Thursday, November 4
By Peter Gammons
Special to ESPN.com
Greg Vaughn filed for free agency last Friday. Less than 24 hours later, before anyone in Cincinnati had time to fret, Reds general manager Jim Bowden had traded for Dante Bichette, a reminder that every time the Reds have challenged in the '90s, they've had a productive cleanup hitter.
|  | | Andy Ashby went 14-10 with a 3.80 ERA for the Padres in 1999. |
Tuesday, the Rangers and Tigers pulled off their nine-player blockbuster, sending Juan Gonzalez to Detroit for Justin Thompson and Gabe Kapler. And Ken Griffey Jr. has requested a trade; the Mariners will attempt to oblige him.
So the postseason trading season has begun. Next up? The Padres will make one of two blockbusters:
Andy Ashby and reliever Dan Miceli to Cleveland for Jaret Wright, third baseman Russell Branyan and outfielder Alex Ramirez; or
Catcher Ben Davis and Miceli to Arizona for Travis Lee.
Indeed, Indians GM John Hart says "we will trade for a frontline starting pitcher, and we're going after it all next season, once again." Hence, the Ashby rumors.
"I think you'll see at least a couple of big trades at the general managers' meetings (beginning this weekend in Laguna Beach, Calif.)," Bowden says. "By the time the winter meetings are over in December, this will be the biggest trade season since the '70s."
Raul Mondesi, Eric Karros, Ismael Valdes, Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Alex Rodriguez, Carlos Delgado, Shawn Green, Mo Vaughn, Jim Edmonds, Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, Rolando Arrojo, Roberto Hernandez, Francisco Cordova, Rondell White ... the list starts there.
But Bowden started it by picking up Bichette from the Rockies for Jeffrey Hammonds and Stan Belinda. "With Barry Larkin, Sean Casey, Bichette and Dmitri Young, we have four productive hitters in the middle of the lineup," Bowden says. "Unlike Vaughn, Bichette doesn't strike out as much, so we have four professional hitters in the middle. Dante's working hard on a program to be in better condition and be a better left fielder. Not only that, but we have him for two years. This is very important for us."
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Tues., November
2
In order for the Rangers to re-sign Juan Gonzalez, who is going to be a free agent after next year, they were going to have to pay him $15 million per season and they weren't going to do that with Rafael Palmeiro and Pudge Rodriguez there. There's only so much payroll, and they made the best deal they could. They found Detroit needing a star going into their new ballpark after a miserable year this season, and frankly I think Texas made a fabulous trade.
What Doug Melvin has done here is turn the Rangers over, and I think ensured that they are going to be competitive for the next five years, especially in the AL West. They now have Ruben Mateo, who is one of the best young players in baseball, to play center field and Gabe Kapler to play right. And understand the economics here. If they had to pay Gonzalez $15 million a year over the next five years, fine and good. But over the next five years, because of what they can make until they're free agents, Mateo and Kapler each will make approximately $13-15 million. That's how important it is to get good young players. You can save a ton of money, and be very competitive in the process.
Maybe now with the money saved from Gonzalez they can attempt to re-sign Aaron Sele and/or go out on the market for Chuck Finley because, as it's been proven over the past several years, the way to go against the Yankees is with left-handed pitching, and with Justin Thompson and possibly Finley, they very well could have a better team than they had this season.
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Over the past seven seasons, these are Bichette's home/road numbers:
Home Road
Average .360 .268
Home Runs 136 65
RBI 537 289
Bowden is still looking for another pitcher -- either a starter or reliever, as he claims they can move Scott Williamson into the rotation -- and some depth. He's not worried about Denny Neagle's trade demand, because Bowden feels those contractural hammers benefits the team more than the player. So he is happy. He has replaced Greg Vaughn and kept the payroll in that $35-40 million range.
Other rumblings
There are reports in Chicago that the White Sox may be willing to move the Big Hurt. But there are concerns about Thomas. Last winter the Red Sox tried to get him to replace Mo Vaughn, but now they say they do not have interest, claiming they're worried about his getting soft and the fact that he didn't want to play first base, although his batting average is 50 points higher when he plays in the field.
Red Sox GM Dan Duquette says he had "a couple of very productive discussions (at the World Series) that could lead to something," but adds, "I think our offense may be all right." While he talked to Royals people about their thoughts on Jose Offerman moving to center field, which Kansas City was considering doing had he not signed with Boston, Duquette says Offerman's "work on the double play can be improved (and) he was much better on the routine plays."
Duquette, who thinks outfield prospect Michael Coleman can help, seems intrigued by the idea of dealing for Mets outfielder (and Nomar Garciaparra's college roomate) Jay Payton.
Don Baylor is an exceptional person who will likely give the Cubs a terrific manager, especially if and when he makes Frank Robinson his bench coach. Baylor is one man who is trying to do something for fellow minorites; he didn't press the Cleveland interview because he hoped Cito Gaston had a shot, and he passed on Milwaukee hoping Davey Lopes or Willie Randolph gets the job. Baylor knows that Bud Selig promised Rachel Robinson that the Brewers would hire a minority manager, so by taking the Cubs job, Baylor has assured that another minority would get a job.
That Frank Robinson, fourth all time in homers and the definition of a winner, finished 16th in the voting for outfielders on the All-Century team shows that somehow his great career fell between the cracks. Not only that, but Frank says, "Since I left the Orioles in 1995, I haven't been interviewed for one job with a club."
If Aaron Sele leaves Texas, don't be surprised if the Rangers sign Chuck Finley. They may re-sign Todd Zeile, who has said he would return at a discount now that he cannot move closer to his family in Southern California. By releasing infielder Jon Shave, manager Johnny Oates will be forced to keep prospect Kelly Dransfeldt, who, because he can play short, will eliminate Oates' reasons for not resting Royce Clayton, who wore out in that Texas heat.
Former Orioles GM Frank Wren has to take Peter Angelos to arbitration as to whether or not he gets paid for the last two years of his contract after being fired. Wren was smart -- he hired Maryland Stadium Commission chairman Herb Belgrand as his attourney, and Belgrand and Angelos are not exactly friendly chaps.
Prospective Expos owner Jeff Loria is so convinced that he can keep the team in Montreal that when he met with organizational folks Thursday he told most of them that they have to move to Montreal after the first of the year. GM Jim Beattie huddled for long stretches with the Pirates, fueling Rondell White trade speculation.
Mac beats out Junior
Pro Player, Inc., which handles major league baseball merchandising, has this ranking of merchandise dollars by player:
Player % of Total Sales
1. Mark McGwire 20%
2. Nomar Garciaparra 12%
3. Ken Griffey Jr. 11%
4. Sammy Sosa 11%
5. Derek Jeter 7%
6. Pedro Martinez 5%
7. Chipper Jones 4%
8. Roger Clemens 4%
9. Bernie Williams 3%
10. Mike Piazza 2%
Two observations:
First, the boom in Hispanic sales in baseball is zooming, as evidenced by the fact that Sammy Sosa and Pedro Martinez are each in the top six.
Second, anyone who was at Fenway Park in September and October realized that there was a dramatic change in the demographics of fans at Fenway, back to the college-age crowds of the '70s. In a city with 300,000 college students, this is a vital audience, but prior to the arrival of Garciaparra and Martinez, had been largely untapped in recent years. Nomar is far, far hotter a property than the quote-seeking media realizes. |  |
