DECEMBER 11, 1939
BUSY WEEKEND OF TRADING AT THE WINTER MEETINGS
Movement at the winter meetings might have started slow but then the trades came in a fury as 4 deals were announced within a matter of minutes of each other. As it would turn out those deals proved merely to be the appetizer as the main course would come late in the evening when news broke of a major deal between the New York Gothams and Cincinnati Cannons.
GOTHAMS GRAB GUS GOULDING
A jaw dropping move by the transplanted Cincinnati Cannons as the former Baltimore club deals it's most effective pitcher the last few seasons but stocks up on draft picks. The complete transaction sees 26 year old pitcher Gus Goulding (12-17, 3.89) heading to the bright lights of New York City in exchange for a pair of first round draft picks - the Gothams first overall selection and the fifth overall pick New York had previously acquired from Washington - along with 30 year old catcher Jack Flint (.266,8,63) and 25 year old minor league pitcher Dan Adams. The Gothams pick up a highly touted pitcher who was a second overall pick in 1934 but has had his ups and downs with a bad Baltimore team the past 4 years. Goulding made a storybook big league debut in 1936 as a 23 year old, posting an 8-0 record and a 2.90 era following his mid-season promotion to the big leagues. Since then he has led the CA in losses, but then so have the Cannons, each of the past three seasons and is 38-59 over that period. There is no question he has the talent and New York is banking on a change of scenery helping Goulding take the next step in his development as a pitcher.
The Gothams came into the off-season with the goal to and a top level arm without having to sacrifice any of their key young talent including the "Million-Dollar Infield" of Walt Messer, Roosevelt Brewer, Mule Monier and Billy Dalton. In that regard the off-season has been a resounding success but some worry that in trading away Oscar Morse (more on him below) and Jim Birdwell the Gothams still lack the pitching depth necessary to climb out of the second division, a spot they have occupied since their WCS winning 1935 campaign.
This is the first move for the Cannons new management team and they certainly made a statement. It is a deal that could blow up in their faces if Goulding lives up to his full potential but after a period of assessing their organization it was determined that the new Cincinnati club needed an awful lot of pieces to overcome 6 years of last place finishes and some questionable draft selections along the way in order to get the organization back on track. With the top two picks (they already owned the #2 by virtue of another last place finish in the CA) and three of the top five the Cannons have an opportunity to give the team a big jumpstart. Adding veteran catcher Jack Flint is a nice pickup as well as he should help steady the young pitching staff. Adams, a 25 year old who had a rough season for AAA Toledo last year, is a player Cincinnati Scouting Director Rufus Barrell feels can perhaps step in to the back of the rotation.
"Adams is an extreme groundball pitcher," noted Barrell "and we are hoping our improving defense can help him out. And while we hate to part with such a great young pitcher as Gus, any Scouting Director worth his salt would relish the chance to have three of the top five selections in the draft. Makes having to handle my wife's complaints about me returning to work almost worth it," Barrell added with a smile.
We asked esteemed Chicago Herald-Examiner Sports Editor and frequent TWIFB contributor for his thoughts on the big deal.
PERCY SUTHERLAND's TAKE ON THE TRADE: To me--at first glance--it's a huge reach by the Gothams. It almost seems like they are going with name recognition only. That is a lot to give up for Goulding. And what scares me about Goulding is the amount of home runs he allows. I have a feeling this will not end well.
What New York is essentially betting on is that Goulding is better than Adams plus whomever the Cannons get at 1 and 5 (ignoring Flint, who I've always liked at catcher). I don't see that equation working out. To me, it looks like Cincinnati wins that deal.
