What a Week!
Date |
Team |
Gets |
Team |
Gets |
Monday
July 10
|
DC
|
'07 3rd
Round
'07 6th
Round
|
VAN |
SP Mark
Buehrle
'07 10th
Round
|
Wednesday
July 12
|
PHI
|
SP Brandon
Webb
|
WWD |
P Brad
Hennessey
'07 2nd
Round
|
NWK |
RP Scott
Linebrink
|
PHX |
RP Akinori
Otsuka
|
HBK |
P Jorge
Sosa
|
PHX |
'07 8th
Round
|
Thursday
July 13
|
LV |
OF Gary
Sheffield
RP Aaron Fultz
|
MAR
|
OF Jonny
Gomes
'07 9th Round
|
LV |
1B Derrek
Lee
|
WWD
|
1B Scott
Hatteberg
SP Aaron Sele
'07 8th Round
'08 2nd Round |
DC |
SS Jose
Reyes
'07 10th Round
|
WWD
|
3B Troy
Glaus
SP Tom Glavine
'07 6th Round
|
Friday
July 14
|
NWK |
SP Zach
Duke
'07 12th Round
|
WWD |
SS Orlando
Cabrera
'07 6th
Round |
HBK |
RP Jose
Valverde
|
WWD |
'07 10th
Round |
Sunday
July 16
|
DC |
C Johnny
Estrada |
MAR |
C Bengie
Molina
OF Scott Podsednik
|
DC |
'07 8th
Round |
NWK |
SS Jimmy
Rollins
|
The Dealin's Done!
It's one minute past midnight on July 16, 2006, and the Commissioner's
Office is officially closed! There will be no more trades until the
off-season leading up to the 2007 season.
After an uneventful regular season that saw
just one trade made since Draft Day, the final week of moves closed
things out with a bang, with 11 trades made before the clock finally
struck midnight. Some of the league's top stars changed addresses as
some teams brought in reinforcements for the stretch drive, and others
punted on 2006 and set their sights on bigger and better seasons to
come.
There were a total of 11 trades made,
involving a total of 22 players and 14 draft picks. The most active
team was the Westwood Deductions, swinging
five deals with five different teams. The D.C.
Bushslappers made four trades, followed by the Newark
Sugar Bears with three, then the Hoboken
Cutters, Las Vegas Rat Pack, Marietta Mighty Men and Phoenix
Dragons with two, and the Vancouver Ironfist
and Philadelphia Endzone Animals with one
each.
Monday
D.C. got the ball rolling with the
long-anticipated trade of SP Mark Buehrle,
sending him and a 10th
Round pick to Vancouver for their 3rd Round
and 6th Round picks.
The 27-year-old southpaw and former Ben
McDonald Award winner was having another fine season (5-9, 4.09
ERA, 12.4 R/9), but he hadn't been shy about expressing his
displeasure with the new management after the Rattlesnakes became the
Bushslappers. With Buehrle saying he won't be back with the team next
year, and D.C. all but eliminated from the playoff picture, the need to
move him before the deadline ranked right behind "Bill Clinton likes the ladies" as the worst-kept
secret in Washington. But even so, D.C. was able to get back good
value. Bushslappers owner Jamie
Landsman has been busily stockpiling
draft picks, and Vancouver's third-rounder gives him five in the first
three rounds. (The 6th rounder would be moved in a later deal.)
Vancouver reportedly beat out several other
teams to win the Buehrle sweepstakes, and they're happy to have the
young four-year veteran in their rotation as they continue their
pursuit of the Morris Division title. The Ironfist had been struggling
to find a lefty to plug into their rotation, having gone through Oliver Perez, Odalis Perez
and Brandon Claussen. Oliver, who had been
protected by the Fist, was released in May without making a big-league
appearance; Odalis, a 4th-round pick, was cut after one disastrous
start (5 ER, 8 H, 4 BB in 6.0 IP); and Brandon, also protected, was
designated for assignment to make room for Buehrle despite a 6-4
record. (The 6.14 ERA and 14.0 R/9 probably had something to do with
it.) Buehrle gives the team a much-needed left-hander this year as they
struggle to catch Carolina and Las Vegas -- each has a better record
against righties than lefties. And while two picks in the first 84
rounds may be a lot to give up for a two-month rental, there's always a
chance that Vancouver GM Yaro Zajac can
sweet-talk Buehrle into re-signing with the Fist (MLB '06: ).
