Dear Mr. Littlefield,

Before I begin, please allow me to state that I am not a Pirates fan. But I love baseball in all its forms and I greatly admire many of the players who have come through your organization. I, like many others, think of Honus Wagner as the greatest shortstop who ever lived. I recently had the pleasure of attending Ralph Kiner Night at Shea Stadium, and will always remember the man for his charm and unintelligible stories on Mets broadcasts. Roberto Clemente is on my list of five players I wish I would have been able to see play in person. Finally, I have been a fan of Sid Bream’s mustache for as long as I can remember. So please do know that I have the utmost respect for the Pirates organization and its history.

But please stop. Now. You are ruining the competitiveness of the National League. It because of executives like yourself that we NL-team fans have to constantly hear about the superiority of the American League and the designated hitter. How in the name of Andy Van Slyke can you possibly think that Matt Morris makes your team better? Please tell me. Sure, at one point, Morris was a fine pitcher. But please explain to me your rationale in bringing in a soon-to-be 33 year-old pitcher who has had a 4.73 ERA the past two seasons onto a team with zero-playoff aspirations? Isn’t there some sort of red flag when San Francisco, another NL team who has no hopes for a post-season, was basically giving him away? THEY WOULD HAVE TRADED HIM FOR NOTHING. THEY PROBABLY WOULD HAVE PICKED UP SOME OF THE TAB. Somehow, you were the only one who did not hear this. Not only did you actually give up a fairly young outfielder with a minimum contract in Rajai Davis, but you actually agreed to not only pay the remainder of Morris’ $9.5 million salary in 2007, but you’re paying for his $9.5 million salary NEXT YEAR as well. From what I understand, your team’s current payroll is under $40 million. Matt Morris is going to take up almost 25% of that. Congratulations.

When announcing the trade, you said the following:

“He’s been very productive and played for winners, and I think he will be effective in a rotation with a lot of young guys — a veteran, experienced guy who will help us out a great deal”

You know who else had a rotation with a lot of young guys? San Francisco. You know, the team on which he had compiled an 8.48 ERA over five starts in the month of July? Matt Cain is 22-years old. Tim Lincecum is 23. Noah Lowry is 26. They didn’t seem to think that Morris was necessary to develop these young arms. Why did you? Your future actually had some promise with Tom Gorzelanny and Ian Snell. You couldn’t spend the money that’s now going to Matt Morris on scouting and signing draft picks over slot so they could have some players to surround them in a few years? Matt Morris is not going to make you a contender this year or next. Matt Morris is not going to put people in the seats. Matt Morris is not going to convince anyone that you and your organization are “commited to winning”. All you have done is ensured that the Pirates will continue their streak of losing seasons for the foreseeable future. What is it now, 15 years and counting? The last time the Pirates were over .500, your division, the NL Central, didn’t even exist. I didn’t even know back then that the city of Atlanta was on the east coast because the Braves were in the NL West.

So, for this reason and more, I am pleading that you quit your job. The only reason that I can think as to why you did this is because you were afraid that you would be fired unless you can show improvement in the team’s record. That in and of itself proves that you are incapable of turning this team around. Especially if you’re counting on Matt Morris to do it. Stop. Now.

Sincerely,

Baseball Fan.

PS: Did you know that your your Wikipedia entry mocks your entire existence? It’s really quite funny.

I will analyze trades and rumored trades going down today, updating as news breaks. Latest news will be on top.

Red Sox acquire Eric Gagne from the Rangers for Kason Gabbard and minor leaguers David Murphy and Engel Beltre
I’m a big Kason Gabbard fan, so I think that the Rangers come out the winners in this one, especially given their desperate need for major-league-ready starting pitching. The Sox did avoid giving up any of their A-list prospects and moving Gabbard is helpful in the short term to clear room in the rotation for Schilling’s impending return, but they had to renegotiate Gagne’s contract to get him to waive his no trade clause, bumping up the price tag by several million, and they have consistently under-estimated Gabbard’s potential. If Gabbard ends up being a decent major league starter, the Sox may well regret giving him up for just two months and ~20 innings of Gagne.

Astros dump Morgan Ensberg on the Padres for a player to be named
The Padres continue their endless quest for a third baseman, which has been going on for more than two years now. No word yet on which minor leaguer the Astros are getting but it was probably nobody special since the Astros had designated Ensberg for assignment and had to trade him.

