Episode 3. (Last Place Blues)
Being terrible isn’t really something anybody shoots for and yet, we were heading into the season predicted to finish 7th in the NL East and pretty sure that the team was going to be moved.
Except, nobody told us this yet. We just had to walk around acting like we didn’t know.
By May 2nd, the team 12–24 and pretty much anyone worthwhile knew things were just as bad as everyone had anticipated. Ownership was taking offers, the kid was nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, we have a ballclub to manage and GMs from around the league were hitting up the phone and email daily to find out if anyone worth spare parts might be available for pennies on the dollar.
“Hey man, sorry about your season. You guys thinking about moving [Alexis] Aranda?”
Aranda was a 34-year old aging centerfielder making $14m in the last year of his contract. He doesn’t have a no-trade clause. He’s probably a borderline Hall of Famer, good clubhouse guy and a five-time all star. So you’re gonna get calls when you’re a last-place team and that dude is anchoring your locker room and hitting .324 to start the year.
But you don’t move that guy until somebody gets more desperate. Ownership didn’t agree. They wanted him traded before the season started. “What if he gets hurt and we get nothing?” was the conventional wisdom. Problem is, that contract is a lot to eat and most teams were offering bit parts in exchange for him. “Doesn’t matter. He needs to be out of here. Get something and be done.” is what I was told.
I wanted to wait a bit longer. I tried to move some other pieces in the meantime, to buy us a bit more time to get the right deal.
Stopgap Moves
Nobody is going to make much of two bad teams making a deal for bad players, but Paul Dennis — who was dealt in exchange for bit prospects to Philadelphia — isn’t bad. He’s got a decent power bat, is only 27 and will be a free agent at the end of the year. Maybe he’ll like Philly. No matter, his deal had to be gone even if it’s almost halfway through the year. The players acquired will likely never be heard from again.
We got a few weeks to work something out. Turns out, bigger things were afoot.
