Swine Nine 2008 Summary

The Swine Nine sure don’t feel like they finished 10th now that 2009 is on the horizon. They played 2008 with 2009 in view, and now… ALL THE PRESSURE IN THE WORLD is on the procrastinating pigs. It’s one thing to own a ton of picks, it’s another thing to turn those picks into a title. It sure makes a mistake or 2 easier to overlook with a number of high picks, but having the bullets doesn’t automatically mean the targets will be hit. Here’s a look back at part one of Swine’s 2-season plan:


> Best Move: This may end up being the best move of all time. Swine acquired a franchise cornerstone, David Wright, along with Raul Ibanez and Edwin Jackson, for Scott Kazmir, Francisco Rodriguez and Yunel Escobar. Blog has covered this deal enough in the past, but needless to say, if BOB’Z BOYZ has a ½ way decent draft, they’re certain to get hundreds of trade offers…

> Worst Move: Drafting Andruw Jones is close, but the May 1st trade with Regulators worked out pretty badly for Swine. Swine received Victor Martinez, who was awful in 08, and Delmon Young for Rich Hill, Micah Owings, A.J. Pierzynski, and the 31st ranked player in 2008, Bobby Abreu. Blog’s guessing Abreu would have at least brought Swine a 2nd round pick had he waited.

> Biggest Surprise: The blockbuster with Snot on 8/12 where Snot received David Wright, Jose Reyes and Mike Mussina for Hanley Ramirez, Carlos Lee and Hong-Chih Kuo. We will know 10/09 whether this was a good deal for Swine or not, but Blog has a hunch that Swine may regret this one down the line. Needless to say, the caliber of players involved made this the biggest deal of the season. Cliff Lee’s success finished a close 2nd.

> Biggest Disappointment: It’s tough to come up with a disappointment when the final results for the season would come for another year, but we’ll go with Victor Martinez’s season. He ended up on the DL shortly after the trade, and on the waiver wire 43 days after that.

> Blog would have: Kept Wright and Reyes.

> Swine should keep: Hanley Ramirez, Carlos Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, Johan Santana.

> Final Draft Grade: B-. Drafting 3 top 50 players and 5 top 100 players puts you right where you expect to be. McLouth was a gem in the 18th round, and he turned into Grady Sizemore. Jones, Josh Fields, and Ryan Freel were big disappointments, but overall, Swine was able to take his positive draft picks (Lincecum, Abreu, Pence, McLouth and a bunch of closers were turned into 5 quality keepers and a bunch of picks.

> Final Season Grade: Incomplete. What else can it be? Swine get's an A- for plan execution. There were lower round picks left on the table throughout the season, but there was a goal: to have pole position in the 2009 race, and that was achieved.

> 2009 Outlook: Here is where the 2008 grade will be fleshed out. Swine played 08 for 09 from the beginning, and now all eyes are on the pre-season favorite. How will the draft? Will they go for balance? Value? Youth? Pitching? Power? Speed? Will they sacrifice 2010 for 09 as well? They have 5 quality keepers, but is the Hanley Ramirez/Carlos Lee combo better than David Wright/Jose Reyes? They will be the most watched team through the trade deadline in 09 which should really boost season ticket sales, but will they be able to collect on their big gamble? Time will tell.