Historic Hot Stove: Curt Schilling

Cliff Lee was traded from Cleveland to Philadelphia yesterday afternoon for an array of pitching prospects. The Phillies, who already enjoy a comfortable lead in the NL East, acquired Lee as an added bit of security for the division race as they attempt to defend their World Series crown. And though the Phillies have been involved with some significant deadline deals in the last few years (Bobby Abreu, Scott Rolen), the Lee acquisition is easily the biggest pitching name they've been linked to since Curt Schilling was traded to the Diamondbacks in the summer of 2000.

At the time, Schilling was in his ninth year as a Phillie. After being traded to Philadelphia from Houston in 1992, when he was still a reliever, Schilling played a key role in the Phillies 1993 World Series run. The next couple of years saw him dealing with injuries, and barely eking by with 15 or 20 starts. Finally healthy in 1997, Schilling put up his first 300 strikeout season, and even duplicated the feat the next year. By this time, though, Schilling's prickly personality started taking over, and the annual trade-deadline Schilling-shopping rumors started showing up. Nothing came of it, though, until 2000.

It was then that his demands for a trade became serious, giving Philly GM Ed Wade no choice but to trade the ace.

Schilling had let it be known he wanted to be traded, and if the Phillies hadn't done it by Monday's deadline he'd have made them live with him - and he would have made it an uncomfortable experience - through the end of next season, when he will be eligible for free agency.

And that's not all.

...

When he demanded a deal, Schilling initially gave the Phillies a list of six teams he would approve - the New York Yankees and Mets, Atlanta, St. Louis, Cleveland and Arizona.

The six teams slowly dwindled to two as each either made other moves or decided that they couldn't or wouldn't meet the Phillies' price. In Cleveland's case, Schilling actually removed them from his list when word came that they were nearing a deal.

That left Arizona and the Mets as the principle players in the Schilling Sweepstakes.

The Mets offer featured phenom outfielder Alex Escobar, pitcher Grant Roberts and two more 21-year-old Class AA pitchers. Wade felt he needed players ready to make an impact on the major-league level rather than prospects to dream on for a few years.

All along, Wade said he wouldn't deal Schilling unless 'overwhelmed.'

Arizona's package met both criteria.

On July 26, 2000, the Phillies agreed to trade Curt Schilling to the Diamondbacks for Travis Lee, Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, and Vicente Padilla. The combination of major league-level batting talent in Lee and major league-level pitching talent in Daal was enough for Wade, and the destination more than suited Schilling.

"I made up 12, 13 games in the standings in one day," Schilling said.

And...

"I'm in a pennant race, it's time for me to pony up," said Schilling (6-6, 3.91 ERA in 16 starts -- 5-2, 2.00 in the last eight outings). "This is what I wanted. I did not have a need to leave. I had a desire to contend right now. This is a win-win situation for both parties."

Of course, the main reason that this trade energized so many people was because it paired two of the best pitchers in baseball on the same staff - Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. The comparisons to all-time greats came almost immediately ("'Koufax and Drysdale come to mind,' Arizona General Manager Joe Garagiola Jr. said. 'I'll take these two guys.'" or "Big Unit and Schilling and three days of chillin."). The magnitude of that one-two punch wasn't lost on Schilling either. From Sports Illustrated:

"For years people would say, or managers would tell me, 'Can't wait till you get out there and throw, because we need a win,' " [Schilling] says. "I realized that when I get the ball, [my team] is expected to win. Now when Randy took the mound and we lost, I was crushed. I haven't been able to watch somebody and feel that way in a long time."

The trade did not pay immediate dividends for the Diamondbacks. On the day of the trade, they were sitting alone in first place, one game ahead of the Giants. From that point on, though, they played sub-.500 baseball, and had actually dropped into third place by the end of the season. Schilling's contribution was solid, but not spectacular. He posted a 5-6 record with a 3.69 ERA in 13 starts for Arizona that year.

The next year would be better, though. In his first full season with the club, Schilling went 22-6 with a 2.98 ERA (157 ERA+) while striking out 293 batters in 256 innings pitched (he finished second in the Cy Young voting). Combined with Johnson's third consecutive Cy Young year, in which he posted a line of 21-6, 2.49 ERA, 188 ERA+, and 372 strikeouts, the D-Backs won the West with a 92-70 record and then went on to win the World Series over the New York Yankees. Johnson and Schilling again carried them through the postseason, combining to earn the win in all four World Series victories and sharing the World Series MVP honors. It's pretty fair to assume that, without this trade, that would never have happened.

So will the Phillies be on the right end of a similar story in three months when talking about their acquisition of Cliff Lee? It's impossible to know for sure, though you can bet that this Schilling trade was running through everyone's minds as they made their pursuit. I have to say, though, that with Cole Hamels in the rotation alongside Lee and their offensive cast, it's looking pretty good for Philadelphia fans. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Historic Hot Stove: Randy Johnson

Last year, the baseball world shook when the Brewers traded one of their top prospects (and change) to the Indians for free-agent-to-be CC Sabathia. CC took the city by storm, carrying the Brewers into the playoffs almost by himself before they finally bowed out in the first round. It was almost the perfect midseason acquisition.

Clubs are hoping to make a similar move this year, by trading for a marquee pitcher like Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee. Both pitchers are apparently on the market but, at this late date, have not yet been picked up. The asking prices are just too steep and don't seem to be dropping. I guess we might have to wait until the trade deadline before we see if either of them get traded.

Whatever moves that do happen, though, are unlikely to match the impact of the CC Sabathia trade of last year. No matter how good of a pitcher you get, it's just asking too much to expect them to dominate the league like he did. After all, it's a rare pitcher who can meet that challenge. The best example of this in recent years happened in 1998, when the Mariners traded Randy Johnson to the Astros at the literal last minute for three minor league pitchers.

The saga began a year before that, when Johnson and his agent asked the club not to pick up his option for the 1998 season. The Mariners went ahead and picked up the option anyway, irking Johnson to no end.

[In 1997], the Mariners talked to Johnson and his agent about the team's 1998 option for the pitcher - and the Mariners insist Johnson made it clear he didn't want them to exercise it.

The Mariners did, however, and the relationship quickly soured. In November, Armstrong announced Johnson would not be offered a contract extension beyond 1998, and the "Big Unit" began sniping and stopped only when he ceased speaking to the press in June.

"They haven't treated me as well as they should have considering what I've done for the team," he said in one spring training interview. "The only option is for them to trade me."

