Looking Back – The 2006 MLB Trading Deadline (Part 1)
It's been a while since I've done a baseball post, and I want to try to get at least three of these out a week, so here's my opportunity to get the ball rolling. I haven't really prepared for this - ideally I'll keep article ideas in a queue so I have a topic when I need one - but for today I'll stick by an old reliable: dissecting old trades. I tend to write a lot about these things and there was a lot of activity in 2006, so I'm going to have to break this up into a few parts. Today - the early deals.
Ah, 2006. Back when the Mets weren't a punchline, the best division in baseball was the AL Central, and some former catcher named Girardi took a gutted Marlins team, made it presentable, won Manager of the Year, then was fired. Good times.
2006 was a ripe situation for an active trade deadline. Boston and New York were being challenged by Toronto in the AL East, Chicago and Minnesota were watching Detroit have a hell of a season (they were 70-35 on July 31st) but were in wild card contention, last place Texas was only four games behind first place Oakland in the AL West, and the NL West had a similar tight race. Only Detroit and the Mets had comfortable leads in their respective divisions.
Standings as of July 31st, 2006:
AL East Division
Tm W L W-L% GB RS RA pythW-L%
BOS 63 41 .606 -- 577 512 .554
NYY 61 41 .598 1.0 570 490 .569
TOR 57 48 .543 6.5 565 512 .545
BAL 48 59 .449 16.5 526 611 .432
TBD 44 62 .415 20.0 473 572 .414
AL Central Division
Tm W L W-L% GB RS RA pythW-L%
DET 70 35 .667 -- 549 418 .622
CHW 62 42 .596 7.5 596 507 .573
MIN 61 43 .587 8.5 531 464 .561
CLE 45 59 .433 24.5 567 538 .524
KCR 37 68 .352 33.0 479 621 .383
AL West Division
Tm W L W-L% GB RS RA pythW-L%
OAK 56 50 .528 -- 475 476 .499
LAA 54 51 .514 1.5 513 493 .518
SEA 52 53 .495 3.5 504 494 .509
TEX 52 54 .491 4.0 530 526 .503
NL East Division
Tm W L W-L% GB RS RA pythW-L%
NYM 63 41 .606 -- 566 475 .580
PHI 49 55 .471 14.0 526 550 .480
FLA 49 56 .467 14.5 492 503 .490
ATL 48 56 .462 15.0 549 540 .508
WSN 47 59 .443 17.0 492 554 .446
NL Central Division
Tm W L W-L% GB RS RA pythW-L%
STL 58 46 .558 -- 512 494 .516
CIN 55 50 .524 3.5 521 534 .489
MIL 50 56 .472 9.0 492 565 .437
HOU 49 56 .467 9.5 476 504 .474
CHC 43 62 .410 15.5 437 540 .404
PIT 40 66 .377 19.0 483 549 .442
NL West Division
Tm W L W-L% GB RS RA pythW-L%
SDP 55 50 .524 -- 487 477 .509
ARI 54 51 .514 1.0 528 524 .503
COL 51 54 .486 4.0 487 473 .513
SFG 51 55 .481 4.5 495 500 .495
LAD 50 55 .476 5.0 524 506 .516
I'll be talking about trades that took place earlier than the 31st, but this is to give you an idea of what teams were looking at when they started making deals. So let's take a look.
JULY 5th
- St. Louis Cardinals acquire P Jeff Weaver (and lots o' cash) from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for minor league OF Terry Evans
A great deal of the bitterness I have towards Joe Torre during his time running the Yankees was his complete inability to handle a pitching staff that was unfamiliar to him. Torre was fine of nothing changed - Mussina, Wells, Clemens, Pettitte, El Duque, Stanton, Rivera - these were guys he knew. Torre would stick with the players he knew, even long after they were effective, until eventually they left, retired, or in Scott Proctor's case, their elbow exploded into a million pieces. Torre's unwillingness/inability to use Jeff Weaver when Weaver was acquired by the Yankees in a deal four years earlier I believe affected him so badly it ruined his career. I'll get into that some other time. Anyway, Weaver - who had signed a one-year deal with the LA Angels late in the offseason to reunite him with his younger brother Jared - was getting wrecked in LA after managing to salvage his career with the Dodgers the previous two seasons. St. Louis was leading the NL Central despite having a rotation that featured Jason Marquis, a self-destructing Mark Mulder, and Sidney Ponson, so Weaver seemed like an upgrade. Also, since the Angels would be paying most of Weaver's salary and acquiring Weaver meant they could cut Ponson, they likely made money solely on the cash saved on the pre-game spread. You know, because Sid was a big guy. And he probably ate a lot.
So how'd that work out?
