Trade Deadline Review: 2000

This is the fifth in a series of posts taking a look at the trade deadline action in each season during the CFCL’s first 29 years. Specifically, for each season we’ll look at each team’s trading turnover in the 3-4 weeks before the trading deadline. Individual deals will continue to be listed (though not analyzed) in the “This Week in CFCL History” posts.

Previous posts in this series:

1: 1984-1987
2: 1998-1999
3: 2001
4: 2002

Here’s what went on in 2000.

2000
Trade Deadline: August 1 (first Tuesday after July 31)
Number of Teams / Number of Trades: 8 teams, 5 trades
Number of Players Changing Hands: 21 players, 11 Rotation Draft picks
Busiest Teams: Dem Rebels, Harry’s Witzke a Go-Go (2 trades each)
Contenders: Bruce’s Witzke a Go-Go, Dem Rebels, David’s Copperfields
Rebuilders: Six Packs, David’s Ruffins, Eric’s Lambchops, Nick’s Picts, Matt’s Hard Hats

2000 was a big year for the CFCL. Two teams had dropped out after the previous season and we not only replaced them, but added two additional teams, bringing the total membership up to 12 teams for the first time. Three of the four teams took part in trading activity in the weeks leading up to the deadline.

MATT’S HARD HATS

Acquired	Traded	Results
Tony Gwynn Ugueth Urbina 12th round pick 16th round pick	Reggie Sanders 4th round pick	The expansion Hard Hats had spent nearly the entire season in last place, so when the trading deadline came around, there was no question about which direction they would go.   In a late-July deal with the Go-Go, they picked up an aging future Hall of Famer and a closer recovering from surgery.     By the time the season ended, the Hats had thought better of rebuilding around a 41-year-old Tony Gwynn and cut him during winter waivers.   They did retain Urbina, who recovered from his surgery to save 24 games with a 3.65 ERA in 2001.   They also received a couple Rotation Draft picks from the Go-Go.  With the 12th rounder they select minor league pitcher Jake Peavy.  Peavy didn’t make his debut with the Hard Hats until 2002, when he won 6 games with a 4.52 ERA.  They kept him for another half a season before dealing him to the Stones in June 2003.  It wasn’t until 2004 that Peavy had his breakout season.   With the 16th round pick, the Hats selected another minor league pitcher, Sean McGowan, who never made it to the majors.

 NICK’S PICTS

Acquired	Traded	Results
Michael Barrett Calvin Murray Ramon Martinez	Robin Ventura 7th round pick 8th round pick	The Picts were one of the Hard Hats’ fellow expansion teams in 2000, and like the Hats they struggled all year and shifted into rebuilding mode.   In an early July deal with Dem Rebels, they acquired three players off the Rebels’ reserve roster.  The Picts may have started rebuilding with the best intentions, but fell down on the execution side of things … they waived all three players they acquired just a few months later during Winter Waivers.   To make matters worse, the rebuilding Picts actually gave away 2001 Rotation Draft picks in this deal …

 ERIC’S LAMBCHOPS

Acquired	Traded	Results
John Snyder John Roskos Angel Echevarria	Dmitri Young Rick Aguilera	It’s not just the newbies that were having trouble grasping the mechanics of rebuilding in 2000.    The veteran Lambchops, mired in 9th place, acquired three players from the Go-Go in a mid-July deal.  They cut two of them during Winter Waivers, and the third before Draft Day 2001.

 DAVID’S RUFFINS

Acquired	Traded	Results
Ryan Dempster Marcus Giles	Phil Nevin 15th round pick 16th round pick 17th round pick	Ah, that’s a little better.  The Ruffins kept both of the players they acquired going into the following season.  Dempster won 15 games in 2001, although with a very high 4.94 ERA.     Giles remained in the Ruffins’ minor league system until June 2001, when they traded him to Dem Rebels in a deal for closer Antonio Alfonseca.   Here’s another rebuilding team that gave up draft picks, though in this case it made a little sense.     After acquiring Giles, the Ruffins had 6 minor leaguers to keep on their Reserve List going into the 2001 Rotation Draft.  There’s no way they would have used those late round picks anyway.

 SIX PACKS

Acquired	Traded	Results
Julio Lugo Adam Eaton John Patterson 8th round pick 13th round pick	Jeff Kent Greg Maddux Matt Mantei 14th round pick	Another veteran team, the Six Packs also did a decent job of obtaining something to build around.   Lugo gave them fair power and speed from the SS position (10 HR, 12 SB in 2001).  Eaton didn’t live up to his promise and a potential ace, and was just fair in 2001, winning 8 games with a 4.32 ERA.  Patterson was a bust and injured for the year.   The Six Packs took an interesting gamble with the 8th round pick the received.  They selected college player Mark Texiera in the hopes that he’d be drafted by an NL team.  It didn’t pan out, as Texiera was selected by the American League Texas Rangers, which meant the Packs were forced to release him.   They selected minor league pitcher Jerome Williams with the 13th round pick.  He did not debut until 2003, when he won 7 games with a 3.30 ERA.

