribs
while fellating Middlebrooks.
A couple of Cafardo classics in this one, starting with this gem of a paragraph:
Middlebrooks may have a ways to go before he matches some of Youkilis’s statistics, but regardless of the tick in adrenaline Youkilis has received in Chicago for wanting to prove the Red Sox wrong, or for the fresh start he received, Middlebrooks’s upside is undeniable.
Aha. Undeniable. Don't even try to deny it. The evidence Nick puts forward?
He’s hitting .301 with 11 homers and 41 RBIs in 183 at-bats with an .881 OPS.
Well, there you go. When discussing what will happen in the future, describing what has already happened is a sure-fire way to make your point. What happens when you look at Middlebrooks' stats by month? Well, it looks like this (since you like batting average so much, Nick):
.316 -> .288 -> .267
Looks like nothing but upside to me! I kid, really, since July's numbers are based on four games, but it just shows how meaningless the stats provided are. It's 183 at bats! And now we're ready to decisively declare that he's sure to be better than Youkilis, a guy who's finished top-6 in the MVP voting twice?
But, actually, performance has nothing to do with why the Sox made the right call keeping Middlebrooks and dealing Youk for a bag of baseballs. Here's why it was the right call:
The whole incident brought to light how thin-skinned players have gotten.
That's right. It's because Youk was a whiney wuss. Your manager calls you out and says you don't care as much as you used to? I guess you're supposed to just man up: "Bobby's right. I don't really care as much. That's why I'm sucking out loud. Doesn't have anything to do with my surgically repaired hip or my fucked up back, it's all just a lack of desire. Because that's what separates all good players from all bad players. The good players just want it more. The bad players, they don't care. But you know that already, because you've been covering JD Drew for the past four years, and we all know he sucked because he just didn't care."
More evidence it was the right move on the Red Sox' part? Well, the White Sox are happy with the trade, of course! Really, why wouldn't you want to improve a team that happens to be standing in your way of making the playoffs. Hey Pedro's hitting like a champ in 30 at bats - let's see if the Tigers need a second baseman and run Pedroia out of town!
Finally, let's throw some numbers into a paragraph and see what happens:
Youkilis hit .233 with a .692 OPS in 42 games for the Red Sox this season. Since the trade, he has hit .295 with an .873 OPS for the White Sox. Over 16 games, he has three homers and 15 RBIs. Overall, he’s hitting .251 with seven homers and 29 RBIs in 207 at-bats. His overall numbers don’t compare with the rookie’s.
Youkilis OBP for the year (238 PAs): .340
Middlebrooks OBP for the year (197 PAs): .335
Youks home OPS (118 PA): .951
Middlebrooks home OPS (106 PA): .967
Youks with RISP (56 PA): 302/429/535
Middlebrooks with RISP (64 PA): 351/375/632
No, his overall numbers in 200 ABs don't compare with the rookie's, but there are lots of way to show that Youk is likely to be a comparable, perhaps even better player, for the rest of the year. But let's just look at BA and RBI and throw in OPS to look like you care about deep insight Nick. Let's not look at the fact that Will has struck out 47 times (a quarter of his PA) against only 9 walks. Nothing to see there!
And here's the conclusion:
So maybe there’ll be fireworks with the White Sox in town, but it’s a deal that really did work out for both teams.
Mmmm-kay. It "worked" for both teams because the White Sox improved a position on their infield drastically, and gave up essentially nothing they cared to have. And the Red Sox got to give up a player that looks like he's not cooked and get back, um, well, nothing. But no more clubhouse cancer! Addition by subtraction!
Such drivel.