Five frustrating months later, the Mariners did.

As July wore on, it seemed increasingly clear that the Mariners had to trade Johnson. He wasn't talking to the media and his starts never seemed to match the vintage Johnson that everyone knew was there. Teams lined up to take their crack at winning the lefty, but Seattle's GM kept them all at bay. At different times, "marquee teams" like the Dodgers, Padres, Indians, and Yankees were all supposedly front-runners in the sweepstakes.

Nothing ever materialized, though, and as midnight approached on July 31st, Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker started talking to Woody Woodward, Seattle's GM. From this great piece in the August 10, 1998, issue of Sports Illustrated:

At 11:10 p.m. Hunsicker called Woodward "just to satisfy my curiosity and make a last-ditch effort." Woodward said he would call back. The Mariners had spent eight months putting Johnson on and off the trading block. They had turned down deals that would have brought them Mariano Rivera from the Yankees, Chad Ogea from the Indians and Ismael Valdes from the Dodgers. But at 11:20 p.m. last Friday—40 minutes before the trading deadline—it had come to this: Woodward telephoned Hunsicker and indicated he was willing to talk about the Astros' second-tier prospects. Hunsicker offered him three minor leaguers, none of whom satisfied Seattle's demand for a big league pitcher.

Woodward again said he would call back. "I got nervous," Hunsicker says, "because at 11:45, I was still waiting around for him to call." Between calls to Hunsicker, Woodward was making one last fishing trip to the Yankees' talent pool. But New York refused to give up righthander Hideki Irabu and third base prospect Mike Lowell.

At 11:50 p.m. the phone rang in Hunsicker's house. "We have a deal," Woodward said. The Mariners agreed to take Carlos Guillen, a switch-hitting infielder with power; Freddy Garcia, a righthanded power pitcher; and a minor leaguer to be announced later.

The player to be named later turned out to be southpaw John Halama. It wasn't a bad haul, considering the lack of leverage Woodward had with his disgruntled pitcher, and, when compared to the Hideki Irabu-Ricky Ledee-Homer Bush-Mike Lowell package that was the Yankees final offer, it seems the wise choice. Still, the David Wells & Mariano Rivera offer that the M's turned down earlier in the year (as mentioned in this Seattle PI article) does seem to hang over all of this.

On Houston's end, though, it was all roses. Johnson, who had spent a year feuding with Seattle management (and who, up until the last minute, was told that he would be staying with the club), was more than happy to show his best to his new squad. He may have had an ulterior motive for that, though:

Nine months after telling the Seattle Mariners he wanted to be traded, Randy Johnson got his wish last night, but not to an American League powerhouse.

Not even to an American League team.

...

Johnson reluctantly will join the National League Central Division-leading Astros, who play in Pittsburgh this weekend.

But he won't be an Astro for long.

"We consider this a 60-day job," said Alan Nero, one of Johnson's agents. "We don't want to be in the National League. We would have rather (the trade) been with an American League team, preferably the Yankees."

Nero said Johnson definitely will file for free agency after the season, and wasn't happy with how the trade was handled.

Whatever his motivation was, Johnson really pulled things together in Houston. In eleven starts as an Astro, Johnson was 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 116 strikeouts in only 84 innings. He also had four complete game shutouts in that span. On the day of the trade, the Astros were in first place in the Central by 3.5 games. From that day forward, they had the best record in the majors and finished the season 12.5 games ahead of the second-place Cubs. Johnson more than earned the $2 million that the Astros paid him that year.

In the postseason, the Astros hosted the Padres in the Division Series. In his two starts, Johnson pitched 14 innings, striking out 17 batters and giving up a total of three earned runs. His offense failed him in each game, though, supporting him with a total of one run in the innings he pitched. The Astros lost both games he pitched in, and went on to lose the series 3-1.

Once the winter came, Johnson became a free agent and went on to sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the offseason, agreeing to a 5-year, $65 million contract. And, despite signing with a one-year old franchise, he would only have to wait three years before he got his World Series ring. His two months with the Houston Astros, though, as they marched towards the playoffs, is certainly a stretch to remember.

Will Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee provide that same kind of heart-stopping performance to whatever club they might get traded to? I have no idea. I do know, though, that every GM who is considering giving up his top-tier prospects for these guys, is hoping for a Randy Johnson-level performance from them in return. It probably won't happen, but there's no doubt that the dream is there (and if they can Halladay or Lee for the 2009 equivalent of Freddy Garcia and Carlos Guillen, all the better!). It should be a fun last couple of days.

Historic Hot Stove: Mark McGwire

It's been pretty clear over the last few weeks that this year's hot stove is going to be remembered for its focus on pitching. From the Roy Halladay auction up there in Toronto to Cliff Lee in Cleveland to all the other pitchers supposedly up for grabs - Jarrod Washburn, Eric Bedard, Justin Duchsherer, George Sherrill, Scott Kazmir, among others - teams are definitely looking for pitching above all else. There are some bats on the market, yes, but nothing really that inspires much excitement.

Well, maybe that's premature: Oakland did send slugger Matt Holliday to St. Louis in exchange for a couple of prospects, but that doesn't exactly match the magnitude of the last deadline-deal that the A's and Cardinals paired up on, when Mark McGwire was sent to the Cardinals for three less-than-stellar relief pitchers (of whom T.J. Mathews was the most successful).

Heading into that July in the summer of '97, the A's were sitting dead last in the AL West, 14 games behind the Mariners. As the month continued, they played worse and worse baseball, going 7-19 on the month, and McGwire's impending free agency suddenly became that much more important to Oakalnd's front office. The speculation that it brought on was hardly covert. From the late-July 1997 Sports Illustrated:

Mark McGwire. Only in the 1990s could a player be chasing Roger Maris's home run record and still be on the trading block. But McGwire is scheduled to be a free agent next season, and Oakland can't afford to re-sign him. But trading him won't be easy, despite his major-league-leading 34 home runs at the end of last week. As a veteran with at least 10 years of experience and at least five seasons with one team, McGwire can veto any trade, which could limit Oakland's options. The Cardinals and the Marlins, to cite two examples, have both expressed interest in McGwire, but he is reluctant to switch leagues in midseason. He also wishes to finish his career in Southern California, so that he can be close to his son, Matthew, who lives with his ex-wife in Orange County. That leaves the Angels as the best fit. Oakland rejected Anaheim's recent offer of centerfielder Jim Edmonds for McGwire, asking instead for outfielder Garret Anderson and a pitching prospect. According to A's general manager Sandy Alderson, the chance that McGwire will be dealt is 50-50.

