December 20, 2005

The Rumor Mill

There are now four teams participating in the Johnny Damon Sweepstakes. Desperate to make a splash this offseason, the Orioles have become the latest team to enter the fray, joining the Red Sox, Yankees, and Dodgers. If the money and the number of years on the contract are similar, Damon will likely be heading back to Boston. But if the Orioles become aggressive and agent Scott Boras opts for the best contract available, then Damon’s destination along the Eastern seaboard could change. There was a rumbling on Thursday that the Orioles had offered a six-year contract, but that turned out to be wishful thinking. Still, the Orioles might be willing to offer a five-year deal, while the BoSox, Bombers, and Dodger Blue are all leaning toward four-year offers…

Now that Nomar Garciaparra has signed sign with the Dodgers, the Yankees will more aggressively pursue their Plan B contingency of signing free agent infielder Miguel Cairo. While the Yankees had earmarked Garciaparra to play regularly—part of the time as a first baseman and the balance of the time as a fill-in at other positions—they’re looking at Cairo simply in terms of a backup role. Cairo would start occasionally at second base against left-handers, while backing up Alex Rodriguez at third and serving as a defensive caddy to Jason Giambi at first base. There’s also a possibility that the Yankees might sign Cairo and Eduardo Perez, who would function as a right-handed hitting first base-DH. If nothing else, the signing of Perez would remove a Yankee killer from the American League East; Perez hit four home runs against the Yankees’ staff last season, including a game-tying ninth-inning clout against Mariano Rivera…

On the pitching front, the Yankees have targeted right-hander Octavio Dotel as the seventh-inning man in their revised bullpen scheme, offering him a one-year deal worth $2 million plus incentives. The Red Sox, Dodgers, and Mets are also bidding on Dotel, with each offering a one-year contract to the former A’s closer who is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Based on original estimates, Dotel was expected to be out of service until June, but he’s made unexpected progress and could be ready for game action by late April. If the Yankees lose out on Dotel, their next choice would be Julian Tavarez, who has a good relationship with the Yankees’ new first base coach, Tony Pena. Tavarez has talent, but also has a tendency for volatile behavior, which has some members of the Yankee organization concerned…

Now that the A’s have added Milton Bradley to their mix, they’re flush with outfielders. They already have Jay Payton, Mark Kotsay, and Nick Swisher returning from last year, which means that they’ll either platoon the switch-hitting Bradley with Swisher, or make Bradley their regular DH. The latter option, which is probably the more likely of the two, would make Erubiel Durazo expendable sometime between now and Opening Day. But then again, the A’s are still interested in signing Frank Thomas, which would only muddle the DH situation even further. If the A’s sign Thomas, he’d probably become the everyday DH, with Bradley becoming a part of a four-man outfield rotation, or Payton becoming available in a trade. Either way, Billy Beane isn’t done tinkering with his collection of outfielders and DH’s in Oakland…

The Mets’ failure to sign Mark Grudzielanek comes as the direct result of Omar Minaya’s inability to trade Kaz Matsui. Minaya was given orders not to commit to Grudzielanek until he found a taker for Matsui—a difficult chore given the $7 million owed the switch-hitting middle infielder in 2006. Minaya will continue to shop Matsui, but has to hope that his next best available second base options (such as Tony Graffanino) don’t sign with other teams before he can finalize a deal. Given Matsui’s inability to hit or stay healthy in 2005, Mets fans may have to brace for the worst—which is one more season of the wrong Matsui.

Garciaparra

Prior to his decision to head west and sign with the Dodgers, Nomar Garciaparra was heavily romanced by the Yankees, a courtship for which many New York fans and media outlets expressed their disapproval. From “Mike and the Mad Dog” to Yankee rooters I encountered in Cooperstown, lots of folks seemed down on Nomar—or at best lukewarm—about his prospects in New York. The reasons for the naysaying appeared to be fourfold:

1) Garciaparra will always be considered a Red Sock.

2) Garciaparra is a shortstop, not a first baseman.

3) Garciaparra won’t get along with the New York media.

