Trade Deadline Review: 1990

This is the ninthin 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 were listed (though not analyzed) in the “This Week in CFCL History” posts.

Previous posts in this series:

1984-1987
1988
1989
1998-1999
2000
2001
2002
2006

Here's what when on at the trade deadline in 1990.

1990
Trade Deadline: July 10 (final out of All Star Game), trading allowed between contiguous teams until August 31
Number of Teams / Number of Trades:  4 teams, 2 trades
Number of Players Changing Hands:  20 players, 1 draft pick
Busiest Teams:  4 teams with one trade each
Contenders:  Mr. Paul’s Swordfish, David’s Copperfields
Rebuilders:  Eric’s Lambchops, Bald Eagles

What a difference a year makes. After the busy trade deadline of 1989 (10 trades involving 40 players), 1990 was virtually silent. 

For the third straight year, the Constitution dictated that only teams adjacent to each other in the standings could make trades after the All Star Game. This year, only one contiguous deal was made – a 7-player swap between the 3rd place Swordfish (53 points) and 4th place Lambchops (49 points).

Even before that, trading had been very light with only one other deal being made in July and August 1990.

By the time the free-trading deadline hit in mid-July, McGuire’s Picks held a 5-point lead over the 2nd place David’s Copperfields, and led the 3rd place Mr Paul’s Swordfish by 12.5.

The Picks apparently felt secure with their roster, as they did not complete a single deal around the trade deadline, instead deciding to stand pat (owner name pun intended). To be fair, they had completed a fairly significant deal in mid-June, acquiring Barry Bonds, Dickie Thon, John Smoltz, and Joe Magrane (see June 19, 1990 in This Week in CFCL History).

For a while, it appeared their gamble had paid off, as their lead over the Copperfields grew to 18 points by the beginning of August. By the end of the season, though, the Picks may have regretted not making a deal or two at the deadline … but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Here’s a breakdown of the teams that WERE active at the 1990 deadline.

BALD EAGLES

Acquired	Traded	Results
Rick Parker Jerome Walton Jay Bell Keith Miller Craig Biggio Jeff Parrett Andujar Cedeno	Ron Jones Barry Larkin Eric Yelding Mike Lavalliere David Cone Darryl Kile	The Eagles picked up a bundle of players, but they waived Parker, Walton, Miller, Parrett, and Cedeno before the 1990 season ended.   That left them with Jay Bell and Craig Biggio as carry-overs for the 1991 season.   Both players turned in good seasons in 1991, with Bell setting career highs (to that point) in BA (.270), HR (16), RBI (67), and SB (10).  Biggio contributed a line of .296-4-46-19, helping lead the Eagles to the CFCL Championship in their final season.

ERIC’S LAMBCHOPS

Acquired	Traded	Results
John Burkett Mark Grant Lloyd McClendon Mickey Morandini 1st round pick	Neal Heaton Bill Sampen Greg Olson	In what had become a puzzling trend for the Lambchops, they acquired a bevy of players in a rebuilding deal, but kept only one of them the following season.   That player was John Burkett, who won 12 games with a 4.18 ERA for the Chops in 1991.   The 1st round minor league draft pick the Lambchops acquired in the deal ended up being the #1 pick overall, and the Chops used to to snag future slugger Ryan Klesko.  They ended up dealing Klesko to Dem Rebels before he made it to the bigs, though.

 MR. P’S SWORDFISH

Acquired	Traded	Results
Neal Heaton Bill Sampen Greg Olson	John Burkett Mark Grant Lloyd McClendon Mickey Morandini 1st round pick	The surprising Swordfish found themselves with the chance at a 3rd place money shot, and possibly more.   They took advantage of their standings placement next to the 4th place Lambchops to make a late-season contiguous trade.  The players they acquired didn’t stink, but they didn’t provide nearly enough firepower to make an impact.   Heaton won 2 games with a 2.13 ERA, while Sampen also won a couple.  Olson hit .271 with a homer and 10 RBI.   The Swordfish ended up dropping in the standings, and David’s Ruffins snuck past them into the 3rd place and the money.

 DAVID’S COPPERFIELDS

Acquired	Traded	Results
Barry Larkin Eric Yelding Mike Lavalliere David Cone Ron Jones Darryl Kile	Rick Parker Jerome Walton Jay Bell Keith Miller Craig Biggio Jeff Parrett Andujar Cedeno	When the free-trading deadline hit in mid-July, the Copperfields were in 2nd place, but a distant 15 points behind the leading McGuire’s Picks.   They teamed up with the Bald Eagles on at the free-trading deadline and brought on a couple key parts for their second half effort.   Larkin hit for average (.295) and stole 9 bases, but didn’t deliver much power (3 HR, 29 RBI).  Yelding DIDN’T hit for power, but stole 33 bases after the deal.   Despite the significant influx of speed, the Copperfields picked up only one point in the SB category the rest of the season.   The big impact from this deal came from Cone’s 2.44 ERA and 9 Wins after the trade.  The Copperfields picked up 3 points in the ERA category in the second half of the season, edging ahead of the Picks by just 0.007 in the last week.    The edged the Picks in the overall standings, winning the 1990 CFCL Championship by a single point, though, truth be told, it was more the case of a Picks collapse than a Copperfield surge.  The Picks dropped 10 points in the second half.

1990 Standings at Trade Deadline and End of Season (click to embiggen)