They could have waited. Waited till the deadline. Waited till the winter.
Waited till next July even. The Phillies didn't have to trade Curt Schilling
now. In theory.
But maybe they did.
A week ago, all signs pointed toward the Phillies waiting until the
offseason to deal their ace. Suddenly, by mid-week, they seemed determined to
deal him before the trade deadline.
So what happened?
Well, when general manager Ed Wade was asked, after announcing the deal, about the
advantages of waiting until the offseason, he gave an answer that may have
been revealing.
"One, there were no guarantees Curt would open the window back up for us
again," Wade said. "And two, because we couldn't assume we'd be dealing with
the same number of teams (on Schilling's list), if we took all things into
consideration, it made sense to do this now."
If you read between the lines of that answer, you easily can come away
with the following impression: The Phillies were afraid that if they didn't
trade Schilling when they had the chance, he might change his mind later --
either about the number of teams he would go to, or about being traded at all.
Schilling already has reversed directions numerous times over the years
about all of that. He once asked to be traded in 1997, let the Phillies close
in on a deal with Cleveland (allegedly for Richie Sexson, Brian Giles and
Bartolo Colon) and then U-turned, announcing he wanted to stay.
Just a couple of weeks ago, after the Phillies again worked furiously on
a deal with Cleveland, he again took the Indians off his list. So the
Phillies couldn't be sure what the future would hold.
The five teams on his list could have shrunk to three teams, two teams or one
team (a la Junior Griffey). The Diamondbacks might have decided they had
other priorities. And the closer Schilling got to free agency, the less value
he might have brought back.
In the meantime, there were rumors -- never confirmed -- that if the
Phillies didn't trade Schilling this month, his agent, Jeff Borris, was
advising him to withdraw his waiver of his no-trade clause completely.
So given all of those possibilities, the Phillies had two choices: Trade
him now -- or keep him and take their chances on A) winning with him, B)
Schilling staying healthy, C) having the same options a year from now or D)
either extending him at huge bucks or losing him for draft picks.
Clearly, they decided their best option was to make the trade they made. You
can argue that they could have gotten more. But they weren't interested in
Double-A prospects -- even high-ceiling Double-A prospects (i.e., Alex
Escobar). And at the very least, they made a trade in which they got four
young players ready for the majors -- "none of whom," in the words, of one
baseball man, "are stiffs."
In fact, six teams reportedly called them in the 24 hours after the deal
to see if Lee was available. (He's not.) So, they may not know where this
trade is leading them. But they know other clubs don't see it as the disaster
some of their fans thought it was.
And in the end, they were motivated by this fear: If they'd waited, they
might only have done worse.
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List of the week
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Jay Buhner just became the 16th active player with 300 career homers. At
the end of the 1993 season, there were only six. The Sultan of Swat Stats,
SABR's David Vincent, supplies this list of Most Active 300+ HR hitters at
the end of a season:
1998: 16
1999: 16
1974: 13
1971: 12
1973: 12
1987: 12
1972: 11
1986: 11
1988: 11
1989: 11
1996: 11
1997: 11
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While that Yankees-Expos deal for Rondell White looks less likely to happen
every day, the Expos did send White for an MRI on his left knee this week,
just so they could prove to potential bidders he was healthy. White has told
friends he was told by doctors who read the MRI that his knee was healthy
enough that Andre Dawson would pay $10 million to trade knees with him. Nevertheless, the Yankees, Braves and Mariners all appear wary enough about White's health to have had serious second
thoughts about trading for him.
The biggest deal that almost happened Friday -- but didn't -- was an
Oakland-Texas blockbuster that would have brought John Wetteland and David
Segui to the A's for a package believed to be headed by Matt Stairs and Jesus
Colome. But then Cleveland dropped Ricky Ledee's name onto the table, and
Texas dealt Segui to the Indians. So Oakland then turned around and dealt
Colome to Tampa Bay for premier set-up man Jim Mecir. The A's and Rangers
don't appear to have much of a match on Wetteland, if Texas even trades him
now.
Another big deal that died would have sent Richie Sexson and pitching
prospects to Montreal for Dustin Hermanson and Milton Bradley. The Indians
clearly are looking for a near-term successor to Kenny Lofton, who almost
certainly won't be back. And Bradley would have fit that bill. But the Expos
ultimately backed off on that one.
