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Remembering The 1980 Trade Deadline

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1980 has a lot in common with 2010. An American car company lived on, thanks to a government bailout. The price of gold shot up. And the Philadelphia Phillies headed for October glory.

Here's how baseball teams dealt with the trade deadline during this scenario's first go-around.

The contenders got started late in 1980, with few deals that impacted the pennant races until August. The Pittsburgh Pirates struck first on August 5, acquiring Kurt Bevacqua and Mark Lee from the San Diego Padres for Luis Salazar and Rick Lancellotti. Lee and Lancellotti did little, but this is an example of a team trading an infielder who was about to become useful (Salazar) for one who would soon cease being useful (Bevacqua). While Bevacqua hit just .163/.280/.186, Salazar immediately starred for the Padres, hitting .337/.362/.472 in 1980 after the deal.

Montreal did nicely on August 11, trading for reliever John D'Acquisto and sending the first baseman Randy Bass to those same Padres. D'Acquisto posted a 2.18 ERA in 20.2 innings for Montreal, while Bass never hit in the major leagues.

Of course neither trade helped the Expos and Pirates catch the Phillies, who went on to win the World Series. Philadelphia's main acquisitions were the free agents Tim McCarver and Sparky Lyle. Neither one signed prior to September 1, so neither could play in the postseason, but both contributed. Lyle, in particular, posted a 1.93 ERA in his month with the Phillies.

Meanwhile, the Yankees also brought in an old hand to help with their stretch run, but it happened via trade. The Yankees dispatched Ken Clay and Marvin Thompson to the Rangers for Gaylord Perry, then 41 years old, but en route to another 200-plus inning season. (Fun note: he also had six 300-inning seasons!)

For Perry, fours were wild with the Yankees- a 4-4 record, 4.44 ERA. That New York team won 103 games – only five Yankee teams ever won more – but after falling in the ALCS, manager Dick Howser was unceremoniously dismissed.

One final trade worth remembering: the Expos acquired Willie Montanez (who had been traded for Perry that February) from the Padres, giving up a minor league outfielder named Tony Phillips in the process. Hard as it is to believe, Phillips seemed unlikely to realize his potential for years after. He was soon shipped to Oakland, where he managed a paltry .251/.338/.350 line in eight seasons, beginning in 1982. But from 1990 to 1999, he was a different player, hitting .273/.392/.409 beginning with his age-31 season.

In other words: it is hard to blame the Expos for not seeing that one a decade ahead.

Pirates Remain Favorites To Sign Heredia

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The Pirates are the “strong favorite” to sign Mexican pitching prospect Luis Heredia, according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates have been scouting the 16-year-old right-hander more aggressively than any other MLB club and have close ties to Veracruz, Heredia’s team. Not only do the Pirates have connections to Veracruz, which controls Heredia’s rights, Pittsburgh’s Mexican scouting suprevisor, Jesus Valdez, has known Heredia since the pitcher was five.

Veracruz cannot entertain formal offers until Thursday, but many teams other than the Pirates appear to have interest. The Yankees, Blue Jays, Rangers, A’s, Giants and Braves all scouted Heredia in Mexico last week, according to Kovacevic.

Draft Notes: Whitson, Indians, Harper

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The smoke has cleared and all but three of the first 50 picks signed deals. Barret Loux (Diamondbacks) and Dylan Covey (Brewers) did not sign, but both pitchers had medical issues that influenced the dialogue they had with the clubs that selected them. Here are the details on the third player who did not sign, plus Baseball America's winners and losers:

  • John Manuel of BA lists the Nationals, Pirates, Anthony Ranaudo and Bud Selig as winners. The losers? The Brewers, Padres and the process itself.
  • Padres GM Jed Hoyer told XX Sports Radio in San Diego that the Padres had a verbal agreement with Karsten Whitson for $1.953MM on draft day. The club boosted its offer as high as $2.1MM, but Whitson and his representatives were holding out for more, so the sides didn't reach a deal. You can listen in on Hoyer's comments here.
  • ESPN.com's Keith Law finds it "hard to see [Whitson] beating the Padres' offer … in the 2013 draft." 
  • In the same piece, Law explains that he believes Bryce Harper and the Nationals both did well with last night's deal.
  • The Indians spent $9.3MM on the draft, Indians scouting director Brad Grant told MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince (Twitter link).
  • The Rockies are allowing first-rounder Kyle Parker to play college football, but their $1.4MM bonus is protected if he gets injured, according to Tracy Ringolsby of FOX Sports (on Twitter).

