Sunday, November 09, 2003
STATE OF MARINERALITY...ANGEL MOVES
Well, here's where I am with the Mariners right now. I'm on the fence about Billy Bavasi because obviously there's the two ways in which you can take his Angels GM tenure. I wish DePodesta, Antonetti, Ng, and others were interviewed, and when they weren't, I was quite displeased. When they came up with the final three of Avila, Looper, and Bavasi, I was somewhat incensed. I was even surprised that KJR's David Locke wasn't somehow pissed about all this (he was actually content with the final three candidates), because usually this is something he'd get worked up over. I think he's too wrapped up with the Sonics to really get into it, but who knows.
But I guess what I'm getting at here is that after four solid months of endless bitching about the Mariners and watching the ship sink, for just one moment, I want to not be pissed off. And until some moves are made, I'm just taking a tiny bit of respite from Mariner bitching, or at least bitching that has a lot of vitriol.
This was going to be the part where I was going to say I wasn't gonna bitch about Bavasi until he did something comparable to trading Jim Edmonds for Adam Kennedy and Kent Bottenfield (on the heels of a one-year wonder 18-7 season), but that was after Bavasi had fled the coop at the Big A.
So to kill some time here, I'm using the fairly-new Baseball-Reference.com transactions feature to look at some notable moves of 1994-1999, also known as the Bill Bavasi years in Anaheim.
Jan 31 1994: FA signing of Bo Jackson (Bo knows injuries)
Mar 28 1994: FA signing of Rex "Pot Fiend" Hudler
Jul 22 1994: claimed Bob Melvin off waivers, traded him to the White Sox for Jeff Schwarz
Oct 5 1994: cut loose Harold Reynolds, springboarding him to his future job on ESPN Baseball Tonight
Nov 20 1994: FA signing of Mitch Williams (still hadn't recovered from the Carter blast in the 1993 WS, never did)
Dec 14 1994: FA signing of Lee Smith (I bet they were thinking "two-headed closer monster" at this point)
--
Apr 13 1995: got Tony Phillips from the Tigers for Chad Curtis, effectively ending Chad Curtis' career (definitely the hype) as we knew it
Apr 16 1995: FA signing of (washed up) Rob Deer
Jun 1 1995: drafted Darin Erstad and Jarrod Washburn with their 1st- and 2nd-round picks (this one turned out okay)
Jun 19 1995: realized Mitch Williams and Rob Deer were washed up, released them
Jun 20 1995: amateur FA signing of Ramon Ortiz (this one turned out okay too)
Jul 27 1995: got Jim Abbott back and Tim Fortugno from the White Sox for McKay Christensen (#1 pick in the 1994 draft), John Snyder, Andrew Lorraine, and Bill Simas (none of these guys are in MLB anymore)
--
Jan 4 1996: FA re-sign of Chuck "Stabbed by Stilettos" Finley
Jan 9 1996: FA re-sign of Jim Abbott
Feb 15 1996: got Pep Harris and Jason Grimsley (still sucks) from the Indians for Brian Anderson (also still sucks)
May 27 1996: got Chuck McElroy from the Cubs for Lee Smith (do you realize that Greg McCarthy was the Mariners' version of Chuck McElroy?)
June 4 1996: drafted Scott Schoeneweis in the 3rd round (turned out somewhat okay, now a White Sock)
June 30 1996: FA signing of Vince Coleman (if you can't beat the Mariners, pluck someone from the 1995 team...)
Deadline day: got Greg Gohr from the Tigers for Damion Easley (also where Easley's career went to crap)
Nov 20 1996: FA signing of Dave Hollins (he'd lost his 1993 Phillies magic by this point)
Nov 26 1996: got Allen Watson and minor-leaguer Fausto Macey for JT Snow (all those Salmon/Snow/Edmonds baseball cards hailing the group were now all for naught)
Dec 5 1996: PTBNL deal; got Jim Leyritz from the Yanks for minor-leaguers Jeremy Blevins and Ryan Kane
Dec 18 1996: FA signing of Eddie Murray (who is NOT your new Orioles manager)
--
Jan 9 1997: FA signing of Shigetoshi Hasegawa (yeah, he turned out fairly well)
Mar 31 1997: cut Jim Abbott (he would still pitch with the White Sox and Brewers)
Apr 14 1997: PTBNL deal; traded minor-leaguer Travis Thurmond to the Giants for all-time Mariner great Rich DeLucia
May 18 1997: got Tony Phillips and Chad Kreuter from the White Sox for Chuck McElroy and Jorge Fabregas
Jun 3 1997: drafted Troy Glaus, Chone Figgins, Scot Shields (a contributor or three to your 2003 Mariner collapse)
Jul 29 1997: PTBNL deal; traded Jim Leyritz and minor-leaguer Rob Sasser to the Rangers for Ken Hill (Ken Hill, like so many of the players off the good early-90s Expos, SUCKED once he left Montreal)
Aug 13 1997: PTBNL deal; George Arias, Ryan Hancock, and minor-leaguer Stevenson Agosto to the Padres for Rickey Henderson
Aug 14 1997: Eddie Murray cut
Nov 15 1997: FA re-sign, Ken Hill (why?!!)
