Trade Page
Not like any ordinary trade page, we kibbitz a little here. Simple claims, arising from necessity, have been omitted here.
1996 Transactions
Madison Mensheviks -> Taiwan Dragons (TAI) under
new owner Francois Coulombe
Sierra Leones -> Washington Filibusters (WAS) under new owner Ken Brewer
Bay City Barracudas -> Minneapolis Millers (MIN) under new owner Michael Josephson
Seattle Stormcloud -> Bonn Voyages (BON) and pick up manager Troy Martin
Colorado Rockies -> Graceland Elvises (GRC) under new owner Gil LeBreton
Cleveland Cops -> Sterling Sharpes (STR) under new owner John Ehlinger
Washington send Ray Durham, 17th round pick (#37 overall)
Hana send Jose Mesa, 13th pick (#20 overall)
Hana had had an extra 13th
round draft pick before, so trading down 17 places isn't that severe. Anyway, the Storm
didn't have a second baseman having used Carlos Baerga there last season. The trade is
less obvious for the Filibusters, but new owner Ken Brewer is just warming up.
Washington send Paul O'Neill, Roberto Hernandez, Chris Hoiles
Dresden send Bernie Williams, BJ Surhoff, Rod Beck
Blacks pull the trigger on
another major six player deal. On the surface, it favors Washington but Surhoff and
Williams aren't as good as a fit as O'Neill and Hoiles. Williams and Surhoff don't fit in
Washington either; they're shipped off before too long. The jury stays out on this one for
a couple of years. For what it's worth, Hernandez outpitches Beck when the two teams meet
in the Conference Finals.
Bellingham send Mike Mohler
Hana send Carlos Baerga
Third time Baerga traded in a
year, and each time for progressively less. Clearly, he's not good enough to start for
Bellingham either, but Manager Steve Forbes thinks he deserves a look-see.
Washington send Omar Vizquel, Bernie
Williams, HAN 13th pick (#20 overall)
Cleveland send Barry Bonds, Scott Karl
People like Bonds are
expensive, but Washington finds a good package. The pick turns out to be Eric Davis, so
overall neither team is disappointed.
Washington send Jose Mesa
Bonn send 16th round pick (#27 overall)
The Voyages need a closer and take a
chance on Mesa, at the time awaiting a court date in Cleveland. The pick turns out to be
Jamie Moyer.
Yukon sends 17th round pick (#32 overall)
Springfield sends Tom Pagnozzi
The auction is over as manager
John Hong has Ivan Rodriguez. The pick turns out to be Rey Ordonez, as a replacement to
Kurt Abbott.
****FIRST SESSION OF DRAFT
CONCLUDED****
****ROUNDS 13-21 WITH 101 OVERALL PICKS****
Graceland sends Girardi
Bellingham sends Tewksbury
The Pilots failed to sign either
Santiago or Oliver, and have to find someone to platoon with Jeff Reed, picked up in the
draft.
Hana sends HAN 22th & 23th picks
Yukon send John Burkett, YUK 24th picks
Once you do the math on this
one, it turns out to be Listach and Person for Burkett and Otis Nixon. Burkett also turns
out to be the only one signed. Perhaps Yukon thought there was more available with that
extra pick. Burkett is clearly the class act of the bunch. Advantage HAN.
Hana sends 25th pick
Bellingham sends Eddie Perez
Eddie Perez had been signed, so getting
a 25th round pick for a signed player admits defeat. The pick, however, turns
out to be Dennis Springer, who inexplicably goes 10-1 for the Pilots.
Washington sends B.J. Surhoff
Bellingham sends Tom Candiotti, BEL 23rd & 25th picks
Kimera Bartee and Blas Minor turn out
to be the picks. Three useful parts for the Filibusters, who are completing their roster.
Surhoff immediately goes into the middle of a poor Pilot attack.
Taiwan sends Ramon Martinez
Bellingham sends Ryne Klesko
Taiwan long on pitching, but also long
on left handed hitting outfielders (Giambi, Green). Klesko doesn't have a bad year,
slugging .478. Ramon pitches poorly in Bellingham anyway; slight advantage TAI. Both teams
probably could have done better. Steve maintains he got the better of the deal. Who'd have
thought Ramon would stink like that since, but all in all I think at this point he'd
rather have Pedro.
Bonn sends Gary Gaetti
Nürnberg sends Woody Williams, Randy Veres, Bill Pulsipher, NBG 25th pick
Nürnberg offense was last in runs in
1995, so any power hitter has got to be an improvement, especially when manager Jerry
Bookter backs up the truck.The pick turns out to be Brad Ausmus, who unfortunately isn't
signed. Bonn wasn't going to get too many more years out of Gaetti, who wasn't signed
anyway.
Yukon sends Mark McLemore
Bellingham sends Carlos Garcia, BEL 24th pick
Sterling sends Cory Bailey and STR 24th pick
Yukon sends Carlos Garcia
This was a three way deal. The
end result is that McLemore, a pretty decent fielder and fair hitter, went for Cory
Bailey, Jamie Bluma, and Ron Karkovice. Not one of Yukon's better moments. Bellingham
probably came out the best.
Bonn sends Mike Stanton
Yukon sends Frank Castillo
With Cook and Ruffin, a third lefty
reliever may be thought of as overkill, but the Crush play in Yankee Stadium, with the
deep left field. Castillo winds up moving on to Hana for younger players.