Padres get Rob Mackowiak from the White Sox for a player to be named
The Padres continue their search for answers in the outfield. Mackowiak is an even better option that yesterday’s acquisition, Scott Hairston, for the 4th outfielder role, so Hairston is probably headed to the minors. The White Sox are clearly sellers this year, so anything they can get for their impending free agents is a plus.

Braves get Octavio Dotel from the Royals Kyle Davies
This deal has been agreed to by both sides, but the Braves have to wait until the Teixera deal is finalized because Davies could potentially become the alternate player if the Rangers reject Matt Harrison for health reasons. This deal makes sense for both teams - the Braves have soured on Davies but the Royals would get a live arm to upgrade their ever-beleaguered rotation. There is speculation that Moore could have gotten a bit more for Dotel than Davies, but that his familiarity with Davies from his days in the Braves organization and his gut-feeling that Davies can be a star swung things in favor of the Braves.

Dodgers deal Wilson Betemit to the Yankees for Scott Proctor
At first glance this seems like a good deal for the Dodgers. Betemit had lost his starting job and had nowhere to play, and the Dodgers bullpen has been devastated by injuries and having to move Chad Billingsley, Mark Hendrickson, and Brett Tomko into the rotation to replace injured starters. However, Betemit’s low batting average of .231 conceals the fact that he has an extremely respectable OPS of .834, and by all rights should be starting at 3B over Nomar Garciaparra, who has a pathetic OPS of .690. Betemit’s OBP is .359; Nomar’s is .330. Betemit’s SLG is .474; Nomar’s is .360. Betemit has 10 home runs in 156 at-bats; Nomar has 4 home runs in 358 at bats. Meanwhile Scott Proctor has been one of the most abused pitchers in baseball since the beginning of 2006, and his peripherals are way down across the board since last year. So basically, this is a great deal for the Yankees. Betemit is a huge upgrade over Miguel Cairo as a utility infielder, and offers insurance at 3B should A-Rod opt out of his contract. Given a full year as a starter, Betemit should be able to hit 30 homers with a decent OBP.

Red Sox ship Joel Piniero to the Cardinals for a player to be named
This deal makes sense for both teams. The let’s-convert-piniero-to-a-bullpen-ace plan had been a complete bust for the Red Sox this season, so much so that they had busted Piniero down to the minors July 25. But for the Cardinals, Piniero immediately becomes something like their third best starting pitcher, so giving up a player-to-be-named seems like a pretty cheap price for a team with no starting pitching to speak of to gamble on Dave Duncan’s ability to help a player that is only 28 years old and has already started 148 big league games.

ESPN.com is reporting that the rumored trade between the Dodgers and Yankees has been finalized. Los Angeles will be shipping off IFer Wilson Betemit to New York for reliever Scott Proctor.

Proctor is generally known for two things: 1) being a victim of an evil plot by Joe “Jaws” Torre to slowly and elaborately blow up the shoulders of any decent reliever and 2) setting his equipment on fire in Yankee Stadium. The Dodgers were desperate for bullpen help and with the high price tags on arms such as Eric Gagne, Solomon Torres, Al Reyes, and Chad Cordero, the Dodgers went a step lower. One has to worry about Proctor’s arm, as only Jon Rauch and Matt Capps have entered more games since the start of 2006, and neither of them logged more innings over that same span.

The switch-hitting Betemit, on the other hand, should be a nice pick-up for the Yanks. Despite the fact that he’s batting .231 on the year, he makes up for it with a .359 OBP with good pop when he bats from the left side, which should be a plus with the short RF porch in Yankee Stadium. I always thought that on the right team Betemit would be a useful piece. We’ll see if the Yankees, who had been searching for a utility-infielder, can be that team.

My initial reactions to yesterday’s deals:

The Atlanta-Texas trade is a classic short-term vs. long-term compromise. The NL East is ultimately winnable in the here and now, and Atlanta knew it. While adding Teixeira by no means makes them a complete club (they still lack starting pitching behind Smoltz and Hudson), Teix is a huge upgrade over Scott Thorman. However, the Braves must know that their window to win with Teixeira will only remain open for only the next season and a half. As a Scott Boras client who will be eligible for free-agency after 2009, I have a hard time seeing Atlanta ponying up the necessary money to keep him beyond that.