Dec 7 1997: FA re-sign, Rich DeLucia (he was still ML-calibre at this point?!)
Dec 11 1997: FA signing of Omar Olivares (I'd laugh here, but the Mariners had him at one point)
Dec 19 1997: FA signing of Cecil Fielder (yipe)
--
Feb 23 1998: FA signing of Steve Sparks (he's still playing, I'll give him that)
Feb 27 1998: FA signing of Jack McDowell
Apr 1 1998: cut Tony Phillips
Jun 25 1998: FA signing of Erik Hanson (deathly curveball with that 18-9 season for the ol' 1990 Mariners, but never pitched a game for the Angels)
July 30 1998: minor-leaguers Brian Tokarse and Jason Stocksill for Charlie O'Brien (this man brought the goalie-style catcher mask into baseball)
Aug 7 1998: waiver claim, Jeff Juden from the Brewers
Aug 10 1998: got Mike Fetters from Oakland, cut Cecil Fielder
Sep 24 1998: amateur FA signing, Francisco Rodriguez (your 2002 bending-the-rules late-season callup)
Nov 16 1998: cut Jeff Juden
Dec 11 1998: Mo Vaughn signing
Dec 23 1998: FA signing of Tim Belcher (this set up the bout with spinkicking Chan Ho Park)
--
Mar 29 1999: traded Phil Nevin and minor-leaguer Keith Volkman to the Padres for Andy Sheets and minor-leaguer Gus Kennedy (someone once said on TV that Andy played like Sheets)
Mar 30 1999: Dave Hollins and cash to Toronto for Tomas Perez, finally cut Rich DeLucia
Jun 2 1999: drafted John Lackey and Alfredo Amezaga (once again, contributors to the 2003 demise of your Seattle Mariners)
Jul 29 1999: traded Omar Olivares and Randy Velarde to Oakland for Jeff Davanon and minor-leaguers Elvin Nina and Nathan Haynes
Aug 6 1999: cut Charlie O'Brien
Aug 9 1999: cut Jack McDowell (his contributions now appear at Yahoo Sports and on albums by his band Stickfigure)
Oct 1 1999: Bill Bavasi resigns as Angel GM
So there's the major moves that mean something from the Bavasi Angels era. I still wish I could pin the Bottenfield and Kennedy for Edmonds deal on him, but sadly, I can't.
But I guess what I'm getting at here is that after four solid months of endless bitching about the Mariners and watching the ship sink, for just one moment, I want to not be pissed off. And until some moves are made, I'm just taking a tiny bit of respite from Mariner bitching, or at least bitching that has a lot of vitriol.
This was going to be the part where I was going to say I wasn't gonna bitch about Bavasi until he did something comparable to trading Jim Edmonds for Adam Kennedy and Kent Bottenfield (on the heels of a one-year wonder 18-7 season), but that was after Bavasi had fled the coop at the Big A.
So to kill some time here, I'm using the fairly-new Baseball-Reference.com transactions feature to look at some notable moves of 1994-1999, also known as the Bill Bavasi years in Anaheim.
Jan 31 1994: FA signing of Bo Jackson (Bo knows injuries)
Mar 28 1994: FA signing of Rex "Pot Fiend" Hudler
Jul 22 1994: claimed Bob Melvin off waivers, traded him to the White Sox for Jeff Schwarz
Oct 5 1994: cut loose Harold Reynolds, springboarding him to his future job on ESPN Baseball Tonight
Nov 20 1994: FA signing of Mitch Williams (still hadn't recovered from the Carter blast in the 1993 WS, never did)
Dec 14 1994: FA signing of Lee Smith (I bet they were thinking "two-headed closer monster" at this point)
--
Apr 13 1995: got Tony Phillips from the Tigers for Chad Curtis, effectively ending Chad Curtis' career (definitely the hype) as we knew it
Apr 16 1995: FA signing of (washed up) Rob Deer
Jun 1 1995: drafted Darin Erstad and Jarrod Washburn with their 1st- and 2nd-round picks (this one turned out okay)
Jun 19 1995: realized Mitch Williams and Rob Deer were washed up, released them
Jun 20 1995: amateur FA signing of Ramon Ortiz (this one turned out okay too)
Jul 27 1995: got Jim Abbott back and Tim Fortugno from the White Sox for McKay Christensen (#1 pick in the 1994 draft), John Snyder, Andrew Lorraine, and Bill Simas (none of these guys are in MLB anymore)
--
Jan 4 1996: FA re-sign of Chuck "Stabbed by Stilettos" Finley
Jan 9 1996: FA re-sign of Jim Abbott
Feb 15 1996: got Pep Harris and Jason Grimsley (still sucks) from the Indians for Brian Anderson (also still sucks)
May 27 1996: got Chuck McElroy from the Cubs for Lee Smith (do you realize that Greg McCarthy was the Mariners' version of Chuck McElroy?)