Giants Release Todd Wellemeyer

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AUGUST 17th: The Giants have asked for unconditional release waivers on Wellemeyer, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

AUGUST 9th: The Giants designated Todd Wellemeyer for assignment to make room for Emmanuel Burriss, according to the team (on Twitter). San Francisco activated Wellemeyer Thursday and he appeared in one game, but pitched poorly. The Braves picked up four hits and an earned run off of the right-hander before he could record an out yesterday.

The 31-year-old has a season ERA of 5.68 with 6.3 K/9 and 5.4 BB/9 in 58.2 innings. Wellemeyer was a fixture in the Giants rotation before a quadriceps injury sidelined him for much of June and all of July. He makes $1MM this year and hits free agency after the season. Last night's performance and his quad injury will likely limit interest in Wellemeyer.

Phillies Giving Out Contract Years Like Candy

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A swing through the Phillies page of Cot's Baseball Contracts illustrates an interesting approach by the team: they've freely given out extra contract years to many players when it did not appear necessary or prudent.  The examples:

  • Ryan Howard, already signed through 2011, was extended through 2016 in April of this year.
  • Jamie Moyer, a Type A free agent after a fine 2008 season, was not offered arbitration but instead given a two-year deal.
  • Cole Hamels, a Super Two player who was arbitration-eligible for the first time, signed a three-year, $20.5MM deal.  He's pitched well, but did the Phillies save significant money in giving up the chance to go year-to-year?  This was as player-friendly as pitcher extensions get. 
  • Placido Polanco, a Type A free agent, was not offered arbitration by the Tigers.  I took this to mean the Tigers felt Polanco would have no trade value on a one-year deal, so why did the Phillies sign him for three?
  • Joe Blanton, arbitration-eligible for 2010, signed a three-year deal in January buying out two free agent seasons at the market rate.  Was this some kind of payroll manipulation, since $6MM of Blanton's $7MM salary this year came in the form of a signing bonus?
  • Free agent reliever Danys Baez, coming off a middling season for the Orioles, got a two-year deal.  Similar pitchers signed one-year deals.
  • Free agent backup catcher Brian Schneider, coming off a terrible season, received two years.
  • Bench player Ross Gload, coming off an unimpressive campaign, surprisingly received two years.  He's hit well in 116 plate appearances, however.
  • Bench player Greg Dobbs, arbitration-eligible for the first time, received a two-year deal.  Why not go year-to-year with a guy like this?
  • The Phillies exercised the 2011 club option for shortstop Jimmy Rollins a year early.
  • The multiyear contracts don't end there, but it seems unfair to call the Phillies out for the rest.  The remaining deals either saved the team decent money, or were of a length necessary to lock up the player as a free agent.

Reds Designate Micah Owings For Assignment

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The Reds designated pitcher Micah Owings for assignment to make room for newly-signed draft pick Yasmani Grandal on the 40-man roster, tweets John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Owings was acquired from the Diamondbacks as the player to be named later in the Adam Dunn trade about two years ago.  In his Reds career he posted a 5.35 ERA, 6.1 K/9, 5.2 BB/9, and 1.2 HR/9 in 153 innings.  He's dealt with shoulder issues in recent years.  Owings is known for his bat; he slugged four homers, five doubles, and a triple in 76 Reds plate appearances.

Phillies Designate Greg Dobbs For Assignment

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The Phillies designated third baseman Greg Dobbs for assignment to make room for Chase Utley, tweets Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Dobbs, 32, hit just .191/.250/.319 in 153 plate appearances this year.

Dobbs had a nice run for the Phillies in 2007-08, hitting .284/.331/.467 in 598 plate appearances mostly against right-handed pitching.  The Phillies gave Dobbs a two-year deal before the '09 season, when he first became arbitration-eligible.  There is a general, worrisome trend of the Phillies giving players extra years or locking up arbitration-eligible players when it wasn't entirely necessary.

