A few notes about these posts:
1) For our purposes here, “trade deadline” action will reflect the trades made in the 3-4 weeks prior to the trade deadline (which, as we noted in an earlier post, varied from season to season).
2) For the most part, we’ll be looking at a team’s overall trading turnover in the weeks before the deadline, not individual deals.
3) Individual deals will continue to be listed (though not analyzed) in the “This Week in CFCL History” posts.
So let’s get started. This post will cover the trading deadline action in 1984 – 1987.
1984
Trade Deadline: June 15
Number of Teams / Number of Trades: 2 teams, 1 trade
Number of Players Changing Hands: 6
Busiest Teams: Copperfields (1 trade) and ForGoetz Me Nots (1)
The 1984 trade deadline saw only one deal – the only trade of the 1984 season, it was made right at the deadline. Given the trade’s historic standing as the first trade in CFCL history, the deal was covered in detail in a post on June 15.
As noted in that post, the Copperfields really came out ahead on the stats side of the equation, and they picked up 14.5 points in the standings following the deal. The trade almost proved to be a disaster for the ForGoetz Me Nots, as they ended up finishing in first place by a single point.
1984 Standings at Trade Deadline and End of Season (click to embiggen)
1985
Trade Deadline: June 22
Number of Teams / Number of Trades: 2 teams, 1 trade
Number of Players Changing Hands: 2
Busiest Teams: Copperfields (1 trade) and Friars (1)
Yup – that’s right, we were a bunch or wild men in those early days. Two trade deadlines, two trades total. And for a second year in the row, the only deadline deal was made between teams in first and second place at the time. Hey, we were still feeling our way and hadn’t had to face option year decisions, etc. We hadn’t yet mastered the art of the dump deal.
In the case of this trade, made the day of the deadline, the first place Copperfields sent currently-DLed pitcher Bob Welch to the second place Friars for pitcher Larry McWilliams. As related in the This Week in CFCL History write-up, the Friars came out ahead on this one, and it may not be a coincidence that the Copperfields dropped 9 points in the pitching categories in the 5 weeks after this trade.
In the end, neither team came out on top, as the Copperfields finished the season in 3rd place and the Friars in 2nd, both behind the 1985 Champions the Mudville Sluggers.
1985 Standings at Trade Deadline and End of Season (click to embiggen)
1986
Trade Deadline: August 5 (the first Tuesday after July 31)
Number of Teams / Number of Trades: 3 teams, 3 trades
Number of Players Changing Hands: 7
Busiest Teams: Bald Eagles (3 trades)
A little more action in 1986, as Bob Monroe and his Bald Eagles entered the league. Still, though there may have been more trades in number, in terms of the players changing hands this deadline is largely a “meh” – not much going on.
All three teams in action were contenders in ’86: By the first full week of July the Copperfields led the league, three points ahead of the Rebels, while the Eagles trailed in 4th, 12 points out.
Only the Eagles/Rebels swap of Murphy and Dysktra, made the day of the deadline, was really noteworthy, but we won’t go into the detail here. Check back on August 5, when Rich will have the full story behind that deal.
BALD EAGLES
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Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
|
|
Steve Lake
Jim Morrison Dale Murphy |
Alan Knicely
Graig Nettels Bill Madlock Lenny Dykstra |
Powered by Morrison (11 HR, 39 RBI) and Murphy (12 HR, 38 RBI), the
Eagles moved up to 2nd place by season’s end, finishing 7 points
out.
|
DEM REBELS
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Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
|
|
Alan Knicely
Lenny Dykstra |
Steve Lake
Dale Murphy |
Not a good deadline for the Rebels.
Knicely barely played and Dykstra fizzled (1 HR, 6 SB). They dropped to 4th by the end
of the season.
|
|
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
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|
Graig Nettels
Bill Madlock |
Jim Morrison
|
Madlock hit for average and drove in 32 runs, but wasn’t a huge
factor as the Copperfields held on for their first CFCL Championship.
|
Trade Deadline: July 21, trading between contiguous teams in standings allowed until August 31
Number of Teams / Number of Trades: 6 teams, 7 trades
Number of Players Changing Hands: 26 players, 3 waiver choices
Busiest Teams: Copperfields (4 trades), Bald Eagles (3)
Contenders: Copperfields, Bald Eagles, Crocketts
Rebuilders: Ruffins, Dem Rebels, Aces To Win
Now that’s more like it – a fairly busy month leading up to the trade deadline, and for the first time there was a pretty clear delineation between the rebuilders and contenders. Although trading was allowed after July 21 between teams next to each other in the standings, no such deals were made.
