Mike Minor’s Comments Are Not A Big Deal
February 24, 2012 at 9:12 am by Franklin Rabon under Atlanta Braves
So, as many of you know Mike Minor made some comments recently. David O’Brien had the direct quotes. Originally, most commentators took this as a young punk demanding a trade. There were plenty of thoughts being expressed along the lines of “well that’s not how we do it in Atlanta, time to ship him out” or “who does this punk think he is?” On further reflection, I think Minor was just being candid in saying that if because of the logjam of great MLB caliber arms, he isn’t in the rotation after Hudson returns, all parties involved would probably be better off with a trade.
That view certainly makes sense. The downside to having as much pitching depth as Atlanta has is that at some point you either have to trade it or waste it. If it wasn’t for Hudson starting the season injured and lingering concerns with Hanson and Jurrjens coming off injury plagued years, we’d already be at that point.
Bowman has tweeted that after being in contact with Minor, that is what Minor is saying he meant. That if he wasn’t in the rotation, at the end of the year, he feels he probably should and would be traded at some point during this season. I hesitate to read between the lines, but it does seem odd that Minor reached out to Mark Bowman for this clarification, as opposed to David O’Brien, who originally quoted him. Perhaps Bowman was just easier for him to contact, perhaps he couldn’t remember which guy got the initial quotes, but it is strange.
Getting back to Minor, this really isn’t a big deal. Even if he did originally demand a trade and just backed off, so what? There’s no indication that he’d perform poorly because of it, that would be catastrophically stupid, and his agent would surely set him straight there. If we take him to mean what he said in his clarification to Bowman, which was more or less just him saying that if he can’t pitch for the Braves this year, then he believes it would be best for all involved that he be traded, then no problem at all. Perhaps you don’t want your players pretending to be Frank Wren, but it’s such an obvious statement in many ways, who really cares?
Mike Minor is a promising young pitcher that would be a 3rd starter on many teams. He most likely will be the 4th or 5th starter on this team all year. That was true before these quotes, it’s still true after these quotes. This seems to be a prime example of us all hunting for stories when there aren’t really any to be had.
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The big deal is that when players make these kind of comments (with whatever intention), their trade value can take a significant hit.
With Minor 2.0 (Gilmartin) coming up anyway, I have no problem with moving him. But if his rather high ERA (despite plus peripherals) wasn’t bad enough, now he can be viewed as having an attitude problem and other teams may view his comments as a way to get him under value.
I think the end result is a terrible return on him, or more likely, being unable to move him because of the terrible offers.
@1
Can you give an example of a player saying that he thought it would be in everybody’s best interests if he be traded if he wasn’t on the team substantially hurting his value?
He’s gone out of his way to tell everyone who will listen that he wasn’t demanding a trade, that he was merely stating what he observed to be an objective fact.
Everybody knows the Braves are going to have to deal some of their pitching, and it has already seemed like GMs are just biding their time, waiting for the Braves to get desperate. That has nothing to do with Mike Minor’s comments.
Any GM who takes minors comments and views him as having an attitude problem is an idiot. And while there may be a few idiot GMs out there, there aren’t all that many.
also, calling Gilmartin Mike Minor 2.0 is a bit of a stretch. I like Gilmartin a lot, but he’s a ways off from being Mike Minor. He might be, but it’s far from a given.
amen, to both CAC’s post and franklin’s points. no way that this one, fairly accurate comment would diminish his trade value
Yes, this is a nonstory as far as I’m concerned. Minor was simply stating the reality of the situation. As a fan, I think it would be unwise for him to spend the entire year (or a substantial portion of it) in the minors. He’s clearly MLB-ready, and if he’s not in the immediate plans for the rotation (which I think he should be), then we need to get back value from him.
Also, I get so annoyed at the fans who think that if a player says anything other than, “I’m just happy to be here. I don’t make those kinds of decisions,” then he has an “attitude problem,” or even a perceived one. Can we not be alright with players having career aspirations and being confident in their ability? Even more, can we not be alright with a player understanding the logistics of organizations?
Again I say, this is a nonstory.