The Rangers, I think, did extremely well. Even in the mediocre AL West, they were nowhere near contention. Although this deal may not fill their biggest organizational hole (that would be a #1 Starter, a #2 Starter, a #3 Starter, and a #4 Starter), they have a building block in place with Saltalamacchia, especially if they can find a way to keep him behind the plate. While Elvis Andrus is far too young to project any meaningful on-field accomplishments, barring injury, he becomes at worst a guy the Rangers can dangle in front of a GM who overvalues “tools” in a future trade. If Matt Harrison can become a big-league starter, we may be talking about this deal as a slam-dunk in a few years’ time.

The Mets also made a deal, for better or worse, to acquire Minnesota second-baseman Luis Castillo. After Jose Valentin broke his shin recently, New York had been playing 24-year old Ruben Gotay in his place. Despite the fact that Gotay isn’t projected to be a star, he has filled in admirably, providing good speed, decent defense, a line-drive swing and a nice (albeit fluky) .350 AVG. At this point in his career, however, Gotay should probably be counted on to only hit .270 or so, and with his plate discipline not yet developed, he probably won’t have an OBP above .310. Moreover, big league teams are generally reluctant to play young guys down the stretch in a pennant race due to the perceived pressure such an environment would create. So in comes Castillo, who along with Juan Pierre is still remembered as 1/2 of the dynamic duo of table-setters for the winners of the 2003 World Series, Florida Marlins.  The 31-year old is certainly past his prime, but can still put the ball in play with the rest of them and should provide a higher AVG and OBP than what I suspect Gotay could be able to conjure.

But I do disagree with the perception that the Mets upgraded defensively. Castillo is sure-handed but his range is very limited. With Castillo at second, Carlos Delgado at first and Shawn Green in right, the defense on the right side of the field at Shea may be worth keeping tabs on from here on out.  I would also argue that we need to stop thinking of Castillo as a good basestealer. Although he did swipe 25 last year, he was also caught 11 times. Since 2005, he has a success rate of 67% when attempting to steal, and at that point he’s doing more harm than good.

What I do like most about this deal, however, is actually what may happen after the season. Castillo’s contract is up following the World Series and if (hopefully) the Mets decide not to resign him, he will most likely be a Class-B free agent, which should net the team a sandwich pick in the next amateur draft, which will give the team a better prospect than the two the Mets gave up to acquire Castillo (Drew Butera and Dustin Martin).  

Rounding out the NL East, in a microcosm of how badly we overvalue preseason perceptions, the  Philadelphia Phillies acquired Kyle Lohse from Cincinnati to help fill out the back-end of their rotation. Prior to April, the word most associated with the Phillies’ pitching was “surplus”. Having traded for Freddy Garcia in the off-season, the Phillies were thought to have six pitchers who were more than capable of holding down a rotation spot - Garcia, Brett Myers, Cole Hamels, Jon Lieber, Adam Eaton, and Jamie Moyer.

Yet, after some injuries and disappointing performances, the Phils felt the need to acquire Lohse, a 28-year old righty with a career 4.83 ERA, to improve their staff. Thus far in 2007, they rank 25th in team ERA, much due to the fact that only the Tampa Bay Devil Rays give up more homeruns than Philly. So what do they do? They trade for another pitcher who is prone to giving up the long ball. In all fairness, while I don’t think that Lohse is the answer, neither is J.D. Durbin, so I do not foresee this trade having much of an impact in the NL East. I was impressed, however, at the team’s aggressiveness in bringing in Tadahito Iguchi despite the fact that Chase Utley is expected to return within a few weeks.

Mark Teixeira, one of the hottest names bandied about before tomorrow’s trade deadline, has just been traded. The Rangers are sending the first baseman and a lefty reliever, Rob Mahay, to the Braves. The Braves are giving up their top two prospects (and with them, any chance of reclaiming the awesome-nickname-days of yore).

Some suspected that Texas wanted to dump Teixeira because he was a chronic complainer. Nevertheless, it seems they got a lot in return. According to early reports, Atlanta sent them top-rated catching prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia, shortstop-of-the-future Elvis Andrus, pitching prospect Matt Harrison and 19-year-old righthander Nestali Feliz. Salty (as he is known) and Elvis (Elvis!!) are the top two prospects in the Braves’ organization. Harrison is their third-ranked youngster.