Odds & Ends: Aramis, Kemp, K-Rod

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August 17th was a busy transaction day one year ago, as the Tigers acquired Aubrey Huff and the Rangers and Red Sox released Vicente Padilla and John Smoltz, respectively.  Both pitchers performed well for their new teams; who will follow that script this year?  While you ponder the question, here are today's links…

Why Didn’t Colby Lewis Get More Money?

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It's clear now that the Rangers made a great free agent signing with Colby Lewis.  The 31-year-old righty ranks 15th in the American League with a 3.28 ERA and sixth with 150 strikeouts.  He was signed for just $5MM over two years, with a chance for $8MM over three years if the Rangers exercise their 2012 club option.

In February, Lewis told ESPN's Tim Kurkjian of his multiyear deal, "Things like that don't happen very often."  Kurkjian explained the rarity of a player going to Japan, returning to MLB, and thriving.  Even so, I'm still surprised Lewis didn't get a bigger contract.  A $5MM commitment – teams will spend that much on a couple of draft picks despite a lower probability of success.  Low-upside free agents like Miguel Tejada, Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Kendall, and Jason Marquis received more money last winter.  Heck, the Rangers guaranteed $7.5MM to Rich Harden for one year.  The Athletics gave Ben Sheets $10MM.

Interest was heavy – Kurkjian said 12 or 13 clubs were in on Lewis and the Twins and A's also offered two-year deals.  MLB teams had two years to scout the new-and-improved Lewis in Japan.  Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Kurkjian, "[Lewis] was throwing 90-to-95 with a hard cutter. Other teams saw the same thing."  Lewis' numbers in Japan were ridiculously good, too.  Why didn't anyone outbid the Rangers?  Perhaps teams took the approach of, "better the devil you know than the devil you don't" and allocated free agent money toward players they were able to scout in MLB games.

Analyzing The Tigers’ 2010 Draft

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The Tigers didn’t have a first-round pick in this year’s draft, but that didn’t stop them from spending first-round money on three players. David Chadd, the team’s vice president of amateur scouting, says it’s important to be able to spend, but insists that the Tigers' approach isn't about the money.

“I’m just trying to get the best player in the Tigers system,” Chadd said. “I don’t think spending has anything to do with [selecting the best players] at all. It comes down to the players, not the money.”

The Tigers have a reputation for spending big on players who price themsleves off of other teams’ draft boards. For example, Detroit paid up for Rick Porcello and Jacob Turner after other teams shied away from their demands. This year the Tigers spent on prep third baseman Nick Castellanos, who obtained a $3.45MM deal. 

Chadd says Castellanos was by far the best player available when the Tigers made their first pick (44th overall) and at the time of the draft, Baseball America agreed. It’s never fair to compare teenagers to big league All-Stars, but Chadd reluctantly admitted that Castellanos reminds him of Evan Longoria.

“I’m very confident in his ability to play third base,” Chadd said of the 18-year-old Florida native. “He can field, he can throw, he can run. So as a scout, when you start talking about tools, he has all five.”

The Tigers also signed Texas reliever Chance Ruffin to a $1.15MM deal and Arkansas left-hander Drew Smyly for $1.1MM. Chadd compares Ruffin to Huston Street, another right-hander who closed for the Longhorns. Smyly doesn’t throw as hard as Ruffin, but Chadd says the lefty's pitching instincts are like Cliff Lee’s.

Castellanos, Ruffin and Smyly would be welcome additions to any farm system, but it took a while for the Tigers to come to terms with the trio, especially Castellanos. 

“It came down to the last second,” Chadd said. “It was gut-wrenching and fortunately we got a deal done, but it was tense.”

Teams, players and agents will always have tense moments before the deadline to sign picks, whether or not the deadline falls in mid-August. At this point, it’s too late for players to start their pro careers, so Chadd would be in favor of moving the deadline to sign picks in the next collective bargaining agreement.

“I think that makes the most sense,” he said. “I would be extremely in favor of that … The earlier the deadline, the better from me.”

For example, a mid-July deadline would give teams, players and college coaches certainty earlier on in the summer and would enable players who sign at the last minute to start their pro careers sooner.

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