Interesting read. I had never heard of this writer Tony Demarco before, and I have to say I disagree with most of his analysis. He lauds the Red Sox and Cardinals, both of whom did nothing to improve their pitching for the stretch run, which is what usually makes the biggest difference in a pennant winner. And he rips the White Sox, who acquired arguably the best pitcher in the NL, without giving up a single player of significance on their major league roster.
But then he really gets silly and says-
There are reasons why Orlando Cabrera keeps getting traded to contenders for stretch runs — he's a gamer, an excellent defender and clutch hitter, who just so happens to be red-hot of late.
Is he joking, or is he just dull? The reason Cabrera keeps getting traded is that he is a cancer on any team. He is a me-first kind of player, who doesn't get along with anyone. He is having an average year at the plate, he's a .280 singles hitter. His on-base percentage is a terrible .318.
As for being a "gamer", his batting average for the White Sox last year in the playoffs was .125, and his lifetime postseason BA is just .242. Hardly what I could call a "gamer".
And, though Cabrera has the reputation as a decent fielder, this year he has been absolutely terrible. His fielding average this year is .968, well below his career average. The Oakland A's were ecstatic to get rid of Cabrera. They traded him for a low class A player, and
they even paid the Twins $500,000 to take him off their hands. The A's didn't even have another shortstop on the roster to replace Cabrera, which tells how determined they were to unload him, and they called up a utility player who was hitting just .242 in the minors to play shortstop for the rest of the season.
Tony Demarco also puts the Atlanta Braves in the category of winners at the trade deadline for their shrewd acquisition of Adam LaRoche. Huh? The Braves already had LaRoche once, and dumped him. Now adding this .263 hitter back in place of Casey Kotchman makes the Braves a winner? What's this Demarco smoking?