June 4 1996: drafted Scott Schoeneweis in the 3rd round (turned out somewhat okay, now a White Sock)
June 30 1996: FA signing of Vince Coleman (if you can't beat the Mariners, pluck someone from the 1995 team...)
Deadline day: got Greg Gohr from the Tigers for Damion Easley (also where Easley's career went to crap)
Nov 20 1996: FA signing of Dave Hollins (he'd lost his 1993 Phillies magic by this point)
Nov 26 1996: got Allen Watson and minor-leaguer Fausto Macey for JT Snow (all those Salmon/Snow/Edmonds baseball cards hailing the group were now all for naught)
Dec 5 1996: PTBNL deal; got Jim Leyritz from the Yanks for minor-leaguers Jeremy Blevins and Ryan Kane
Dec 18 1996: FA signing of Eddie Murray (who is NOT your new Orioles manager)
--
Jan 9 1997: FA signing of Shigetoshi Hasegawa (yeah, he turned out fairly well)
Mar 31 1997: cut Jim Abbott (he would still pitch with the White Sox and Brewers)
Apr 14 1997: PTBNL deal; traded minor-leaguer Travis Thurmond to the Giants for all-time Mariner great Rich DeLucia
May 18 1997: got Tony Phillips and Chad Kreuter from the White Sox for Chuck McElroy and Jorge Fabregas
Jun 3 1997: drafted Troy Glaus, Chone Figgins, Scot Shields (a contributor or three to your 2003 Mariner collapse)
Jul 29 1997: PTBNL deal; traded Jim Leyritz and minor-leaguer Rob Sasser to the Rangers for Ken Hill (Ken Hill, like so many of the players off the good early-90s Expos, SUCKED once he left Montreal)
Aug 13 1997: PTBNL deal; George Arias, Ryan Hancock, and minor-leaguer Stevenson Agosto to the Padres for Rickey Henderson
Aug 14 1997: Eddie Murray cut
Nov 15 1997: FA re-sign, Ken Hill (why?!!)
Dec 7 1997: FA re-sign, Rich DeLucia (he was still ML-calibre at this point?!)
Dec 11 1997: FA signing of Omar Olivares (I'd laugh here, but the Mariners had him at one point)
Dec 19 1997: FA signing of Cecil Fielder (yipe)
--
Feb 23 1998: FA signing of Steve Sparks (he's still playing, I'll give him that)
Feb 27 1998: FA signing of Jack McDowell
Apr 1 1998: cut Tony Phillips
Jun 25 1998: FA signing of Erik Hanson (deathly curveball with that 18-9 season for the ol' 1990 Mariners, but never pitched a game for the Angels)
July 30 1998: minor-leaguers Brian Tokarse and Jason Stocksill for Charlie O'Brien (this man brought the goalie-style catcher mask into baseball)
Aug 7 1998: waiver claim, Jeff Juden from the Brewers
Aug 10 1998: got Mike Fetters from Oakland, cut Cecil Fielder
Sep 24 1998: amateur FA signing, Francisco Rodriguez (your 2002 bending-the-rules late-season callup)
Nov 16 1998: cut Jeff Juden
Dec 11 1998: Mo Vaughn signing
Dec 23 1998: FA signing of Tim Belcher (this set up the bout with spinkicking Chan Ho Park)
--
Mar 29 1999: traded Phil Nevin and minor-leaguer Keith Volkman to the Padres for Andy Sheets and minor-leaguer Gus Kennedy (someone once said on TV that Andy played like Sheets)
Mar 30 1999: Dave Hollins and cash to Toronto for Tomas Perez, finally cut Rich DeLucia
Jun 2 1999: drafted John Lackey and Alfredo Amezaga (once again, contributors to the 2003 demise of your Seattle Mariners)
Jul 29 1999: traded Omar Olivares and Randy Velarde to Oakland for Jeff Davanon and minor-leaguers Elvin Nina and Nathan Haynes
Aug 6 1999: cut Charlie O'Brien
Aug 9 1999: cut Jack McDowell (his contributions now appear at Yahoo Sports and on albums by his band Stickfigure)
Oct 1 1999: Bill Bavasi resigns as Angel GM
So there's the major moves that mean something from the Bavasi Angels era. I still wish I could pin the Bottenfield and Kennedy for Edmonds deal on him, but sadly, I can't.
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