4) Garciaparra is too injury prone.

Let’s take the arguments one at a time.

Garciaparra will always be considered a Red Sock. This one was just plain silly. By this rationale, the acquisition of Babe Ruth must have been a mistake. According to this philosophy, the Yankees would never acquire players who once played for the Red Sox, such as Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens. As much as Yankee fans stoke the fires of their rivalry with their counterparts in Boston, they shouldn’t delude themselves into thinking that once beloved members of Red Sox Nation can’t ever play for the Yankees. The key is acquiring former Red Sox who can still be productive players in the Bronx.

Garciaparra is a shortstop, not a first baseman. This one didn’t hold much more water than the first argument. Of all the teams that showed serious interest in signing Garciaparra (a list that included the Indians, Blue Jays, Astros, Dodgers, and Pirates at one time or another), none intended to use him as an everyday shortstop. Smartly, Garciaparra had conceded this point, embracing the possibility of playing other positions in an attempt to increase his marketability. With regard to the specific switch from shortstop to first base, this should not have been a problem for an athletic player like Garciaparra. If you can play shortstop in the major leagues, assuming you’re not approaching the height of Phil Rizzuto, you can play first base. While shortstop is one of the two most demanding fielding positions on the diamond—catcher being the other—first base is the easiest position along the defensive spectrum.

Garciaparra won’t get along with the New York media. Anyone making this argument would have right; Garciaparra, an intensely private person who ducks the media at all costs, wouldn’t have meshed well with the New York writers and broadcasters. Yet, the adversarial relationship would not necessarily have hurt Garciaparra’s performance. It certainly didn’t in Boston, where the legions of media are just as intense and frenzied—and arguably more negative—than their New York counterparts. For all of Garciaparra’s sensitivities, he seems to be able to forget about media criticisms once the game begins.

Garciaparra is too injury-prone. Of the four arguments, this was really the only one that was pertinent or defensible. Given his physical problems of the last two seasons, Garciaparra has become a risk. In paying him $6 million to play in 2006, the Yankees might have been getting only 70 games worth of Garciaparra, if that much. Still, it would have been a reasonable risk to take. Without Garciaparra, the Yankees’ options at first base are Jason Giambi (who can’t field a lick) and Andy Phillips (who had to have a great spring in 2005 just to convince the Yankees to carry him as the 25th man). With Garciaparra in tow, the Yankees would still have been able to use Giambi as a DH and Phillips as a backup infielder.

As the Yankees look toward 2006, they need to make their team more athletic in the field and more versatile. The addition of Garciaparra would have helped in both areas. With little effort, Garciaparra would likely have been a vast defensive improvement over Giambi, who can’t throw and can’t move laterally. At the same time, Garciaparra would have given the Yankees quality depth behind Robinson Cano, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez across the infield. And given his expressed interest in learning to play the outfield, Garciaparra would have been able to help out in left or right field, allowing Hideki Matsui or Gary Sheffield to DH from time to time.

If the Yankees could have convinced Garciaparra to take a one-year deal in the neighborhood of $6 million, they would have been helping themselves, with little downside. It’s a move that Yankee fans should have been rooting for Brian Cashman to make. Instead, the naysayers got their wish.

The Swap Meet of 1971

Earlier this month, major league general managers gathered in Dallas for the annual winter meetings, which produced 20 trades and 15 free agent signings. All in all, it was a fairly active session, but like most winter meetings, it paled in comparison to what happened during the winter gathering of 1971. For a few days that winter, baseball’s general managers turned the sport upside-down.