DAVID’S RUFFINS
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Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
|
|
John Smiley
Casey Candaele |
Doyle Alexander
Mike Easler
1987 waiver choice
|
Not a great rebuilding job for the sophomore Ruffins. They waived Smiley immediately upon
acquiring him – he had a 5.15 ERA at the time - but he won 13 games with a
3.25 ERA the following year. Candaele
lasted the season, but the Ruffins released him prior to the ’88 draft,
leaving them with nothing to show for this deal.
|
|
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
|
|
Dwight Smith
Matt Williams Chuck Jackson Fernando Valenzuela Lance McCullers Pat Pacillo 1987 waiver choice |
Mike Schmidt
Ron Darling John Franco Rich Gossage |
The Rebels show ‘em how rebuilding is done. They weren’t going to keep Schmidt at his
.46 salary, and got out from under a couple oppressive long term contracts
with Darling and Franco. They acquired
Williams, Valenzuela, and McCullers – all a penny each – and a promising
minor leaguer in Smith.
In terms of rebuilding, the Rebels’ didn’t see much payoff from these
deals. They waived Pacillio and
Jackson later in 1987, and dealt all the other players away during the
off-season.
The Rebels apparently did see some benefit, though – they rose two
places in the standings after the deadline to finish in 4th place.
|
|
Acquired
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Traded
|
Results
|
|
Terry Leach
|
Bill Gullickson
|
Like the Ruffins, the Aces don’t come away with much to show for
their rebuilding effort – they released Leach before the 1988 season.
|
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Acquired
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Traded
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Results
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|
Candy Maldonado
Ken Griffey Sr Glenn Davis Doyle Alexander Rich Gossage
1987 waiver choice
|
Tim Raines
Jim Lindeman Nick Esasky Nolan Ryan Dave Dravecky |
The Crocketts were in 4th place the month of the deadline
and were making a run at a money spot (the top 3 paid out in ’84). Maldonado and Davis provided good power,
combining for 22 HR and 84 RBI, but Alexander got dealt to the AL a few weeks
after the CFCL trade deadline.
Gossage pitched in 5 Saves, but it wasn’t enough to help the
Crocketts and they fell to 5th place in the final standings.
|
|
Acquired
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Traded
|
Results
|
|
Tim Raines
Jim Lindeman Nolan Ryan <Rich Gossage> |
Ken Griffey Sr
Candy Maldonado Rich Gossage Pat Pacillo 1987 waiver choice 1987 waiver choice |
The Eagles entered July in first place, and acquiring Raines was huge
– he hit .317 with 11 HR, 30 RBI and 23 SB after they picked him up. Ryan pitched great (2.28 ERA), but playing
for the Astros could only post 4 Wins.
In the end, Raines and Ryan helped but not enough to keep the Eagles from
dropping into 2nd place.
|
|
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
|
|
Mike Easler
Nick Esasky Mike Schmidt Ron Darling Bill Gullickson <Doyle Alexander> Dave Dravecky John Franco 1987 waiver choice |
Glenn Davis
Matt Williams Casey Candaele Dwight Smith Chuck Jackson Fernando Valenzuela John Smiley Doyle Alexander Terry Leach Lance McCullers |
Gullickson bombed and Easler’s contributions were marginal, but every
other pickup was huge: Esasky slammed
10 homers while Schmidt cranked 16 and drove in 55 runs; Darling and Dravecky
combined for 14 Wins, and Franco added 15 Saves.
It all contributed to a huge second half for the defending Champion
Copperfields, who rode their contributions to their second title and a
then-CFCL record 73 points.
|
1987 Standings at Trade Deadline and End of Season (click to embiggen)
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