July 9th
It’s All-Star Week! That means that, not only do we cover those festivities, we have our first wave of midseason trades, followed by the usual divisional notes on a shorter slate of games.
#Awards
Brooklyn‘s Beals Becker picked up the NL Player of the Week, hitting .538 with 4 homers in the span. Over in the AL, perhaps peeved by his omission from the All Star Game, Cleveland‘s Lance Berkman hit .360 with 9–NINE–homeruns in the week, taking down the AL Player of the Week.
#Team Performance
No significant changes, but some teams are making moves. San Francisco remains the only team truly running away with their division, leading the Cum Posey Division by 11.5 games over Miami, who have taken over 2nd place from Chicago.
The New York Black Yankees have the 2nd best record in baseball and a 4.5 game lead over Cleveland in the Bill James Division.
That leaves the Effa Manley Division and Marvin Miller Division. In the former, Brooklyn leads Homestead by 3.5, with the New York Gothams fading a bit, sitting tied with Philadelphia at 8 games back. In the Marvin Miller, Kansas City still leads, but not only is Indianapolis only 2 games back, Houston, 8-2 over their last 10 games, has moved to within 5.5.
Last years champions, Baltimore, continue to have the worst record in the league, with a 38-52 record so far.
#Player Performance
With all the numbers and discussion surrounding the All Star Game, we’re going to skip the Performance section this time, instead revisiting last year’s mid-season trades.
#Looking Back: Last Year’s Mid-Season Trades
I’ve somewhat quickly and arbitrarily given weights to the trades. The winning team is in italics. Overall, here is how everyone ranked out from last year.
Clear Winners: Birmingham, Baltimore, Ottawa
Did OK: Philadelphia, Detroit
Meh: Cleveland, Homestead, Memphis, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Gothams
Not Great: San Francisco, Indianapolis, Miami, Black Yankees
Clear Losers: Houston, Chicago
The details:
Big Wins
Birmingham sends Hoyt Wilhelm and Dick Rudolph to Chicago for Melky Cabrera, A. Rube Foster, Adrián González, & a 2nd (Trea Turner)
Foster is no longer with Birmingham, having been part of a later trade for Andy Pettitte, but that he had enough value to land the ERA champ alone makes this a win for the Black Barons. González has frustrated, but he’s still been a solid WBL 1B in the interim, and both Cabrera and Turner look to have some upside, especially Turner. Wilhelm has been average in Chicago’s pen and Rudolph has downright struggled.
Cleveland fleece Houston for Lance Berkman, sending Harry Stovey, Charlie Grimm, Chad Qualls and a 3rd (Garry Templeton) to the Colt 45's.
Berkman was struggling, but he has hit 39 homers and driven in 104 since the trade. Templeton refused to sign, and while the rest have some talent, it’s unclear they will ever push past the talent in front of them in Houston.
Baltimore sent Mike Morgan, Richie Sexson, Chris Hoiles and Joe Dugan to Miami for Manny Machado.
Machado was a World Series hero and remains the Black Sox’ starting 3B. Hoiles and Sexson both have some offensive pop, but both are pretty buried in Miami’s farm system.
Cleveland sent Andrew Payne, Hardie Henderson, Darrell Miller, and Gibby Brack to Philadelphia for Ron Reed.
This seemed to make sense at the time, as Reed looked like the missing piece for the Spiders’ bullpen. But Henderson has developed into an all-star with the Stars, and Reed, while not bad, hasn’t been great for Cleveland. Of the rest, only Payne is still with the Stars, and he may never see the WBL.
Small Wins
The Black Yankees send Sam Thompson, Dick Bartell, and a 4th (Mark Eichhorn) to Ottawa for Gary Lavelle and Jamie Moyer.
Lavelle and Moyer were both bad for New York. Lavelle is out with a long term injury, and Moyer was later traded to Chicago; given that the purpose of the trade was to shore up the Black Yankees for the post-season–which they missed–this has to be a win for Ottawa. Thompson is doing well for them, and Eichhorn has some future utility.
San Francisco sent Rube Melton, Derrick May, and a 3rd (Gary Matthews) to Birmingham for Tim Hudson.
Hudson was an all-star, then imploded, and now is on the DL for so long his career may be toast. Given that, the fact that all 3 prospects are doing alright make this a win for Birmingham.
The New York Gothams receive Don Sutton from Brooklyn in exchange for Ray Lamb, Gil Heredia, Lew Krause Jr, Don Mueller, a 1st (Al Simmons), and an 8th (Vic Lombardi).
Sutton’s been solid for New York, on the fringes of their rotation and providing good bullpen work. Krause and Simmons seem to have the highest ceiling of what they received (Mueller and Lombardi look fine, and neither Lamb nor Heredia are still with Brooklyn).
Ottawa sends Freddy Parent to Chicago for Sibby Sisti, Bob Watson, and Rickie Weeks.
