See press releases. Young players for old ones. The old ones are excellent, yet three of the youngsters are useful and the fourth, Dmitri, has a large constituency as well. Troy will obviously vote for the DH, and his four division mates will now vote against it. Note that Edgar played 1B last year (only 0.1 inning at 3B), where Mark Grace is still hanging around for STX. Maybe Bernie will finally get a better arm rating than Pr.
Antioch sends Vizquel, Alou,
Wetteland, #34 pick (Fletcher)
Tidewater sends Alex Rodriguez, Rondell White, Urbina, #60 pick (Mike Sweeney)
Was that ARod who just got traded? Isn't he that 22 year old shortstop with a batting title behind him. I mean Omar ain't chopped liver, but these guys don't grow on trees. On the other side, Wetteland is as good as it comes for '97, but he's been spotty before (e.g. 9 HRs in 63 innings in 96). Moises is good, but he can't have his stats from the World Series. Sorry.
Mike sets about to upgrade the pitching, and he starts with Glavine and Cordova. Gone are three players with good power (leaving Juan Gonzalez, Hundley, and Mo Vaughn). From the Crackers' perspective, clearly something had to be done to improve their offense. But Glavine, Cordova, and #3 overall (see below) seem to be a lot to pay. A very bad trade for Charles Conway, who winds up resigning before the season.
Steve Spoulos was disappointed that he couldn't get a second pitcher out of this, since Morris and Thompson eventually went 1-2. Smoltz joins Glavine as new members of the Storm. Randa and Mueller are about the same. Randa's slightly better stats can be more effectively neutralized by LHP.
Don Swearingen inherited a team with lots of pitching and outfielders and nothing in the way of catchers and infielders. Thus, relative scarcity value explains this trade of a pretty good pitcher for two players who are somewhat hollow offensively, but should rate well on defense. Ashby completes a brand new pitching staff for the Storm; only Nomo is a holdover.
Bernie, we hardly knew ye. An interesting collection heads south. Cirillo is the best of the lot, but the others are useful as well. By the way, after all these trades the Solicitors' team leader for home runs against LHP is not Larry Walker, not Edgar Martinez, not Jeff Cirillo, but Scott Spiezio with 7. The Pilots can replace the players they lost, if only they had a few more draft picks.
A good trade for Antioch only on the basis that it's one less draft pick for the Wizards to prepare (and they have plenty). It's not unlikely they could have wound up with Wally Joyner there anyway. The Solicitors will play Edgar Martinez at first, where he's still likely to be draw lots of hits but also beaucoup de replacements défensive.
King has 28 homers and 89 walks, but although he is durable, on a good team he's likely to be a platoon player, since .744 O+S vs RHP isn't that good for a 1B. King might not have gone as high as #32 had he been available.
Very similar players. The Tides get to replace some of the power they lost in the ARod/Vizquel deal. Blacks get better OB% for leadoff hitter, three years in age difference, and maybe better defense.
Aren't these guys essentially the same player, except that one is right handed and one is left handed, and one plays infield and one plays outfield?
It's hard to get excited about a 35 year old 1B who ranks 22nd of 27 in O+S (400+ AB), whereas Kent is rather useful, despite his sub-.320 OB%. Kent also wound up with good range, and Cather wound up getting traded for Mike Grace, so this one looks like a winner for the Hurricanes.
Only Naehring and Baldwin have much value in this deal, and we're talking about over 200 decent innings for a guy with only 260 AB. Naehring and White move on in subsequent trades. Baldwin heads to the top of the Biloxi rotation. Luis Gonzalez is penciled in for the everyday LF, at least until the Crackers do better in the draft.
Catching is a tough position to fill. But is Hoiles really a catcher? Young and Rincon are both valuable pieces.
Bonilla is a 35 year old thirdbaseman who had a good year; Rosado is a 23 year old left handed pitcher who had just an OK year. Both perform more or less as expected, neither winds up signed.
