1989 was a special year for Cardinals fans.
1st World Championship in their CDL history
1st 100-wins seasons
1st playoff appearance
1st season over ,500 since 1975
To remember the losing tradition of the Cardinals, I decided to build an "All-star team" with the worst players that earned significant playing time with the Cardinals since I took control of the team in 1982. There are all kinds of terrible players, from the over-the-hill veteran to the rushed prospect, as well as bench players of minor leaguers stretched into a starting role.
CATCHER :
Gary Alexander (1984-89) : Alexander was literally picked up from the scrap heap, as a minor league free agent during the 1984 season. Alexander had spent all his career in the Yankees organisation, hitting ,125 in 144 AB in 1978-79. Alexander had one skill, a decent ability to collect walks. He did pretty well in 84 and 86, with OBPs of ,348 and ,333, although with marginal power. He was the main catcher in 1985, hitting ,183 in 322 AB, with 2 homeruns and 17 RBIs. He had a career year power-wise in 1988, with 6 Hr and 20 RBI in 161 AB, but still, it gave him only a ,205/,273/,379 line. Amazingly, he was still on the championship team of 1989, collecting 122 AB as the backup catcher, with a 516 OPS. He left as a free agent after the World Series. Cards already expressed interest in bringing him back as a coach.
Honorable mentions : Matt Sinatro had only 43 AB in 1982, but he was totally overmatched. Now 29, he's still in the
organization, as a career ,220 hitter in AAA. Darren Daulton played so terribly early in his career that he almost belonged on the team, but he had three decent seasons since. Other notable backups include Jamie Quirk (84-85) and Biff Pocoraba (83).
FIRST BASE :
Greg Walker (1984-88) : Walker isn't a bad player, and in fact he was one of the key player in the Pedro Guerrero deal. However, even though he was very talented, he hadn't turn his talent into skills and since he was already pretty old for a prospect, he was thrown to the wolves. He responded with a terrible 664 OPS in 1984, and remained the main 1B the next two seasons, with OPS of 733 and 692. It's a classic case of a talented player being rushed by a team in a terrible state, and for such a team, there are worst things to do. Walker was pushed gradually to the bench afterwards with the arrival of Fred McGriff, then to Cleveland in 1988, where he had career highs of 22 HR and 83 RBIs last year.
Honorable mentions : Bruce Bochte was a semi regular from 82 to 84, including two seasons where he didn't reach the Mendoza line. Like in a bad movie sequel, he came back to haunt the team in the nightmarish 1988 season when he signed a minor league contract and went 1 for 4 in a September callup.
SECOND BASE :
Rennie Stennett (1982-83) : Stennett was the main player in a pretty terrible platoon with Steve Ontiveros. He went homerless in 743 AB in those two seasons, posting a 576 OPS. Hey, he could play a bit of defense. The rest of his major league career consisted of 17 AB with the Angels in 1984.
Honorable mentions : Apart from Ontiveros, there's John Hale (84-87), who wasn't as bad since he could get on-base about 30% of the time, but was a terrible player to trade for. He came from the Giants with Mike Mason in a pretty terrible deal for catcher Charlie Moore.
THIRD BASE :
Wayne Krenchicki (1982-86) : Faced with a total black hole in the organization at the hot spot, the Cards promoted Krenchicki straight from A ball in 1982. He struggled with a ,203 average and a 533 OPS in 299 AB, was sent back to AAA where he had a good stretch, came back the next year and upped his production to a 588 OPS in 276 AB. For the following three years, he was a part-timer, splitting his time between majors and AAA. He's now out of baseball.
Honorable mentions : Krenchicki lost playing time when the Cards got Roy Howell (1983-86) from the Indians. Howell was a 30 years old minor leaguer who had flopped his major league trial with the Indians in the late 70s. his last major league action was in 1980, but right after the trade he became the starting 3B, rewarding the Cards with OPS of 728, 591 and 676. He's been on major league benches in Cincinnati and Philadelphia since then.
SHORTSTOP :
Glenn Hoffman (1983-85) : This position has been a mess for a long time, and Hoffman is the one who stayed there the longest. A former 1st-rounder, he came over from Cleveland in the same deal as Howell (for Dave Parker, no less). He improved in his 2 1/2 seasons as the starting shorstop, reaching a high of a 658 OPS in 1985. Unimpressed, the cards let him walk away as a free agent. He saw time in California, Philadelphia and Cincinatti since then.
Honorable mentions : Just to name a few, there was Dave Rosello (82-84), Ed Crosby (83) and Greg Gagne (1986-present). Milt Ramirez, once a great shorstop, completed his career with two painful seasons in St. Louis (1988-89).