Shortly after the game’s 24 general managers landed in Phoenix, Arizona, during the final days of November in 1971, a flood of news conferences and announcements poured through hotel suites and lobbies. On November 29, no fewer than six teams involved themselves in a series of blockbuster trades, all involving prominent players with well-established reputations.  In a swap of star pitchers and staff aces, the San Francisco Giants sent Gaylord Perry and touted shortstop Frank Duffy to the Cleveland Indians for Sam McDowell, one of the era’s hardest throwing pitchers. In another exchange, the Chicago Cubs dealt left-hander Ken Holtzman, the owner of two career no-hitters, to the Oakland A’s for outfielder Rick Monday, the first player taken in baseball’s initial amateur draft of 1965. Still, as big a ripple as both deals caused, they paled in comparison with the day’s biggest trade: the Cincinnati Reds’ swap of power-hitting first baseman Lee May and infielders Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart to the Houston Astros for second baseman Joe Morgan and four other players (infielder Denis Menke, outfielders Ed Armbrister and Cesar Geronimo, and pitcher Jack Billingham). The grand totals for the day? Six teams, three trades, 13 players, a half-dozen household names…Wow.

Still, there was more news to come, news that would dwarf the activity of November 29. Three days later, on December 2, major league teams engineered eight trades, involving a total of 30 players.  The slate of activity included a three-player deal between Kansas City and Houston, in which the Royals acquired promising first baseman John Mayberry from the Astros for two young pitchers, Jim York and Lance Clemons. In the biggest deal of the day, the Baltimore Orioles sent star outfielder Frank Robinson (and hard-throwing reliever Pete Richert) to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a six-player swap that brought young right-hander Doyle Alexander and three minor leaguers to Baltimore.  After acquiring Robinson, the Dodgers sent slugging first baseman Richie Allen—one of the era’s greatest and most controversial talents—to the Chicago White Sox for standout left-hander Tommy John and an obscure utility infielder named Steve Huntz.

By the time the winter meetings ended on December 3, major league teams had combined to make 15 trades, while swapping an unprecedented 53 players. The burst of off-season activity served two purposes.  The series of blockbuster deals generated headlines in newspapers and sports weeklies, keeping baseball’s hot stove churning during the NFL’s post-season push. More significantly, the trades created a series of aftershocks that would affect the game’s landscape—both individually and from a team standpoint—for years to come.

At the time, the swap of the 33-year-old Gaylord Perry for the 29-year-old Sam McDowell seemed promising for the Giants. After all, they were acquiring the younger pitcher and the harder thrower, not to mention the guy who happened to be left-handed in the deal. Yet, the Giants didn’t realize the extent of McDowell’s drinking problems, and how they would derail his career, making him an ex-Giant by 1973 and a shell of a pitcher before his 30th birthday. In the meantime, Perry went on win a league-best 24 games for the Indians in 1972 and 21 more games in 1974, when he captured the American League’s Cy Young Award. Unfortunately, the Indians didn’t finish any higher than fourth in the AL East, but they couldn’t reasonably blame the future Hall of Famer for their poor place in the standings.

Another major American League award would be won by one of the other superstars involved in the winter tradefest of 1971.  For much of his career, Richie Allen had sparred with managers, first in Philadelphia and then in Los Angeles. Thanks to the trade that sent him to the White Sox, Allen would find his ideal manager in the Windy City. “The way I see it,” White Sox skipper Chuck Tanner told longtime Chicago sportswriter Jerome Holtzman, “he ought to help us win at least 20 games with his bat.” An exaggeration to be sure, but not by as much as some skeptics would have thought. Motivated by the always-encouraging Tanner, Allen led all AL batters in slugging percentage, RBIs and walks in 1972, while carrying the Sox to within a five-and-a-half-game finish of the far more talented Oakland A’s. It was arguably Allen’s best season ever—and would earn him the league’s MVP Award.

By the winter of 1971, the Kansas City Royals had played three full seasons as an American League expansion team. Although they were hardly ready for contention in the AL West, the addition of the 22-year-old John Mayberry gave their offense a foundation from which to build. By the time the Royals became a sanctioned playoff team (i.e. 1976), Mayberry had developed into a legitimate cleanup hitter. With Mayberry, George Brett, Hal McRae, and Amos Otis forming the nucleus of the Royal offense, Kansas City won back-to-back division titles in ’76 and ’77.

