Mistreatment of Kenshin Kawakami continues
April 5, 2011 at 2:43 pm by Capitol Avenue Club under Atlanta Braves
First they bump him from the rotation when Tim Hudson came back from Tommy John surgery after telling him they weren’t going to. Then they exile him to the bullpen after throwing seven shutout innings against an AL team for Kris Medlen despite his 2.04 K/BB ratio, 0.98 HR/9, and 4.48 ERA. Then they let him face all of 7 more major-league batters for the next month and a half. Then they send him down to AAA to get stretched out–a move he had to approve and did with class and professionalism–and only let him face 22 batters over the final month of the season after his minor-league stint, double-talking their way around it the whole time, saying things like “we can’t use him because it’s been so long since he’s pitched”. As if there’s anyone to blame for that other than the team’s management.
This offseason–probably before–the Braves decided to go with their younger guys, Mike Minor and/or Brandon Beachy, as the complementary pieces to their rotation staples: Tim Hudson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens, and Tommy Hanson, which leaves Kenshin Kawakami out of their immediate plans for the 2011 rotation. That’s fine, those six starters are all probably better than Kenshin Kawakami anyway and there is certainly more to gain for the long-term health of the franchise by giving the major-league starts to them. Rather than handing him a low-leverage/long-relief bullpen role, they elected to send him to the minors to stay stretched out in case a) they need him to make a start at some point or b) someone else wants to trade for him. That’s also fine, you rarely get through the season with just five or even six starters and starting pitchers are more valuable on the trade market than mop-up men. Even considering the mistreatment Kawakami has endured, these decisions are perfectly rational and defensible.
What’s puzzling is, rather than sending him to AAA Gwinnett, the Braves have sent Kenshin Kawakami to AA Mississippi. This decision would be defensible if the Gwinnett rotation featured five younger, better pitchers who have a chance to help Atlanta now or in the future. That’s not the case. Looking at the Gwinnett roster, their rotation will include two players that the team simply can’t justify giving a spot to over Kawakami. The first one is Todd Redmond, a 26-year-old career minor-leaguer who does not have the stuff/command combo to make it as anything more than a 13th-pitcher-on-the-staff in the big leagues. Atlanta removed Todd Redmond from their 40-man roster some time ago and he is not in their short-term or long-term plans. The second one is Rodrigo Lopez, a veteran journeyman who pitched a full season in the majors last year. And guess what? Kenshin Kawakami pitched better than him! Pick any DIPS metric, Kawakami wins.
Not pictured is tRA, which Kawakami also held an advantage over Lopez in last year (5.26 to 5.57).
So why are the Braves sending Rodrigo Lopez to AAA and Kenshin Kawakami to AA? Mark Bowman from November:
Even with the possibility that he might spend this entire season in the Minors, Kawakami has indicated he wants to remain in the United States. If he returns to his native Japan, he feels he would erase his final opportunity to prove that he can be successful in the U.S.
Kawakami didn’t mind continuing to enjoy the U.S. lifestyle when the Braves optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett last August. The ballpark was just a short drive from the suburban Atlanta mansion (formerly resided in by rapper Lil’ Bow Wow) that he has rented the past two summers.
I’m going to have to guess he won’t find these same luxuries in Pearl, Mississippi. Now that he might have realized the Braves are more than willing to keep him on the Double-A Mississippi roster, he might have to at least start reconsidering the possibility of pitching for one of those Japanese clubs that have shown interest.
Rather than working with a player who has a) shown he’s capable of being a successful major league pitcher in the past and b) wants to get back to doing so, the Braves are trying to harass him into accepting an offer to play in Japan. That, to me, is disgusting and despicable.
It is not Kenshin Kawakami’s fault that he was miscast as a top-of-the-rotation starter when Atlanta signed him. It is not his fault that the Braves evaluated him incorrectly and offered him more than they were willing to spend on a pitcher of his caliber. The blame falls strictly on Atlanta. Period. That the Braves are trying to compensate for their mistake by bullying him is… well… quite frankly I’m shocked. I’ve always thought of Atlanta as an honorable organization. These tactics are lower than low, they’re sleazy and cheap.
I didn’t want to write this article, I don’t ever want to think of the Braves as a team that would do something like this. The Braves don’t always make the correct baseball decision, but they do more than they don’t. They’re one of the best run organizations in the game, and as long as they’re winning I can look past a few screw-ups here and there. But this is something that transcends baseball decisions, this is morally wrong. And after looking at how this entire situation has been handled, most prominently the ‘sending him to AA’ part, they’ve lost some of my respect.