LEFT FIELD :
Ron Kittle (1984-85) : Kittle was a semi-decent prospect, with good power potential, and while he could have been a decent bench player, it was a stretch to make him the starting left fielder, as he was in 1985. He did hit 18 homeruns, but managed to have an OPS under 700. Kittle was part of the first draft class under my management, as a 2nd round pick. It was a draft class to forget. Traded to Toronto, he became a starter for some other terrible teams.
Honorable mentions : Al Woods, a veteran who came to St. Louis to balance salaries in a trade, had some terrible numbers in 83-84. Veteran FA pickups like Lee Lacy (1985) and Terry Harper (1986) were disappointing.
CENTER FIELD :
Dwayne Murphy (1982-87) : One of my favorite players, Dwayne Murphy wasn't that bad a player. A former high draft pick (4th overall in 1978), he was stuck in the minors when I traded for him during 1982. He became my starting centerfielder right away. Murphy would be my main CF for the next six seasons. However, he had only two good seasons, his first one (,249/,391/,360) and his last one (,267/,365/,428). In between, he had trouble keeping his average up. His combination of power, patience and defense made him an intriguing player and I think, a player worth taking a gamble on. He used his good 1987 season to turn his back to the Cards and became a free agent, spending time in Houston and Chicago since.
Honorable mentions : Marvell Wynne (1983-86) somehow managed to get over 600 at-bats over the years. Don't ask me how.
RIGHT FIELD :
Pete Incavaglia (1986-87) : I expected a lot from my 1986 draft class, and while McGriff is a star and Thompson has been good, Mike Stanley, Kelly Downs and Pete Incavaglia were disappointing. Inky is a similiar player to Kittle, with even more power. However, a low batting average and few walks really prevent him from being a quality player. While he hit 37 homeruns in those two seasons, he had OPS of 654 and 667, showing very few improvements. He was used to bring Chili Davis in, from San Francisco. He improved with the Giants, but wasn't a regular last year.
Honorable mentions : Right field has been a solid position over the years, with Dwight Evans and Jose Canseco playing there. I still have to mention veteran John Milner (1985) and rookie Mike Diaz (1987-present).
STARTING ROTATION :
Steve Dunning (82-83)
Frank Viola (82-87)
Dennis Rasmussen (83-86)
Randy Lerch (83-86)
Desperate for help in the rotation in 1982, I traded for former 13-games winner Steve Dunning, who was 33 at the time. Bad move. He went 0-7 with a 6,22 ERA, then 2-2 with a 8,22 ERA the following. He never played in the majors after that. Viola was the first player I ever drafted, 8th overall in 1982. Rushed to the majors before he was ready, he lost 20 games as a rookie, but with a decent 4,51 ERA. He reached his peak in 1985, with a pretty good 3,06 ERA and a 9-12 record, striking out 185 hitters in 197 innings. Things went downhill afterwards, and 5,00+ ERA in 87 and 88 sent him to the minors, maybe for good. Viola maybe wasn't that bad of a pitcher, but so much was expected from him. Rasmussen should have been a 5th/6th starter. For a couple of years he had a more important role, leading to a 20-47 record, an ERA near 5,00 and almost as many walks as strikeouts. Lerch didn't see that much action, but he never should have. Even if his record is 2-6 with a 5,33 ERA, he probably overachieved.
Honorable mentions : A couple of youngsters didn't do as well as expected : Mike Mason (83-present), Floyd Youmans (86-87) and Kelly Downs (86-present).
BULLPEN :
Larry Rothschild (82-86)
Rich Rodas (83-87)
Tim Birtsas (85)
Rothshild saw regular action in 82-83 and had ERAs of 6,75 and 6,38. He spent the next three seasons between majors and minors, ending his CDL career with a 6,16 ERA, 93 walks allowed and 16 strikeouts in 111 innings. Pretty amazing stuff. Even in the minors his best ERA was 4,98. Rodas was a regular member of the bullpen in 85-86, even being the team closer for a brief period of time in 86, collecting 11 saves. That was his career year, as he had a 4,70 ERA, almost a run better than his career ERA. Amazingly, at 30 years old he seemed to have found control of his pitches and he could return to the majors. Birtsas went directly to the majors after being selected in the 4th round, and had a rough rookie seasons : 2-5 record, 6,67 ERA, 68 hits allowed in 56 innings, 27:42 strikeouts:walks ratio. He was returned to AAA the following year, and had success at first, but never returned to the majors. He has regressed since.