It's almost funny how naive these trade preview pieces sound after the fact, though I guess that's what happens when you're trying to be a responsible journalist and all. Still, it's obvious that Mac was hot commodity.

By July 31st, the A's were down to only two suitors - the Angels and the Cards. Anaheim was fighting the Mariners for the division lead, sitting only a half game back, while St. Louis was struggling to stay in the race, 7.5 games behind the Astros. Logic would seem to say that Anaheim was the frontrunner at the time and, in fact, many thought the Cardinals had played themselves out of the race. Writers in St. Louis were even questioning the wisdom of making the trade.

One could make a case that the Cardinals will play unquestionably their most significant game of the season tonight.

For starters, it will be their last against the first-place Houston Astros, who are six games ahead of them in the National League Central after a 5-4 win at the Astrodome on Tuesday night.

If the Cardinals win tonight, they will cut the deficit to five games and feel good about making a last run at Oakland slugger Mark McGwire.

If they lose, they will be seven games behind with no games left against Houston. And there really would be little reason to go after McGwire. His potential two-month stay probably wouldn't be enough to lift the Cardinals past the Astros. It also might be risky business, considering the prospects and the money (some $2 million) the Cardinals would have to pay McGwire for the remainder of the season before he became a free agent.

General manager Walt Jocketty said the outcome of the game could affect what he did "a little bit. The performance of the team has some bearing, but not all the bearing," he said.

And it didn't. The Cardinals ended up losing their "most significant game of the season" that night but still managed to swing the deal with the A's. The desperation the Cards felt of being on the cusp of the playoff race must have been stronger than any desire the Angels had to improve their already competitive squad.

The trade made for an emotional moment in Oakland when it was announced:

"This is personally a very difficult day for me," Sandy Alderson, the A's president and general manager, said this evening at an Oakland Coliseum news conference. "When I came into baseball, Mark was the first college player I ever scouted. . . . {But} I think this was right for the organization, and I hope it's right for Mark."

McGwire, as a player with at least 10 years in the major leagues and at least five seasons with his current team, had the right to veto the deal but didn't. He seemed to fight back tears at times as he sat alongside Alderson and he said: "I grew up with this organization. It's not an easy decision to make. But you come to a crossroads in life where you think change will be good for you. . . . I think this deal is good for myself and good for the Oakland A's. . . . The last few seasons haven't been the greatest team-wise. How many years I have left, I don't know. I think I can still help a team to a championship."

With the Cardinals, he'll be reunited with former A's manager Tony La Russa. McGwire, 33, had spent all 11 of his major league seasons in Oakland. He led the majors with 52 home runs last year and has 34 homers this season. He called the prospect of a midseason switch to the National League challenging, but said he was happy to have all the trade speculation behind him.

The St. Louis writers were able to be a little more objective about the deal:

IN NEED OF MORE firepower and just more fire, the Cardinals took the risk of giving up part of their future for one of the game's top sluggers when they acquired first baseman Mark McGwire from the Oakland Athletics Thursday night.

In a deal that took the last four days to complete, the Cardinals, who have lapsed to the outer fringes of contention in the National League Central Division, dealt righthanded pitcher T.J. Mathews and minor-league righthanders Eric Ludwck and Blake Stein for the 33-year-old McGwire. McGwire has 34 homers and 81 runs batted in this season for Oakland but can be a free agent at the end of the season, thus involving another risk for the Cardinals.

The deal was completed just a few hours before the midnight trading deadline without waivers. McGwire, as a 10-year veteran - five with the same team - had to approve the trade.

Mac did not help the Cardinals reach the postseason that year, though it's hard to blame the guy: in his first two months in St. Louis, he hit 24 home runs with 42 RBIs while walking 58 times for an OPS+ of 182. In fact, the Cardinals were only 22-33 after McGwire joined the team. That didn't stop him from signing a contract extension in mid-September, though, making him a Cardinal through 2001. Which was, of course, a brilliant signing by St. Louis. Over the next 4 years, McGwire would hit 196 home runs, including the magical 70 he hit in 1998, and walk 427 times for an OPS+ of 182, all in Cardinal red. He was even able to help the team reach the postseason in each of his last two years in the bigs. It was a remarkable stretch, and one that made him one of the most enjoyable stars of the decade. (Of course, the steroids issue has since clouded our perception of this time - as well it should - but it was hard to argue with the results as they were happening.)

In Oakland, on the other hand, none of the three pitchers ever worked out. There were no Rookie of the Year winners or even All-Stars in the bunch. But, with the utter lack of leverage that Sandy Aldersen was working with, you can't really blame him. Plus, that's the risk that you run when dealing with prospects. McGwire would have left the team anyway, so the A's had to get something in return. It's only bad luck that that "something" never panned out.

With hindsight, it's easy to say that Oakland should have figured out some other way to move McGwire before the deadline, but I don't think that was at all possible. The Angels were competing well enough in the division that they didn't feel like they had to make any additional moves and the only other team that wanted to deal for McGwire refused to offer their best prospects. When you're in a position like Alderson was that July - being pressured to get something, anything for your star player before he leaves (and when he's at his peak) - trades like this happen. Sometimes they work out, and sometimes they don't. The McGwire trade may be not have worked, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't have happened. It'll be interesting to see if any GMs back themselves into the same corner this year *cough*Toronto*cough*.

[One other note... I came across this quote from one of the newspapers of the day. I couldn't really fit it into the piece above, but I thought it was too good to leave out:

McGwire, clearly, no longer is threatening Roger Maris' home run record. (It is also clear, by the way, after his cranky performance in New York, that extensive media attention will make him one grumpy guy if he ever does make a run at it.)...

Yeah, McGwire was a real grump as he chased down Maris. Real grump. We all hated the guy...]

Historic Hot Stove: Sammy Sosa & Harold Baines

In his years in the White House, President George W. Bush would often joke that the biggest mistake of his adult life was signing off on the trade that sent Sammy Sosa from the Texas Rangers to the Chicago White Sox. It's a good laugh-line, especially for someone whose position affords such little room for humor, but it really makes you wonder: was trading a young and unproven Sammy Sosa really a big mistake?