AFTERNOON FLURRY OF MOVES
Prior to the headline stealing Gus Goulding trade there were 4 deals announced in a span of less than thirty minutes. The Detroit Dynamos were the busiest of the 16 teams as they were involved in three of the early deals including sending veteran outfielder Leon Drake to the Chicago Cougars and adding 36 year old pitcher Oscar Morse from the New York Gothams. Jiggs McGee takes a look at each of the early moves:
CHICAGO COUGARS acquire Leon Drake from the DETROIT DYNAMOS in exchange for Cy Sullivan, Tony Mullis and a 4th round pick
Like much of the league the Dynamos had a surplus of outfielders so the dependable Drake was deemed expendable. His numbers were down slightly last season but he is still a very talented corner outfielder and just might push Rich Langton to the bench with the Cougars. This move and the one we will discuss below for Detroit add a pair of quality depth arms to the Dynamos stable. Cy Sullivan is just 25 years old and a towering presence on the mound a 6'6". He went 13-5 last season, his second in the big leagues, and is a good back of the rotation arm but with the Cougars pitching staff depth it would have been tough for him to fit in the Chicago rotation. Chicago also parts with Mullis, a 21 year old outfielder who split last season between A and AA and has some big league potential.
CHICAGO COUGARS send SS Hal Wood and P Juan Pomales to the TORONTO WOVLES in exchange for pitcher Donnie Jones
A major deal involving a pair of young talents with the big story being the Jones brothers from Minnesota are reuniting in the Windy City. The Cougars acquired Johnnie Jones from Washington over the summer and the 21 year old who was taken 4th overall in 1936 was the highest selection ever for a Minnesota born pitcher. Donnie, nearly two years younger, outperformed his brother and was a 3-time High School All-American selection before going 6th overall to the Wolves in 1938. Now through a couple of deals the brothers are finally teammates for the first time (they went to 2 different high schools) and are each ranked in the top 15 prospects. Both pitched at AA last year and may be together in AAA Milwaukee come opening day next season.
Juan Pomales is an interesting prospect as well but I am shocked the Wolves would part with the younger Jones for him. Pomales is 25 years old and is a two-way player who put up pretty solid numbers (15-6, 3.84 with a .310 batting average and 9 homers) at Milwaukee last season. He is at the age where the time for him to contribute needs to be now and perhaps that is what spurred Toronto, coming off a terrible season a year ago, into action on this deal. Don't discount the value of Hal Wood either as the shortstop, who is also 25, hit .324 while playing plus defense in half a season at Milwaukee following his promotion from AA. The Wood pickup might spell the end of Frank Huddleston's days in Toronto as one of Wood or existing Wolves SS Charlie Artuso would likely shift to second. It is a move designed to make Toronto better now but Jones looks like the type of player that might make the Wolves regret the decision in a decade.
DETROIT DYNAMOS acquire P Oscar Morse from the NEW YORK GOTHAMS in exchange for a 6th round draft pick
The Gothams made this move well before news broke of the Goulding deal and for a spell I was worried just who might pitch for New York next season. The following was written before the deal with the Cannons went down:
If I didn't know better I would be thinking the Gothams PR department is preparing a promotion where a lucky fan gets to start on the mound every fourth day this season because right now they clearly lack the players necessary to make up a big league rotation in 1940. They dealt away Jim Birdwell last week and now the 36 year old Morse is gone to Detroit. New York was already desperate for pitching help and this just exacerbates the situation. Nate Spear was great last year but hurt half the season so it looks like the Gothams either have another big move or two coming or they are going to take a chance that highly touted prospects Bunny Edwards and Ed Bowman are ready. Bowman is just 20 and struggled mightily in AA last year while the 23 year old Edwards spent a fair bit of time in the Big Apple but facing big league hitters was more than he could chew. Even if Edwards and Bowman are ready and Spear can stay healthy the Gothams are still lacking the pitching to round out their rotation.
Of course as it turned out everything worked out for the Gothams with Goulding preparing to take his spot along side Nate Speer at the top of the New York rotation. Although, one can't help but think hanging on to Morse for one more year might have been a good safety net in case Speer gets hurt or one of the young arms struggles.
DETROIT DYNAMOS send C Packy Peck to the TORONTO WOLVES for 1B John Herrick
A depth move as the Dynamos add Herrick for a bat off the bench in exchange for Peck, a 25 year old with 9 career big league games under his belt who might make it as a backup catcher.