Two more things.
- If I were Kenshin Kawakami’s agent I would have already filed a grievance.
- Don’t think that all of Japanese baseball hasn’t noticed the mistreatment Kawakami has endured, and this is probably going to impact Atlanta’s ability to bring in Japanese talent in the future–both professional and amateur.
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IZ25,
He belongs in AAA, not AA. There is no justifiable in baseball terms reason he should be in AA.
And what, exactly, was “expected of him”? He pitched well enough to remain in the majors, if not with the Braves. Once again, it is not his fault that he was miscast as a top of the rotation starter and the Braves evaluated him incorrectly. That’s Atlanta’s fault, and you can absolutely not hold it against Kawakami for not meeting unrealistic expectations, if that’s what’s going on.
I am glad that somebody wrote about this. Kawakami pitched decent last year, people look at his 1-9 record or whatever it was but we all know that wins dont mean shit anymore. He pitched like a th starter but ot paid more like a 2 or 3 but thats the braves fault for overpaying after the disastrous 2008 season. I feel bad for the guy and am pissed that the braves did this because it hurts the reputation of the organization. We can throw out any chance of japanese players coming over and hopefully it doesnt hurt our chances with other players looking at the situation like we do. I’m a braves fan and always will be but i hope they can do something to make this situation right. Kawakami was always a class act, at least in the public eye. he always took full repsonsibility for pitching badly and blamed in on no one but himself. he deserves to be treated better.
Sounds to me like you’re making a pretty big assumption that they’ve sent him to AA to make him uncomfortable.
If true, then shame on them.
But, again, a pretty big assumption.
Why else would they do it? No reason.
I think everyone who says something akin to “well if he just didn’t suck this wouldn’t have happened” should be banned. Just saying.
I mean I can kind of understand “he’s getting paid $6 mil to pitch to kids so who cares”, because even though it’s callous it’s at least based on something that’s true. The argument that “he sucked so I don’t care” is just horribly ignorant though, and shows both a lack of real observation and any sort of concept of human decency.
Ummmm….ummmm “mentor” younger pitchers, rather than has been’s, never were’s and AAAA talent? I’m sure that would be response if ever questioned publicly.
Being demoted to AA is one thing. Being sent to Mississippi though…. Well, I’ll put it this way. I was stationed in Biloxi, a tourist destination by Mississippi standards, and it was mostly terrible. Mississippi: It’s Alabama’s Alabama.
Obviously, I have nothing useful to contribute. The post and comments have pretty well covered everything.
The “he just didn’t win games” argument, especially comparing his numbers to Lowe’s, is about as dumb as they come. I think KK never really went past the 6th inning, but most of his losses came when he gave up 2-4 runs. The dumbest argument by far is placed by the people who think certain pitchers can rally position players to score more runs. Those thoughts exist. Check out the comments on Bowman’s blog sometime.
The people who post on Bowman’s blog aren’t real. I know this because nobody like “billreef” can be a real human being.
Commentators on Bowman’s blog are the same type people that “right” for The Bleacher Report, call in to daytime radio shows, and can affectionately often be referred to as “gumps” or “mouthbreathers.”
I agree that the Braves really bungled the evaluation and contract, but I don’t think the expectations were unrealistic. Also, it is obvious he did not pitch well enough to remain in the majors: nobody wants him and he is no longer in the majors. Granted, the contract is a MAJOR roadblock.
As far as the AAA vs AA, maybe they DO see Lopez or Redmond being above KK on the starter depth chart. I hope we don’t have enough injuried to find out.
KK never liked playing the 3-4 defense.
IZ25,
Nobody wants him for the money. If he were earning his actual value he could be a fourth or fifth starter for any number of teams. That he’s 35 may also have something to do with it.
Also, it is obvious he did not pitch well enough to remain in the majors: nobody wants him and he is no longer in the majors.
That’s idiotic. There are tons of worse starters in the majors. Kawakami posted a 94 ERA+, that’s fine. Not good enough for the Braves’ rotation, but certainly up to major-league standards.
And stop saying nobody wants him. If he were a free agent someone would sign him immediately. Nobody wants him for $6.67 million, there’s a difference.