I know that I'm not the first one to take a look at this question, but it still seems like a great way to kick off Hot Stove week. Plus, I don't think too many people have taken the time to go back and see what people were saying when the trade actually took place.

The trade took place on July 29, 1989, when the Chicago White Sox sent All-Star designated hitter Harold Baines and reserve middle-infielder Fred Manrique to the Texas Rangers for aging but expensive shortstop Scott Fletcher and two top-tier prospects - rightfielder Sammy Sosa and pitcher Wilson Alvarez. At the time, the Rangers were 55-47, sitting in 4th place, 8 games behind the California Angels. The White Sox were in the cellar of the AL West, with a 43-60 record, 20.5 games behind the Angels.

The Rangers were looking to add a power bat while also dropping the unweildy three-year, $3.9 million contract they had given to shortstop Scott Fletcher only the year before.

The Texas Rangers got the big bat they were seeking Saturday when they acquired designated hitter-outfielder Harold Baines from the Chicago White Sox for shortstop Scott Fletcher and two top prospects.

The Rangers also sent outfielder Sammy Sosa and pitcher Wilson Alvarez to the White Sox. Sosa was playing for Texas' Class AAA Oklahoma City farm club, while Alvarez was on the Rangers' Class AA Tulsa roster.

...

"For the past several years, we've been trying to acquire a designated hitter specialist,'' Rangers General Manager Tom Grieve said. "We feel we now have the best designated hitter in baseball.''

On the White Sox end, the trade wasn't so much about who they were getting as it was who they were giving up. Baines was a ten-year Chicago veteran, and was thought of by many as "Mr. White Sox". When the trade was announced, despite having been discussed in the weeks before (' "You keep hearing, `Baines is going to be traded, Baines is going to be traded,' " said Greg Walker, who will fill Baines' designated-hitter spot...'), it did not go over well.

Carlton Fisk, who always chooses his words carefully, chose these more carefully than ever.

"I don't have much good to say about that," said Fisk, still sweating after a pregame workout with hitting instructor Walt Hriniak. The subject was Saturday's Harold Baines trade. The mood was barely-restrained anger-and this was before the White Sox offense showed little in Saturday night's 2-1 loss to the California Angels.

...

"The No. 3 man right out of our lineup," Fisk said. "Take the No. 3 hitter out of any lineup throughout the major leagues and see what happens. From Alvin Davis to Don Mattingly . . . "

Fisk turned his head away and spit something into a sandbox near his cubicle. Even the spitting was angry.

"Harold and Freddy (Manrique) for one major-league player," said Fisk. "Two major-leaguers for one. And not just a major leaguer. Harold Baines. Harold Baines. You know what I mean? Harold Baines . . ."

No, spirits in the White Sox clubhouse were not soaring.

Despite Carlton Fisk's complaints, Sosa and Alvarez were definitely considered top notch prospects.

Sosa and Alvarez were two of the shining stars in the Rangers' minor-league system. Both saw brief service with the Rangers in recent weeks, Alvarez for one start and Sosa for five weeks. Both had been returned to the minor leagues.

Depth in their minor-league system allowed the Rangers to deal two of their top prospects for a proven hitter.

"We're not thrilled about dealing two of our best prospects,'' [Rangers manager] Grieve said. "But to get a player of Harold Baines' caliber, you have to trade quality.''

For the White Sox, mired in last place in the American League West, the trade was made with an eye toward the future.

In the end, the trade didn't really work out for anyone. Baines lasted only one year on the Rangers before getting traded to the A's at the end of August. Fletcher played out the rest of his contract with the White Sox, but not very well, barely squeezing out a .240 batting average over that time. Alvarez had a solid seven-year career with the White Sox before being traded to the Giants at the 1997 trade deadline, winning 67 games with a 118 ERA+ over that time. He also pitched a no-hitter in his first start as a member of the White Sox.

Sosa played only two full seasons for the White Sox before they traded him to the Cubs in 1992 for George Bell. In that time, Sosa was only a .227 hitter with 28 home runs and an 84 OPS+. He started putting his act together in '93, when he belted 33 home runs, but it wasn't until '94 that he was able to post an OPS+ better than 120. And then of course there was the completely unpredicatable 1998 season...

The point, though, is that, at the time of the trade, moving Sammy Sosa to the White Sox for Harold Baines was not a ridiculous move. Yes, he was a key prospect for the Rangers, but they were dealing from a position of strength in that regard. They were fighting for a spot in the postseason (8 games out is about when clubs are at their most desperate) and needed a good bat at the DH-spot, and there was no bat better than Baines'. Even on Chicago's side, they didn't see the inclusion of Sosa as a coup. They made certain to acquire a couple of top prospects, but no one saw Sosa as a Rookie of the Year candidate. Sosa certainly ended up blossoming in Chicago, but it wasn't in a White Sox uniform and it wasn't for another five years or so. It's hard to say, then, that trading Sammy Sosa in the summer of 1989 was all that big of a mistake for our former president.

Hot Stove Week

Today marks the beginning of what some call the most exciting season in baseball: Hot Stove Week. With Friday being the 31st of July - and, thus, the last day of the season that a trade can be made without having to deal with waivers - we can expect an inordinate amount of updates and speculation about who will be traded to whom and all of that fun stuff that makes MLB Trade Rumors go crazy.

As a tribute to the week - and in keeping with the tradition here at wezen-ball of looking at contemporary accounts whenever we can - I thought it might be fun to spend the next few days looking back at some of the most interesting and exciting trades of the past 20 years to see how well they worked out and how they were viewed at the time. Was the Harold Baines-for-Sammy Sosa-and-others trade really the terrible trade that President Bush made it out to be? Can we learn any lessons from the Randy Johnson-to-the-Astros trade of 1998? What about the Mark McGwire trade of 1997 or the Curt Schilling trade of 2000? With all the attention paid to the Roy Halladays of the world this year, or the Mark Teixeiras of the world from last year, the lookbacks should offer some helpful insight.

It should make for an interesting week. I'll be back later this morning with the first one.

Historic Hot Stove: Manny Ramirez

The big story of this offseason has undoubtedly been Manny Ramirez's free agency. With the way he engineered his trip out of Boston and his subsequent rejuvenation and MVP-caliber play in Los Angeles, there was a lot of debate about his value to a team. And, as the offseason wore on and the economic woes became more and more apparent, his stubborn refusal to accept the Dodgers' big-money contracts seemed to frustrate teams and fans alike. The story finally ended yesterday, though, as Manny and his agent Scott Boras agreed to the Dodgers' 2-years, $45 million contract offer from last week. Now we can finally get to talking about pure, unadulterated baseball as spring training and the World Baseball Classic get underway. I'm quite pleased with that.

