Giving Away Draft Picks for Mediocre Veterans is Silly

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 17, 2009 11:58 PM EST

The Rays had two picks in the first five rounds of the 2000 draft. This after finishing with 69 wins in 1999. With the sixth overall pick, the Rays grabbed Rocco Baldelli and when their next pick came (number 136) they selected Jace Brewer. The second, third, and fourth round picks were given up as compensation. To summarize:

Pick 46 to the Reds for Juan Guzman. They would pick Dane Sardinha. Xavier Nady is the only notable pick that came immediately after, and nobody before is worth discussion.

Pick 76 to the Cubs for Steve Trachsel. Nic Jackson was the pick, Grady Sizemore went at pick 75, and Nook Logan at pick 78. Giant Chris Young went later in the round.

Pick 106 to the Braves for Gerald Williams. Zach Miner was nabbed, the three picks before Miner were Todd Wellemeyer, David DeJesus, and Cliff Lee, meanwhile the three after: Cory Vance, Mark Woodyard, and Mewelde Moore. Yes, the most notable player that followed Miner is known for his football career, not his baseball doings.

How did those three players contribute? Well Guzman pitched one and two-thirds innings for the Rays before his arm exploded, so that's no good. Trachsel hung around for nearly 140 innings and finished his season with a FIP of 4.92. The Rays would package Trachsel for Brent Abernathy, so there is that. Williams once attempted to hit Pedro Martinez and -- like most of his at-bats -- missed wildly.

All together the Rays paid three draft picks and 20 million dollars, in return they received Brent Abernathy and some negative performance value to show for it. The worst part is this is hardly thinking in hindsight. None of those moves were all too intelligent at the time, yet the old Rays management completed them anyways. Giving up the chance to acquire young talent in place of mediocre old talent is just another data point on the record of idiocy.

Making reason of the old Rays mistakes is like trying to understand the Julio-Claudian family. In the end, they're still freaking insane.

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Comments

B-B-But LaMar is a genius!

Gosh, don’t you watch TBS?

by steve-o1285 on Jan 18, 2009 12:13 AM EST reply actions

LaMar's an idiot

Who is the guy behind LaMar who drafted BJ?

He’s not with the Rays anymore

by Raymondo on Jan 18, 2009 9:40 AM EST up reply actions

I think you're referencing Cam Bonifay.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 18, 2009 10:50 AM EST up reply actions

No, he's the old Pirate guy

this guy was mentioned not long ago. It cited his anticipation hoping PIT would take Bullington (they did) so we could get BJ

I think he’s with the Marlins now

by Raymondo on Jan 18, 2009 11:53 AM EST up reply actions

Dave Littlefield?

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 18, 2009 12:14 PM EST up reply actions

Yeah, that's Cam Bonifay

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on Jan 18, 2009 3:56 PM EST up reply actions

Dan Jennings

by RATW on Jan 18, 2009 7:28 PM EST up reply actions

Absolutely true

and even more apropos when considering a team with little chance of contending. One might argue that a team in position to contend might gain from taking a risk on a player like Trachsel if they need to fill out the back of their rotation, but for a team that is still building such a decision is suicidal.

by bobr on Jan 18, 2009 7:42 AM EST reply actions

I enjoy the fact that the 2000 team ended with the same amount wins.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 18, 2009 10:51 AM EST up reply actions

except that set this franchise back five years

by Raymondo on Jan 18, 2009 11:55 AM EST up reply actions

Bad processes deserve bad results.

Otherwise people get delusional. Luckily, LaMar and company were all ready delusional, so they proceeded to muffing things up anyways.

by R.J. Anderson on Jan 18, 2009 12:13 PM EST up reply actions

I can actually say i saw

Guzman’s 1 2/3 IP

Opening day v CLE, Indians scored about 10 runs in the first off him

by Raymondo on Jan 18, 2009 9:39 AM EST reply actions

Very close. Although they only scored 1 run in the 1st.

Here is the line:

1.2 IP 7H 8R 8ER 2BB 3K 2HR

The Indians ended up scoring 9 runs in the 2nd, 7 of them off Guzman. His last out was a strikeout of Manny Ramirez, followed by a home run by Thome that ended Juan’s career.

by bobr on Jan 18, 2009 12:57 PM EST up reply actions

Were the Rays bullied by the Diamondbacks?

There wasn’t much difference between the Rays and Diamondbacks going into the 1998 season. Neither team really had a better expansion draft and both looked tp be on similar footing after ’98.

In ’98 the Rays had eight players over 1m: (with OPS+ or ERA+)
Fred McGriff 5.5m (111)
Wilson Alvarez 4.5m (100)
Roberto Hernandez 4m (118)
Paul Sorrento 2m (85)
Kevin Stocker 1.8m (54)
John Flaherty 1.6m (39, really?)
Dave Martinez 1.5m (72)
Wade Boggs 1.15m (94)

The D’back had seven players over 1m
Andy Benes 6.45m (106)
Bernard Gilkey 5.05m (62)
Jay Bell 5m (106)
Matt Williams 4.8m (100)
Devon White 3.45m (106)
Willie Blair 3.25m (79)
Jorge Fabergas 1.05m (35)

It looked after 1998 that neither team made any great signings, with both having some hits and misses. Both teams finished last with very similar records.

The teams went into different directions during the 1999 offseason. Rays stood pat, only made one significant move in bringing in Canseco. During the 1999 season some players showed some minor improvements, some regression by the bullpen, but nothing major. They seemed to have the season expected by a second year team.

On the other hand, the D’Backs went crazy in the offseason. They brought in Randy Johnson (9.7m), Todd Stottlemeyer (8m), Steve Finley (5.4m), Luis Gonzalez (2m), and a few others. What happened? Everyone did well. Not just the free agents they brought in, but almost everyone improved from 98 to 99. Jay Bell had the best season of his career at age 33. Luis Gonzalez went from average at 30 to very good at 31. Matt Williams has a very good year. Their bullpen pitched extremely well. They finished 100-62 and won the west.

The D’backs front office did a pretty good job of assembling talent, but they also got very lucky. Everyone played well in 1999. The same team would win 15 less games in 2000 and finish third.

We all know what happened with the Rays in 2000. The question is whether the same would have happened if the D’Backs didn’t have such success in 1999?

by tallyray on Jan 18, 2009 1:42 PM EST reply actions

Probably not

That’s all there is to it really. They would have stuck with their 5-year plan; and there’s no way to know if it would have eventually been successful or not.

by kericr on Jan 18, 2009 3:50 PM EST up reply actions