Ottawa only wins this because it cleared room for Álex Rodríguez, who has blossomed this year. Watson–theoretically the centerpiece of the deal–was recently sent down to AAA, Sisti was released, and Weeks looks unlikely to make an impact. Still, the less said about Parent’s time in Chicago, the better.
Brooklyn sends Curt Flood, Manny Trillo, and a 6th (Steve Avery) to Birmingham for Frank Isbell.
Isbell is at AAA after a horrible start to the season. Flood and Avery each have some upside, so this is a small win for Birmingham.
Birmingham sends Tom Herr to the Black Yankees for Reddy Mack, Bill Buckner, Heathcliff Slocumb, Charlie Keller, Moose Skowron, & a 10th (Eddie Solomon)
Herr was sold at his absolute peak, and the Black Yankees are already casting around for a replacement. As importantly, the trade cleared the way for Cupid Childs to take over at 2B, a clear win for Birmingham. None of the prospects look like much (Buckner was traded on, Keller retired, and the rest look like filler at best).
Indianapolis sent Ernie Lombardi to Detroit for Donie Bush, Jorge Orta, Brandon League, Gene Martin and a 2nd (Matt Chapman).
Detroit wins this one, as Lombardi has been quite good for them, as only Chapman and Bush are still with the ABC’s, and neither looks like much at this point.
Miami got fixated on the potential of Minnie Miñoso, sending Don Newcombe, Clay Condrey, and a 4th (José Quintana) to Chicago for him.
Miñoso has finally begun to show some potential at AAA after some miserable time with the Cuban Giants, while none of the other players are with Chicago (Newcombe was traded, Condrey released, and Quintana refused to sign a rookie contract).
Ottawa sends Steve Garvey and Spud Johnson to Los Angeles for Rusty Staub.
Staub has outperformed Garvey, but both have held down WBL roster spots. Johnson is a free agent at this point.
Ottawa and Los Angeles made a second deal, with the Angels receiving Carlos Delgado in exchange for Dave Bennett, Carlos Beltrán, Jim Stephens, and Sean O'Sullivan.
This one also favors Ottawa. Delgado has been excellent for the Angels, hitting 28 homeruns since the trade. But Beltrán is a borderline all-star for the Mounties. Bennett and Stephens have a little potential, O’Sullivan is currently a free agent.
Here's much ado about nothing: Los Angeles sent Brian Downing, Kurt Stillwell, and Dave LaRoche to San Francisco for Wally Moon, Dwayne Murphy, a 4th (John Lackey) and a 6th (Omar Olivares).
Downing is young enough to do something, as are Moon, Murphy, and Lackey. The trade failed to help San Francisco in the immediate (its ostensible purpose). Slight edge to Los Angeles.
San Francisco picks up Tommy Bridges from Miami for Shawn Estes, Turk Wendell, and a 5th (Mark Kotsay).
Only Kotsay remains with Miami, as such, even though Bridges has been unable to hold down a WBL spot, he has been there, giving the Sea Lions the edge.
San Francisco sent Steve Hertz and a 2nd (Judy Johnson) to Homestead for Phil Garner.
Scrap Iron Garner has been fine as utility IF for the Sea Lions, especially recently, but Johnson may be something special, recently joining Homestead as a 19 year old.
Houston gives up Hack Wilson, Jim Kaat, DJ LeMahieu, Stubby Overmire and a 5th (Nathan Eovaldi) for Memphis' Roger Clemens.
Clemens is doing well in Houston, falling just short of an all star selection. But that’s quite a haul: LeMahieu is pushing for a full time role with Memphis, Overmire is at the front of their rotation, Wilson is doing well at AAA and both Kaat and Eovaldi have some long term potential. If Clemens does become an all-star, and none of the others develop, this would swing towards Houston, but right now it feels like an overall win for the Red Sox.
Memphis sent Joe Beggs to Baltimore for Willie Sudhoff, Alex Johnson, and a 4th (Bill "Spaceman" Lee).
Beggs did what Baltimore needed in their Whirled Series run, but has struggled this year. Sudhoff was released, and Johnson and Lee look marginal at best right now.
Even Steven
Portland send Smokey Joe Wood & Devin Mesoraco to Kansas City for Rogers Hornsby, Vince Coleman, and a 4th Round Pick (Lee May).
Wood is a borderline all-star for the Monarchs while Hornsby both fueled Portland’s playoff run last season and is an all-star this year. Portland released Coleman, neither Mesoraco nor May are doing much.
The House of David sent Sammy Sosa to Memphis for Tony Conigliaro, Fred Lynn, and a 2nd ("Big" Bill Lee).
An odd one to evaluate, as Sosa did well enough for Memphis for the House of David to trade for him back in the off season. Still, at this point, he was a black hole of a roster spot. Conigliaro and Lynn each show good power, so call it a wash.
#Injury Report
The Black Yankees’ Don Mattingly should begin his rehab assignment around the end of the week as should, perhaps, the House of David’s Jim Clinton.
