The legacy of Dan O’Brien

From the Post:

Of all the deals he made, the only ones that I see as winners are:

Dec. 29, 2003 – Signed RHP Cory Lidle to one-year, $2.75 million contract
Aug. 9, 2004 – Traded RHP Cory Lidle to Philadelphia for OF Jovan Moran, LHP Joe Wilson and RHP Elizardo Ramirez

The jury is still out on these youngsters, but Ramirez is pitching AAA at age 22 and Moran’s playing AA at 23, so there’s hope. Lidle was on a one year deal. This is something for nothing.

Dec. 15, 2004 – Signed RHP David Weathers to one-year, $1.25 million contract with option for 2006.
Dec. 20, 2004 – Signed LHP Kent Mercker to two-year, $2.6 million contract
Dec. 21, 2004 – Signed 3B Joe Randa to one-year, $2.15 million contract;

July 23, 2005 – Traded 3B Joe Randa to San Diego for RHP Travis Chick and RHP Justin Germano

Weathers and Mercker performed about as expected, which is solid veteran pitching out of the pen. Randa’s impressive offense with the Reds was a Godsend for the team, enabling them to turn him around for two decent prospects.

That’s about it for the good deals. Whether the drafting of Homer Bailey and Jay Bruce turn out to be good moves, it’s much too soon to tell.

But the bad moves are easier and more lengthy:

Traded RHP Chris Reitsma to Atlanta for LHP Jung Keun Bong and RHP Bubba Nelson

July 30, 2004 – Traded RHP Todd Jones and minor league OF Brad Correll to Philadelphia for RHP Josh Hancock and SS Anderson Machado

Nov. 30, 2004 – Re-signed Paul Wilson to two-year, $8.2 million contract with club option for 2007

Dec. 14, 2004 – Acquired RHP Ramon Ortiz from Anaheim for minor league RHP Dustin Moseley

Dec. 21, 2004 – signed 2B D’Angelo Jimenez to one-year, $2.87 million contract, avoiding arbitration

Dec. 27, 2004 – Signed LHP Eric Milton to three-year, $25.5 million contract

And that’s just the expensive ones… Bong, Nelson, and Machado should be tattooed on his forehead for the entire baseball world to see.

Re-signing Wilson, when according to later press accounts, they knew his shoulder had a problem is almost criminal.

Re-signing Jiminez was a calculated risk, considering his previous problems in other organizations, and it was a bad one.

And Milton…ugh.