I completely agree. I would have loved to hear more about Kawakami’s starts, which I always enjoyed. Always sunny. Always exciting. He won slugfests. He won a pitching duel with former Toronto Blue Jays complete game dealer Doc Halladay. He lost heartbreakers where he always threw the tough pitches with confidence. Bottom line, Kawakami has earned the right to be, and should be traded, put in a AAA rotation or released. Frank Wren has proven he is smart enough to make trades. He should be able to make one of those decisions. I’m shocked he found another option.
Since when was KK brought over to be the ace in Atlanta? As far as being victimized by bad defense and hitting, doesn’t Hanson get that award from last year?
Not saying that the Braves have handle this well, I just think we might be taking the whole AA thing to the extreme.
C’mon, there’s no other reason under the sun? Who made you all-knowing and all-seeing?
Fine to write under this premise, but there’s no way you can say it’s fact.
I’ll go ahead and add that the Braves scored about a run and a half less then their average last year in Kawakami’s starts, down around 3 runs per game. He was incredibly unlucky. In contrast, Derek Lowe received 7 runs per game.
KK’s numbers:
2009–6.0 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.84 K/BB, 0.9 HR/FB
2010–6.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 1.84 K/BB, 1.0 HR/FB
The big differences were his BABiP (.284 to .304) and LOB% (73.3% to 63.3%).
Kawakami was essentially the same pitcher as 2009, which everyone was okay with, but he lacked a lot of the luck and sequencing that helped in 2009. His FIPs in the 4.2-4.3 range were slightly above-average. I advocated starting Medlen over him last season because I thought Medlen could be better, but there was no reason for not pitching him out of the bullpen or for the more recent actions.
As far as being victimized by bad defense and hitting, doesn’t Hanson get that award from last year?
Hanson was victimized by poor run support, but the Braves actually played good defense with him on the hill, especially in the 2nd half. Anyway, if the aim is to give out an “award”, Kawakami wins. Not that it should be, it’s not like the same things can’t happen to two pitchers, making that argument utterly asinine. Here are the facts that took me 2 minutes to look up:
The Braves scored 4.3 runs/game when Hanson started in 2010. The Braves scored 3.5 runs/game when Kenshin Kawakami started in 2010.
Batted balls struck off of Tommy Hanson pitches fell for hits 29.0% of the time. Batted balls struck off of Kenshin Kawakami pitches fell for hits 31.1% of the time.
Since when was KK brought over to be the ace in Atlanta?
Quite possibly your best yet good sir.
Fantastic post. There’s a lot to like about the Braves right now, but for me this whole situation continues to cast an uncomfortable pall over the season. I was upset with how KK was treated last year, but was hoping he’d be pitching for another MLB club by now. I really don’t like the fact that we’ve buried him in AA, especially if it’s for the reasons that Bowman suggests (although I’m not 100% sold on this, given the lack of hard evidence).
Let’s just hope the Braves can move him soon and he ends up on an MLB roster–with the way he’s performed on the field and handled himself off the field, he certainly deserves it.
C’mon, there’s no other reason under the sun? Who made you all-knowing and all-seeing?
Fine to write under this premise, but there’s no way you can say it’s fact.
Give me one plausible baseball reason why they would send him to AA rather than AAA. Just one, and it just has to be plausible.
Also, I don’t appreciate that second sentence. Watch your mouth.
If you compare Kawakami’s and Lowe’s stats from 2009-10, they are almost identical. Lowe just got the run support that KK never did. Therefore, I agree with many here that KK did something to really annoy someone in the organization.
My problem with Atlanta in this situation is that Frank Wren has gone on record saying that they have received trade offers from teams in the states. They just want to receive more salary relief than what they are being offered. The problem with this is that we are wasting $6.67 million and are depressing Kawakami’s trade value (see Pawlikowski: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/the-problem-with-trading-kawakami/). If Atlanta gets an offer for $1 million salary relief and a low-A relief pitcher, I think Wren should take it. He’s doing us absolutely no good sitting at Mississippi.
Thank you for posting this.
I totally agree that there is no explanation for the Braves’ treatment of Kawakami other than simple bullying. It is absolutley an abuse of their power and reprehensible (as has already been said).
It doesn’t matter what Kawakami is paid, everybody deserves to be treated with respect and fairness. It is impossible to escape the conclusion that Kawakami is being punished for not going back to Japan.
