[Syd Thrift]

Catch-up Edition!

Major Transactions
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There were still several to be had but I postponed them all to the offseason, which is officially... now, the 19th of October.

October 21: The Angels traded CF Norm Hodge (.232, 9, 48) and LF Nelson Vargas (.249, 5, 31) to the Indians for CF Carlos Hernandez (.279, 3, 15), CF Russ Deuser (.199, 8, 29), and P Andy Lagunas (8-16, 4.82). Even though this is kinda sorta the reverse, the impetus for this trade is, ironically, the one that moved Alex Johnson off the Angels IRL. I say "ironically" because I had that storyline involve Ernesto Garcia (.270, 65, 147) and CF Carlos Hernandez (.279, 3, 15) and decided that Cleveland decided to trust Garcia's obvious fabrication of Hernandez pointing a gun at him. Cal gets to move off of Hodge, who didn't hit very well in '71 and who is picking up a bit of a reputation for being a clubhouse lawyer. They also send off Nelson Vargas, who kind of fell apart offensively after a fine 1970 season, and get back a non-prospect in Russ Deuser and a former 21 game winner in Lagunas whom the Angels hope can lessen the gopher ball tendencies in the Big A.

October 21: The Red Sox traded 2B Dwayne Fraser (.308, 3, 25), RF Jun Kim (.283, 11, 43), CL Matt Brock (9-7, 3.79, 25 Sv), minor league C Ken Hall (.212, 7, 29 at AAA Louisville), RP Eddie Sanchez (2-2, 4.72), and "OF" Sergio Sicre (.256, 10, 62 at AAA Louisville) to the Brewers for SP Brian Osbourne (8-17, 3.46), OF Bruce Springsteen (.290, 9, 21), minor league OF Mario Hernandez (.284, 0, 11 in 88 ABs in AAA Evansville), and SP Alex Izquierdo (7-13, 2.74). An absolute blockbuster trade that at first glance just makes the 102 win Red Sox look even better. Springsteen is a prospect but a blue-chipper and the Brewers also gave up a couple of very good starting pitchers in this deal, receiving mostly Dwayne Fraser, who does deserve to start somewhere although the Brewers are pretty packed at 2nd, Jun Kim, who looked like he might be washed in the postseason, and the on-again, off-again closer Matt Brock, who I guess TBF did lead the AL in saves.

October 21: The White Sox traded P Ed Lagos (0-0, 4.11) to the Yankees for OF John Marsden (.197, 5, 30). Marsden was a disaster in both Milwaukee and NY last year and this is as much to get him off the roster as it is to take on Lagos, who was I guess OK in 1970.

October 21: The Expos purchase P Jeff Graton (6-5, 4.03, 3 Sv) from the Astros for $7,500. Graton was good in '70, not good in '71, and now he gets to reinvent himself in Montreal.

October 21: The White Sox traded OF Aaron Rhodes (.203, 1, 6) and minor league P Sherwood Polo (0-3, 5.65, 5 Sv in rookie ball) to the Phillies for P Hector Fernandez (0-0, 7.02). It's a new start for both sides here; Polo is a super-low minor league guy who will probably not ever reach the bigs.

October 21: The Cardinals returned P Ramon Lopez (0-0, 5.00) to the Royals following an earlier purchase.

October 21: The Mets traded minor league P Matt Owensby (8-11, 4.54 at AAA Tidewater), minor league P Tony Barcena (7-3, 2.09 at AA Memphis), minor league RP Paul Boerger (2-1, 3.86 at AAA Memphis), and SS Brian Wilcox (.230, 8, 31) to the Cardinals for OF Ethan Keesee (.358, 0, 8), minor league IF Logan Fletcher (.331, 1, 13 at AAA Tulsa), P Mike O'Leary (1-0, 5.48), and RP Rick Legere (7-4, 2.55, 8 Sv). The Mets kind of gutted their farm system for this move; Owensby, Barcena, and Boerger are considered 3 of their top 4 pitching prospects. They're also moving Wilcox, who's very good-field/no-hit but after having to live with Dusty McCully's average at best fielding, the Cardinals felt the need for a defensive upgrade. The Mets do get back a decent if blocked prospect in Keesee plus a decent looking chip in Fletcher to compete at 2B next year. And of course, Rick Legere, who was probably the best setup man in the league in 1971. He'll try and reprise that role with New York.

October 21: The Expos purchased P Erik Schnipke (6-5, 3.43) from the Mets for $2,500. Schnipke had a solid season with the Mets as a spot starter and middle reliever but is kind of pushed out. The Expos, on the other hand, can use all the pitching they can get.