Wednesday
The flip side of the Bushslappers'
all-too-obvious need to deal Buehrle was one of this week's most
unexpected swaps: Westwood's SP Brandon Webb
going to Philly in exchange for SP Brad
Hennessey and a 2nd Round draft pick.
Most GMs said they had no clue the
Deductions had any interest in trading Webb, a 27-year-old sinkerballer
the Ducks just this off-season had paid a hefty price to acquire -- a
1st round pick, an 8th round pick and one of the league's top young
relievers (Justin Duchscherer). (Webb came with
Esteban
Loaiza, Chris Capuano and David Dellucci; all three have had awful
seasons.) It's true that Webb isn't having a great season with Westwood
(4-10, 5.60 ERA, 15.2 R/9), but scouts say if you look past the numbers
you'll see a pitcher poised to have a break-out season next year. (MLB '06: 9-3, 2.65 ERA, 1.11 WHIP in 19
starts)
Considering how much Westwood gave up to
get Webb before the season started -- and that, if
anything, his stock appears to be soaring heading into 2007 -- it's
baffling he was dealt for a pick that will likely be at least 20
spots lower, plus a rookie pitcher in Hennessey who has yet to crack
Philly's Triple-A starting rotation (MLB
'06: 4-1, 1 SV, 2.41 ERA, 1.12 WHIP in
6 starts, 11 relief appearances) -- and is just one year younger
than
Webb anyway. A 2nd Round pick and a guy signed as a minor league free
agent a month ago is a cheap price to pay for a starting pitcher who,
if left unprotected, would have likely been the first pick overall in
next year's draft.
Wednesday
In the second swap of relievers this year
between the Dragons
and Sugar Bears, Phoenix sent Scott
Linebrink to Newark in exchange for Akinori
Otsuka. (In January, Phoenix sent Scot Shields
to Newark for Mike
Gonzalez.)
Otsuka, 34, had just one appearance with the
Sugar Bears this season,
and it wasn't too pretty (1 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 2 K in 2.0 IP). But the
right-hander was having a tremendous season as the closer for the
Triple-A Dublin Lucky Charms (MLB
'06: 2-3, 17 SV, 2.13 ERA, 0.92 WHIP) and
figures to join Gonzalez in what will be a formidable right-left closer
tandem for the Dragons next season.
Linebrink jumps 10 places in the standings,
going from the 11th-place Dragons to the 1st-place Sugar Bears. The
29-year-old right-hander was 2-2 with 2 saves and 12 holds (3.01
ERA, 11.5 R/9) pitching in middle relief for the Dragons, and figures
to assume a similar role
with the Sugar Bears this year, replacing Chris
Reitsma (4-1, 1 SV, 4.89 ERA, 14.2 R/9). Linebrink could also
figure into Newark's long-term plans (MLB
'06: 6-2, 1 SV, 2.68 ERA, 0.96 WHIP).
Wednesday
Not satisfied with landing Otsuka, Phoenix
GM Mike Chan continued working the phones
until late Wednesday evening, finally swinging his second deal of
the day -- SP/RP Jorge Sosa to Hoboken for an 8th Round draft pick.
This deal may have had more to do with
public relations than anything else. The Phoenix front office thought
they'd found a hidden gem in the 29-year-old right-hander, who had gone
13-3 with a 2.55 ERA in 20 starts and 24 relief appearances in the
Costa Rican league last year. Expectations were high after the Dragons took
him with the #16 pick in this year's draft, but after Sosa was bombed
early and often in Spring Training, the Dragons had no choice but to
send him to Triple-A El Paso to straighten things out. He wasn't able
to straighten out much (MLB '06:
2-10, 3 SV, 5.40 ERA, 1.51 WHIP in 13 starts, 9
relief appearances), but he was promoted anyway, as the
organization
was feeling the heat from callers on WFAN whining about how the team
had "wasted" its first two picks on Sosa and OF Willy Taveras
(#7 overall), who's had just 4 big-league at-bats so far this season.
Sosa was recalled and assigned to middle relief duties, which didn't go
so well either (4 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 1 K in 6.0 IP).