Honorable mentions : While there were no dominant relievers in those teams, there was not a lot of terrible relievers, but lots of journeyman. Some players had terrible cups of coffee, like Tony Arnold (1987), Dennis Kinney (82-84), Mark Mercer (82-84) and Terry Felton (86).
For the team who won the 1980 CDL Championship, the Chicago Cubs were penned in as being the team of the 80's before the decade got underway. A return trip to the World Series in 1982, in which they lost to the Baltimore Orioles would be their lone return to baseball's big dance. They close out the 80's with two terrible seasons and only SS Alan Trammell left from those dominating teams of the early 80's.
The Cubs Record in the 80's:
Year Win Loss PCT POS
1980 92 70 .658 1
1981 102 60 .630 1
1982 92 70 .568 1
1983 101 61 .623 1
1984 89 73 .549 2
1985 103 59 .636 1
1986 89 73 .549 3
1987 86 76 .531 3
1988 55 107 .340 4
1989 59 103 .364 4
It's a double dose of rookies as we get ready for the 1989 postseason! Here are the award winners for September...
In the AL, New York's Roberto Alomar lit up AL pitching with a .410 average, 9 doubles, 2 HRs, 14 RBI. For the season the #3 overall pick of the 1988 draft hit .341 with a .381 OBP, and .483 slugging percentage. He also had 206 hits, 38 doubles, 12 HRs, 90 RBI, 113 runs, and 36 stolen bases. Not only will Roberto be strongly considered for rookie of the year, he will probably garner some attention for MVP, quite a performance for a rookie.
Also considered were Seattle's Todd Benzinger (.337, 4 HRs, 12 RBI), Oakland's Nelson Santovenia (.323, 3 HRs, 11 RBI), and Oakland's Billy Ripken (.312, 2 HRs, 23 RBI).
In the NL, San Francisco's Erik Hanson was the best rookie winning 4 games vs. 1 defeat. He had a solid 3.52 ERA in 7 games spanning over 46 innings. For the year, Hanson won 13 games, lost 12, with a 4.34 ERA and a solid 1.27 WHIP. He was acquired by the Giants in a trade that saw Steve Finley going to Los Angeles after the Dodgers drafted him in the first round, 15th overall, in 1988.
Also considered were San Diego's Jose Lind (.293, 7 doubles, 11 RBI) and that's about it!
California's Mark Grace was named August rookie of the month in the AL after hitting .355 with 7 doubles, 1 HR, and 15 RBI. He also had a fine .407 on base percentage, and an .874 OPS.
In a very fine performance by the entire AL rookie class, New York's Roberto Alomar (.347, 8 doubles, 9 RBI), Baltimore's Jay Buhner (.333, 2 HRs, 18 RBI), Oakland's Bill Ripken (.330, 1 HR, 14 RBI), Baltimore's Mark McLemore (.315, 3 HRs, 19 RBI), and Toronto's Don Pall (1-1, 1.40 ERA) were also considered.
In the NL, Chicago's Dante Bichette put up the first solid month from an NL rookie with a .370 average, 8 doubles, 3 triples, 3 HRs, and 19 RBI. Bichette was Chicago's first round pick, 16th overall, in the 1988 rookie draft.
Also considered were San Francisco's Erik Hanson (4-2, 2.96 ERA), Chicago's Melido Perez (3-2, 3.12 ERA), Chicago's Don August (2-2, 3.21 ERA), and San Diego's Jose Lind (.283, 6 doubles, 9 RBI).
I bet most of you didn’t know that the ATR has analyzed over 200 trades now. That’s right, the ATR has looked at more trades than most of you have made in your entire lives. I need to come up with a good gimmick for Volume 50 of the ATR, which is coming soon to a CDL newspaper near you. If you have any ideas, feel free to post them on the message board, since none of you like to E-Mail me.
Boston receives C Geno Petralli and P Dave Littlefield.
Houston receives Boston’s second round Amateur draft choice in 1991.
This issue of the ATR Report is brought to you by the Houston Astros Fire Sale. Mostly because the first three trades are the Astros tossing players over board and falling into the murky depths of the NL West.
What did the Astros surrender for a late second round pick? (Look, the Red Sox are the favorite to make the playoffs every year until proven otherwise, especially considering the other four AL East teams have been rebuilding for quite a while.) Petralli is a solid catcher. He can draw a walk, hit a home run and hit against lefthanders without embarrassing himself. If properly used, he can be a valuable player on your team. If you let him face lefthanders with any regularity, he becomes something of a liability. There aren’t many players in the CDL like that, but you have to be careful about using one of them the wrong way. Littlefield was a closer in LA two years ago. However, something else must have happened two years, because Littlefield has been awful since then. The Red Sox keep sending him out there, so they see something I don’t. Anyway, the chances that the Red Sox would get a better catcher late in the second round of the draft next season is low.