Teixeira is eligible for salary arbitration after this season. He becomes a free agent at the end of next season.

I can’t decide whether the Rangers have made out like bandits, or whether the Braves got Teixeira cheap. One the one hand, all the Braves had to give up was prospects. On the other, they reportedly gave up the best three prospects they had.

Here’s the short version on Teixeira:

Teixeira, a 27-year-old switch-hitting slugger, has won two Gold Gloves at first base. He is batting .297 this season with 13 home runs and 49 RBIs. Since breaking into the majors with Texas in 2003, Teixeira has had seasons of 26, 38, 43 and 33 home runs.

Only Ralph Kiner, Albert Pujols and Eddie Mathews hit more than the 140 homers that Teixeira had in his first four major league seasons. He had at least 33 homers and 110 RBIs in each of the past three.

The former Georgia Tech star will be a huge upgrade for the Braves, who’ve slid to third in the NL East and have been using stand-ins at first this year. But was it worth ditching their top three prospects, plus this guy Feliz? Well, Saltalamacchia had nowhere to go after the Braves re-upped last year’s breakout catcher, Brian McCann, to a six-year deal. Here’s what Baseball Prospectus has to say about Salty, Elvis, and Harrison.

Elvis Andrus: Only 18, he’s “as toolsy as he is young” and “even if he’s only a speedy line-drive hitter with good glove-work, that’s still a potential All-Star, and there’s a chance he’ll be more than that.”

Jarrod Saltalamacchia: Twenty-two and six-foot-four, Salty battled a hand injury last season in Double A, but once he kicked it, hit “.338/.474/.649 in the last two months…the other good news is that he improved behind the plate, throwing out 36 percent of opposing runners.”

Matt Harrison: The 21-year old is built in the classic mode: a hulking lefty who likes to throw heat. Like Nuke LaLoosh he can hit 95, but generally works in the low 90s. Unlike Ebbie Calvin, however, he can also control where the ball is going. He “throws a ton of strikes and supplements his heat with a plus curve and change.”

I suppose it makes sense to move Saltalamacchia, if you’re confident you want to go with McCann. I mean, that’s what extraneous prospects are for, right? To use as chips. But to blow all your chips on one dude? I dunno. If the Braves miss the playoffs again this year, they may end up with buyers’ remorse.

Meanwhile, the Rangers have ended up with a young shortstop and a lefthanded starting pitcher for the future, and a catcher they could stick behind the plate tomorrow (sorry Gerald Laird). I’m going to have to give the Rangers the edge on this one. At least it looks like they have some kind of organizational philosophy. The Braves, on the other hand, still seem to be wandering in the desert.

The first significant trade deadline deal went down today as the Brewers panicked and shipped three well regarded pitching prospects for declining setup man Scott Linebrink.

The Brewers were feeling the pressure to make a move with the Cubs breathing down their necks in the NL Central and the bullpen weakened by the need to shift Yovani “Lamborghini” Gallardo back into the rotation to replace the ever-injured Ben Sheets.

(Amazingly, I appear to be the first person to ever make that lame Lamborghini joke, at least according to Google)

It seems like Scott Linebrink has been the subject of trade rumors since players still wore stirrups. I mean, I’m pretty sure every man on the Red Sox 40-man roster has been rumored to be involved in a trade for Linebrink by now.

But Kevin Towers and the Padres wisely held their hand until they finally got an offer they couldn’t refuse. And this offer was pretty damn nigh unrefusable.

For starters, one of the players received from the Brewers, Triple-A reliever Joe Thatcher, is probably already a better option than Linbrink, whose peripherals have been declining and who just yesterday demoted from his role as the Friar’s primary set-up man in favor of rising star Heath Bell. Thatcher will be immediately slotted into the back end of the Padres ‘pen, and deservedly so.

But the real payoff in the trade for the Padres may will be acquiring Double-A starter Will Inman, who Baseball America ranked as the third best prospect in the Brewers system this spring, behind only Ryan Braun and the aforementioned Gallardo.

Just to give you an idea how good that makes Inman, Braun will almost certainly be named NL rookie-of-the-year this season and Gallardo is regarded as a future top-of-the-rotation who one scout recently said is already better than Phil Hughes or Homer Bailey.

Here it is, July 31, trade deadline day. And I just can’t take it anymore.