October 21: The Brewers traded P Deshawn Maczyk (4-2, 4.28, 2 Sv) to the Giants for minor league P Freddy Lopez (4-9, 3.95 at AAA Phoenix) and minor league P Vitus Brennen (9-12, 3.51 at AA Amarillo). Maczyk should get a lot of opportunities to play for an iffy Giants' bullpen and the Brewers now seem to be into full-on... build? mode.

October 21 (actual transaction date!): The Royals purchased OF/PH Kyle Brown (.294, 7, 19) from the Senators for $10,000. Brown looks like a good prospect but was a little blocked / relegated to pinch-hitting duties in Washington so in spite of the Royals' crowded outfield this is a move that makes sense. Dammit.

October 21: The Cardinals returned RP Doug Ellis (1-0, 1.84) to the A's following a previous purchase.

October 21: The Dodgers traded minor league OF Simone Fabiano (.277, 1, 14 in AA Albuquerque) to the Phillies for OF Paul Stewart (.238, 0, 8). Stewart needs a change of venue following two injury-riddled seasons, while Fabiano is a decent prospect who looks like he's got the range to stick in center field.



News
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As the first day of the offseason, boy oh boy are there a lot of retirements...

Baltimore: P Yen-Ti Wei (no record in 1971) missed all of 1971 with a torn rotator cuff he suffered in September of 1970 and at age 37 decided to hang it up for good. The Taiwanese national finishes his career with a record of 118-119 and a very slightly below average 3.70 ERA. His best year would have been 1963, when he led the Detroit Tigers to a 14-7 record with a 2.69 ERA.

California: 3B Jordan Wooten (.257, 1, 9) wrapped up a long career, almost all of it spent on the South Side of Chicago, as a backup 3rd baseman for the Angels. In his tenure with the Chisox he went to 3 All-Star Games and was named the AL Silver Slugger at 3B in '66 with a record of .292/24/77, which was a lot for the mid 60s. He retires with a .263 career average, 278 HRs, and 939 RBIs. A White Sox HOFer for sure, if not quite a "real" HOFer.

Chicago (A): I had actually released Sebastiano Veneziano (.227, 2, 13) during the playoffs to make room for a player coming off the DL but it looks like he took the hint and retired anyway. As recently as 2 years ago Veneziano was a key member of the Washington Senators' lineup, posting a .304/17/71 mark with 197 hits. The bottom fell out rather quickly for him after that. He wraps up his career with a .265 career average in 2,529 at-bats spread across four teams (Washington, Philadelphia, Minnesota, and the White Sox).

Chicago (N): Mark Tooley (.197, 8, 29) signed on with the Mets after being cut by the Reds this year but didn't hit in either location. He likely still would have been in the mix for the Cubbies in 1972 but Tooley decided to call it on his own terms instead. He went to the summer classic as recently as 1969, when he wen .278/16/59 for a Cubs team who, at that moment in history, were actually pretty good (though not nearly as good as the Amazin' Mets that year).

Cincinnati: Jerry Martinez was a starter for 4 years with Baltimore in the early 60s and then kind of hung around as a 4th/5th OF and pinch-hitter ever since. He went to 3 AS games with the O's, the last one in 1963 when he slumped to a .240 BA (still with 25 HRs) which took him out of a regular spot in the lineup. Martinez always had power, finishing with 184 career HRs and 25 per 162 games.

Houston: A victim of a career-ending torn labrum injury in August, P Aaron Shepard (4-3, 3.56, 1 Sv) was a 10 game winner in 1970 who could never quite put everything together for an Astros team who, it should be said, could have used that arm down the stretch this year. He retires with a career record of 46-52 and a 3.54 ERA.

P Juan Lara (3-4, 6.06), who was released by the Astros in July and never did find a new club, decided not to keep it going. He went 18-4 as a starter for the Yankees in 1961 but was never able to back up that awesome performance. He nevertheless retires with a highly positive 87-52 record and a 3.23 ERA.

Kansas City: SS Carlos Altman (.195, 0, 12) was the Royals' Opening Day starter at short in 1969 and continued to provide decent glovework if no bat for the past 3 years. Before then he was a career inor leaguer with 123 total games in the big leagues.

P Tim Banks (2-4, 5.36, 13 Sv) tried to be the Royals' closer for much of '71 but at age 37 he just didn't have much left and so he called it quits. He opened his career as an innings-eating starter but only 33 of his career 216 starts came after he turned 30. The second half of his career is a kind of common story: injury-prone mostly reliever when he was healthy enough. Lifetime he went 87-94 with a 3.81 ERA... so, like, he wasn't *that* good as a starter in the first place (he did have a nice year in 1960 (17-9, 3.67)).

