Hold Off on Pointless Baseball Trades
Alan Schwarz recently centered a wise and touching piece in the New York Times on his five year old son’s reaction to the Mets’ trade of pitcher, Francisco Rodriguez. Traumatized by the sudden loss of his favorite player, whom the Mets claimed they could not afford, the poor boy offered the contents of his own piggybank -- $29.03.
That little boy was once me. Okay, I was 13, not 5, when the Yankees traded Bobby Murcer for Bobby Bonds, but my reaction evinced the purity and immaturity of a five year old. I pitched a fit that lasted weeks. How could the team I’d lived and died with so betray me? While most Yankee fans celebrated the acquisition of baseball’s most talented player, I swore off ever rooting for the team again.
This reaction wasn’t quite as crazy as it may sound. My days as a serious fan began in 1965, just as a Yankees’ dynasty withered. With Mickey Mantle a shell of his superstar self, the defending American League champs dropped to sixth place, and we knew things would get worse before they got better. The only hope was a prospect named Murcer. From Oklahoma like Mantle, and signed by the same scout, Bobby Murcer was the Mick’s heir apparent. He never lived up to that promise, but he was our guy, and during the Murcer era (1969-74) the team did have its moments. In ’74, we fought the Orioles down to the wire, finishing in an encouraging second place. Weeks later, Murcer was gone.
At first the trade for the uber-talented Bonds looked like a steal for the Yankees, but for a while in ‘75 revisionism took hold. New York’s initial post-trade giddiness gave way to the sober reality that Bonds was somehow less than the sum of his parts. Meanwhile, Murcer had a great first half and it briefly looked as if maybe the Giants, not the Yankees, had pulled off the heist.
In retrospect, all the fuss over this historic deal (the first ever trade between two players with six figure salaries) seems like much ado over little. The initial Yankees’ euphoria, and subsequent Giants’ euphoria, both proved short-lived. Neither team won the pennant. The Yankees traded Bonds after a single season and Murcer lasted just two in the bay area. The main thing to come of the trade is a new phrase (used by my brother and me to this day) to describe a ballyhooed trade that proves inconsequential for both teams: “Murcer-Bonds.”
Over the years, we’ve realized that major trades often turn out to be Murcer-Bonds. There are exceptions, of course, but few teams transform themselves via trades. And that brings us back to Alan Schwarz’s five year old son. The pain felt by him and fans everywhere when their favorites are sent packing tends to be gratuitous, because few trades are necessary or even particularly helpful.
Consider that the Mets recently let go of Francisco Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran, and may soon get rid of Jose Reyes – why exactly? Not because they aren’t good players. In fact, they’re the best the Mets have. But they will soon be free agents and expect to cash in. Jettisoning them will give the Mets prospects and enable the team to pursue . . . free agents. Of course, there’s no reason to think the players they obtain will be better than Rodriguez, Beltran, and Reyes. (The grass only seems greener on the other side.) Yet this is what teams routinely do: run a revolving door, via trades or free agency, whose main effect is to deprive fans of the players of whom they’d grown fond.
Theo Epstein has done a great job as Red Sox general manager, but his treatment of the shortstop position over the years is Exhibit A of pointless player turnover. Epstein acquired Orlando Cabrera in 2004 and the newcomer helped the Sox win the World Series. Cabrera’s reward? To be let go, because the front office preferred Edgar Renteria. One year later, they bid Renteria adieu. The parade of shortstops kept right on matching – Alex Gonzales, Julio Lugo, Alex Cora, Jed Lowrie, Nick Green, Marco Scutaro. All of these guys were adequate, none great. Replacing them with one another calls to mind the ditty: “A cow kicked Nelly in the barn. Didn’t do her any good, didn’t do her any harm.”
But the shuffling of players does harm the fans who form attachments to players. While many fans essentially root for uniforms, for some fans the commitment grows personal. We want our guys to win, not merely our team. General managers should keep such fans in mind and follow a simple rule: when in doubt, don’t throw our guys out.