At Fenway last night, I noticed that Alex Cora was in for Mark Loretta at second base. There were occasions in the game I felt that perhaps Loretta could be used to pinch-hit. And at the end of the game, which was, by then, hopeless, Terry Francona switched up the entire lineup. Out with Varitek, in with Mirabelli. Out with Manny Ramirez, in with Gabe Kapler. But Mark Loretta remainded unseen. Was he injured? Was he sick? Where was he? Then, in today’s Globe, I saw this article:

The day was rife with rumors, including one in which second baseman Mark Loretta, who was not in last night’s starting lineup, had left the ballpark before the game in street clothes. Loretta was in the dugout a few minutes before the game, in full uniform.

There are also rumors of a three-way deal dumping Mike Lowell for Julio Lugo and Scott Linebrink. Also rumors about the Sox getting Alfonso Soriano or Jason Schmidt. Boston.com’s The Buzz had this to add:

Sunday night, the Sox brass, led by Epstein, Ben Cherington, and Jed Hoyer, held a half-hour meeting with Terry Francona. The group met behind closed doors and left via the back door without comment at 12:01 a.m. You can bet at least some of the above topics were part of that conversation. Will anything come of it? We’ll know by 4 p.m.

And then, from the Boston Herald:

The Red Sox are attempting to strike a three-way deal with the Rockies and Padres, with third baseman Mike Lowell shipped out of town and first baseman Ryan Shealy arriving here from Colorado. The Sox also would presumably obtain a more-than-reputable starter.

And the Providence Journal is even saying that Roger Clemens wants to come back to Boston now, so that he can pitch for a contending team!

And the Herald says that there’s nothing to the Coco Crisp trade rumors. But will we get Kip Wells? What was that whole Andruw Jones thing?

From the Globe’s Gordon Edes: “Yes, the Sox called the Braves yesterday inquiring about what it would take to get outfielder Andruw Jones. Yes, they were told that it would cost them Jon Lester, Craig Hansen and Coco Crisp.”

Oh excuse me while I laugh hysterically.

Thank Gawd the deadline is, as I write this, chiming.

Because I’m all out of Tums, my fingernails are bitten down to the quick, and I just ripped out a large chunk of blonde hair and tried to eat it.

Well, the deadline has come and gone and I’m guessing that at this point all the trades have been announced. Here’s a look at who made out like bandits and who got robbed… 

Big Winners - Yankees (Bobby Abreu, Craig Wilson, Corey Lidle), Mets (Roberto Hernandez, now have a place for Lastings Milledge to play), Rangers (Carlos Lee, Matt Stairs, Kip Wells)

Big Losers - Pirates (Shawn Chacon, Xavier Nady, minus Casey, Wells, Hernandez, Perez, and Craig Wilson), Brewers (Kevin Mench, Laynce Nix, David Bell, minus Carlos Lee), Nationals (no deal done for Soriano)

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I will analyze trades and rumored trades going down today, updating as news breaks. Latest news will be on top.     Nationals say they plan to keep Alfonso Soriano and try to resign him - Wow. Big mistake for the Nats and Jim Bowden.  There is no way in hell they resign Soriano.  Jim Bowden’s usual tricks of asking for the moon didn’t work this time.

Jeremy Affeldt and Denny Bautista to the Rockies from the Royals for minor league infielder Ryan Shealy and minor league right-hander Scott Dohmann - Weird trade for the Rockies. Shealy was blocked at first base by Todd Helton, but they got two very mediocre pitchers for him.

Julio Lugo to the Dodgers for minor league OFs Joel Guzman, Sergio Pedroza - Terrible move for the Dodgers.  They felt that they needed someone to play second base with Izturiz shipped to the Cubs for Maddux, but they way overpaid for a guy who will not have a starting job once Jeff Kent comes off the DL in 10 days.

Joel Guzman has been the no. 1 prospect in the Dodgers system for three years now, and even though his OPS at AAA this year was “only” .803, he was batting .297 with 11 home runs and is only 21 years old. But he had become expendable with the emergence of Andre Ethier in the outfield and the trade for Wilson Betemit at third (Guzman’s natural position).

Maddux to the Dodgers for Izturiz - Great move for the Dodgers, unless there are some other details that haven’t come out yet. Izturis was entirely expendable and has a degenerative condition in his throwing elbow. Maddux is an aging, declining rental, but upgrades a shaky rotation and should do a bit better in Dodger Stadium.