The Phillies and Red Sox remain in a standoff on Rico Brogna. The Red Sox
don't want to deal away Donnie Sadler. The Phillies don't want Manny
Alexander or his glove compartment. And each team now appears determined to
outwait the other. But Boston has lost its best alternative to Brogna, with
the trade of Segui. So sooner or later, Brogna still figures to wind up at
Fenway.
The Tigers are listening again on Juan Gonzalez. But it appears highly
unlikely he'll be going anywhere. Let's reprint Gonzalez's no-trade list:
Mets, Yankees, Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Braves, Phillies, Red Sox,
Blue Jays. So that would leave three AL contenders -- Cleveland, Seattle and
Oakland. While the A's might be in the market for a right-handed hitting
outfielder, they don't seem particularly interested in Gonzalez. And the fits
with Seattle and Cleveland don't appear to be there.
The Giants are still trying to add set-up help, but they may not do
anything. They're said to be thinking seriously of using Joe Nathan out of
the bullpen when he comes off the disabled list. Meanwhile, sometimes it
isn't the deals you make that gets your team motivated. It's the deals other
teams make. Suffice it to say that after the Schilling trade, the Giants
weren't happy to hear the whole world talking about how tough the
Diamondbacks were going to be in October -- when they might not even get
there. One NL exec's four-word review of the torrid Giants: "They've got that
look."
It looked good in the papers, but it came as no surprise to anyone that
Manny Ramirez turned down the Indians' offer of five years, $75 million (with
$5 million a year deferred). It's the obvious game plan of Ramirez and agent
Jeff Moorad to get out on the market this winter and position themselves as
someone's best consolation prize for not signing Alex Rodriguez.
It turns out Pete Rose wasn't the only big name the eternally aggravated
Bob Feller was ticked off at in Cooperstown last weekend. Sources say he was
also steamed at Carlton Fisk for making such a long speech that Feller wasn't
able to arrive promptly at an autograph session he'd scheduled between the
ceremony and the dinner.
On the Olympic scene, Terry Steinbach just blew out a hamstring. So the
list of retired major leaguers likely to make the team is down to one -- Tim
Raines.
The No. 14 pick in the draft, Chase Utley, signed with Philadelphia this
week. But a survey of scouting directors forecasts a long summer for several
other unsigned picks. The Twins are said to have all but given up on signing
their second-round pick, Taggert Bozied. And the Reds are at an impasse on
No. 1 pick David Espinosa and second-rounder Dane Sardinha. All three of
those guys are Scott Boras clients. "You know, it's such a down year," said
one scouting director, "that if you don't sign your No. 1, there's not much
difference between him and the sandwich pick you'd get next year."
The Diamondbacks figure to keep Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling on their
fifth day as much as possible and work the rest of the rotation around them.
If they do, they would pitch back-to-back for the first time Aug. 18 and 19,
against the Cubs. They also would be lined up so that both would pitch in
each of Arizona's two-game series against the Braves in September.
One thing the Indians wanted to do in any deals they made was make sure
they got players who would be around beyond this year. They got that in Wil
Cordero and Steve Woodard. And Bob Wickman is signed for next year at just
$2.6 million. Wickman is also a perfect fit for that Indians infield. Wickman
went into this season as the career leader in most double plays induced per
nine innings.
Useless information dept.
This just in from Bill Francis of the Hall of Fame: Carlton Fisk's No. 72
is the highest number ever worn by a Hall of Fame player over an extended
period of years. (No, Kellen Winslow doesn't count. Wrong Hall.)
It took a mere 98 games, but the Astros finally won three games in a row.
They were the last team in baseball to win three straight -- and the first to
take that long to do it since the 1985 Pirates, who didn't have a three-game
winning streak until their 144th game of the year. And no reigning division
champ since 1969 has gone that deep into a season without winning three in a
row, according to the Elias Sports Bureau's Ken Hirdt. What a year in Houston.
Jeff D'Amico has a 0.45 ERA this month. Ken Hirdt reports that the last
Brewer to make four starts in any month and have an ERA under 1.00 was Cal
Eldred, who went 4-0, 0.61, in August 1992 -- 44 baseball months ago.