Other trades played even larger roles in affecting outcomes across the major leagues. Few would benefit as much as the game’s budding dynasty, the one taking root in Oakland. The addition of Ken Holtzman, who had clashed with an unyielding Leo Durocher in Chicago, gave the A’s a third top-drawer starter after Jim “Catfish” Hunter and Vida Blue. Given the chronically injured throwing arms of Chuck Dobson and John “Blue Moon” Odom, the A’s needed another reliable starter even more badly. With Holtzman in tow and their pitching staff a notch deeper, the A’s became a more formidable foe in the post-season. From 1972 to 1974, Holtzman won four of five World Series decisions while posting an ERA of 2.55. During that same span, the stylish left-hander pitched even more effectively in the American League Championship Series, forging a miniscule ERA of 1.55, with two wins in three decisions. Without Holtzman’s clutch post-season pitching, not to mention his nearly 20 wins per season from 1972 to 1974, the A’s might not have been fortunate enough to garner three consecutive World Championships. 

In contrast, no trade had more of a negative impact on any one team than the Orioles’ decision to trade Frank Robinson, their best all-round player and most forceful presence in the clubhouse, where he ruled Baltimore’s famed “Kangaroo Court.” Although an aging player at 36, Robinson’s departure accelerated the Orioles’ fall from grace. The touted Merv Rettenmund—a .318 hitter as a kind of super utility outfielder in 1971—proved inadequate as Robinson’s replacement in right field, while fellow outfielders Paul Blair and Don Buford slipped badly, causing the defending American League champions to fall to third place in 1972. The Orioles bounced back to win the AL East the next two seasons, but lost both of their Championship Series matchups to the eventual World Champion A’s. Although Robinson’s presence certainly wouldn’t have guaranteed a victory over the A’s, the Orioles probably would have preferred him over Doyle Alexander, who was ineffective in his one post-season start against Oakland. As for Rettenmund, he also continued to struggle, prompting his trade to the Reds in the winter of ‘73.

Although the Orioles clearly missed F. Robby’s presence, he actually proved a disappointment in Los Angeles. Clashing with venerable skipper Walter Alston, Robinson lasted only one injury-plagued season at Chavez Ravine before being dispatched to the California Angels, where he revived himself in 1973. As for the ‘72 Dodgers, they did finish a respectable third in the National League West, but that still left them a full 10 and a half games off the pace of the Reds.

Ah the Reds. No team enjoyed a greater benefit from the ripples of activity at the 1971 winter meetings than the budding “Big Red Machine,” which renovated its infield at three of four positions with one fell swoop. In dispatching with Lee May as part of the trade with the Astros, the Reds cleared out first base for Tony Perez, who had been playing a less-than-ideal third base. The quality of their infield took another step upward with the addition of Joe Morgan, a very good but not yet hallmark player during his days in Houston, who replaced the more limited Tommy Helms at second base. Most importantly, the theft of Morgan provided The Machine with the missing link to its offense, which lacked speed, left-handed hitting, and Morgan’s ability to reach base. When asked about “Little Joe’s” .256 batting average, manager Sparky Anderson dismissed the number and revealed himself as an ahead-of-his-time baseball thinker. “Here’s a guy who gets on base an awful lot of times,” Anderson told Cincinnati sportswriter Earl Lawson. “His on-base ratio is unbelievable, like last year—149 hits and 88 walks.” And Morgan would get better. Enjoying a career breakthrough in 1972, Morgan led the National League with 115 walks and a .419 on-base percentage and batted a career-high .292, helping the Reds win the pennant and come within one game of the World Championship. Three years later, the future Hall of Famer spearheaded the Reds to their first World Series victory of the Anderson era, batting a career-high .327 and leading the league with a .471 on-base percentage on the way to winning the National League’s MVP Award. Morgan repeated as league MVP the following season, compiling a league-best .576 slugging percentage, as the Reds easily defended their title.

Thanks to a swap meet that saw over 50 players change uniforms, baseball throughout the 1970s underwent a drastic and undeniable facelift. Within a span of five winter days in 1971, major league general managers had made a series of decisions that would affect the following fortunes: the crowning of one Cy Young and three Most Valuable Player awards, the beginnings of a Royal foundation, the derailing of Baltimore’s American League championship run, the pitching puzzle of Oakland’s “Swingin’ A’s,” and the clockwork of the Big Red Machine.

