This is how baseball should be. A team drafts a player in the amateur draft based on one scout's whimsical judgement of a prospect that he's seen only twice play the outfield when the player is supposed to be a pitcher. The team puts its hopes, dreams and a lot of money into a ballplayer who is a mystery to the entire baseball world. Then the player develops and climbs through the minors and becomes an instant star, contributing to numerous pennants while staying with the team his entire career. This is how baseball should be.
But baseball doesn't operate like that. Instead, the homegrown prospect would play well for the team who drafted him only to realize that he's too good a player and that he should seek free agency. Or the team would realize that it could save some extra cash by dealing him for some mediocre prospects and an aging star.
Baseball has changed a lot. Ridiculous trades no longer mean trading a player for a couple of beers and some farm animals but now they pertain to trading hometown heroes in order to duck their salary demands.
Players have a lot more on their minds than baseball and so do the general managers. A large part of many GMs winters were spent trying to deal for Ken Griffey Jr. who didn't even get traded because his asking price was too high.
The Texas Rangers dealt one of the great RBI men of the decade in Juan Gonzalez. There is no doubt that the players they received -- Justin Thompson, Francisco Cordero, Alan Webb, Gabe Kapler, Bill Haselman and Frank Catalanotto -- will never be as good as Gonzalez. In 1998, "going, going" Gonzalez knocked in over 90 RBIs before the all-star break.
Some teams have a difficult time selling player jerseys because they no longer have enough good players who stay on their team for more than a year. Take the San Diego Padres. They shouldn't even take team photos. The Padres dealt the ace of their staff for three unproven Philadelphia Phillies in Carlton Loewer, Steve Montgomery and Adam Eaton. A move like this is reminiscent of the fictitious Cleveland Indians' player selection in the movie "Major League," though the Padres can't be trying to relocate to a warm-weather climate like the Indians of the movie were.
Meanwhile in Florida, The Tampa Bay Devil Rays have basically become the Colorado Rockies East. Vinny Castilla and Greg Vaughn add more than enough power to an already power-packed lineup that contains Jose Canseco and the seemingly rejuvenated Fred McGriff. They are the only team who seemed to gain something without giving up too much this past off-season.
The only team that consistently makes quality trades is the Atlanta Braves. Atlanta makes "honest" deals. They trade players for the sake of improving the team and not on the basis of salary. The Braves have a way of bringing up quality players in their farm system who consistently do well at the major league level -- especially their pitchers. This winter they acquired two players from the Padres in Quilvio Veras and Reggie Sanders who are exactly what the Braves need.
This winter set a kind of precedent for the way talent is tossed around. Griffey didn't go to the Reds but Gonzalez did leave Texas. This just goes to show that no player is set with his team.