But what people seemed to have forgotten this winter when talking about Manny's situation is that this winter was not Manny's first foray into free agency and it was not Manny's first drama-filled winter.

In the winter of 2000, Manny entered free agency for the first time after spending his first 6+ years with the Cleveland Indians. His initial request to the Indians in early November, as posed by agent Jeff Moorad, was for 10 years and $200 million. The Indians countered with a 7 year, $119 million offer. It was not nearly enough, and Manny & Moorad started looking elsewhere. The Cardinals, Diamondbacks, and Rockies showed some early interest (the Rockies were only interested if they couldn't sign Mike Hampton), and Moorad even met with Pat Gillick of the Mariners.

Things really got moving, though, in early December when the Red Sox entered the sweepstakes. Once they made their initial offer of 8 years/$136 million, Manny & Moorad were in business. Cleveland quickly responded with 5 years/$100 million, and, before long, the two clubs were in a bidding war. Ultimately, the Red Sox proved to have the deeper pockets, and their 8 year/$160 million contract won out.

The deal between the Red Sox and Manny was announced on December 11, during the winter meetings. It was also the same day that the Rangers announced their 10 year/$252 million deal with Alex Rodriguez. So, while Manny's deal received a lot of press, it was overshadowed by A-Rod's. Apparently, before the announcement late that day, everyone seemed to think that the talks had been dragging on. That same day, the New York Times printed this article, which opened like this:

"At the rate the Manny Ramirez negotiations are going, Ramirez will be taking the year off in 2001.

The Cleveland Indians and the Boston Red Sox appear to be the only teams competing for the run-producing outfielder, and both indicated today their doubts about being able to sign him. Jeff Moorad, Ramirez's agent, has talked with the Mets, but Steve Phillips reiterated that he is not in the hunt."

Manny & Moorad received plenty of attention the next week, though, when ESPN aired their "Outside the Lines: Inside the Manny Ramirez Deal" episode (follow that link for a transcript of the show). With cameras following Moorad around for a month-and-a-half, ESPN was able to capture much of the negotiation process between Moorad and the various GMs.

"Unidentified female- Jeff, I've got Brian Cashman (ph) on 321.0

Moorad- Hello?

Unidentified male- Jeff?

Moorad- Hey, Brian.

Unidentified male- I'm calling you on Manny and obviously expressing our strong interest. We want to move kind of fast and furious. And we have reached that obviously for some of the other big free agents we'd like to be seen on.

And we're just going to put our best foot forward on a few guys. And whoever decides they want to be a Yankee the most first obviously is going to take us the direction we're going to have to go.

Moorad- Well, that doesn't sound like a real compelling reaching out to Manny Ramirez. So...

Unidentified male- No, well, we want Manny. And there's no hidden ball trick here. And from a position standpoint, our office needs a lot of help. We just don't know if Manny is going to come to us or not.

Moorad- Now we've got our 300-pound gorilla. It's a question of how we move forward and frankly whether Manny is ultimately motivated to sign to New York. "

(Apparently, though, Cashman wasn't too happy with that phone call appearing in the episode.) It also did a pretty good job showing just how much Moorad was in the driver's seat.

"Moorad (on the phone with Manny)- Pat Gillick came by the office. That's the general manager of the Mariners. And he came by yesterday. And he said that they were still thinking through their situation.

I then had an interesting call a little later in the day. I heard from Dan Duquette, who is the general manager of the Red Sox. I told Dan Duquette that, "Listen," that Pedro was a good friend of yours, that your preference was to stay in the American League.

And I said I also like the fact that there's a significant Latino population in Boston. There are a lot of Puerto Ricans. There are a lot of Dominicans. When Pedro pitches up there, they have the entire ballpark full of Dominican flags.

There more I hear Manny, the more I believe that this process is not going to really get going in a more serious way until the winter meetings."

When it came down to the wire, though, ESPN made sure to show us just how involved Manny really was:

"Moorad- If they hire Frankie Mancini (ph) in the clubhouse, he'll go to Boston. OK, so we're talking about Frankie Mancini. He sets up the pitching machine for him.

Moorad- Are you kidding me? That's why. That's why he's Manny. Frankie Mancini is making this decision. That's unbelievable.

So the Red Sox have to find him and tell him he has a new job. And by the way, he has to move to Boston.

[Narrator] Ley- With nearly $200 million on the line, Moorad summons Duquette to smooth over this potential deal breaker.

Moorad- I want you to think on the way up about how you would add to your clubhouse payroll a new clubby, who would be coming over from Cleveland."

Others reported that the Boston deal finally came together when the Red Sox agreed to increase the signing bonus by a "measly" $1 million. However you slice it, and whichever MannyBManny story you choose to believe helped seal the deal, it's pretty clear that the Manny Ramirez free agency of winter 2000 made for some good press, and everyone was plenty willing to capitalize on that - not too unlike this winter, I'd say.

But how happy were the Boston fans with the signing back in early 2001? Was the $160 million price tag worth it, or was there a lot of grumbling about Manny's value? If the annual preview guides from 2001 are any indication, the signing was viewed very positively. The Sporting News guide called it "the club's most significant free-agent signing ever" and Athlon said that he upgraded Boston's lineup to "the best 3-4-5 in the AL".

From TSN:

"Before the Red Sox signed free-agent slugger Manny Ramirez, there were plenty of signs the club was in bad shape heading into the season. The Sox had failed to satisfy their No. 1 need of a No. 2 starter, they had done nothing to boost the offense, and they had lingering off-field issues that threatened to put an air of negativity over the typically sunny prospects of spring training.

After Ramirez signed, however, it was out with the bad, in with the good. This was far from a typical acquisition by the Red Sox. It was the club's most significant free-agent signing ever. Although rotation depth and Carl Everett's status on the team remain concerns, the Ramirez move instantly restored credibility to the franchise, not to mention the offense.

Suddenly, the team's ever faithful and always cynical fan base has renewed hope. Not many teams have a trio like Ramirez, pitcher Pedro Martinez, and shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, plus a closer like Derek Lowe. The Red Sox do, which is why they have a shot at playing in October."

