Trader Billy And The Deals That Nearly Came To Be
Well, here we are in mid July and your Oakland A’s have clawed and scratched their way back into playoff contention. As we wait to see how they handle perhaps their greatest challenge of the season, a six game home stand against the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. General manager Billy Beane and his brass are busy at work at the executive offices in Oakland, evaluating what if any needs this team has, and which players on the trade market can be obtainable without mortgaging the future of his young team. As the longest tenured GM in the American League, Beane may be the first to tell you that the trades you don’t make may be as important as the trades you do. Let’s look at some rumored deals during his career that never came to fruition.
March 2000: Jim Edmonds to the A’s for Jesus Colome and Ron Mahay
Three seasons prior, Jim Edmonds nearly came to Oakland as the centerpiece of a blockbuster Mark McGwire deal between the A’s and Angels. As the A’s tried to accommodate McGwire by returning him to his Southern California roots, the additional players involved in the deal and the remaining salary left on McGwire’s contract could not be agreed upon by the two teams. As a result Big Mac soon found himself headed to St. Louis for the immortal T.J. Mathews, Blake Stein, and Eric Ludwick. As McGwire would go on to make history, Edmonds would continue to establish himself as a solid player in Anaheim and the A’s would revisit a deal in the spring of 2000. With Beane dangling a top pitching prospect in the flame thrower Colome as well as the lefty Mahay, who had opened some eyes with a strong September the year prior. The A’s thought they had enough to deal for the previously injured Edmonds, who had struggled to a .250/.339/.426 split in just 55 games played in 1999. Whether it was concerns over his surgically repaired shoulder, or a hesitance by the two teams to deal within the division. Edmonds, would never suit up in Oakland and would go on to join McGwire in St. Louis where he would be an integral member of the Cardinals over the next eight seasons.
December 2001: Gary Sheffield, Luke Prokopec, and Mike Trombley to the A’s for Billy Koch and Jermaine Dye
When Gary Sheffield wasn’t allegedly pumping himself full of steroids, inciting bench clearing brawls, fighting with police, and generally being a disturbing human being. He could be found terrorizing pitchers in both leagues for the better part of his outstanding career. With his lighting quick wrists, and explosive power, Sheffield was already a six-time All-Star when Billy Beane began contemplating ways to acquire him during the winter of 2001. As anyone who watched Moneyball can tell you, this was the winter where the A’s sought a way to reinvent their offense upon the departures of Jason Giambi and Johnny Damon. But before they would become creative, they thought big and inquired about the disgruntled Dodgers star and set forth the parameters of a deal. The proposed deal would involve the A’s trading recently acquired closer Billy Koch and the man who propelled them to the playoffs in 2001 after being acquired at the trading deadline, Jermaine Dye. In addition to Sheffield, the Dodgers agreed to package aging late inning reliever, Mike Trombley and highly regarded pitching prospect, Luke Prokopec. With Sheffield demanding a raise, one can conjecture that with the exchange of Dye and Koch, Beane was trying to clear some payroll to acquire the slugging outfielder. Sadly, a deal could not be completed and Sheffield would stay in the National League being shipped to Atlanta in a deal involving Brian Jordan. With a hole in left field, the A’s would bring David Justice into the fold and the 2002 season would be one to remember. This was the case of a potential blockbuster becoming a bust.
July 2004: Placido Polanco to the A’s for Ricardo Rincon
Talk about a deal that had lasting ramifications. With the A’s seeking to make their fifth straight postseason appearance in as many years, they discussed a deal to bring infielder Placido Polanco to Oakland in exchange for Ricardo Rincon. Polanco, though not necessarily a household name, was in the middle of a very productive season in Philadelphia providing punch at the plate and hitting to a .298/345/.441 split. Although the Phillies were challenging for the Wild Card at the time of the trade deadline, the emergence of Chase Utley simply made Polanco expendable. Looking to bolster their bullpen, GM Ed Wade and Billy Beane nearly matched up on the proposed Rincon-Polanco deal before the Phillies pulled out, and added Todd Jones for a much lower cost. Bummer. As it turns out Rincon stayed in Oakland, and was part of the heartbreaking bullpen collapse in Game 161 of that year against the Angels. With the A’s clinging to a 4-2 lead with two on and one out in the eight inning, Rincon’s first pitch fastball was crushed off the wall by Darin Erstad to tie the game. The A’s would never recover, going on to lose the game and the division to the Angels on the same day and miss out on the playoffs for the first time since 1999. To further curse Oakland, Polanco would eventually join the Tigers, and simply refuse to be an easy out during the 2006 ALCS. This on-base machine, would set the table hitting 529/.579/588 and being named the ALCS MVP. This is why we can’t have nice things.
August 2011: Lars Anderson to the A’s for Rich Harden
Rich Harden is baseball’s equivalent to kryptonite. You never know what type of effect he can have on your roster. When everything is clicking and he’s healthy he can resemble a dominant force on the mound capable of shutting down any offense. Other days he simply falls apart physically and misses large chunks of the season. He’s generally absent long enough that you begin to wonder about his well being. Is he cooped up somewhere in an infirmary? Is he endlessly rehabbing in Arizona? Or is he sitting on his couch with his prized right arm in a sling watching a Breaking Bad marathon? Regardless, Harden was brought back for a second tour in Oakland last season, as one of the low risk, high reward contracts Billy Beane is so fond of handing out. Predictably he injured himself and pitched only sporadically as the season went on. With the A’s well on the way to another sub par season, they exposed Harden to waivers in August of 2011 will the hopes of working out a deal with the team who claims him. Sure enough the Red Sox put out a claim, perhaps with visions of Harden mowing down the Rays and Yankees during the seasons crucial final month. Seeking a major league ready prospect, the A’s agreed to receive Triple-A first baseman, Lars Anderson. Before slowing down at the higher levels, Anderson had previously showcased the ability to hit for average, as well as a modicum of power that would earn him a promotion to Boston the year prior. At worst, he appeared to be a decent candidate to contend for the starting first base job in the near future, at best he had the chance to develop into a solid major league ballplayer. A fair return, for an older and still frail Rich Harden. All seem to be agreed upon, but the deal was quickly nixed when Harden’s medical reports caused enough concern to rescind the deal. A few months later, Harden would go under then knife and miss the 2012 season.
As you can see sometimes the deals that don’t get made, can be just as interesting and monumental as the deals that do. Whether to pull the trigger or stand pat, is the ultimate decision of one man and one man alone. But the choice can effect the organization for years.