Didn't we just read a press release on how Cirillo and Franco were the dawn of a new Solicitors era? Essentially, it's the Hurricanes making two draft picks before the draft. Both are decent picks. Troy will have to use the picks to draft, guess what, a third baseman and a pitcher. Allensworth is a decent leadoff hitter against LHP, but aside from that won't be missed.
Surhoff is good, but wish Jason luck as he tries to replace Wilson in the draft.
Nomo had an off year, but is still a little better than Oliver, given Darrin's .461 slugging % against RHB. Bichette completes the outfield of Griffey and Salmon. But the draft picks turn out to more than counterweigh the deletion of Bichette.
After trying with White and Luis Gonzalez the Storm finally land a good defensive center fielder. Note, however, the Storm feature three of the top ground ball pitchers in the league (Glavine, Ashby, Cordova). Radinsky is one of those mid level relievers which tend to get drafted during the period the Storm are out of picks. For the Knights, there's still work to do. but Andruw and Devon form a passable CF platoon, Naehring adds pop in limited appearances, and Darren Oliver racks up innings. Worrell gives up too many long balls to be useful, he may set up some for Todd Jones.
Karros was the Pilot's best offensive player in 1995, wound up in a platoon in 1996, and gets dismissed a year later. LA park effects make him better than his stats, but he's only passable against RHP in '97. Valentin is a more useful commodity. Glen makes up for some of that by getting a young pitcher who probably would not have been available that deep into the draft. As of now, Loaiza looks like #2 in the Dixie rotation behind Maddux.
Considering Grace was just swapped for the 24th pick overall, this seems like a lot to pay for a catcher with 256 at bats and an injured pitcher. Then again, maybe Grace and his 13 HRs at 1B wasn't worth the draft pick in the earlier trade.
Randa's had a busy winter. Let's see: South Texas to Antioch to Hana to Biloxi. Mike Moffatt had two reasons for the trade. First, Martinez didn't rate at LF, and second, the projected Hana lineup looked weak against lefties. Although a switch of picks looks cheap for Martinez considering Comiskey effects, Biloxi didn't really need another LH outfielder. Martinez could wind up in a 1B platoon with Greg Colbrunn. They will need better production there.
Hana makes a draft pick. That leaves a stopper and a LF as the two priorities with Hana's two remaining good picks. The Storm is thin, however, and they'll be drafting key players deep into the late 20's. For John, getting rid of Reynolds was park related, since RH GB pitchers aren't really what's needed at the Homers' new Cinergy park.
The Fingers win the Caminiti sweepstakes, beating out offers from Dresden and, presumably, Springfield. Of course, this leaves the Fingers completely bereft of pitching, so expect the Fingers to play a lot of 12-10 games in Wrigley, perhaps even higher when the wind is blowing out. Park completes the Rosehaven staff. He's not as good as his stats, due to LA park effects, but Rosehaven's pitching is now every bit the match for Carolina.
Rosehaven sends Stanton (picked
66th), #206 (Randy Veres)
Savannah sends Randy Myers
A setup man for a closer. Both men are well suited to their new roles. Rivera becomes the winner of the Savannah closer Derby. Plus, you don't want some guy thinking he should be closing, pouting, and reading Soldier of Fortune.
A few starts for a few relief appearances. Grace only has enough starts to face the division rival Blacks while Cather will have to confine himself to relieve only against free swingers.
Bellingham sends Brent Mayne,
Scott Stahoviak, 1998 19th and 20th round picks
Antioch sends Danny Patterson and Jeff Reed
Steve Forbes had been a few picks short in the
middle rounds to pick up useful middle relievers. Now he'll have the same problem next
year.
Charlotte sends Johnny Damon
and 1998 11th round pick
Antioch sends Rondell White
Johnny Damon, of course, has the risk of
overtaking Clint Hurdle as the most overhyped rookie in Royals history. Rondell White is
making excellent strides, and the Ex rating in CF was a pleasant surprise. Where this goes
from here nobody knows, but there is a first round pick to consider.
