Previous posts in this series:
1: 1984-1987
Last time we covered the years 1984-1987. After the ‘87 season the trade deadline was pushed back to the end of August for a number of years, so we’ll cover those years next month. For now, we’re going to jump ahead to 2001, when the CFCL trade deadline moved back up to July 31.
2001
Trade Deadline: July 31
Number of Teams / Number of Trades: 9 teams, 8 trades
Number of Players Changing Hands: 49 players, 7 Rotation Draft picks
Busiest Teams: Copperfields (3 trades) and Six Packs (3)
Contenders: Harry’s Witzke a Go-Go, Six Packs, David’s Copperfields
Rebuilders: Nick’s Picts, David’s Ruffins, Steve’s Stones, Da Paul Meisters, Dem Rebels, Eric’s Lambchops
Quite a difference between the almost timid trading that took place in 1987, the last season we examined, and 2001. Nine teams participated in wheeling and dealing in the month before the July 31 trading deadline, with just the following three teams sitting out the action:
Tim’s Maulers – 12th place at the beginning of July, finished in 10th
Matt’s Hard Hats – 9th place at the beginning of July, finished in 7th
DoorMatts – 2nd place at the beginning of July, finished in 3rd
Interesting that two of the teams that did nothing ended up rising in the standings, though it may have been more the case of their rebuilding competition falling past them. The DoorMatts, also inactive, had to survive a tie breaker with the Go-Go in order to claim third place.
Let’s look at how things went for the teams that did partake:
ERIC’S LAMBCHOPS
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
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Chris Donnells
Stubby Clapp Roosevelt Brown Ben Broussard |
Aaron Boone
Warren Morris Scott Sobkowiak Miguel Cabrera 7th round draft pick |
Clearly the Lambchops’ rebuilding plan was to acquire as many players with double letters in their names as possible.
Neither Donnells nor Clapp made it to 2002 with the Chops, but they kept Brown at a penny and Broussard, who was still in the minors. Brown wasn’t even worth the penny, and the Chops waived Broussard in early April, so they ended up with nothing to show for this deal. As negative outcomes go, though, that pales in comparison to the fact that the Copperfields stole young Miguel Cabrera (then on a .02 minor league contract) as part of this deal. Shed no tears for the Lambchops though – by the time Cabrera made his major league debut in 2003, the Chops were working on their second consecutive CFCL title (despite the woeful job of building for the future they did in 2001). |
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
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Sean Casey
Adam Eaton Peter Bergeron 7th round draft pick 13th round draft pick |
Jeff Bagwell
Robb Nen Mike Remlinger |
The Rebels let Eaton and Bergeron go during Winter Waivers after the season, and found Casey’s .36 salary to be too expensive and cut him prior to Draft Day 2002.
The Rebels traded the 7th round pick to the Meisters in an off-season deal and used the 13th rounder to select Japanese import So Taguchi, who had 15 ABs in 2002. |
DA PAUL MEISTERS
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
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Brian Jordan
Marlon Anderson Juan Castro Dave Veres 8th round draft pick |
Steve Finley
Jose Mesa Jim Brower Mike Thurman |
The Meisters cut Castro during Winter Waivers and released Veres prior to Draft Day, choosing to pay the buyout penalty on his long-term contract.
Jordan (18 HR, 80 RBI) had a good season for the Meisters the following year, and Anderson was a decent option at 2B for his .04 salary (8 HR, 48 RBI). They used the 8th round pick to select pitcher Zach Day, who contributed 4 Wins and a Save in limited action. |
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
|
Jim Edmonds
Darren Dreifort Jason Grilli Craig House |
Geoff Jenkins
Ken Griffey Jr Todd Hundley Jorge Toca |
Edmonds was a great rebuilding piece, providing 28 HR and 83 RBI to go with his .311 BA for the Stones in 2002.
Unfortunately, that was the extent of the Stones’ returns … Grilli and House were cut prior to Draft Day, while Dreifort missed the entire 2002 season to injury. |
DAVID’S RUFFINS
Acquired
|
Traded
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Results
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Junior Spivey
Matt Clement Wilson Betemit Jason Stokes 7th round draft pick 10th round draft pick |
Antonio Alfonseca
Al Leiter |
The result of two separate deals, the big payoff here was Clement. At just .03, he had a great 2002 for the Ruffins, winning 12 games with a 3.60 ERA and 1.21 RATIO.
Betemit and Stokes were both highly-regarded minor leaguers, who remained in the Ruffins’ minor league system for a number of years. The Ruffins eventually cut Betemit prior to the 2004 season, and traded Stokes (still a minor leaguer) to the Reservoir Dogs as part of a trade deadline deal in 2004. They selected minor league pitcher Jerome Williams with the 7th round pick. Williams eventually made his debut for the Ruffins midway through the 2003 season and pitched well (3.30 ERA, 1.26 RATIO, 7 Wins). They used the 10th rounder to choose Chad Hermanson, who didn’t contribute much. |
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
|
Steve Finley
Geoff Jenkins Ken Griffey Jr Todd Hundley Jose Mesa Jim Brower Mike Thurman Jorge Toca |
Brian Jordan
Dave Veres Marlon Anderson Juan Castro Jim Edmonds Darren Dreifort Jason Grilli Craig House 8th round draft pick |
The Go-Go started July in 5th place, but only 15 points out of first.