QUICK HITS
- An interesting sidenote from the big Gothams-Cannons deal. The two pitchers in the move, while almost polar opposites in prize pickup Gus Goulding and throw-in Dan Adams are actually good friends. They both grew up in Indianapolis and played against each other in high school and in college ball. Goulding at St Blane College where he was the second overall pick in 1934 and Adams, who is a year and a half younger, was a fifth round selection in 1936 out of Central Kentucky, which is in nearby Lexington, so joining Cincinnati, or their AAA affiliate which is located in Indianapolis, will almost be like a homecoming for him regardless of which level he ends up at.
- The Detroit Dynamos continued to be busy as they made another late move in sending outfielder Doc Love to the Cincinnati Cannons in exchange for an 8th round draft pick. The 33 year old is the latest in the pipeline of players and staff members who have moved down the road from the Motor City to the Queen City in recent days, following manager George Theobald. Love, 33, only spent half a season in Detroit after being moved from the Chicago Cougars at the deadline. He did begin his career with the Dynamos in 1931 before being shipped off to the Windy City in 1934. Last year Love hit .277 with 12 homers in 98 games between Chicago and Detroit. He is expected to challenge for a starting corner outfield role in Cincinnati but may end up platooning with either youngster Mike T Taylor or veteran Whit Williams.
- I can't wait to see what Donnie Jones does once he gets to the big leagues. It is worth remembering the kid is a high school legend at Minneapolis High. His 42-3 career mark is the highest all-time in the high school ranks as are his 677 career strikeouts. No wonder he was a 3-time High School All-American.
- Is there a better collection of young pitching talent either on a big league roster or the cusp of getting there than what the Chicago Cougars have amassed? Even when you take away Cy Sullivan, who is off to Detroit, the Cougars still have 21 year old Pete Papenfus, who is the hardest thrower in the game and just 21 years old and 24 year old Harry Parker (14-11, 4.19) already in Chicago. Then add in 23 year old Del Burns, a top 100 prospect who joined them in the big leagues late season. Plus we have the Jones boys, both ranked in the top 15 prospects leading the way in the minors along with 1939 second round pick Danny Goff Jr. also in the mix.
- The Cougars actually have a great mix of veterans and youth on their big league staff. Dick Lyons is 39 years old but just over a year removed from his first Allan Award and he was joined by 35 year old Jim Lonardo, who has 4 Allan Awards on his mantle and both are still expected to be effective in 1940. Then you have 37 year old Allen Purvis and 36 year old Dutch Leverett rounding out the staff plus Milt Fritz, who is actually still just 30 years old but seems so much older because he will be entering his 12th big league season. Normally there would be concern about the age of the Chicago staff but the organization has done an exceptional job making sure there is young talent ready to take over whenever the aging arms show signs of wearing out.
- While the Detroit Dynamos have been very busy the past few days is anyone else wondering when the Pittsburgh Miners or Boston Minutemen are going to make a move to keep piece. Nothing overwhelming by Detroit and some might feel if anything perhaps they have lost a little offense with the decisions to move outfielders Leon Drake and Doc Love but you have to like their pitching depth. The way the Fed stands right now it seems like 1940 might be the year the Dynamos get a pennant after two consecutive second place finishes. Of course there are likely still a lot of deals to be made over the winter.
The Week That Was
Current events from the week ending 12/10/1939
- The League of Nations give Russia 24 hours to recall their army from Finland and participate in a peaceful discussion of Finnish-Russian problems.
- As the Finns look to other nations for help, and not just hollow ultimatum's, but they are reporting to have slowed the Red Army's advance along their coastline.
- Great Britain counts the loss of it's fifth minesweeper today among the casualties of a war that has reached 100 days and shows no signs of slowing. In addition, four merchant ships are said to be long overdue and presumed lost.
- The Nazi Consul in the United States is set to conduct it's own investigation into the murder of it's Consulate secretary in Brooklyn last week.