Bellingham sends Pep Harris
(picked # 199), Bere (picked # 359), and their 1998 17th round pick
Argenta sends Orosco (picked #41) and Rapp.
Another middle reliever, another draft
pick. Orosco, 40 something, is the only player really worthwhile here, as Harris and Bere
have to be called speculative signings.
Montreal sends Spoljaric (picked
#129)
Argenta sends Magnante picked (#70).
Argenta trades for the future, as the
4-12 start fails to excite Brian Potrafka.
Dresden sends Chuck Finley and a
1998 24th pick
Argenta sends Stottlemyre.
Blacks pick up 3 years and about 20 innings.
Pitchers have been virtually identical the last two years, although Stottlemyre has been
consistently weaker against lefties than Finley vs righties. Going forward, there's a mid
level draft pick to look forward to for the Bombers.
Montreal sends 11th round pick,
Jose Vidro, Sean Berry, Todd Pratt
Hana sends Vinny Castilla, Marty Janzen, and Mike DeFelice.
With signing looming in about a month, it will be
interesting to see if Berry or Pratt get signed. Pratt (ridiculous vs LHP) fills in
for Castilla in the meat of the vs LHP order, at least for the 60 PA he gets. At the time
of the trade, Hana had faced 18 LHP in 28 games, as teams tried to neutralize Hundley,
Vaughn, Durham, and Gwynn. The Trekkers improve themselves at 3rd base, to be sure, but
first round picks don't grow on trees.
Argenta sends Joe Randa
Hana sends Sean Berry and an 18th pick.
Randa should get signed, as he is a much
better player than Berry. Mike Moffatt picks up well in the exchanges, gets a 11th pick
instead of an 18th, and picks up Pratt and Vidro. Castilla and Randa aren't that much
different, after the park factors. For Argenta, the pick is probably worth more; Berry
provides a warm body for this year and not much else.
Carolina sends Eddie Galliard and
a 16th pick
Argenta sends Paul Spoljaric.
Spoljaric wasn't quite worth
a 13th to anyone, and Carolina advertised for a LH reliever. The Hurricanes may or may not
keep Spoljaric around for the future, the signing will be a success if he's a starter, if
not he can always provide fodder for an expansion team. The Bombers clearly don't have
many more than the minimum 12 to sign at this point anyway.
Dixie sends Greg Maddux,
Ed Taubensee, Bob Tewksbury
Hana sends Francisco Cordova, Todd Hundley, Shane Reynolds, 19th and 20th round picks.
You can always do better
when you trade Greg Maddux, but this isn't that bad. Cordova and Hundley are top shelf
material; even if Hundley misses half of next season, DMB managers can always arrange it
so it the LHP half of the season which is missed.
Montreal sends Otis Nixon
Dresden sends Doug Henry
Blacks gear up for the
inevitable injury to Kenny Lofton, Trekkers pick up another reliever.
Hana sends Rich Renteria, Ray
Durham, Shannon Stewart, Bob Wolcott
Dixie sends Todd Zeile, Jose Valentin, Tony Fernandez, and Esteban Loaiza
Durham and Renteria are
showing early signs of fooldom, but it's hard to characterize anyone who's only 21 as a
fool. At the end of the day, the Storm get what they need: infield depth to flesh out a
faltering lineup, as well as the only worthwhile pitcher. Advantage: Storm.
Antioch Wizards sends Johnny
Damon and Joey Hamilton
Montreal Trekkers sends Tim Salmon
Antioch picks up the power
they were so sorely lacking. The trade ultimately hinges on whether Damon realizes the
potential with which he entered the league. Even if he's a total wash, Ron will be able to
get some innings from Hamilton, who's only 26, but seems older.
Montreal sends Ken
Griffey Jr. and Dave Burba
Carolina sends Pedro Martinez Jr. and Marty Cordova.