But it was apparently enough to catch the
eye of Hoboken GM Mark Hrywna, who'd been
desperately searching for a replacement for Jarrod
Washburn (6-6, 5.10 ERA, 14.8 R/9). But Hrywna was dealing with a
public relations problem of his own: even given his struggles this
year, Washburn -- a fan favorite and an
original Cutter -- couldn't be replaced with just anybody. The
enigmatic 16th pick fit the bill nicely, and an 8th round pick doesn't
look like too steep a price to pay, even if Sosa returns to Costa Rica
at the end of the season.
Thursday
A day after their division rivals Newark
and Hoboken swung deals for pitching help, the Rat Pack made an even
bigger splash with two huge deals. The first, made with Marietta,
brought back long-time Rat Gary Sheffield,
plus southpaw reliever Aaron Fultz, for OF Jonny Gomes and a 9th Round
draft pick.
Sheffield is an original member of the Harrison/Las Vegas
franchise,
having been inherited -- along with the rest of the roster -- from the
Austin Outlaws when a consortium headed by Eric
Wickstrom bought the team in 2001. He was then traded to the Mighty
Men in 2004 (Sheffield and Shigetoshi Hasegawa for Alfonso
Soriano and Freddy Garcia). In those
3½ years with the Rats, Sheffield established himself as the
franchise's greatest hitter, ranking 1st in career on-base
percentage (.384), hits (454), runs (283), runs batted in (243), home
runs (82), extra base hits (154), walks (238), runs created (307.9),
total average (.902), total bases (782) and OPS (.881). Most of that
production was in vain, however, as the Rats never reached the
post-season. Now, like the recently re-acquired Reggie
Sanders -- a member of the 2002-2003 teams that combined to finish
40 games under .500 -- Sheffield is back with the Rats and hoping to
lead them to their first-ever playoff appearance, if not a division
title. With Marietta this year, Sheffield hit .272 (.830 OPS) with 18
2B, 21 HR and 75 RBI in 412 AB. The only potential downside is
Sheffield has already discussed sitting out the entire 2007 season in
order to land a role in Die Hard 4 (MLB
'06: would likely need to come off the D.L. by Sept. 1 to have any
chance of qualifying)... While Sheffield is definitely the
marquee name in the trade, don't overlook Fultz, a lefty reliever who
posted eye-popping numbers with Marietta over the first four months of
the year (1 W, 1 SV, 1.99 ERA, 8.6 R/9, 67 K in 72.1 IP). The
32-year-old minor league journeyman, taken in the 4th round (#51
overall) of this year's draft, will likely be a free agent at the end
of the
season (MLB '06: 4.57 ERA, 1.46 WHIP).
Some were surprised to see what was
obviously a rebuilding trade made by a team still very much
in the playoff hunt -- in fact, the Mites made the trade while tied for
the
league's No. 5 wild card seed. Considering it's their first year in Marietta,
and that they've been to the playoffs for three straight seasons, the
apparent "surrender trade" yielding two of the team's best players has
some fans giving GM David Landsman plenty of
grief. "Typical carpet-bagger move," one letter writer opined to the Marietta Daily
Journal. "Put a quality product on the field when you're up north,
then come down here and gut it, thinking us dumb rubes will keep
showing up anyway. Hope you enjoy sitting in your empty stadium." But
Gomes, while not producing on Sheffield's level, is no slouch at the
plate (.246, .763 OPS, 19 HR, 42 RBI). And, perhaps most importantly of
all, he was born Nov. 22, 1980 -- making him 12 years and four days
younger than Sheffield. (MLB '06:
.247, .854 OPS, 18 HR, 52 RBI) The move also freed up a roster
spot for
28-year-old Eric Hinske, who is hitting .283
(.931 OPS) with 8 HR and 18 RBI in 56 games in Triple-A.
Thursday
Believe it or not, Sheffield wasn't the
biggest bat landed by the Rat Pack on Thursday. They also cobbled
together a two-player, two-pick package to bring home another former
Rat, Derrek Lee, from Westwood. In exchange,
the Ducks got veterans Scott Hatteberg and Aaron Sele, plus an 8th Round
pick in next year's draft and a 2nd Round pick
in 2008.