Orioles rookie John Parrish struck out the side in the first inning of his
career Monday. That's the good news. The bad news is, that isn't an automatic
sign of future greatness. Last pitcher to do that, according to Elias: Blake
Stein, then of Oakland, on May 10, 1998. He whiffed Ray Durham, Magglio
Ordonez and Frank Thomas.
Remember when the Phillies started the season as the only team in baseball
to have three starting pitchers who were on the All Star team last year? Well, it
sounded good. Now that Paul Byrd is out for the year and Schilling and
Andy Ashby have escaped town, those three wound up 12-22, with a 5.24 ERA.
If you're ever going to a Cubs-Brewers game and Scott Downs is scheduled to
start, bring a sleeping bag. Cubs public-relations whiz Chuck Wasserstrom
reports that the 4-hour, 12-minute marathon the two teams played last
Saturday was the shortest of Downs' three starts against Milwaukee this year.
The other two lasted 4:22 (longest nine-inning NL game ever) and 5:31 (in 15
innings). That's three starts, 14 hours and 5 minutes. Zzzzzz.
In case you missed it, Florida's Luis Castillo drove in his seventh run of
the year Friday against Schilling -- in 323 at-bats. Meanwhile, ESPN
research genius Jeff Bennett says he's discovered the anti-Luis Castillo.
That's Cardinals handyman Thomas Howard, who had 26 RBI on only 23 hits
through Friday. He was hitting .161 with no one on -- but .353 with runners in
scoring position. The only other players with more RBI than hits: Mark
McGwire and Shane Reynolds. Quite a group.
But Howard is the anti-Castillo in more ways than one. Elias' Kevin Hines
reports that Castillo went into the weekend with the fewest hitless games in
baseball (16). Howard had the most (42). Any game with an at-bat or sacrifice
fly counted.
After the Marlins balked three times in one game against Montreal last
weekend, Marlins manager John Boles said: "I can't remember the last time I
saw three balks." Well, he probably didn't see it -- but the last team to do
it was the Cubs, on July 13, 1998.
What were the odds of this? The Detroit Free Press' John Lowe reports that
the first time the Rangers and Tigers played this season, none of the nine
players involved in that big Juan Gonzalez trade appeared in the game. When
they played their first game in Texas on Thursday, three of them hit a home
run in the same inning (Gonzalez, Gabe Kapler, Bill Haselman). After that
game, Frank Catalanotto -- who didn't play Thursday -- said: "I wish I could
get in there and hit a home run like all the other guys who were involved in
the trade." Sure enough, he played Friday -- and homered in his first at-bat.
It sure seemed like a rarity when Padres pitchers Woody Williams and Adam
Eaton had back-to-back 3-for-3 games last weekend. But the Braves pitching
staff also went 6-for-6 from May 10-12 this year, believe it or not.
Speaking of hits by pitchers, the Valley Tribune's Ed Price reports that
the Diamondbacks just finished a streak in which they gave up at least one
hit to the opposing pitcher in eight out of 10 games.
Minor leaguer of the week: Howe Sportsdata reports that Dayton (Reds)
outfielder Austin Kearns just hit a home run in eight straight games. The
all-time minor league record is believed to be 10, held by Bob Sanguinett,
who did it June 25-July 7, 1928, for Midland of the late, great West Texas
League.
Finally, you would have guessed that the acrobatic Omar Vizquel would have
handled more chances in his 95-game errorless streak, which ended last
Saturday, than his AL co-record-holder, Cal Ripken, did in his 95-gamer, back
in 1990. Nope. Vizquel handled 428. Ripken handled 431. What's Vizquel's
secret for surehandedness? He told the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Paul Hoynes
he just did a clinic for kids and told them: "Treat the ball like your
girlfriend. Be soft and nice. If you're rough, the ball and your girlfriend
will go away." And that tip, kids, is one you should try at home.
Jayson Stark is a senior writer at ESPN.com. Rumblings and Grumblings will appear each Saturday. | |
ALSO SEE
Jayson Stark archive
Stark: Week in Review
Stark: Win-win situation for D-Backs
AUDIO/VIDEO
 ESPN's Jayson Stark breaks down the White Sox trade for Harold Baines and Charles Johnson.
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