Los Angeles: Jason "Gomer" Parsley (2-1, 4.25) was a starter with the Red Sox in the first half of his career, got injuried and missed most of 3 seasons, and tried to bounce back as a reliever with limited success. He finally reached the end of the line with the Dodgers this year. He didn't quite hit the century mark in wins, finishing 82-81 with a 3.68 ERA and 21 career saves, most of those in his rookie year of 1960, when he pulled his Red Sox teammates to victory 17 times.

Milwaukee: 2B Chris Johnston (.271, 2, 17) was traded to the Brewers over the summer but got into only 8 games with them before being cut loose in August. He retires as a 4-time All-Star with the Cardinals with 1,450 career hits, a .309 batting average, and 4 World Series rings.

Minnesota: Ricardo Magdaleno (0-2, 5.59) followed up the best year of his career in 1969 (13-8, 3,14) with his worst (8-16, 4.73) and last year the Twins didn't have a lot of confidence in him, using him in low leverage relief before cutting him loose in July. Still only 34, he decided to hang it up with a career 72-77 record and a 3.99 ERA, mostly with the Reds.

Montreal: C Brent Putnam (.197, 3, 15) called it a relatively early day as he was not awarded the starting job in Montreal he felt he deserved. He was a more-or-less starter for the Cubs from 1962 to 1969, making the All-Star Game 3 times during that period, and he retired with a .227 career average and a catcherly 383 RBIs.

New York (A): Danilo Caneas (8-13, 4.48) posted an ERA above 4 each of the last 2 seasons, making his career stats look maybe not as good as they really were. He toiled with the Senators, Pirates, and Yankees (also 10 games with the Dodgers as a rookie in 1958), posting a record over .500 only in New York City. He finishes with a record of 108-126 with a 3.97 ERA.

New York (N): OF Ramiro Palencia (.167, 0, 1) officially called it quits on an illustrious career that saw him go to 6 All-Star Games, win the MVP in 1960 with the Yankees, and have enough World Series rings to fill an entire hand (5, of course). He finishes with 2,067 hits, 328 HRs, and 1,115 RBI. Had his career been in a more offense-happy era, he might be a Hall of Famer... as it stands, he's got a HOF Monitor score of 98 so might make it in anyway.

Oakland: Ryan O'Neal (no record in 1971) suffered a career-ending rotator cuff injury and officially retired. He had a lifetime record of 43-60, all in the Athletics organization, which also means he never did get to play in the playoffs. Sad.

Philadelphia: RP Luis De la Cruz (1-4, 6.98) led the league in saves with 26 for the Cardinals in 1968 and followed that up with a 13 save, 2.49 ERA season in '69 but that wound up being the last time he was really effective. He finishes his career with an even record of 60-60, 61 saves, and a 3.57 ERA in 429 career appearances.

Pittsburgh: Scott Woodcock (.143, 0, 4) joined the Pirates after hooking on as an unlikely veteran starter for the Tigers from 1966 to 1969. He hit pretty well for a backstop, at least until the last 2 years, retiring with a .264 BA and 316 career RBIs. He also managed to appear in 2 All-Star Games during that run with Detroit in '67 and '68.

OF Chris Granneman (.143, 0, 5) played only briefly with the Phillies this year after more than a decade as a starter with the Dodgers. He made the All-Star Game 5 times in his career, won 2 World Series in LA, and finishes with a career .249 BA, 159 HRs, and 676 RBI. Obviously he's no Hall of Famer but he's in the Dodgers' Hall.

San Francisco: IF Jason Staiti (.202, 12, 56 in AAA Phoenix) never quite got the call back up to the majors this year and decided that that was going to be all she wrote. Staiti was always a good-field, no-hit shortstop, even in the best of times; he retires with a career .198 BA and a .254 OBP. He did have some good pop for a shortstop, as evidenced in 1966 when he belted 19 HRs in 427 at-bats (he still hit .202 that year so, you know, that's who he was). He finished wth 88 career dingers total in 2,424 at-bats.

C Pat Molina (.254, 1, 13) was picked up to provide some veteran leadership and... he was fine, if not nearly the same player he'd been as a mainstay of the Braves' lineup from 1958 to 1969. A 9-time All-Star, Molina doesn't appear to have the numbers to make it into the Hall of Fame but might do anyway.

St. Louis: P Danny Mojica (1-0, 0.00) got just one appearance this year and 10 combined over the last 2 seasons, so the game retired him, really. He finishes with a career record of 69-63, a 3.90 ERA, and 31 career saves. At bes he was a volatile reliever and sometimes starter for the old Senators and Twins from 1957 to 1969. He did get a single All-Star appearance in 1959 with the Sens thanks to a 9-4 record and a 3.15 ERA in 26 appearances (16 starts).