FanHouse MarkLoretta

Our MLB editor files dispatches from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.

Joe Torre's admiration for veteran players like Bernie Williams in his years with the Yankees is almost legendary, so it should come as no surprise that, as the Dodgers try to navigate through an offseason of expansive upheaval, Torre is placing a big emphasis on veteran players.

Torre raved about the apparent signings of infielders Mark Loretta and Casey Blake for that reason, and the value he places on experience quickly bled over into a discussion about pitching.

"You need somebody to lead the way," said Torre. "If you do have that one guy that they can follow to take the pressure off the young guys and stop a losing streak, it makes life easier."

Chad Billingsley, who is only 24, has the most major league experience of all the starting pitchers on Los Angeles' big league roster. That's not exactly the type of veteran leadership Torre is talking about.

The final week of the 2008 season has been one long requiem for all things Yankee. On Sunday, Yankee Stadium closed it doors after 85 years. Two days later, the second longest string of postseason appearances was officially snapped. The eulogies have been written, but the game presses on.

Five days from now, the Yankees will finish their final game of the season at Fenway Park and they hurtle headlong into an offseason of transition the likes of which hasn't been seen in the Bronx in more than a decade. Moving across the street might be one of the smaller changes.

It's clear that the Yankees have fallen a step behind their hated rivals to the north. But they've also fallen behind the Rays and the Blue Jays and Orioles are improving rapidly. A massive payroll just isn't good enough on its own anymore.

That's a lesson the Red Sox learned back in 2006. Boston wilted down the stretch under the weight of injuries to Jason Varitek, Manny Ramirez and Coco Crisp and a woeful pitching staff and ended up winning a disappointing 86 games. That Red Sox team let Mark Loretta, Alex Gonzalez and Trot Nixon walk and replaced them with a prospect named Dustin Pedroia and free agents Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew.

This Yankees team never really got going because of significant injuries to Jorge Posada and Chien-Ming Wang and a patchwork pitching staff. It will probably wind up with a win total in the high 80s. It will let Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi walk this winter, and possibly Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina as well.

So what now? Given all the similarities, can the Yankees get back to the playoffs and beyond in 2009 as the Red Sox did last year?

Say you're the GM of a 40-55 team that's found themselves in last place of what is arguably the worst division in baseball. Do you think admitting that you have no idea why your team sucks is a good idea? Because for some reason, Tim Purpura does. From the Houston Chronicle:

"It's totally unexpected," he said while working the phones from Houston. "In some ways, you can't believe that we are where we are given the kind of talent that's on the club."

[...]

"Even at the All-Star Game," Purpura said, "a number of people from other clubs said, 'Don't give up because you're a lot better than you're showing,' and they point to the fact we swept Seattle and they went back and got in the race.

Why are the Astros bad this year? Hmm. It could have something to do with losing Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte and somehow thinking Woody Williams and Jason Jennings would replace them, putting Craig Biggio's run at 3,000 hits before the team's success, starting the season with Hunter Pence in AAA, Lance Berkman getting older, Mike Lamb and Mark Loretta not having regular positions while Morgan Ensberg and Adam Everett (when he's healthy) do, and having a crappy bullpen. Or it might just be really bad luck that no one could've ever seen coming. Really, it could be either or. I'm on the fence myself.

This is almost getting old and tiresome for the Rockies. Eight straight losses complimented by four consecutive blown saves from closer Brian Fuentes. According to ESPN researchers, it's the first time that a closer has blown four straight saves since Dave Righetti in 1988. Sure, Fuentes hasn't been his sharpest over the past week, but he's really getting a bad rap for the recent run of bad luck.

A week ago Friday, it was three runs scoring on a hit by John McDonald that accounted for the first blown save. The game-winner scored on an errant throw by catcher Chris Ianetta. Monday, it was a two-run single by Alfonso Soriano to win it. Both runs were unearned because Kaz Matsui booted what would have been the game-ending ground ball. Thursday, Carlos Lee hit a grand slam in the 11th to end it. Craig Biggio reached on a roller up the middle that went in between Troy Tulowitzki and Matsui, neither of whom could figure out who would make the play. The grounder would have ended the game.

Then came Friday night. After getting two outs, Fuentes walked Lee, and then allowed the game-winning walk-off home run to Mark Loretta. The recent string has manager Clint Hurdle worried. I'm not; most of those outings look worse because of the "blown save" title they have acquired. In reality, two of those games should have been saves. The bright side, at least Fuentes hasn't gone Armando Benitez yet. He elected not to speak with the media instead after Friday's 9-8 loss.

The NL Central already has Adam Dunn and Chris Duncan patrolling the outfield on a regular basis. The Astros offensive woes have gotten so bad it might be time to add one more lumbering body to the those ranks: Lance Berkman.

But the Astros' offense has been struggling, and in an effort to remedy that issue, Garner has been working Mike Lamb and Mark Loretta into the lineup, at third base.

But if Berkman moved to the outfield, that would clear room for Loretta and Lamb to play at the same time. Both have experience at first and third.

This would probably mean that Luke Scott and Jason Lane, the incredibly ineffective Wonder Twins in left thus far, would be banished to the bench, but the goal is to improve the team's offense and benching those two would probably help things. Berkman himself is amenable to the move:

Said Berkman: "I'd rather play first base, but what the heck? I could go out there right now and feel perfectly fine. Just catch the ball if it's in the air, stop it before it gets to the wall, throw it back to the infield."

As recently as 2002, Berkman was the Astros starting centerfielder and through 2004 he still played mostly in the outfield. He was also much skinnier back then, but that's neither here nor there. The problem is that Berkman is slugging .349. He could play anywhere, first base, right field, catcher, shortstop, and a .349 SLG won't help the Astros.

The Houston Astros have lost six games in a row, dropping their record to 9-12. In those six losses, they've only scored 17 runs. That's even less impressive when you consider one of the losses took sixteen innings. So needless to say, Astro-land is currently more than a little upset about things. In fact, there are no less than four links on the Astros page of the Houston Chronicle's website demanding some kind of change with the team, mostly involving Mark Loretta or spring sensation Hunter Pence. A sampling:

Chip Bailey's FanBlog:

The Astros need a spark. They need some punch. They need a key hit. They need a huge break to burst open a big inning. They need a little luck.

Let's be frank here. Hunter Pence should have made this team out of spring training. Jeff Bagwell made the jump from Double A to the big club. It's not the norm, but others have done it and Pence should have been one of those cases.

Brian McTaggert:

So what to do? Start Mark Loretta, who had four hits Thursday, at shortstop? Start Mike Lamb, who had three hits Thursday, at third base? Perhaps, but those are short-term solutions that weaken your bench. Perhaps bring up Hunter Pence to play center and maybe inject some life into the offense?