Livo Long and Prosper
Dave Ruffin wasn't too proud to beg, and BallWonk ain't too proud to cry. The rock of our rotation, ¡Livo!, is a National no more. Surely, that's worth a tear or two and a shot of bourbon, right?
BallWonk says a sad farewell to the best unused shortstop in the National League and the winner of the Nationals' 2005 Home Run Derby. Has any pitcher ever made more batters look like complete fools with less on his pitches? And oh, how many innings of game-losing relief has ¡Livo! saved us from since April '05? That last is an important point, given Sunday's demonstration of Frank's basic non-save-situation bullpen philosophy of Leave the Reliever in until He Loses the Game.
Still, BallWonk respects the trade. A pair of prospects, one of whom might be pretty good, and both of whom could be ready in the 2008-2009 timeframe? We needed to make at least one such trade this year, and now we have, and we can finish in last place just fine without ¡Livo!, thank you very much. As for ¡Livo!, he gets to go to a good club with a shot at the playoffs that has fans who love veterans more than the USO. He should have a blast on that team, and it's out of our division, too, so he won't haunt us too bad even if he sticks there after this season. You'd like to see ¡Livo! stick around, just because he's such a great guy, but really, if we're going to be a competitive team in 2008 or 2009, we will need to have at least three pitchers who are better than ¡Livo! in the rotation, and you just can't get too attached to your number-four starter.
Godspeed, ¡Livo!, godspeed.
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Oh no Platyjoe, don't worry... any money saved from this move will go towards overpaying our leadoff hitter.
Let's hope and pray that the 6-8 million saved next year, can go towards Zito.
Yes, this is sad indeed. And his memory is everywhere. He is still listed as the starter on Friday night: www.savedbytheblog.com
I'm sad that Livan has to go, but I understand why. As good a pitcher as he has been for the Nats, his best years are behind him. I don't know if we would have gotten as much for him if we waited until next year to trade him.
¡Vaya con Dios, Livan! ¡Gracias para los tiempos buenos y felicidades para su futuro!
And both of those September series fall smack in line with Livo's spot in the rotation, so we can expect to face him twice down the stretch. Still, in the long run, it's a heck of a lot better he landed in Arizona than with the Metropolitans.
Though the Diamondbacks are not in our division, we do play them six times this September.