Not Everyone Thinks Betemit is God!

by jhamrahi @ Talking Chop on Aug 1, 2006 1:06 AM EDT

I've grown a bit tired of hearing how the Dodgers fleeced the Braves in acquiring Wilson Betemit for Willy Aybar and Danys Baez. You read my comments before:

Two years ago, Wilson Betemit was about to be called the prospect who would never turn into anything. He was so highly touted, but had looked awful at times, even in the minors. In 2002, he hit .245 with 8 homers. In 2003, he hit .262 with 8 homers. In 2004, he hit .278 with 13 homers. Maybe he's turned the corner, but are we sure?

Maybe Betemit will turn into a very good player, but we've yet to see him perform over a full season. I'm not in love with Aybar like others, but I can live with him as a backup infielder when I know we have guys like Andrus, Campbell, and Escobar in the minors.

Now I realize that Baseball Prospectus is never wrong and their projections will most certainly come true (insert sarcasm)...but maybe, just maybe, there are a few things they don't actually know.

Jon Heyman over at SI.com has an interesting blurb today on the deal:

Many people loved the Braves' acquisition of Willy Aybar along with Danys Baez for Betemit. One GM said, "Aybar is as good as Betemit, and he's younger and has a higher ceiling.''

Could it be that someone actually believes the Braves pulled off a deal that won't destroy the franchise?

<sigh> alright, that's enough for tonight...

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With trades the philosophy is to buy low and sell high, and that's what JS did. Betemit's trade value was at the highest it had been all year, and with Aybar's 2006 stats understating his abilities and with Baez not having a great year, it seemed like a worse deal than it actually was for exactly that reason.

I'm happier with it than I was before once I realized that JS had essentially traded Betemit for Aybar, and really just got Baez for free (instead of the other way around). It is obvious that people see a lot of potential in Aybar, and I'm willing to believe that they are right. We need a real leadoff man, and hopefully Aybar can fulfill that need.

With Baez, we pretty much just get to give him an audition for the setup role and if he doesn't do well, then we don't sign him at the end of the year. But if we does, we'll have a better angle on him than anybody else.

by subwindow on Aug 1, 2006 12:40 PM EDT reply actions

JS Slack

I think the attitude we had toward Betemit was that he was finally living up to his potential. It had nothing to do with baseball prospectus worship. Their projections are a good place to start a conversation but his performance this year -- ably filling in at three positions, was what we liked. He was beating the projections -- everyone's.

Incidentally, Wilson Betemit is 24, not 26 as a number of media are reporting. The 1980 birthdate was the lie he told the Braves, who signed him illegally at 14. He was born in November 1981.

I'm inclined to cut Schuerholz some slack. He's one of the best GM's in the game and it's not his fault AOL-Satan-Time Warner is tightening the purse strings, content with a team that can win 87 games and lose in the playoffs. I jumped on the Marte trade but it's worked out well (so far). He has rarely traded away a young player who did well -- Schmidt is the only one I can think of off the top of my head. And considering that they were talking about trading him for Scott Proctor of the career 4.98 ERA, we didn't do too badly.

by mhsiegel14 on Aug 1, 2006 10:41 PM EDT reply actions