 BRUCE’S WITZKE A GO-GO

Acquired	Traded	Results
Dmitri Young Reggie Sanders Rick Aguilera 4th round pick	Tony Gwynn John Snyder John Roskos Angel Echevarria Ugueth Urbina 12th round pick 16th round pick	The upstart Witzke a Go-Go were the only one of 2000’s four expansion teams to have a modicum of success in their inaugural year.   They entered July in third place -though they trailed the second place Rebels by 13 points and the first place Copperfields by 22.  Still, they made a couple deals aimed at rising in the standings – or at least holding on to third place.   Sanders was injured at the time the Go-Go acquired him, but he returned to hit .313 with 6 HR and 8 SB for them.   Young was even better, hitting .328 with 9 HR and 41 RBI.   Aguilera was the third attempt by the Go-Go to pick up some bullpen help, after previously acquiring closers Ugueth Urbina and Billy Wagner.  Urbina was hurt at the time they traded for him, but did not return as soon as expected and he was dealt to the Hard Hats as part of the deal to acquire the also-injured Reggie Sanders.  Wagner got hurt the day the Go-Go acquired him.   The third time must have been the charm, as Aguilera delivered 10 Saves with a 2.30 ERA for the Go-Go.   While the acquisitions weren’t able to lift the Go-Go in the standings, they did help secure third place, which was quite an achievement for their first season in the league.   Their nice work continued in 2001 when they used the 4th round Rotation Draft pick they received to select minor league pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who was subsequently traded a number of times before making his debut.

 DEM REBELS

Acquired	Traded	Results
Phil Nevin Robin Ventura 7th round pick 8th round pick 15th round pick 16th round pick 17th round pick	Michael Barrett Calvin Murray Ramon Martinez Ryan Dempster Marcus Giles	The Rebels trailed the first place Copperfields by as much as 20 points in June, but had cut the deficit to 11 points by early July.   Their pitching staff was rock solid – they led every pitching category except Wins, where they ranked third, so they made a couple July deals aimed at improving their offense.   They acquired third baseman Phil Nevin on the 4th of July, and he shot off fireworks for the rest of the summer, raking at a .340 clip with 14 HR and 46 RBI.   Even better, Nevin did most of his production from the Catcher slot.  Nevin qualified behind the plate based on games played the previous year.  The day after the Rebels acquired him, they completed another trade to bring third baseman Robin Ventura on-board.  Adding Ventura, allowed the Rebels to move Nevin to Catcher, where he put up Piazza-like numbers.   Ventura wasn’t quite as productive.  He hit only .215 after the trade, but did slam 8 HR with 32 RBI.   Adding Nevin and Ventura helped, but it wasn’t enough for the Rebels to catch the Copperfields and they finished in 2nd place.   As a consolation prize, though, they had all those Rotation Draft picks to use in 2001.  The Rebels must have made the inclusion of one or more draft picks a condition of any trade…   Here’s how they used them:   7th rounder- Bobby Hill (minor leaguer, dealt to the Ruffins mid-way through 2001 in the Alfonseca deal mentioned above.   8th rounder –Guillermo Mota (5.26 ERA)   15th rounder – Josias Manzanillo (3.39 ERA, 2 Sv)   16th rounder – John Wehner (.196 BA, 0 HR, 2 RBI)   17th rounder – did not use

 DAVID’S COPPERFIELDS

Acquired	Traded	Results
Jeff Kent Greg Maddux Matt Mantei 14th round pick	Julio Lugo Adam Eaton John Patterson 8th round pick 13th round pick	The Copperfields went wire-to-wire in 2000, never falling out of first place from the beginning of the season to the end, and at times pulling out to a 20-point lead on the rest of the league.   Still, the second place Rebels were making a charge, so at the trade deadline the Copperfieds completed a deal aimed at solidifying their league.   The deal was a success all the way around:  Kent hit over .340 with 9 HR and 36 RBI.  Maddux won 7 games while posting a 2.30 ERA and 0.91 RATIO.  Matnei saved 10 games with a sub 2.00 ERA.   In the end, the Coppers hung on to secure the 2000 Championship, winning by 9.5 points. In 2001, they selected minor league slugger Morgan Ensberg with the 14th round pick they had acquired.  Ensberg would turn out to play a key role in a mid-season deal later that year.

2000 Standings at Trade Deadline and End of Season (click to embiggen)