Kip Wells to the Rangers for AAA rp Jesse Chavez - A nice pickup for the ever-in-need-of-pitching Rangers. Wells was once great, and has been awful but improving coming off an injury. The Pirates inexplicable firesale continues. Not inexplicable that they’re doing it, but inexplicable that they’re getting almost nothing in return.

Craig Wilson to the Yankees for Shawn Chacon - Wow. I mean, wow. Just when you thought the news was bad enough for Pirates fans, this clunker of a trade comes down the wires. What a steal for the Yanks! Craig Wilson is a guy, who if the Pirates were ever smart enough to play him for a whole season, would easily hit 30-35 homers every year. He is the perfect player for the Yankees to get Andy Phillips’ anemic bat out of the lineup.

Meanwhile, Shawn Chacon has been one of the worst everyday starting pitchers in the major leagues this year.

Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez to the Mets for Xavier Nady - Wow. GREAT deal for the Mets. Although Oliver Perez completely melted down this year, even getting shipped back to AAA at one point, the pitcher Barry Bonds has said was the most difficult he ever faced is still only 24 years old and only two seasons removed from his 2004 campaign when he went 12-10 with a 2.98 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 196 IP.  And Rick Peterson is a great pitching coach with a history of turning young talents around.  Meanwhile, in a year when middle relievers are at a premium, Hernandez is a useful part and a perfect replacement for Duaner Sanchez, who just separated his shoulder in a taxi accident.

As for Nady, while he has certainly established himself as a reliable major league regular, he does not look to be a superstar, and was fairly expendable to the Mets, who are rich with slugging outfield types.  This does mean that Lastings Milledge is probably not going anywhere however.

More proof that the Pirates are still run by a bunch of buffoons.

Todd Walker to the Padres for minor league rp Jose Ceda - The Padres finally solve their huge season-long problem at third base with Walker, a solid hitter who originally came up as a third baseman with the Twins, but has not played regularly there in several years.

Matt Stairs to the Rangers for some minor leaguer - Meh. I wonder if Matt Stairs even qualifies as “replacement level” at any of the positions he plays. Good for the Royals to get a prospect I guess.

Kyle Lohse to the Reds for Class-A sp Zach Ward - A bit of a baffling trade for the Reds here, as the gave up a decent prospect for some very brutal numbers out of Lohse this year (7.07 ERA, .308 BAA). And his numbers don’t project well in the Great American Ball Park either.

Rheal Cormier to the Reds for Justin Germano - The Reds add another useful piece to their completely rebuilt bullpen, having already added Bray, Majewski, and Guardado.  This looks like a great deal for the Reds, who get Cormier through 2008 at a reasonable price.  Plus, Cormier is having a career year, with a 1.69 ERA and success against both righties and lefties.  Meanwhile, Germano is a marginal major league prospect at best, with a fastball that tops out at 87-88 mph.

Sean Casey to the Tigers for AA rp Brian Rogers - This trade feels like kind of a wash for the Tigers.  Sure, Chris Shelton has only hit 5 homers since May, but Sean Casey has only hit 3 home runs all year.  It’s basically giving up a bit of power for a bit more OBP and some unquantifiable “veteran leadership.” But the Tigers didn’t give up too much.

I know the Red Sox need pitching desperately, but how weird is this offer:

The Sox this week offered center fielder Coco Crisp to the White Sox for left-handed All-Star Mark Buehrle, perhaps hoping that Buehrle’s recent struggles might persuade White Sox GM Kenny Williams to move him. But the White Sox turned the deal down.

Coco Crisp is one of GM Theo Epstein’s gems. The Sox signed him to a $15.5 million, three-year contract extension, with an option for 2010, as soon as the season started. Management has plastered his face over Boston (though the Fenway Faithful still seems to be reserving its judgment). Admittedly, he hasn’t thrived in Boston. But he hasn’t tanked either. Still, who’s going to play center for the Sox if they dump Coco “I’m the newest member of Red Sox Nation” Crisp?

It’s not that I think Crisp should stay. It’s not that I don’t want a 27-year old All-Star lefty (even one whose ERA is 11.48 in his last five starts). I’m just surprised. Stunned, even. Theo, you maverick.