And from Athlon:

"The Red Sox won just 85 games in 2000 finishing in second-place in the standings, and 12th in the AL in runs scored. So they added one of the best hitters and run producers in the game in Manny Ramirez. Now Boston could have one of the most feared 3-4-5 lineup combination in baseball. Before he even signed with Boston, Ramirez knew the ultimate goal. 'I want to beat New York,' he said. 'I'm tired of them winning everything.' Welcome to Boston, Manny.
...
The Red Sox are looking to Manny Ramirez to improve a disappointing offense. With his presence in the cleanup spot, Boston's lineup goes from anemic to potentially the best 3-4-5 in the AL. He should make Nomar Garciaparra and Carl Everett even better."

In the end, the contract signed between the Boston Red Sox and Manny Ramirez in December 2000 proved to be rather lucrative for both sides. Yes, the summer of 2008 turned into a mess for the two parties but, before that happened, Manny made $140 million while leading the Sox to two world titles in 4 years. As unhappy as some Red Sox fans are with Manny right now, I feel pretty confident that, in time, he will be greated as warmly by Red Sox Nation as anyone in club history. Whether the same can be said for Manny and the Dodgers is a little tougher to say. We could easily see Manny back on the market next winter and, by then, who knows where he'll be going. With the way Manny embraced Los Angeles last August and September, though, and with the way LA embraced him right back, it does seem quite possible that the Dodgers will be his last team. If that ends up being the case, Dodgers fans have a lot to look forward to.

Historic Hot Stove: Ichiro!

There was quite the stir raised earlier this week when it was learned that superstar Ichiro! was working out as a pitcher for next month's World Baseball Classic. Reports were that Ichiro, who pitched an inning during the 1996 Japanese All-star game, was hitting the low-90s on the radar gun. For those of us who love the unique brand of excitement that Seattle's outfielder provides, this was about as perfect as can be. Sadly, news today seems to say that it's not going to happen. Still, it's great to get a reminder of just how exciting Ichiro! is. (As you can see, I'm with Rob Neyer: Ichiro! definitely deserves the exclamation point, pitcher or not.)

When Ichiro came over to the States in 2001, he was a completely unknown commodity. Up to that point, the only Japanese players to make it to the majors were pitchers. Hideo Nomo had fooled hitters on his way to the 1995 NL Rookie of the Year and Mariners reliever Kaz Sasaki had done the same on his way to the 2000 AL Rookie of the Year. But Ichiro was a position player and thus would have to face major league pitching. No one seemed to know how his Japanese statistics would translate... were they equivalent to a Double-A team? a Triple-A team? Something else? The Mariners seemed to be pretty confident, posting a $13 million fee to the Orix Blue Wave before giving Ichiro a 3 year/$14 million contract, but others weren't quite so sure.

The 2001 Athlon Baseball Annual had this to say about the M's new rightfielder:

"Difference Maker: Much is expected from Ichiro Suzuki, who is a hitting legend in Japan but mostly unknown in North America. A lefty gap hitter with a high on-base percentage, he figures to lead off and is also a stolen base threat. The fact he is a good defender is icing on the cake."

And the 2001 Sporting News Yearbook:

"There is ... a great deal of expectation in Suzuki, the seven-time Japanese batting champion who will open the season in right field.

A spray-hitting lefthanded batter compared with Kenny Lofton and Tony Gwynn, Suzuki has never faced major league pitching during a game with meaning, but there's a good chance he'll be Seattle's opening day leadoff hitter. ... Suzuki will open the season as the man in the spotlight, and if his .352 career average translates well in Seattle, the Mariners offense will have life at the top. Suzuki has never played a season that went beyond 135 games, so he figures to need breaks as the summer winds on."

Clearly, American writers were underestimating Ichiro's ability to adapt to the major league season. Whether that was pure American arrogance, or just a healthy dose of skepticism, it's hard to say. Clearly, though, Ichiro was ready for the bigs - in 2001, he became only the second player in major league history to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in the same season.

What I found most fascinating about Ichiro's journey to the major leagues, though, was an article I found in the 1996 Sporting News Yearbook called "The Next Nomo" written by John De Bellis of the Asahi Evening News.

"So, naturally, Ichiro figures to be the next Japan-to-US phenom, a la Hideo Nomo, correct? Maybe, maybe not. At least Ichiro, only 22, isn't likely to come over soon."

By the beginning of the 1996 season, when Nomo was reigning NL Rookie of the Year, 22-year-old Ichiro had only had two full seasons of professional ball under his belt. His once-in-a-generation talent was easy to spot, though.

"In his rookie year, Ichiro established a Japanese record with 210 hits [in 135 games] and batted .385. He did it using a "flamingo" batting stance reminiscent of home run king Sadaharu Oh. Last season, he hit .342 and increased his home run output from 13 to 25."

And he was highly praised by Americans (Bobby Valentine: "He has to be compared favorably to a young Barry Bonds or a young Ken Griffey Jr.") and Japanese alike (Seibu Lions second baseman Hatsuhiko Tsuji: "I think he is just at a higher level than most. There does not seem to be anything he cannot do well...").

The article goes on to talk about the troubles that Japanese players have in making themselves available to Major League Baseball, and quotes extensively from "Japanese baseball's only player agent" Don Nomura. It also mentions the big league goals of "Japan's top reliever" Kaz Sasaki and an "envious" Yomiuri Giants pitcher Masumi Kuwata. But the article was truly about the young Ichiro and how he would take the major leagues by storm. The article ends:

"Remember that name - Ichiro Suzuki. And there's surely more such talent where he comes from."

There may not be too many more talents like Ichiro, but we can't fault the author for that. I'm just glad there's the one Ichiro!.

Historic Hot Stove: Randy Johnson & Kevin Brown

The winter of 1998 made for one of the most interesting offseasons in a long, long time. With all the excitement of the regular season - McGwire and Sosa blowing past Ruth and Maris, the Yankees winning 114 games, David Wells' perfect game, Cal sitting down at 2,632, and Kerry Wood's 20-strikeout performance - there were understandably a lot of stories for people to follow and a lot of things for people to be excited about in the upcoming season.

By the time Opening Day rolled around in April 1999, the biggest story, at least in the southwest, was the arrival of two of the biggest pitchers in baseball in the NL West at two of the heftiest price tags imaginable. On December 10, the Arizona Diamondbacks, not even in their second year of existence, signed 35-year-old Randy Johnson to a 4-year, $52 million deal. Only two days later, on December 12, the Los Angeles Dodgers made soon to be 34-year-old Kevin Brown the highest paid player in baseball history, signing him to a 7-year, $105 million contract.