The reason he went to Mark Bowman over DOB is because Mark Bowman is approachable and doesn’t sensationalize what the players say. DOB is a smug jerk who usually doesn’t get the facts straight and typically overreacts to anything that is rumored in the clubhouse
This is a non-issue. I expect Hudson, Hanson, Jurrjens and probably even Medlen to miss time this year. There will be plenty of starting opportunities for everyone.
But seriously, every player should know better than to hypothesize a trade. It gets blown up every time. Don’t they have media training for this?
Why it should have been a non story, it has obviously turned into one. Really, the only meaningful point to take away from everything said and reported here and after the whole “Mike Minor is tired?! fiasco of 2010 is Mike Minor needs to talk less.
yes, Minor needs to learn the lesson that the media will vilify you if you say anything that’s not a pure sports cliche.
@5 – I said he could be viewed as having an attitude problem, not that I thought he had one. I guarantee you that some GMs would be put off by this when looking at potential trades. What I expect is for every player on the roster to try their hardest to earn their spot and keep their mouth shut in the process. Whether a mundane comment or not, these player’s words are always taken out of context. You say its a non-story, but its being broadcast accross the internet like brush fire.
@1 – GMS are going to read these words and know that if Minor is in the minors to start the season, the Braves have an unhappy lefty on their hands combined with the surplus of pitching. If the comments are enough to keep GMs who know little about Minor’s actual demeanor away, you have less teams bidding on him. If I was a GM, I would use these excuses to low-ball. If Wren doesn’t take it, he’s stuck with a young, angry, MLB ready left handed pitcher mired in AAA.
The only example I can think of is Michael Young (and its not all that similar) last year in Texas. I couldn’t tell you what the offers were, but in the end, despite his requests for a trade, he wasn’t dealt. The reason its not that similar is because of Young’s big ole salary, which may have played a large part in the non-dealing. Trade demands in baseball just aren’t as common as in other sports (like basketball), so of those few instances, its hard for me to give any empirical evidence of it affecting their trade value. The idea just seems logical to me.
I cert
@10
I get what you’re saying to an extent, but I don’t think it’s nearly as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be, especially since Minor has gone out of his way to say he is most certainly not demanding a trade.
Also, it’s not really spreading across the internet like wildfire. It’s been featured on a handful of blogs devoted entirely to the braves and Rob Neyer mentioned it.
You can look all over ESPN, for instance, and the ‘story’ is nowhere to be found.
Nobody is saying Minor should have said what he said. We’re just saying it’s almost certainly not going to be a problem. If the Braves have trouble trading Minor, it’s mostly because GM’s already knew that their hand is going to be forced at some point. That was true before Minor opened his mouth, and it’s still true.
I still don’t see Minor getting traded though. I’d guess Jair is traded mid season, after he shows he’s healthy and Teheran dominates AAA, if I had to guess. Delgado might then be shopped for the right piece, or kept for if/when Tommy Hanson departs.
Minor spoke the truth – to a reporter, albeit a tame one. Therein lies the error.
In the immortal words of Crash Davis:
“You gotta play ‘em one game at a time. I’m just happy to be here, hope I can help the ball club. I just want to give it my best shot, and the good lord willin’, things will work out.”
Package Minor and JJ together and get a real SS or LF in the clubhouse.
@13 – 40% of a rotation better bring one hell of a player
@13
We better be 100% certain that 2 of Teheran, Delgado and Gilmartin are MLB ready in that scenario.
Jack Wilson will miss up to 6 weeks with a strained calf. Sutton, Jo. Wilson, Hicks battle will be interesting.
Good grief. I’m tired of all this non-news. Could we please get some real baseball up in here already?
I agree Franklin, everybody wants drama.
Yep, you know its been a slow offseason when the backup SS missing a couple of weeks of the regular season is a big story.
I LOVE it when I hear non-clichéd remarks come from any of our Braves. Unless of course it’s some asshole drivel a la J Rocker. If you’re performing well enough for a promotion for over a year–in any job–and you’re not given one, why not speak your mind and say that it would be best to be sent somewhere that has room? It wasn’t a negative comment, just a very truthful one. No pitcher wants to be a 25 year old AAA ace.