Winner: Boston
Pittsburgh receives 1B Dave Bergman and 2B Julio Cruz.
Houston receives Los Angeles’s third round Amateur draft choice in 1991.
Here’s a real head scratcher of a deal. The Astros basically gave away two quality players. Dave Bergman has been a good first baseman for the entire decade and was an All-Star the last three seasons. The Pirates were able to patch a large hole in their lineup by adding Bergman. And this is a bit of a homecoming for him, since it has been ten seasons since the Pirates traded Bergman to the Astros. Additionally, the Pirates added a quality utility infielder in Julio Cruz. Well, Cruz can play defense and draw walks, but hasn’t hit since the last time the Cubs were good.
The Astros received nothing here. I can’t even figure out why they made this deal, unless they were looking to get rid of anything veteran. It’s always this deal, the one where the rebuilding team sends away a veteran for the sake of sending away veterans that angers the ATR. And the ATR is angered by this deal.
Winner: Pittsburgh
Los Angeles receives 2B Willie Randolph and P Mike Henneman
Houston receives CF Steve Finley and Boston’s first round Amateur draft choice in 1990.
The final of the troika of Astro trades to be analyzed this edition of the ATR report. Willie Randolph is a good defensive second baseman and good at getting on base. However, he has no power, as evidenced by his On Base Percentage being higher than his Slugging Percentage. He’s still valuable, but makes too much money. The real analysis of this deal is what you think of Mike Henneman. He’s lost some of his talent since being traded, but it isn’t fair to penalize the Dodgers in analysis for that. Before the drop, Henneman looked like one of the best young closers in the league. On the other hand, isn’t the closer the most overrated player? I mean, he is a pitcher who throws around 70 innings of games that the rest of the team has won. Does having Henneman convert saves instead of Joe Average make much of a difference? I think not.
The other player in the deal went to Houston. Steve Finley was the tenth pick overall this season, but has been traded twice this year and is a stop in San Diego away from being on all four NL West squads. Finley has talent and should be ready to start next season. However, his value is mostly in his ability to be good at a number of things without being great at anything. That’s a scary proposition for a prospect. The Astros also added another first round pick, which gets them to six in the next two seasons. Along with the second best farm system in the CDL, the Astros could be on the rebound in a hurry.
Winner: Houston
Philadelphia receives 1B George Brett
Atlanta receives Philadelphia’s second round Amateur draft choices in 1990 and 1991.
The Phillies are out to shoot the moon this season. And the team chasing them has helped the Phillies to reload their offense. Brett is a future Hall of Famer and one of the best players to ever play 3B. The Phillies, wisely moved Brett back to 3B after years of playing 1B for the Braves. Obviously, Brett is more valuable at 3B and in many ways is the player that the Phillies have needed to add.
This move doesn’t make much sense for the Braves. They could really use Brett’s offense as they march towards the playoffs. Even worse, they sent him to the team they are fighting for the NL East. And, the Braves didn’t get much back for Brett. Two second round picks aren’t exactly going to pave the path back to the top of the NL East in seasons to come.
Winner: Atlanta
Cincinnati receives SS Ozzie Smith and OF Rudy Law
Kansas City receives 3B Charlie Hayes, OF Jerald Clark and Cincinnati’s second and third round Amateur draft choices in 1990.
Ozzie Smith will be a Hall of Famer someday. What is more significant about this deal is that the Reds think they are contenders next season. Smith is still a top flight shortstop, but not young enough to build around. He will still be good next season as well, but the Reds need to surround him with more talent than what he has at the moment. Rudy Law seems to be a perpetually underappriciated player. A good fielder, a basestealing threat and a solid hitter, yet he never gets the playing time you would expect. Cincinnati might be the place he finally gets to play.
What makes this deal bizarre is that the Royals were in contention at the time of the deal and they really don’t have anyone to replace the Wizard. Oh, and all the players they got in return suck. Charlie Hayes is likely to never be a starter anywhere. He can only play the infield corners and doesn’t hit enough to stand there in the Bigs. Jerald Clark is older and plays the outfield corners, but is basically the same player. Still not an asset for the Royals. And a second and third round draft pick? Nothing spectacular. I think I would rather have Rudy Law than anything the Royals got in return.
Winner: Cincinnati
With that, I will be back next season to dispense my wisdom and wit to the latest trades and fire sales by teams that make the World Series.