Lee, like Sheffield and Sanders, was a
member of the 2003 Harrison Rats team that went 67-95 and
finished in second-to-last place. Ironically, just as Sheffield was
traded and then reclaimed from the Mighty Men, Lee too is returning
from where he was dealt in 2004. The Rats sent Lee, along with Vicente Padilla,
Corey Koskie and Kaz Matsui, to the Deductions, and got back Carlos Beltran and picks in the 3rd and 5th
rounds. Lee had been in the midst of the best season of his career when
he was traded (.295 BA, .951 OPS), but faded badly in Westwood, hitting
a combined .248 with a .753 OPS over the next two seasons. But he's
really blossomed this year, hitting .315 (.992 OPS) with 31 HR and 85
RBI in just 109 games with the Ducks. He was not only named to the
All-Star team for the first time, but he's also won two OmahaSteaks.com
Batter of the Week awards this season. Lee, Sanders and
Sheffield, all added mid-season, add three of the league's most potent
right-handed sluggers to what was already one of the league's top 5
offenses. As an added bonus, the 30-year-old Lee will almost certainly
be willing to
sign an extension to stay with the Rats at the end of this season. (MLB '06: .282, .873 OPS in 124 plate
appearances).
Ducks' GM David
Schlossberg seems to specialize in deals that bring back a package
of players for one star. This year, it was Justin
Duchscherer and two picks for Brandon Webb, Esteban Loaiza, Chris Capuano and David
Dellucci. In 2004, as noted above,
it was Beltran and two picks traded for Lee, Koskie, Matsui and
Padilla. In 2003, he sent Mike Lieberthal and a pick to the Mighty Men for Rick Reed, Jose Jimenez,
Kenny
Rogers and Darin Erstad. In fact, the team's first-ever
trade was a mega-swap with the Mighty Men, sending Todd Helton
(along with Rich
Garces) in exchange for Lieberthal, Tino Martinez,
Steve
Finley, Bobby
Higginson, Steve Parris and Turk Wendell. Most of those deals haven't worked out too well
for the Ducks. This deal brings back, in addition to a pick for next
year and a pick in 2008, two DMBL journeymen capitalizing on strong
independent league campaigns. Sele, 36, was signed by Las Vegas as a
minor-league free agent last month after a very successful run with the
independent league Kalamazoo Kazoos. (MLB
'06: 6-2, 2.91 ERA, 1.29 WHIP in 11
starts, 1 relief appearance) Hatteberg, also 36, had joined the
Rats
just six days before the trade, coming off a hot couple months for the
Teterboro Pilots (MLB '06: .304,
.883 OPS, 8 HR).
Thursday
The Deductions then swung another huge
deal, giving up a player perhaps even more
shocking than Brandon Webb or Derrek Lee. Westwood sent 23-year-old shortstop Jose Reyes and a 10th Round
pick to D.C. in exchange for 29-year-old
third baseman Troy Glaus, 40-year-old starter Tom Glavine and a 6th Round
pick.
Why would a rebuilding team trade away
Reyes, a
23-year-old shortstop having a terrific season (.299, .746 OPS, 79 R;
leads the league with 18 triples and a 23-for-26 steal percentage), a
fan favorite ever since he was taken in the first round (#8 overall) in
the 2004 draft, who most believe has an even greater career to come? (MLB '06: .300, .838 OPS, 12 3B, 39 SB in
86 G) Only the Westwood front office knows for sure, but D.C.
fans were all too happy to welcome the speed demon to their squad, even
if it meant saying good-bye to 27-year-old Jimmy
Rollins, who was moved in a subsequent trade.
In exchange for Reyes and the 10th, the
Ducks get Glaus and Glavine,
two DMBL veterans, plus the 6th rounder. Glaus was having a brutal
season for the Bushslappers (.185, .598 OPS, 127 Ks in 111 G), and next
season will likely continue his low-average, high-power ways. (MLB '06: .239, .853 OPS, 23 HR, 80 K in
85 G) But where will he play, with third base likely occupied
for the next decade by this year's second-round pick (#15 overall), Joe Crede? Glaus says he'll work out this
off-season in the hopes of becoming a shortstop next year, if that's
what it takes to remain in Westwood... Glavine (7-10, 5.06 ERA, 13.2 R/9) was having a
mediocre year, but immediately steps into the remnants of the Westwood
rotation as their ace, a role he'll undoubtedly fill next season as
well. (MLB '06: 11-2, 3.48 ERA, 1.32
WHIP) Teams seldom try to rebuild around 40-year-old starting
pitchers, but with the team heading into next year's draft looking for
young pitching talent, he will also prove invaluable as an on-the-field
pitching coach.