Bonn sends FP Santangelo
Dresden sends Scott Erickson
The Blacks, having drafted Prieto in
the first session, have a different idea about their 5th starter, and look to fill holes.
Bonn is desperate for pitching. F.P. has a good year for the Blacks, Erickson is signed
for the Solicitors. Full marks to the Solicitors.
Graceland sends Rapp and Newfield
Hana sends Slaught and HAN 28th
Graceland needs catching, and Rapp and Newfield go to a deep Hana prospect pile. Rapp
winds up being signed. Much ado about nothing.
SECOND SESSION OF DRAFT CONCLUDED
ROUNDS 22-28 WITH 140 OVERALL PICKS
Montreal sends Leyritz
Hana sends Berry
Montreal thinks they need offense more
than Leyritz. They'll later discover, as Kirt Manwaring and Mike Matheny rack up the
atbats, that they needed Leyritz. Berry is useful offensively, which creates some
flexibility for Brosius.
Yukon sends Walker, L. and Hamelin
Bonn sends Stairs and Greer
The Voyages build for the future.
Neither Hamelin and Stairs are then signed in this trade of four pretty good lefty
hitters.
THIRD SESSION OF DRAFT CONCLUDED
ROUNDS 29-38
PLAYERS WITH <20 AB OR <10 IP DELETED FROM PLAYER DISK
Bonn Voyages -> South Texas Solicitors Troy never liked that name
East Coast Cyclones -> Cosmo Kramers
Adam
goes Seinfeld
Nürnberg sends Burba and NBG 24th (1997)
Montreal sends T. Gwynn
Burba was the #2 pick overall. The
mistake came later in not signing Gwynn, although signing Burba was almost as bad.
Bellingham sends King
Sterling sends Sorrento
Interesting, since Karros was
Bellingham's best player in 1995. Manager Steve Forbes committed to a platoon. King winds
up signed and pretty useful, even if he winds up a 1B. Winds up making more sense for the
Sharpes.
Sterling sends Fielder
Graceland sends Morris
Strictly a lefty for righty deal.
Neither get signed. Fielder does hit 31 homers for the Elvises, twice as many as Morris,
but Cecil also had to play the field.
PERIOD ONE
Hana trades Al Leiter, Parrett, and Greg Myers
Nürnberg trades Hamilton, Hundley, and Baines.
Hana spent heavily for Leiter (and
Myers) the previous year, but get Hundley, a 40 HR catcher. Still, Todd is only a platoon
catcher against righties. But Hamilton and Baines are also useful cogs, so don't feel
sorry for Hana GM Mike Moffat.
Dresden sends Wright, Spiezio, and Widger
South Texas sends Scott Sanders, 20th pick (1997)
Nobody really turns out well, but the
Blacks are left with a World Series championship (Sanders having picther 8 near-perfect
innings) and a draft pick.
PERIOD TWO
Bellingham sends Jason Schmidt, 13th pick
Minnesota sends Navarro
Pilots panic having traded Candiotti.
For the Millers, the writing is on the wall early, after a 3-13 start. As such, the trade
for Schmidt and the pick is a trade for the future.A good trade for the Millers.
Hana sends Dmitri Young, Holt, Randa
South Texas sends Zeile, Jay Bell, Castillo
For STX, another trade for the future
(see Sanders trade). Nobody's quite sure what the Storm wants with this collection, except
maybe to make the signings a little easier. Bell and Castillo don't see action until the
call ups, and Zeile plays sparingly behind Vinny Castilla. Bell is signed, and STX signs
all three.
San Juan sends Andruw Jones, 24th pick
Nurnberg sends Wohlers, 21st pick
The Bums, who used the entire 1995
draft preparing for the 1996 season, finally pull the trigger on Andruw, their #1pick.
Wohlers, however, winds up in the manager profile behind Billy Taylor much of the season.
Nürnberg is expected to eventually have the last laugh.
PERIOD THREE
PERIOD FOUR
Washington sends Chili Davis
Bellingham sends McLemore
Clearing the way for Knoblauch to be
traded. Bellingham would be happy with McLemore's sister in the lineup.
San Juan sends Sheffield
Washington sends Knoblauch
Probably the most interesting trade of
the year. Sheffield, of course, was tearing it up for the Bums, but in the leadoff spot,
since they had no other suitable leadoff hitter. Also, the Bums were struggling with
Bipper and Keith Lockhart at 2B, and Chuckie is as good as they come at a weak offensive
position. For the Filis, Buhner had struggled through the early part of the season, so
much that Frank Thomas was getting walked to face him. Thus, 3-4-5 was Bonds-Frank
Thomas-Sheffield, but the rest of the lineup seemed rather thin in comparison.
Washington sends Jay Buhner
Bellingham sends Jaime Navarro, 19th pick
No need for Buhner with Sheffield
around and the Filis pitching was always suspect. McLemore's sister can go back to the
minors.
San Juan sends John Franco, 23rd pick
Bellingham sends Reggie Sanders, 21st pick
More fallout from the Sheffield trade.
Al Martin was already there the LH replacement, thus a search was taken for the platoon
partner. Both players had been signed.
PERIOD FIVE
PERIOD SIX
PERIOD SEVEN
Hana sends Baines, Nen
Graceland sends Rojas, Taubensee
Final trade of the season, just before
the deadline, as the Storm recognize that Hundley can't hit lefties. Also, Rojas had just
blown an important game against rival Washington. Both closers enjoy the change of scenery
down the stretch, and Baines almost leads the Elvises to a playoff berth.
TRADING DEADLINE