Now those were some winter meetings to remember.
Pastime Passings

Herb Moford (Died on December 3 in Cincinnati, Ohio; age 77): A major league pitcher in the fifties and sixties, Moford was one of the original members of the New York Mets during their inaugural season of 1962. After making his debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1955, the right-hander later spent time with the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox before finishing up his career with the Mets. Moford retired with a record of 5-13 and three saves in 50 major league appearances.

Vic Power (Died on November 29 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico; age 78; cancer): Widely regarded as one of the finest defensive first basemen of all-time, Power won seven Gold Gloves and played on four All-Star teams during a 12-year stint in the major leagues. Originally a product of the New York Yankees’ farm system, Power was traded to the Philadelphia A’s, reportedly because some members of the Yankee front office didn’t approve of Power’s romantic involvement with a white woman. After playing parts of five seasons for the A’s (both in Philadelphia and Kansas City), the flashy-fielding Power, whose trademark was fielding ground balls one-handed, was traded a second time, this time to the Cleveland Indians in the deal that sent Roger Maris to Kansas City. Shortly after joining the Indians, Power made headlines when he stole home twice in a single game. The second stolen base gave the Indians a dramatic 10-9 victory in the 10th inning. A colorful character off the playing field, Power would finish the 1958 season with a .312 batting average, 80 RBIs, and a league-leading 10 triples. Over a career that spanned a dozen seasons and included later stops with the Minnesota Twins, California Angels, and Philadelphia Phillies, Power batted .284 with 126 home runs and 658 RBIs.

COMMENTARY: Although Power was not the classical power-hitting first baseman that most teams year for, he left a strong legacy in a number of different ways. Power has left a pretty strong legacy in several different ways:

*He was a terrific defender at first base, the best ever according to some who saw him play. And that includes Keith Hernandez, according to those I’ve talked to who saw both men play. Although brilliant with the glove, Power became a source of controversy because of the one-handed style that he used on ground balls and pop-ups. At the time, most other first basemen played the game the “old school” way, using two hands.

*Power was a wonderfully colorful character, both during and after his playing career. There’s that wonderful story about Power sitting down in a Southern restaurant during the 1950s and being told by the waitress, “we don’t serve Negroes.” Power’s response could not have been better. “That’s OK. I don’t eat Negroes.”

*Power is still remembered as one of the greatest players in the history of Puerto Rico; if you make Orlando Cepeda the designated, Power would make a good selection at first base for an all-Puerto Rican team.

Mal Mallette (Died on November 25 in Durham, North Carolina; age 83; heart failure): A left-handed reliever, Mallette pitched briefly for the Brooklyn Dodgers, appearing in two games during the 1950 season. After his playing days, the Syracuse University graduate became a successful newspaper reporter and managing editor and was inducted into the North Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame in 2002.

Sandy Consuegra (Died on November 16 in Miami, Florida; age 85): Consuegra was part of a wave of Cuban players signed by the Washington Senators in the late 1940s and early 1950s. At the age of 29, the right-hander made his major league debut with Washington before eventually spending time with the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Giants. His best season occurred in 1954, when he led the American League in winning percentage with a mark of 16-3, finished second in ERA, and made the AL All-Star team. Pitching as both a starter and reliever during his career, Consuegra won 51 games, lost 32, saved 26, and posted a lifetime ERA of 3.37.

Bob Allen (Died on October 30 in Chesapeake, Virginia; age 91): Nicknamed “Thin Man,” the six-foot, one-inch, 165-pound right-hander pitched briefly for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1937. In 12 innings, he posted a 6.75 ERA with eight strikeouts and a record of 0-1.

A freelance writer and broadcaster, Bruce Markusen serves as an advisor and consultant to museums that feature exhibits about baseball and other sports. To contact him about exhibit consultation, send an e-mail to bmark@telenet.net. Markusen can also be heard every Wednesday morning at 11:00 am on WHAM Radio (1180 AM) in Rochester, New York, discussing the latest issues in baseball.