Finley and Griffey were huge pickups, combining for 23 HR and 84 RBI and a BA well over .300. Mesa was just as productive, providing 18 Saves with a 1.44 ERA. Both Jenkins and Hundley were on the DL when the Go-Go acquired them, but they returned later in the year to give a late season boost with 13 HR and 27 RBI between them. The deals helped the Go-Go finish in 4th place, but only losing a tie breaker to the DoorMatts kept them out of third. |
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
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Sammy Sosa
Jeff Bagwell Fernando Vina Robb Nen
Antonio Alfonseca
Mike Remlinger |
Sean Casey
Adam Eaton Peter Bergeron Rich Aurilia Brian Tollberg Kelly Johnson Junior Spivey Wilson Betemit Jason Stokes
1st round draft pick
7th round draft pick 10th round draft pick 13th round draft pick |
In 3rd place a month before the trading deadline, but only 11 points out of first, the Six Packs had the title in their sights and made a trio of deals that paid off big time.
In half a season, Sosa put up numbers that would look respectable for 162 games: .358 BA, 30 HR, 62 RBI. Bagwell hit .311 after the Packs picked him up, with 18 HR, 62 RBI and 6 SB. Even Vina pitched in with a .300 BA, 6 HR, 21 RBI and 7 SB. On the pitching side, Nen and Alfonseca combined for 28 Saves. The deals helped the Six Packs move up into second place by seasons’ end, but they still fell 9 points short of first. |
Acquired
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Traded
|
Results
|
Rich Aurilia
Brian Tollberg Hiram Bocachica Kelly Johnson Morgan Ensberg Abraham Nunez Mike Nannini
1st round draft pick
|
Sammy Sosa
Fernando Vina Shawn Green Curt Schilling Greg Colbrunn |
The Picts started July in 3rd place, but a plummet to 7th place by the middle of the month turned them into sellers rather than buyers, as they made two deals in the week before the trade deadline. The deals provided the eventual 1st and 2nd place finishers with significant fire power for their title runs.
How did they make out in terms of rebuilding? Of the players they acquired, only Aurilia, Tollberg, and Bocachica were major leaguers at the time and the Picts kept all of them going into the 2002 season.
Aurilia provided decent production as a SS (15 HR, 61 RBI), though it was quite a drop-off from the 37 HR and 90 RBI they had put up in 2001. Tollberg was a disaster (6.18 ERA) and Bocachica barely played and was traded to the AL mid-season. On the minor league side, Kelly Johnson has had the best major league career, though by the time he debuted in 2005, he was no longer a Pict – they waived him during Winter Waivers after the 2001 season in order to pick up JR House. Likewise, Nannini didn’t make it very far with the Picts – they waived him a couple weeks into the 2002 season in order to pick up free agent Darren Holmes. Nunez lasted a bit longer, playing in the Picts’ minor league system for two years before the Picts cut him prior to the 2004 Draft. He had been a highly-rated prospect at the time of the trade, but after the Picts acquired him it was revealed he was actually two years older than reported, dropping his stock a bit. The big payoff for the Picts was Morgan Ensberg. Acquired as a minor leaguer with a .02 price tag, he made his debut for the Picts the following season and went on to be a centerpiece of the Picts offense for the next several years, as they ended up signing him to a long-term contract through 2006. Over the course of his Pict career, he averaged a .375 OBP, 214 TB, 68 RS, and 71 RBI a season. In 2002, the Picts selected Jimmy Haynes with the 1st round draft pick they received, but he was a non-factor for them. |
Acquired
|
Traded
|
Results
|
Shawn Green
Aaron Boon Warren Morris Greg Colbrunn Scott Sobkowiak Curt Schilling Al Leiter Miguel Cabrera <7th round draft pick> |
Chris Donnells
Stubby Clapp Roosevelt Brown Ben Broussard Matt Clement Hiram Bocachica Morgan Ensberg Abraham Nunez Mike Nannini 7th round pick (Chops) |
The Copperfields held a 1.5 point lead over the 2nd place DoorMatts at the beginning of June, and they made one trade early in the month to pick up some infield help.
Aaron Boone hit for good average (.303) after becoming a Copperfield, but provided only fair power (8 HR, 35 RBI), while Warren Morris was a complete bust (.218 with 2 HR). Sobkowiak, acquired at the same time, pitched only one inning the entire year (in fact, his entire career). Despite the woeful production from that first trade, by the time the trade deadline rolled around, the Copperfields had opened up a 8.5 point lead over the Six Packs, who now sat in 2nd place. Sensing another title in reach, the Copperfields completed two more trades on the date of the deadline, and they paid off a little better. Shawn Green hit .319 with 19 HR, 41 RBI and 9 SB for the Copperfields. Colbrunn was injured at the time they acquired him, and he only returned in time to contribute 2 HR. Schilling and Leiter were both solid – Schilling won 8 games with a 2.57 ERA, while Leiter put up a 3.50 mark to go with his 5 Wins.
Although the production the Copperfields received from their trade deadline acquisitions pales in comparison to that of the Six Packs’ pick-ups, they were enough to maintain the 9-point gap between the two teams and the Copperfields secured their 10th CFCL Championship.
The story of the Coppers’ 2001 trade deadline doesn’t end there, though. There’s no denying that flags fly forever, but perhaps the Copperfields’ most lasting outcome of the 2001 trading deadline was the pick-up of minor leaguer Miguel Cabrera, who when on to become the centerpiece of the Copperfield offense from 2003-2007. He played his entire CFCL career for the Copperfields before being lost to the American League before the 2008 season. |
2001 Standings at Trade Deadline and End of Season (click to embiggen)
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