Brown was coming off three consecutive great years (with ERAs of 1.89, 2.69, and 2.38) and a couple of top-three Cy Young finishes. He had also just led two different teams to two consecutive World Series appearances. Clearly, the man was a winner with dominating stuff, and Rupert Murdoch was doing his best to secure some winning baseball in Los Angeles.

Johnson was also coming off a hot streak. He had been traded from the Mariners to the Astros at the trade deadline, and proceeded to destroy NL hitting. In his 11 starts for the Astros, Johnson was 10-1 with a 1.28 ERA and 116 strikeouts in only 84 innings. D-backs owner Jerry Colangelo was on a mission to sign the best pitching available, and the Big Unit clearly fit the bill. The fact that the full National League had yet to see Johnson's stuff only made him more appealing.

To top it off, the schedule-making gods happened to be smiling on the NL West that year, and Opening Day 1999 would see the Diamondbacks playing the Dodgers in Los Angeles. The full $157 million dollars spent on these two pitchers would be displayed on the same mound in the same stadium to start off the season. It was truly a day to look forward to.

With all the money spent on these two pitchers, and with all the hoopla surrounding the Dodgers and Brown's $100 million payday, it'd go to figure that the signings would be the focus of all pre-season talk about these two clubs. The fact is, though, that both clubs had many more holes than pitching, so any preview would be incomplete if it didn't highlight everything. Still, the addition of both players to their respective rosters was clearly viewed as a positive for each team.

For Randy Johnson, the 1999 Athlon Preview Guide had this to say:

"In 1998, Jerry Colangelo would sit in manager Buck Showalter's office and look at the large greaseboard on the wall with starting pitchers written in day by day.

'It left a lot to be desired,' Colangelo, the D-Backs managing general partner, admits. 'We felt we could compete now if we could go get the pitching it would require. If you could add people to the rotation at the top, you could cut short the process dramatically.'

So he signed Randy Johnson ($52.4 million for four years), Todd Stottlemyre ($32 million for four years) and Armando Reynoso ($5 million for two years). A revamped, veteran rotation has uncovered optimism faster than the D-Backs can open the roof at Bank One Ballpark."

It goes on to say that "Johnson gives Arizona a legitimate ace and power on the mound." The Sporting News focused on why Colangelo was so willing to pay Johnson the big bucks:

"Colangelo doesn't adhere to the concept of expansion growing pains. He spent nearly $80 million on multiyear contracts for Matt Williams and Jay Bell before the 1998 season. The payoff was underwhelming - and the criticism heavy - but that only served to embolden Colangelo. He signed Johnson, Todd Stottlemyre and Steve Finley as part of a $120 million binge since the end of last season. 'Our honeymoon ended after one year,' Colangelo says. 'A four or five-year plan wasn't going to work, and the quick way for us to get competitive was to concentrate on pitching.' "

With Brown, the magazines focused on the talent level he brought to the Dodgers, and how it would play in Dodger Stadium. The weight of the $105 million contract was definitely addressed, but it was how he fit in with the Dodgers that they focused on:

"NL West Player to Watch: Los Angeles pitcher Kevin Brown. Sign the game's first $100 million contract, and scrutiny is part of the package. Brown, who ranked second in the league to Greg Maddux in ERA last season, should benefit from the move to pitcher-friendly Dodger Stadium. But he won't be so sanguine when his infield starts booting double-play grounders. The Dodgers' .978 fielding percentage ranked 13th among the 16 NL clubs last season, and they did nothing to improve over the winter.
...
Brown helped lead the Marlins to the 1997 World Series title and propelled the Padres to the 1998 World Series. Brown, whose fastball has been clocked at 97 mph, was the most coveted starting pitcher in the free-agent market because of his talent and competitive drive. The Dodgers expect him to have a positive influence on their talented young staff."

The Athlon preview guide had a similar guarded optimism:

"With the addition of Brown, Los Angeles possesses the deepest staff of power arms in the league, and certainly the type of pitching that could dominate. But they have other problems that could ultimately render Murdoch's team a money pit.
...
Clemens may intimidate, Maddux may infuriate. But Brown remains the most difficult pitcher in baseball to hit, with his overpowering sinking fastball and split-finger. And his stuff may not be as good as Chan Ho Park's..."

Ultimately, the Diamondbacks' signing of Randy Johnson proved to be the better signing. Not only did he take the D-Backs from 65 wins and last place in the NL West to 100 wins and first place in his first year, he also played a very large role in helping the D-Backs win their first World Series in 2001. The four consecutive Cy Young awards that he won in a D-Backs uniform are also rather nice. Brown performed well for the Dodgers, posting ERAs of 3.00, 2.58, 2.65, 4.81, and 2.39, but it was never enough to lead the Dodgers anywhere. They just had too many problems other than pitching. It's interesting to note that, by the time the D-Backs traded Johnson in January 2005, they had paid him only $86 million dollars over 6 years.

But back to Opening Day 1999 at Dodger Stadium. At the time, no one knew for sure how these contracts would play out. Instead, all anyone knew was that two of the best pitchers in baseball, with two of the biggest contracts ever, would be facing off against each other, wearing their new uniforms for the first time. Papers were calling it "potentially the best pitching matchup of all time" (someone said that in the LA Times that morning - it seemed a little extreme, even at the time).

I happened to be at the game. It was my freshmen year in college, and my first ever Opening Day. My brother and his buddies and I made it a Los Angeles sports weekend, seeing the Lakers on Saturday night, the final day of Spring Training on Sunday versus the Yankees at Dodger Stadium, and then Opening Day on Monday. It was a definitely memorable game, as you can see.

Kevin Brown didn't pitch all too great, getting yanked in the sixth after giving up ten hits and five earned runs (and a three-run homer to Jay Bell). Johnson, on the other hand, was pitching fantastically, until he was pinch hit for leading off the 8th with Arizona up 6-2. The Dodgers quickly got a run back, but it was 6-3 with two outs in the bottom of the ninth after Sheffield struck out. Up steps Raul Mondesi, though, and, with one swing of the bat the game is tied at 6. The 55,000 people at Dodger Stadium were on their feet screaming and hollering. Nothing happened for the next inning-and-a-half, but in the bottom of the eleventh, magic happened. After the first two batters got out, Sheffield drew a walk and Mondesi steps to the plate again and, with one more swing of the bat, ends the game, hitting a second home run to the exact same part of the ballpark. It was definitely one of the coolest moments I've ever seen at a ballpark, and not a bad way to start the season.