Friday
Starting pitching is said to be the
toughest commodity to acquire in baseball, yet six had changed
hands in just four days. A seventh was moved Friday
afternoon, when the Sugar Bears landed SP Zach Duke
and a 12th Round pick for SS Orlando Cabrera and a 6th
Round
pick.
Duke, a 23-year-old rookie left-hander, was
at the top of everybody's board entering the 2006 draft, and as
expected Westwood took him with the first pick. But he's had a
disappointing debut season (8-8, 4.74 ERA, 13.8 R/9), and most scouts believe he needs at least one
more season in Triple-A before he'll be a quality starter in the bigs. (MLB '06: 6-8, 5.15 ERA, 1.60 WHIP)
On the advice of his agent, Arliss Michaels,
Duke turned down a conventional contract and instead signed an
incentive-laden deal that had him making close to the league minimum
for this year, but a whopping $10 million if he's not released this
winter. Given his struggles this season, Westwood had no interest in
activating that option, so they opted to trade him and at least recoup
part of their investment. For Newark, Duke replaces the shell-shocked Dave Bush (8-8, 7.25 ERA, 16.9 R/9) in a rotation
that leads the league in just two categories -- run support and
wins.
In exchange for Duke and the 12th, the
Ducks get a 6th rounder and the 31-year-old Cabrera, who -- with the
departure of Jose Reyes -- immediately becomes
the starter at shortstop. Cabrera was stuck behind Carlos
Guillen in Newark, but was having a very good season in Triple-A. (MLB '06: .296, .770 OPS, 13 SB in 86 G)
He's played six seasons in the DMBL, carrying a .263 BA (.663 OPS) with
184 R and 175 RBI in 504 games.
Friday
The Deductions would close out their wild
week with one last trade -- RP Jose Valverde
to the Cutters for a 10th Round draft pick.
Westwood made five trades in just three
days, giving up five players and two picks and getting back six players
and six picks, including one for the 2008 draft. As it stands now, they
have 12 picks in the first eight rounds -- the most of any team.
Valverde, a 26-year-old right-handed
reliever, was taken in the 3rd round (#29 overall) of this year's
draft. He's been one of Westwood's most dependable
middle relievers (2-1, 1 save, 5 holds, 3.99 ERA, 14.5 R/9), but with
the Deductions stuck at the bottom of the standings since April,
dependable middle relievers are an unnecessary luxury. And since he's a
free agent at the end of the season (MLB
'06: 2-3, 14 SV, 8.22 ERA, 1.79 WHIP), Westwood was happy to
take whatever they could get for him. Not only did Hoboken need a
reliable middle-man for the stretch run, but they also were finally
able to cut Bob Wickman (1-3, 6 SV, 7.11 ERA,
14.0 R/9) -- which in and of itself was probably worth a 10th rounder
to GM Mark Hrywna.
Sunday
On Saturday, all the GMs turned off their
computers, went to synagogue and reflected on their new rosters. Then,
Sunday morning, the final flurry began. The first trade of the day was
a curious one: D.C. sent 31-year-old catcher Bengie
Molina and 30-year-old outfielder Scott
Podsednik to Marietta for 30-year-old catcher Johnny
Estrada.
The Bushslappers were no doubt intrerested
by Estrada as a keeper for next year (MLB
'06: .321, .836 OPS, 8 HR, 48 RBI in 72 G) as the heir to Ivan Rodriguez. Pudge is, after all, five years
older and having a rough season (.237, .645 OPS, 8 HR, 38 RBI in 88
games). But he's still Pudge, and if the Bushslappers put a quality
team on the field next year, he could rediscover his past glory. (MLB '06: .312, .802 OPS, 8 HR, 41 RBI in
76 G) But having two catchers with great numbers is a nice
problem to have... Estrada, who was having a terrible season in limited
action (.225, .514 OPS in 46 games) as the back-up to Jorge Posada in Marietta, will continue in that
role in D.C.
