ITD Editorial – The Value of Depth

Not every move made by a baseball club is designed to help the on-field product immediately and not everybody understands that concept. This is why every baseball fans should care about the little machinations an organization makes.

Last weekend, the Blue Jays claimed Cody Haerther, 24, after he was put on waivers by the St-Louis Cardinals. The left-handed hitter suffered a few injuries throughout his career, but always showed a great eye at the plate, very good contact abilities, a power stroke and also a surprising talent to patrol the corner outfield spots after being drafted as a third baseman in the 2002 Amateur Draft. Troubles against southpaws and injuries were cited as arguments to denounce the move.

Personally, no matter how I look at it, this was a great pick up for the Toronto club….while it lasted; Jays management put him on waivers a few days ago to protect David Purcey from the Rule V Draft while the front office could only hope he would lip past waivers since teams were already setting their 40-man rosters. However, the same William Dewitt Jr.-owned team that ‘dumped’ him in the first place took him back and put him on their 40-man roster.

That being said, the move to make him a Toronto farmhand was a good one and there really is value in depth. Here’s my logic…

Haerther was said to be a platoon player in waiting, but only obtained that classification after his double-A coach put him in a platoon against right-handed pitching, which he quite simply crushes. As he put it to me in an interview, how is he supposed to get better against left-handers when he can’t get an at-bat against them and also after he was successful his whole career when facing southpaws? Good point.

The Jays scouts were high on the California native and for good reasons: he never posted an OPS under .819, except in 2006 when he was hurt and also put in a platoon. His career minor league numbers read .302/.363/.474. Not bad at all…

Faced with a situation where Reed Johnson doesn’t perform as expected and Adam Lind can’t replace him in the majors, as we saw last year, Haerther could have come in and perform well. If this happened, imagine the possibilities offered by this very cheap pick up:

• The Blue Jays have just found a new outfielder for the future and we have two players who become available for trades.

• Another team wants to make a trade for him and we can use that opportunity to upgrade where the team presents weaknesses, knowing that the minor leagues can fill the hole in left field.

While these are possibilities, it could also have been a bust, but the important part is to try and take advantage of certain situations.

The minor leagues serve as a platform to develop players, but the athletes at this level also provide depth to baseball clubs during the season for several purposes and this why it is a manager’s duty to bring in as much talent into the organization as possible:

• Replace an injured player

• Serve in trades to bring a player that will help at the major league level

• Lead/teach younger prospects

The other acquisition this week proves the second point: Marco Scutaro was traded for RH starter Graham Godfrey and RH reliever Kristian Bell. While the two minor leaguers were not obtained through waivers, our pitching depth gave the front office some leeway when the time came to decide whether to part with the two right-handers. It strengthened our bench at the major league level without parting with a major leaguer or losing a draft pick.

Catcher Sal Fasano (.219/.293/.394 averages in major league career) became very important for the team after we signed him to a minor league contract. Gregg Zaun was injured and he came in to provide leadership in the clubhouse and was a great mentor to Curtis Thigpen in triple-A.

Ray Olmedo, claimed off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds before the 2007 season, proved to be one of the best offensive player in Syracuse last season (.290/.345/.341), while showcasing his smooth hands as a shortstop. His switch-hitting could come in handy in the near-future for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Baseball men always hope to catch lightning in a bottle when they acquire a player for next to nothing. There’s always a chance that a change of scenery, philosophy or even advices of a particular coach will provide the spark for a player to perform in the major leagues. It can be as a superstar or simply become a guy you can rely on in certain situations. These are the guys that help a team win championships.

Remember, Matt Stairs was signed to a minor league contract before the 2007 season and became indispensable when all the injuries occurred and John McDonald will be our gold glove-caliber starting shortstop in 2008 and was brought in when we sent reliever Tom Mastny to the Cleveland Indians.

There is always value in depth, the trick is to look and use it at the right time.