Cubs, Marlins made best deadline deals
Dodgers didn't need to break up first-place team
Elise Amendola / AP FileThe Cubs acquired shortstop Nomar Garciaparra from the Red Sox in a blockbuster, four-team deal before Saturday's trade deadline.
COMMENTARY
By Tony DeMarco
updated 1:11 p.m. ET Aug. 7, 2004
When the complicated four-team deal that sent Nomar Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs finally was completed, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said, “you never go to work thinking he’s going to be available.’’ Especially when you don’t have to give up a quality starting pitcher to get him.
But that was the case for the Cubs, who added another All-Star caliber right-handed bat to their lineup, and gave up nothing more than the shortstop Garciaparra replaces, a great young bullpen arm and a prospect from a deep farm system.
But not Matt Clement, who was rumored to be involved in talks leading up to the surprisingly busy conclusion of the non-waiver trade period on Saturday. And not either of their top two prospects. For an improved chance at getting back to the postseason, it was a move the Cubs couldn’t refuse, and considering the deadline failures of their wild-card rivals in the National League West, you can make a case for the Cubs now being the wild-card favorite.
Garciaparra doesn’t arrive without warts — the deteriorating relationship with the Red Sox front office due to stalled contract talks, not to mention a tender Achilles’ that cost him the first 57 games of the season. The Red Sox tried to replace him with Alex Rodriguez over the winter, and almost traded him to the Chicago White Sox earlier this week. The Cubs now face a winter decision on re-signing him, or lose him to free agency.
But the change of scenery for Garciaparra could work to the Cubs’ benefit, and the cozy Wrigley Field dimensions make it one of the few places he could go and possibly be better off offensively than in Fenway Park. Almost certainly, he will create more RBI opportunities for Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou, Aramis Ramirez and Derrek Lee.
It’s also no secret the Cubs were looking to move Alex Gonzalez. It was supposed to be Montreal’s Orlando Cabrera who would replace the National League Championship Series goat, but when the Cubs wouldn’t part with one of their top two prospects, Cabrera ended up as Garciaparra’s replacement in Boston. Think he’ll be under closer scrutiny there than he was in Montreal?
Other winners
Florida Marlins: The defending world champions didn’t like their chances for another postseason appearance with holes behind the plate, in the bullpen and in the middle of their lineup. So they dealt from their strength — starting pitching — and got everything they needed.
Penny and Carl Pavano are getting a bit pricey for the Marlins’ budget (Penny’s salary probably will double next season from $3.7 million), so dealing one of them wasn’t unexpected — especially when Dontrelle Willis, A.J. Burnett and Josh Beckett are healthy (for now) and in Jack McKeon’s rotation.
Paul Lo Duca isn’t Pudge Rodriguez, but he was the heart and soul of the Dodgers, and was a late addition to the National League All-Star team. Guillermo Mota is a dominating closer-in-waiting, and may not have to wait long, as Armando Benitez has some arm trouble that is expected to keep him out for a week or so. Those two in the eighth and ninth innings are an upgrade from last year’s combination of Ugueth Urbina and Braden Looper.
The idea was possibly to spin off Encarnacion in a deal for Larry Walker, but the two teams never could agree on things before a proposal could be presented to Walker. But Encarnacion did knock in 94 runs for the World Series champions last year, and will step back into right field, moving Miguel Cabrera either to first base or left, and Jeff Conine to first in the latter case.
The Fish also took a couple of flyers on two more arms in hard-throwing reliever Rudy Seanez (for seldom-used outfielder Abraham Nunez) and struggling Ismael Valdez (for a minor-leaguer). The latter likely will get the first shot at replacing Penny in the rotation.
New York Mets: Even though they fell to six games behind the Braves before making their moves, they gave up Ty Wigginton and two big pitching prospects for Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano. That’s either the luxury of having a lot of money to spend, or the foolishness of trying to keep pace in the Big Apple with the Yankees.
Make no mistake, there was a big need for both right-handers, and Jae Seo is inconsistent and the fifth spot most recently was manned by one-start wonder Scott Erickson. Put Benson and Zambrano with Tom Glavine, Al Leiter and Steve Trachsel, and you have as deep a rotation as any among the NL contenders. And there is a good chance Benson can be retained beyond this season, so that rotation could be in place for a couple years.
Wigginton can be replaced, but Scott Kazmir was deemed untouchable last winter, and the Devil Rays feel hard-throwing Jose Diaz also has a chance as soon as next season.
Philadelphia Phillies: Billy Wagner’s latest trip to the disabled list forced the Phillies’ hand, and they did all right for having to deal out of necessity, picking up Felix Rodriguez from San Francisco for Ricky Ledee and minor-league right-hander Alfredo Simon, and Todd Jones from Cincinnati along with minor-league outfielder Brad Correll for right-hander Josh Hancock and minor-league shortstop Anderson Machado.
Rodriguez is an enigma with a 95-mph fastball, while Jones has enjoyed a nice comeback season for the Reds. But with Tim Worrell moving from the setup role to replace Wagner in the ninth inning, help definitely is needed before the Phils sink any further and cost Larry Bowa his job. Ledee can be replaced, and Marlon Byrd was recalled from Triple-A to get the opportunity to do so.
Arizona Diamondbacks: Randy Johnson stays put, and that can’t be a bad thing — at least on the field, anyway. But let’s face it, it’s all about 2005 for the Diamondbacks, so trading Steve Finley and Brent Mayne to the Dodgers for two possible pieces of the future — catcher Koyie Hill and left-hander Billy Murphy — was the right thing to do.
Hill can hit, but there are serious questions about his defense. He will get a chance to play regularly for the rest of the season in Arizona, as will Luis Terrero, who will come up from Triple-A to replace Finley in center field. Murphy went to the Dodgers on Friday, is 6-4-4.08 at Double-A.