D.C. didn't have to give up much to get
him. Podsednik was having a mediocre
season at best in D.C., hitting just .255 -- and an empty .255 at that,
with a .613 OPS. In fact, he wasn't even good at what he does best --
he'd stolen 10 bases, but had been caught 8 times (.556 SB%). His
numbers are a little more palatable if he can be platooned (.286, .355
OBP vsR; .248, .316 OBP vsL). Molina, who had played in just 43 games
in D.C. as Rodriguez's back-up, has decent numbers for a catcher (.270,
.734 OPS, 3 HR, 9 RBI) given his limited duty. Like Podsednik, he's
best platooned (.286, .819 OPS vsL; .237, .546 OPS vsR). Though each is
just on the wrong side of 30, either or both could wind up on
Marietta's protected list next year
(Molina MLB '06: .286 BA, .762 OPS, 8 HR, 25 RBI in 63 G; Podsednik MLB
'06: .277, .353 OBP, .393 SLG, 29 SB in 82 G) -- though Molina
would probably be a back-up again next year, with Posada already in the
fold. (Posada MLB '06: .280, .851
OPS, 11 HR, 47 RBI in 78 G)
So after trading away a top slugger and a
key reliever, why did Marietta make this
trade if not for next year? Our best guess: GM David
Landsman
started the week in rebuilding mode and made several trades, only to
wake up Sunday morning and find himself tied for the league's 5th-best
record. Needing to replenish some of the offense he'd just traded away,
he added Molina to protect Posada against lefties (.229 BA, .709 OPS),
and Podsednik to platoon with the right-handed hitting Jonny Gomes just acquired from Las Vegas. He also
gives the team -- tied for 9th in stolen bases, with just 26 -- another
dimension on offense.
Sunday
With just hours to go before the trading
deadline, D.C. GM Jamie Landsman still had a
problem -- two starting shortstops. But an answer came when Sugar Bear Carlos Guillen went down in the second game of
Sunday's doubleheader with an injury. Within minutes, Jimmy Rollins was on his way to Newark in
exchange for an 8th Round draft pick.
It's unclear what D.C. and Westwood had in
mind when they made the Jose Reyes deal
earlier in the week without including Rollins; it left D.C. with two
switch-hitting fast shortstops, and Westwood with no one to play the
position between second and third. In fact, in an odd way, the whole
sequence could be seen as a three-way deal stretched over four days:
D.C. gets Reyes from Westwood; Westwood gets Orlando
Cabrera from Newark; and Newark gets Rollins from D.C. Anyway, the
Bushslappers got to defuse a potential Rollins/Reyes controversy before
it got started, and picked up their 11th pick in the first eight rounds
in the draft, just one fewer than Westwood.
When Guillen comes off the D.L. in a couple
weeks, Newark will have the same problem of two shortstops for one
position. While Rollins is having a fine year (.301, .801
OPS, 37 2B, 51 R), he has little chance of dislodging Guillen as the
starter (.320, .776 OPS, 32 2B, 69 RBI). One potential solution is to
platoon them; even though they're both switch-hitters, Guillen is a god
against lefties (.414, .968 OPS) and a mere mortal against righties
(.295, .725 OPS), while Rollins has the opposite splits (.262, .729
vsL; .316, .850 vsR). Even though Rollins is three years younger, it's
unlikely he'll beat out the beloved Guillen for a spot on Newark's
protected list, meaning he's probably a two-month rental for the Sugar
Bears. (MLB '06: .257, .739 OPS in
89 G)
Chris Nabholz was the subject of
one of the league's most controversial trades on Dec. 12, 1991, when
the Austin Outlaws southpaw was dealt to the Scranton Sparrows for
unspecified "future considerations." The cantankerous owners couldn't
agree on adequate compensation and ultimately the trade was resolved
through arbitration, with Scranton getting Austin's 5th and 15th round
picks in 1993. Trades for "future considerations," players to be named
later, cash and so on were banned after this trade. Nabholz now lives
in Pottsville, Pa., where he helps coach the local high school team and
at baseball camps. Click Here
for past articles.
|