With Ryan Rowland-Smith cruising to a comfortable victory in Pool A, it’s time for the Defensive Specialist to give him some competition by unveiling the contenders in Pool B. The voting has been relentless and heated debate has broken out in emails flowing into the Deep in the Hole mailbag. It’s the best of the best around here and who better to referee the tussle than the man with the quickest hands in the game – The Defensive Specialist.
Before the Defensive Specialist launches into the breakdowns a couple of key issues:
- The estate of Joe Quinn has sent correspondence to the Deep in the Hole legal team demanding that ‘Mighty Joe’ receive his due consideration as Australia’s best Major Leaguer. The Defensive Specialist steadfastly holds to the notion that today’s complex metrics around player evaluation will do Joe no favours as a player from a bygone era that played baseball with dead balls and bats with no barrels.
- The Defensive Specialist is a team player as you all know and can usually shake off a teammate’s error (mental or physical). However, a cut had to be made on the Deep in the Hole staff when a member of the fact-checking team failed to register Chris Snelling as an Australian to have played in the big leagues. The Defensive Specialist apologizes to Snelling and will include him in one of the upcoming pools. (The Defensive Specialist did offer a tidy severance package to the dismissed fact-checker).
Pool B
Trent Oeltjen
Diamondback, Oeltjen was called to the major leagues on August 6th 2009 and began his big league career with a bang, collecting a single, blasting his first career homerun and stealing two bases against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He dropped another bomb leading off his 3rd game against the Nationals and in his fifth game narrowly missed hitting for the cycle. Oeltjen was sent back to AAA in late August and recalled to the show in early September.
In his first year, Oeltjen appeared in 24 games hitting .243 with an on base percentage of .250. He stole 3 bases and scored 11 runs. Oeltjen was recently optioned to AAA indicating that he will likely fill the role of spare outfielder should the D’Backs be struck with injury again in season 2010.
Damien Moss
Originally in the Atlanta Braves system, Moss has bounced around in recent times, playing the 2009 season in the Colorado organization. Moss made his major league debut in 2001 at age 24 as a member of the Braves. He appeared in 5 games, making 1 start and throwing 9 innings.
In 2002, Moss started 29 games for the Braves compiling a win loss record of 12-6 and an ERA of 3.42. Moss worked 179 innings, punching out 111 hitters and figuring in Rookie of the Year voting. After the 2002 season, Moss was traded with Merkin Valdez (a person, not a pubic hair wig) to the San Francisco Giants for Russ Ortiz.
Moss went 9-7 for the Giants over 20 starts with an ERA of 4.70 before being traded at the July 31st trade deadline to the Baltimore Orioles for Sir Sidney Ponson. Being traded for a guy with a bad body and numerous indiscretions on his resume obviously did not agree with Moss whose wheels fell off in Baltimore going 1-5 and submitting a heinous ERA of 6.22 in 50 innings.
Looking to escape the stigma of being traded for Sir Sid, Moss signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2004. He started two games for the Rays, getting shelled for 15 earned runs in his 8 innings of work. He was released by the Rays in August of that year. Despite quickly signing with Cincinnati, Moss has not been able to get back to the big leagues.
To date, his Major League line is: 22-19 with an ERA of 4.50.
Shayne Bennett
Adelaide born Bennett was drafted in the 25th round by the Boston Red Sox in 1993. In 1996 he found his way into the Montreal Expo system and made his Major League debut in 1997 at age 25 on August 22nd. Bennett saw action in 22 innings, posting an ERA of 3.18 with a win loss record of 0-1. In 1998 Bennett played a much bigger role, appearing in 62 games and throwing 91 innings. Bennett spent all of his time in relief going 5-5 and recording one save. His ERA was 5.50.
Bennett’s last season in the sun was 1999, appearing in 5 games (including his one and only big league start). He went 0-1 with a disappointing 14.29 ERA.
Bennett finished his 3-year big league career with a 5-7 record and 5.87 ERA
Now if you’ll excuse the Defensive Specialist, he has to meet with his Chief Legal Counsel in order to develop an appropriate strategy to deal with the harassment being offered by Joe Quinn’s estate. The remainder of Pool B and the next poll will be up on Thursday morning.
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