As for Bowman he’s a joke- I remember reading that post and being livid. Does he really believe that living in and around downtown/suburban Atlanta is so much more glamorous than Japan? As an Englishman who loves the Braves and the time I have spent in Georgia and Atlanta, if I had been in Kawakami’s position I’d have come back home in a heartbeat. It is honour and determination to succeed (I’m guessing) which is keeping Kawakami in America.
I don’t like accusing KK of having done something wrong to piss FW and Co. off without any evidence. We know for a fact that he has been treated shabbily; this stuff about the secret offense is just speculation. FW is running a multi-million dollar business with a great deal of media exposure. If KK had done something unprofessional, I am pretty sure that FW would leak it to DOB or some other reporter, rather than just leaving all of Japan and most of MLB wondering why the Braves would treat a perfectly respectable starting pitcher so badly.
I think the most likely explanation, given the information we have rather than fans’ active imaginations, is that FW and Co. are using their leverage over KK to pressure him to accept a trade back to Japan. I think that’s a bad business decision and an unethical thing to do, although I might not condemn it quite as harshly as Peter has.
Capitol Avenie Club, im sorry but are you trying to say that Kawakami is as good as Beachy was at the end of last year and showed he can be this year after Monday’s performance?
Kawakami rarely EVER got passed the fifth inning which is taxing on a bullpen. His WHIP was outrageously high. He had a little velocity, and his pitches were very often flat. He doesnt have near the upside as Beachy or Minor, so sorry he shouldnt be a back end starter.
Mistreated? probably.
Deserving of a major league roster spot? Not quite
No, that’s not what I said at all. Read the fucking article please.
Amen, Peter. Well stated; very accurate.
Like some others, I wonder about whether there is something about the clubhouse demeanor / relations with players going on here . . . maybe he’s in AA because they don’t want him around certain other players?
One thing though, a few years back Sheffield made a comment about the Braves not understanding non-white players, and I wonder how much the language barrier here has come into things. I do not think the Braves were or are racist, but I wonder how much a lack of understanding between KK / Wren / Cox / other team players might have been affected by KK’s relative weakness in english.
Because just by the numbers, KK was as good as Lowe when sent to the minors and is definitely the 7th best starting pitcher the Braves have (at least). So in my mind there must be some reason the Wren / Cox / now Gonzalez just do not want him around. And I wonder whether Sheffield’s comment extends to this situation — how hard did the Braves brass try to understand and work with KK before he became 1-10 and expendable.
Here’s the one thing that everyone is failing to mention: the hilarity that would be a reality show based on the Japanese media covering Kawakami in Mississippi. For those who don’t know, whenever a Japanese player comes to America, there’s a ton of media following them. Hideki Matsui still makes the front page over there on a regular basis and has tens of reporters still following him. Attend the Winter Meetings and you will see for yourself how crazy the Japanese media is. They want to be the first to every story and literally hustle to do so.
Imagine the poor Japanese media that is now living in Mississippi to cover Kawakami. They need to do a “Simple Life” type show (Paris Hilton, remember?) and have the different media members live in with true southern families. That, my friends, would be awesome.
A reason I saw previously mentioned was “KK would be a better mentor to the younger guys in AA than who they currently have.” While not what I would expect, I feel it is a valid reason to have him on the AA roster
I’m pretty sure Chum was being facetious. And if that’s the case, why not put the more veteran but worse pitcher there in Rodrigo Lopez? I’m not buying it. It’s blatantly clear what’s going on here.
@76: I just want to make it clear that I readily admit I am going on nothing more than speculation and have no hard evidence of KK having done anything. I am not even trying to accuse him of having done anything. However, my brain has a really strong desire to make sense of a non-sensical situation.
On the one hand, KK seems like a really stand-up guy who has tried hard, been a team player, and pitched well enough to be in the back end of a rotation and in the mix for a call up from Gwinnett if needed. On the other hand, FW and the Braves are generally known for being good to players, having their back, and are considered a professional organization. However, in this instance, Frank Wren is doing his best Al Davis impersonation, barely hiding his disdain for a person despite the negative image it casts on the organization as a whole and on the player in particular.
The only way my brain can make sense of it based on the limited amount of information available to me is to say either Wren is a complete jerk who bullies a player who won’t do exactly what he wants, or KK has done something worthy of banishment to Mississippi (even if it cost the organization leverage to trade him). I’m going with the latter only because I want to like Wren since he will likely be around longer than KK. No facts here, just pure rationalization to make a crazy world seem more sane.