Finley, a free agent-to-be, also has left open the possibility of returning to the Diamondbacks this winter.
Montreal Expos: They were going to lose Orlando Cabrera to free agency this winter, so to get a servicable shortstop in Alex Gonzalez and a flame-throwing potential closer in Francis Beltran in return was a big plus for general manager Omar Minaya.
Boston Red Sox: Trading Nomar Garciaparra can’t be an easy thing to do, and it could backfire on the Red Sox. But there is little doubt now that they weren’t planning on re-signing him this winter, so it was better to turn the page and do what they could to improve their biggest weakness — a brutal defense.
Orlando Cabrera will do that at shortstop, and Doug Mientkiewicz is one of the better defensive first basemen in the game. Dave Roberts also brings speed and outfield depth, two more things Terry Francona can use. But check back in October on this one.
The losers
Los Angeles Dodgers: You really have to wonder what Paul De Podesta is thinking, breaking up the chemistry and dominating bullpen of a first-place team. After Friday’s blockbuster, was he expecting to change the minds of Randy and Charles Johnson, and make subsequent deals for them even though they already had said they wouldn’t go to Los Angeles? Because Steve Finley, Brad Penny, Hee Seop Choi and Brent Mayne don’t come close to equaling everything the Dodgers lost, namely Paul Lo Duca, Guillermo Mota, Juan Encarnacion, Dave Roberts and Tom Martin.
Penny is a very good starting pitcher with World Series experience, but certainly not the one to push them over the top in the postseason. Only Johnson could be put in that category. At this point, Choi isn’t much more than a platoon player because of a weakness against left-handed pitching, and Mayne is a serious downgrade from Lo Duca. Finley fits on anybody’s team, but he rightfully wants to play center field, and now you have to risk a negative reaction from moving Milton Bradley to left field. The speed and leadoff catalyst ability of Roberts also are gone.
Penny probably pushes Wilson Alvarez back to the bullpen, which needs a lefty in the absence of the hard-throwing and underrated Tom Martin — a steal for the typically brilliant-at-the-deadline Braves general manager John Schuerholz. Darren Dreifort becomes the eighth-inning guy, although you also can figure on more one-inning-plus save opportunities for Eric Gagne. Can Dreifort’s arm hold up to that kind of usage? At least the Dodgers kept Finley from the Padres. But not much else looks good here.
San Diego Padres: Not only did they miss a great opportunity to get Steve Finley, who wanted to play for them, but they saw Finley end up with the Dodgers. “I’m disappointed,’’ a Padres scout said. “I thought we could have put together a better package than (the Dodgers) did.’’
On top of that, they almost traded for an injured player in Rangers designated hitter Brad Fullmer. But Fullmer’s knee was worse than originally thought, and he won’t be able to return for awhile, so the deal fortunately was called off, saving the Padres from further embarrassment.
They did pick up a valuable left-handed pinch-hitter in Dave Hansen from Seattle for fringe Class A pitching prospect Jon Huber after the proposed Fullmer deal fell through. Hansen returns after being sent to Seattle in the offseason in the Jeff Cirillo-Kevin Jarvis salary dumps deal.
San Francisco Giants: Their biggest need is help for an overworked bullpen, so what did they do? They dealt one of their busiest — albeit inconsistent — arms in setup man Felix Rodriguez to the Phillies for outfielder Ricky Ledee, a left-handed bat to platoon in center field with struggling Marquis Grissom.
We’ll cut Brian Sabean a little slack, however, as he was close to an Ugueth Urbina-for-Jerome Williams deal until Williams left Friday night’s start with an elbow injury.
Texas Rangers: Starved for starting pitching after having to put R.A. Dickey and Ricardo Rodriguez on the disabled list in the last week, they came away with nothing more than Scott Erickson, who recently was designated for assignment after one horrible start with the Mets.
No Kris Benson, Victor Zambrano, Brian Anderson, Darrell May or Shawn Estes — all because they aren’t willing to deal Mark Teixeira, Laynce Nix, Kevin Mench, Adrian Gonzalez or John Danks. That’s probably a smart move for the next couple of years, but it won’t help the Rangers keep pace with Oakland and Anaheim in the AL West. They also wanted to get Larry Walker from Colorado for two prospects, but Walker vetoed it.
Minnesota Twins: They were a leading contender for Kris Benson, but wouldn’t surrender Triple-A center fielder Jason Kubel, and were beaten to the punch by the New York Mets. So they got no help for their rotation, and sent Doug Mientkiewicz packing for a prospect — doing nothing to add to their push for a third consecutive division title. Maybe they figured they didn’t need to do much, considering the White Sox losing Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez probably for the rest of the season. But if the Twins wait much longer, that overstocked pipeline of outfield prospects will lose value.
New York Yankees: Yes, they upgraded their rotation with the Esteban Loaiza-for-Jose Contreras and $3 million deal. But they were shooting for a much-bigger fish, or more accurately, a bigger Unit in Randy Johnson.
Loaiza’s ERA is near 5.00, he hasn’t pitched well in the second half, and clearly isn’t the same pitcher who finished second in the Cy Young Award race last season, when his then-new cut fastball was a dominating out pitch. That’s not the case anymore, but he is a solid veteran who should be more consistent down the stretch than the enigmatic Contreras, who can’t seem to consistently harness his potentially dominating stuff.
Colorado Rockies: They could have lopped off almost $30 million from their payroll over this year and next, freeing themselves from a highly top-heavy payroll situation. But Larry Walker turned down a proposed deal to the Texas Rangers for two prospects, and Charles Johnson said no to being sent to the Dodgers despite the fact that he faces reduced playing time in Colorado.
Tony DeMarco is a frequent contributor to MSNBC.com.
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