Better than it should have for the Cardinals. Weaver struggled at first for St. Louis but after several doses of Dave Duncan's magic powder Weaver settled down, posting a 3-1 record with a 4.15 ERA in six starts down the stretch in September as the Cards took the NL Central. It was during the playoffs that Weaver shined, however, as he went 3-2 in the postseason with a 2.43 ERA, shutting the door on Detroit in Game 5 of the World Series to give the Cardinals their first championship since 1982.
The Angels accomplished what they meant to in that they opened up the rotation slot for Jered Weaver with the deal. Evans, the minor leaguer picked up in the deal, played well in the minors but could never crack the major league roster for any length of time and would leave the organization as a minor league free agent after the 2010 season.
A WINNAR IS: The Cardinals, for giving up nothing, getting something they could use essentially for free, and not being brave/foolhardy enough to re-sign Weaver in the offseason (he'd sign with Seattle, and go back to sucking.)
JULY 6th
- Cincinnati Reds acquire P Eddie Guardado (and several of Eddie's future paychecks) from the Seattle Mariners for minor league P Travis Chick
Guardado signed a free agent deal to be the M's closer after the M's won 93 games with Shigetoshi Hasegawa closing out games for them, and while "Everyday Eddie" pitched fine for Seattle, the rest of the team gave him nothing to save. With the M's seemingly in rebuild mode and Guardado losing his closer job to J.J. Putz, Guardado was very much available. Cincinnati, in contention for the NL Central crown and the wild card slot, realized that no team should go into battle with David Weathers as their closer, so they sent a not-so-special prospect to Seattle to give themselves an "established closer".
So how'd that work out?
Great for the Reds... for a little while. Guardado seemed re-energized in returning to the closer role, but was bothered by some forearm stiffness here and there through late July and early August. He finally hit the DL, and the team later learned that he had a torn UCL, would need Tommy John surgery, and would be gone for the season. Cincinnati would struggle down the stretch and would come short of the playoffs. As for Chick, he played well enough in AA that season for Seattle to earn a cup of coffee with the M's, but wouldn't see the majors again, and is currently out of baseball.
A WINNAR IS: No one - had Cincinnati turned to another option at closer instead of Guardado, they may have had someone there for the stretch run. Had the Reds worked out a deal for say Francisco Cordero - who was acquired by division rival Milwaukee - they might have made the playoffs and not later overpaid Cordero in free agency while still desperately searching for that "proven closer".
JULY 12th
- Houston Astros acquire OF/3B Aubrey Huff from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for minor leaguers Mitch Talbot (P) and Ben Zobrist (SS)
These were the good ol' days when the Rays were the Devil Rays and could be counted on to lose 100 games a season. Huff was one of their best offensive players and affordable since the D-Rays had bought out his arbitration years after a 2003 season which saw him put up a .311/.367/.555 slashline with 34 HR and 107 RBI, so you can excuse them for not shipping him out sooner, but with him in the last year of his contract and coming off a .261/.321/.428 season the year before, the D-Rays were looking to get anything and not risk playing the "will he accept arbitration" game during the offseason and potentially getting either nothing in return or an overpriced replacement-level player blocking their top prospects.
The Astros, on the other hand, were trying. At 43-46 and six games back of the Cardinals in the NL Central that no one wanted to win, Houston knew it had the pitching (Oswalt/Pettitte/Clemens and a solid bullpen) but outside of Lance Berkman, its bats were laughable. When your regular starting lineup features Brad Ausmus and Adam Everett and your regular outfield consists of Preston Wilson, Willy Taveras, and Jason Lane, you can see why "league average bat" would be seen as "OMG MONSTER MASHER".
So how'd that work out?
Houston was the best team in the Central from then on, but it wasn't enough, and the Astros finished a game and a half out of first. Huff hit about as well for the Astros as he did for the D-Rays that season (.250/.341/.478), but it did get Lane (.201/.318/.392) out of the lineup, so there's that. The Astros didn't offer arbitration to Huff (or anyone, as was the Astros' style at the time), so they received no compensation when Huff signed with the Orioles after the season.
As for the D-Rays, Talbot stayed in the minors, stalling at AAA for a few seasons until finally getting a shot with Cleveland when the Rays sent him over in a deal for Kelly Shoppach. Zobrist, who Baseball America at the time of the deal projected as a future utility role, got a chance to play at the major league level when the D-Rays traded starting shortstop Julio Lugo two weeks later. After riding the Durham to Tampa shuttle for a few seasons, Zobrist would finally stick as a utility player (he played six positions in 2008, then seven the following season), and a sudden power surge saw Zobrist make his first all-star team in 2009, where he'd end up placing 8th in the AL MVP balloting with a .297/.405/.543 slashline.
A WINNAR IS: Tampa, without question. You could argue that if the Rays only received Talbot (who they later flipped for Shoppach, who is currently on their roster), they'd win this deal. Zobrist makes this a steal.
NEXT TIME - Wayne Krivsky makes my head hurt, Shea Hillenbrand doesn't like anybody, and the Mariners learn nothing from Ken Phelps.