One more quick point: I don’t think it is an automatic that Wren would leak something to the media. He’s shown himself to be a pretty tight-lipped GM.
Maybe I’m wrong here, but isn’t it pretty hard to make the “mentor younger guys argument” considering he, to my knowledge, speaks very very little English (not that this should be considered a fault of his). But regardless of that, there is no reason from a baseball perspective to have KK in AA, and I think CAC hit the nail on the head with his assessment.
Yesterday Uggla. Today Ugly.
uhh well, you said he deserves to be on the back end of the rotation, which in turn says that you think he is better than Beachy. Maybe you should read your own article.
I’m glad there are smart braves fans out there that know kk did fairly well. I agree something could have happened between him and management. The whole situation kinda makes me sick.
JoJo, If you have a chance (as I could see you being banned in the not-to-distant future) could you quote where that was said? I just re-read the article to make sure I read it right and couldn’t find it. The closest I could come up with was that CAC says KK deserves to be on the back end of the AAA rotation ahead of Redmond and Lopez. The whole article centers around KK being moved to AA instead of AAA. It never suggests he should have started the season in Atlanta, but only because of the younger guys that have moved ahead of him, not because he can’t hang in the majors.
uhh well, you said he deserves to be on the back end of the rotation, which in turn says that you think he is better than Beachy. Maybe you should read your own article.
No, I didn’t. You damn fool. Do not tell me I’m wrong about what I wrote.
JoJo, I don’t want to dogpile, but that’s really not what CAC said. Start KK in AAA, and if our rotation implodes, then call him up. More likely, the Yankees’ rotation implodes (or Cleveland’s, or the Royals’) and we have a trade piece. But if young Kenshin is in AA, he is much less shiny to possible trade suitors.
Good read capitol ave! I just wanted to put my thoughts in very quickly. I agree with some of the other posters… KK did something to either upset Bobby or Frank Wren. Now Frank Wren, is trying to make a point by sending him down to AA. I am sure it has something to do with not accepting a contract back to Japan.
I really hated KK I mean hated, but there is no need at all to send a 35 year old man down to AA, just to prove a point. It seems like Frank Wren, is saying ” don’t fuck with me, or I’ll make you pay!”
I’m from Jackson, MS, and have lived in Atlanta. I’m quite a bit insulted by many of the comments on here, but it’s mostly muted because they’re transparantly ignorant.
No one from the area considers it “Pearl”. The stadium is technically in Pearl, but it’s really Jackson. KK wouldn’t be living in Pearl, he’d find somewhere very much a mansion very nearby.
Jackson is a very nice place to live, especially for those like KK with money. I certainly enjoyed Jackson far more than Atlanta. There’s plenty of trashy people in Pearl, but there were far more, proportionally, around Atlanta.
Maybe the Braves just didn’t want KK living soft in his gilded mansion while he’s supposed to be returning to form. They have every reason to want him focused in case they need another starter, or to maximize his trade value later. Maybe, behind the scenes, he was extremely unproffesional last season (perhaps he sulked after losing his rotation spot and refused to pitch), and the Braves have simply placed him as their last priority.
KK has already refused to do what is best for the team, why do the Braves ‘owe’ him a AAA spot? The Braves don’t owe him anything other than his money. If he wants to pitch in AAA, he could right now: just allow a release from his Braves contract, and someone would sign him. But he’d rather have the money, right? So why are the Braves at fault?
Boom!,
I’m from Jackson, MS, and have lived in Atlanta. I’m quite a bit insulted by many of the comments on here, but it’s mostly muted because they’re transparantly ignorant.
I was going to say something about that, there’s no reason for people to bring up their opinion of the area, informed or not.
Maybe the Braves just didn’t want KK living soft in his gilded mansion while he’s supposed to be returning to form.
That is B.S. Kawakami works as hard as anyone and wants nothing more than to prove to everyone he’s capable of being a successful MLB starter. He needs no extra motivation.
KK has already refused to do what is best for the team, why do the Braves ‘owe’ him a AAA spot? The Braves don’t owe him anything other than his money. If he wants to pitch in AAA, he could right now: just allow a release from his Braves contract, and someone would sign him. But he’d rather have the money, right? So why are the Braves at fault?