I say if he doesnt want to be apart of the team trade him along with some prospects to Cincy for Drew Stubbs Travis Mattair and Juan Francisco, or send him JJ and Prado to the Angels for either Trumbo/Morales Alberto Callaspo and Alexi Amarista. Now if the Braves can’t make Bourn an offer to his liking and goes free agent then you can use Alexi or Stubbs which ever trade u make the future CF, or move Heyward to CF and make Stubbs or Trumbo/Morales the RF.
Just because something is objectively true doesn’t mean you should say it. There’s no problem with Minor thinking things like this or even expressing it to people within the organization, but it has no business being anywhere in view of the public.
Besides, Minor’s “ultimatum” was basically contingent on him being at least the 5th best starter for him to believe he needs to be traded– with Hudson back, he should be 6th or 7th maybe tied for 5th with Jurrjens, but their respective salaries breaks the tie there.
@21, who said he doesn’t want to be part of the team? Minor certainly didn’t.
@22, it wasn’t an ultimatum.
I think the very last line sums it all up. With the only big roster move that has happened so far was Lowe leaving, I think the fans of this team are just wanting something to happen so they feel that this team got better during the off-season. I think just by clearing up Lowe’s spot in the rotation is huge. Not only was he getting older, but now it gives every die hard braves fan something to anticipate in spring training, we are all on the edge of our seats trying to figure out what the starting rotation is going to be. So who cares what he said and what every body inferred from this quote. I think he will be an asset to the starting rotation.
@ 23
Hence the quotation marks.
Minor’s comments mean nothing as he will be a starter for the Braves this year. My concern is how do you tell Teheran that he needs more seasoning after he has already carved up the minor leagues? I would offer the Pirates Jurrjens, Delgado and a prospect or two for McCutcheon and see what they have to say. It would be an immediate upgrading of their pitching staff especially if the other orospects were Hoover and Spruill.
@25, sorry–must have been in a bad mood, or my sarcasm meter was off. Apologies.
@26, I think McCutcheon is the face of the franchise for the Pirates. They’re not letting him go for anything less than an ace starter.
@26, The Pirates also have quite the abundance of starting pitchers at the top of their own prospect ranks. While they may not be as close to the majors as the Braves pitchers they are similar in future potential.
For fans, it’s a game and we care about how our team does. For the players, it’s their career and their livelihood. Minor has a limited window in which to have a baseball career and make a substantial amount of money. Understandably, he doesn’t want to waste his prime years in the minors. If a GM is upset about a guy saying he wants to be in the rotation, he isn’t much of a GM. At the same time, Wren is under no obligation to trade him. Whether he is unhappy or not is of no consequence. He can be as unhappy as he wants in the minors. I just don’t see this as reducing his trade value because it’s not as if Minor has a bad contract (ie, Lowe) that the Braves have to get rid of. The Braves hold all the cards until Minor is a free agent. Wren isn’t going to trade him without getting value in return regardless of how Minor feels. It really is a joke that this is a story.
As most of you have noted, Minor is not asking to be traded…but he is a very marketable player and the Braves can afford to trade him without weakening their pitching staff. How about Minor to the Reds for Chris Heisey? Heisey gives the Braves a needed RH power bat to play LF and allows Prado to play a super utility role and back up Chipper at 3B. Then, if Bourn leaves, Heisey can play CF–which he did very well for Cincy last year when he started for Stubbs. Heisey projects to hit 25+ HRs with 500 ABs. He is a good defensive player and a good team mate. Two spare parts find a better home in this trade. Minor would have a bright future with the Reds and might break spring training as the #3 starter. Heisey becomes a starting player on a very good team and adds balance and power to their lineup.
non. story.
First off he said that he doesn’t want to be on the team if he doesn’t make the starting rotation. So why not obliege him and trade him to like Boston for like Che-Hsuan Lin and Jose Iglesia.
@32
No, that is not what he meant. What he said was that he thinks he probably would and should be traded if he’s not in the rotation. Yes, he probably should have kept his mouth shut, but what he said makes sense. If Minor can’t crack the rotation there about 25 or so other teams where he’d immediately be a starter. It would make ZERO sense for him to spend another year in AAA.
Honestly, would you want a guy on your team who doesn’t care if makes the major leagues and is just happy hanging out in AAA?