OK. For those who were
getting complacent, Ron and Don show how to shake things up. First the Trekkers. Montreal
got Griffey a couple of years back during his injury season for Kevin Brown, not too long
after the team got Tim Salmon for Randy Johnson (before that '95 season). Now within one
period Salmon and Griffey are gone for pitching. So in a way this is a return to the
status quo. The team's only division title came in 1993 with a pitching orientation.
For the Hurricanes, who are a decent shot for a playoff spot, either through the division or the wild card, playoff opponents will breathe a big sigh of relief in not having to face Pedro, Schilling, AND Hentgen. The lineup will of course be better with Griffey (duh!), but not that much, as it will send Erstad to 1B and Sorrento (11 HR and 29 RBI in the first 57 games) to the bench. Now, with Greer, Burnitz, Erstad, Sorrento, and Griffey, it's a good bet the Hurricanes will face a lot of LHP the rest of the season. But Junior crapped out in the series against Rosehaven, and that was that.
Dresden sends Otis Nixon
Montreal sends Tim Belcher
With Rosado operating out of
the bullpen and Appier out of the physical therapy ward, Blacks took a look see at
Belcher's first few starts. At the end of the day he wasn't signed. For Montreal, Nixon
was faster thean the departed Griffey, but otherwise Griffey was a better ballplayer.
Hana sends Loaiza and Tony
Fernandez
Sydney sends Mike Lansing and Greg Vaughn
Sydney was in desparate need
of pitching, as 11th in team pitching while residing in Dodger Stadium just didn't cut it.
A good start by Wilton Guerrero made Lansing expendable. Vaughn was thought to be the
throw in, but it turned the other way around. On the theory that pitching is hard to come
by, the trade is passable by the Dodgers.
SIGNINGS COMPLETED
Unsigned players in green.
PERIOD SIX
Savannah sends Sirotka,
McCracken, and Giambi
South Texas sends Larry Walker
Walker fit perfectly for
Savannah (actually, Walker fits perfectly anywhere), as Chili Davis had been (mis)playing
right field. Walker played CF as well when Vladimir Guerrero took RF. South Texas
collects a couple of more signed players. Giambi now a 1B for Oakland, which lowers his
value. At the end of the day, however, none of the three are younger than 27 and none has
been ever mistaken for Larry Walker. Not sure if this actually pushes the Solicitors
forward. Of course, Larry may not have another year like 1997, but that's not the trade
was about.
Hana Storm sends a 17th round
pick
Antioch sends Eric Davis and Tim Raines
Neither player had been
signed. Hana retaliated for the Larry Walker trade. The presence of Eric Davis stop
opposition from throwing lefties against the Storm. Raines and Davis, however, do nothing
to help Hana's 20th ranked fielding.
Dresden sends an 18th round pick
South Texas sends Spiers
After Larry Walker goes, the
Blacks pick up a useful player from the South Texas fire sale. South Texas gets another
pick. Spiers is a big help as the Blacks repeat a World Championship.
PERIOD SEVEN
Bellingham sends O'Leary, Ramon
Martinez, 11th round pick
New York sends Clemens and Tony
Phillips
In Bellingham, the future is
now. Clemens and Phillips are still probably better players than O'Leary and Martinez (if
anyone would let a coke fiend play), but there is the matter of that 1st round pick. Then,
unfortunately Ramon got the rotator cuff, and the trade now leans to the Pilots.
Argenta sends Nen, Jay Bell, Pep Harris
San Juan sends Willie Greene and Damian Easley
The trade really wasn't that
important for the remaining half of 1997. Going forward, it was Greene and Easley peaked
early, but it was Nen and Bell who turned out more useful for the next campaign. Advantage
San Juan.
Raleigh send Thome, Carlos Perez,
20th round pick
San Juan sends Pettitte, Wohlers, Carlos Delgado
Pettitte and Perez are just
about identical, so the question is whether the Fingers got full value for Thome. Players
like Thome are hard to come by, even if he's usually not quite so awesome against LHP. 1B,
on the other hard, are quite easy. Delgado better start realizing his potential. Bums look
like they bailed out on Wohlers just in time. Advantage San Juan.
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