That’s also B.S. The Braves gave him an opportunity to play here for three years. That “refusing to do what’s best for the team” crap is ridiculous. He has every right to stay in the states and there’s nothing wrong with him exercising that right.
And they don’t “owe” him a spot in the AAA rotation, it’s just in the best interest of the club for him to pitch in AAA where he can build trade value. That’s where unneeded, major-league ready talent goes. AAA is a holding tank for MLB. Sending him to AA just to spite him is a sleazy move.
Considering your connection to ESPN, how do you feel about the likely event of this getting more attention? I would think if this story sees a national audience, it wouldn’t be long before the front office starts having to answer questions. Not that they’d admit to your accusations if they’re true.
I’m inclined to agree with what you’re saying, but it’s just so hard to believe. They have to know how badly they’re shooting themselves in the foot with this move. I’ll be anxious to find out if there’s something to this story we haven’t heard.
I doubt it’s going to get much attention. Most fans seem to irrationally hate Kenshin Kawakami anyway. I don’t want it to get any more attention, though. Policing the comments section of this article was a horrible task, it was one of the most frustrating and unrewarding days in the history of this site, one of the only days I’ve legitimately hated running this space. I thought about shutting comments off no less than 3 times. From the rude insults to the blatant stupidity, I really wasn’t happy with the riff raff this piece brought in. (Most of it got deleted before it saw the light of day).
If this piece got picked up or linked to by a big publication I’d immediately shut off the comments section, which I don’t want to do (but I’d really enjoy not having to police them anymore).
Excellently written article. The situation does indeed seem very unfair.
Didn’t the Braves send Frency down to AA to when he was demoted? Maybe they just don’t see the talent-level in AAA as viable anymore?
I agree that it’s unfair how they’re treating KK, but to I’ll stop short of agreeing that the reasoning is to coerce him to agree to head back to Japan.
Now that Fangraphs has added league context to FIP, we have even further evidence that Kawakami is a viable pitching option for some major league team. His FIP- over two seasons is 104 (or, 4% below average).
Off the top of my head I came up with three guys WORSE than Kawakami currently in major league rotations. Chris Volstad (110), Kyle Davies (112), and Jason Vargas (109).
Additionally, for anyone curious about what Kawakami says to the Japanese media, he gave these comments when assigned to the minors: “I didn’t have much velocity; I was terrible. My neck was a little stiff, too, which may have affected me. Being delayed (in coming to camp), I just tried to do what I could. I wanted to have better results, but there’s nothing I can do. I just have to play (in the minors).”
I have a hard time seeing how the Bravess treatment of KK is “despicable” and “disguting” and “sleazy”. I can see legitimate grounds for questioning whether or not they are doing the right thing from a baseball standpoint, but what exactly makes it sleazy?
The Braves have decided that Kawakami does not fit into their future plans (and BTW he was quoted as saying he had no interest in pitcihign long relief this season). The Braves have certainly tried to find an American team willing to take Kawakami. There have been no takers. There ARE Japanese teams interested. The Braves have discussed with KK the possibility of going to a Japanese club, and he has inidcated his preference NOT to, which is certainly understandable.
If Bowman’s understanding o fthe siutation is correct (and it certainly soudns plausible), the Braves are using what they have identified as point of leverage over a player that has resisted their trade efforts to convince himm to reconsider. How is that any different than any other player would be treated? So, he is sent away form his home — how is that any different than any other player woudl be treated if they no longer fit inot major league plans.
The futures of Messrs. Redmond and Lopez wiht the braves organization are really not relevant. None of the 3 apparently have ANY subsatnatil future wiht the Braves major league club, an dmaybe the Braves feel slightly more comfortable with Redmond or Lopez as an organizational arm this season. Or maybe they feel about equally comfortable, but thsi again gives them the leverage over KK. So?
That his agent HASN’T filed a grievance maybe speaks volumes about the situation.
Luke M. @98: I think the Frenchy situation was more about him getting the chance to work with a coach he had flourished with in the past.
Back to KK – while I’m not altogether sure that a grievance is the proper (or even logical) solution for the player, I think a lot of you guys are minimizing what it would be like to have an employer forcibly uproot you from your living situation for no good reason other than “leverage.”
Everybody knows that KK isn’t the best pitcher in the organization by any stretch, but he is better than some of rotation guys slotted ahead of him in Gwinnett.