In the Sporting News preview guide, the allure of the Opening Day game was not lost:

"The most riveting Opening Day matchup of 1999 could take place at Chavez Ravine on April 5, when the Dodgers play the Diamondbacks. 'The Big Unit and Kevin Brown,' says LA manager Davey Johnson. 'Now that's the way to start off a season.' "

Throw in a little Raul Mondesi there, Davey, and you're absolutely right...

Historic Hot Stove: Greg Vaughn

This past weekend marked the anniversary of a major day in Tampa Bay Devil Rays history and, sadly, the world seemed to let it pass without mention. I can't say why that is exactly, but I can guess that most Rays fans are hoping to focus more on their recent stunning success and less on their past failures (David Chalk notwithstanding). And though I can fully understand and appreciate that, I think the "anniversary" of the free agent signing of Greg Vaughn on December 13, 1999, is a great place to start my studies into past free agent signings and how they were received by contemporary experts and writers.

If we remember, and I'm sure few of us do since the 1999 Devil Rays were not quite the '75 Reds, this was only the Rays' second winter. The first season did not go well - they won 63 games when management was hoping for 70 - and this season hardly went better. In 1999, the Devil Rays were 69-93 and had dealt with injury after injury throughout the season. In fact, for the year, 18 Devil Rays players spent a total of 863 days on the disabled list. Wade Boggs, at age 41, inched his way to the 3,000 hit milestone, playing in only 90 games and cracking only 88 hits (he ended the season with 3,010 hits and promptly retired). Wilson Alvarez was the de facto ace, but he threw only 160 innings. DH Jose Canseco played in only 114 games, but he did hit 34 home runs with 95 RBIs and an OPS of .932. Fred McGriff was the club leader in most categories, playing in 144 games with a more than respectable line of .310/.405/.552 with 32 HR and 104 RBIs.

Greg Vaughn entered that off-season at age 34 and at the most productive point in his career. In the previous two seasons for San Diego and Cincinnati, he had hit a total of 95 home runs and knocked in 237 RBIs. He had finished 4th in the MVP voting each year, and seemed like a legitimate slugger worth pursuing. In the December 1999 issue of Baseball Digest Monthly, published before Vaughn had signed with anybody, he was credited with being the clubhouse leader of the Reds who, at 96-67, had finished 19 games better than the year before and only a 163rd-game loss out of the wild card:

"Everybody around the team, including general manager Jim Bowden, manager Jack McKeon and numerous players, gives Vaughn credit for the Reds' new attitude.

'I think he instilled a feeling in this clubhouse that we know we can beat anybody,' thid baseman Aaron Boone said.

'His presence changed the attitude of our club from the very beginning of spring training,' Bowden said.

'Believe me - the way he is is just as important as his numbers,' first baseman Sean Casey said' "

With the legitimate bat Vaughn offered and the strong positive clubhouse presence he seemed to have, I imagine it was a pretty easy decision for GM Chuck LaMar to make. Both were key issues that the Devil Rays needed addressed. Vaughn's history of knee problems and a strained abdominal early in the 1999 season were certainly cause for alarm - not to mention the slugger's 34-year old body - but they had only kept him out of 8 games during the season. The deal of 4-years and $34 million was mostly well-received. Sports Illustrated said:

"Last fall [Owner Vince] Naimoli gave LaMar permission to increase the payroll—it's up $25 million over last year's, to $62 million—and LaMar appears to have spent wisely in signing free-agent outfielders Greg Vaughn and Gerald Williams and starting pitchers Juan Guzman and Steve Trachsel."

The annual Athlon baseball preview magazine for the 2000 season was also impressed:

"By forming what Tigers manager Phil Garner calls 'a whomping offense', GM Chuck LaMar certainly got the attention of apathetic fans. Both newcomers [Castilla and Vaughn] have three 40-homer seasons since '95. Adding them to a lineup that includes mashers Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff 'changes the way I will approach games,' says skipper Larry Rothschild."

But even with the positive reviews, the Sporting News preview magazine was a little more cautious:

"You can look at it in two ways: by adding Vinny Castilla and Greg Vaughn to a lineup that already includes Jose Canseco and Fred McGriff, the Devil Rays have 1) added 78 homers and 220 RBIs in '99 at hitter-friendly Tropicana Field or 2) will be bogged down by a big-bang AL lineup in a division dominated by the very NL-like Yankees."

With hindsight, it's easy to see that TSN's cautious tone was the right one to take. Vaughn quickly aged on the Rays, playing in no more than 136 games in either of his first two seasons. He did manage to hit 54 home runs across those two years, but his batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage were all slipping. In 2002, the third year of his four year contract, Vaughn had clearly become dead weight, playing in only 69 games and batting a sub-Mendoza .163/.286/.315. And though his annual salary of around $8 million dollars did not put him in the upper echelon of salaries for any of his Devil Ray tenure (he was about the 40th highest paid player each of those years), it was obviously a burden on the budget-minded Rays, whose payroll for the 2002 season was around $35 million.

Vaughn was released by the Rays in March of 2003. He signed with the Rockies a few weeks later but was out of baseball by the All-Star Game.

Overall, the free agent signing of Greg Vaughn has to be considered a failure for the Devil Rays. He was not able to maintain his health for any part of his contract, and the big bat that they were paying for never materialized. LaMar should not have focused so much of his limited financial resources on a 34-year-old slugger with a history of knee problems, no matter his recent production. The unrealized hope that they likely had for him taking over the clubhouse in a positive way cannot be put on his shoulders, though. The team they had assembled was old and rickety, with the biggest names being Canseco, Castilla, McGriff, and Alvarez, all of whom were either old or unreliable to begin with. Being put into that situation, it would've taken Kid Griffey and the Say Hey Kid himself to positively affect that clubhouse. Still, it was a big time in Devil Ray history, as it showed the Tampa fans that the organization wasn't going to sit still and do nothing in the face of a mostly apathetic public. It's just too bad that this was the direction they took - not only did it kill their chances of winning in those first few years, but it also seemed to put management off of signing big free agents for a long time.

Of course, now that the Rays have been to the World Series and boast such jaw-dropping talent, we'll never have to worry about this kind of mess again...