 |
|
|
| |
« Pujols Hopes To Stay In St. Louis | Main | Odds & Ends: Bay, Damon, Josh Johnson »
Trades Of The Decade: Colon To The Expos
From Larry Walker to John Wetteland to Pedro Martinez, Montreal Expos talent seemed to head south as quickly as the club could develop it. By 2002, it seemed possible that the Expos were playing their final season in Montreal and the threat of contraction put the organization's future in jeopardy. So they surprised some people when they acquired an All-Star caliber player mid-way through the 2002 season.
GM Omar Minaya obtained Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew from the Indians for Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips and Lee Stevens.
The Canadian Press wrote that Minaya made a "stunning acquisition," and some of Colon's teammates agreed. C.C. Sabathia told the AP the move was a "big blow," a "shock."
Combine a bold GM, a franchise in peril and a division title within reach and you'll see some surprising moves.
The Expos were in the playoff race after acquiring Colon on June 27th, 2002. They trailed the Braves by 6.5 games and found themselves 5.0 games behind the Wild Card-leading Diamondbacks. At the time of the trade, many writers pointed to the Expos' rotation depth; Colon joined Javier Vazquez, Tomo Ohka and Tony Armas Jr. to form one of the Senior Circuit's deepest rotations.
Colon played well for the Expos. He pitched 117 innings of 3.31 ERA ball, allowing less than a hit per frame and striking out two men for every one he walked. The Expos won 83 games - more than they'd won since 1996 - but it wasn't enough to topple the Braves, who won 101 times.
The Indians weren't in a position to make a playoff run so, like this year and last, they dealt their ace away. But not even GM Mark Shapiro can hope his recent deadline deals turn out as well as the one he made in 2002.
Shapiro told the AP at the time that the Indians were "clearly moving to a total rebuilding process." So how did he plan to rebuild the franchise? Start with an athletic center fielder and a left-handed ace.
Sizemore, who was 19 at the time of the trade, has combined power, speed, plate discipline and defense to become one of the league's elite players. Lee followed up his 2008 Cy Young campaign with a strong start that allowed Shapiro to obtain four Phillies prospects for him in a midseason trade.
Lee Stevens was a non factor and the Indians sent Phillips to the Reds for Jeff Stevens in a 2006 trade. Shapiro sold low on a second baseman who plays strong defense and has a 30-30 season to his name. But they acquired talent to spare for Colon, who was under team control for a year and a half after the trade.
The Expos traded Colon to the White Sox after the season. In return, they obtained Rocky Biddle, Orlando Hernandez, Jeff Liefer and cash. Minaya's gamble turned the Expos' top minor leaguers into a trio of considerably less valuable players. A playoff appearance would not necessarily have prevented the Expos from moving to D.C. after 2004, but the Bartolo Colon trade was anything but the solution to the organization's problems.
Comments
Verify your Comment
Previewing your Comment
This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.
As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.
Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.
Top Stories
Search MLBTR
MLBTR Features
Recent Posts
Rumors By Team
Monthly Archives
Live Chats
Tuesdays at 2 p.m. CST
"Montreal is also where Colon discovered poutine. Feasting on the gravy/french fry delicacy and a few utility infielders, he blossomed to 350 pounds. To complete the Krusty the Clown look, he decided to grow an Amos Otis 'fro, which could be seen billowing out the sides of his ballcap during every start."
Posted by: Dan Nucci | October 29, 2009 at 11:38 AM
The Mets deserve everything they get for hiring a guy like Minaya with a track record of trades like this.
Posted by: Bill | October 29, 2009 at 12:01 PM
"Montreal is also where Colon discovered poutine. Feasting on the gravy/french fry delicacy and a few utility infielders, he blossomed to 350 pounds."
But I must say, that stuff is really, really, good.
Posted by: Furrski | October 29, 2009 at 12:03 PM
"The Mets deserve everything they get for hiring a guy like Minaya with a track record of trades like this."
What other trades beside the Colon one?
Posted by: QueensKing | October 29, 2009 at 12:06 PM
Poutine = awesome.
Yeah I think the Indians got the better of this one.
Posted by: 661dodgerblue | October 29, 2009 at 12:11 PM
What other trades beside the Colon one?
Posted by: QueensKing | October 29, 2009 at 12:06 PM
----------------
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/07/omar-minaya---g.html
Posted by: humannature | October 29, 2009 at 12:13 PM
Of course the following moves make it look worse
dumping phillips way too early
trading lee for 4 spare parts (phillies had no use for those players)and still kept happ, drabek, taylor, brown, etc
Posted by: arly2380 | October 29, 2009 at 12:45 PM
The Mets deserve everything they get for hiring a guy like Minaya with a track record of trades like this.
Posted by: Bill | October 29, 2009 at 12:01 PM
You can't blame Minaya on this. The franchise needed a post-season berth to try to keep them in Montreal. The prospects were meaningless to them since the organization may not have had a future.
Posted by: icedrake523 | October 29, 2009 at 12:57 PM
The Mets deserve everything they get for hiring a guy like Minaya with a track record of trades like this.
Posted by: Bill | October 29, 2009 at 12:01 PM
You can't blame Minaya on this. The franchise needed a post-season berth to try to keep them in Montreal. The prospects were meaningless to them since the organization may not have had a future.
Posted by: icedrake523 | October 29, 2009 at 12:57 PM"
I agree with this. Sizemore was always a good prospect but if you look at his stats before entering the Indians system, he was not looking to good. Then he was traded and turned into a monster.
I am not sure but I think Phillips and Lee were the main pieces of that trade at the time.
Posted by: 661dodgerblue | October 29, 2009 at 01:06 PM
Uh, Wetteland & Pedro were both Dodger products that went to the Expos via trade. I'm not sure how much 'developing' was done up north. Perhaps using Randy Johnson, Vlad Guerrero & Marquis grissom as examples would have been a better choice.
Posted by: Bleeding Blue | October 29, 2009 at 01:10 PM
I agree with icedrake and dodgerblue: this trade was the Expos' last shot at relevance. I used to go to Expos games. You could sit right behind the dugout for about $30 U.S. Guys like Tim Raines, Guerrero, and Vazquez signed autographs before the games like it was a minor league park. It was an unbelievably great place to watch a baseball game up close, but the franchise had a doomed air about it and each year seemed like it would be the last season of baseball in Montreal.
And it was not a town where baseball had floundered since day one. Montreal had been a great baseball city. The strike, which came when the Expos were playoff bound and looked like WS favorites, was a dagger to fan interest and the team never recovered.
The best parallel to this deal, I think, is Sabathia to the Brewers. Sometimes a team that always loses gets a window, however slight, to the playoffs, and has to sacrifice its future to try to make it through. Colon to the Expos was one of those trades.
Posted by: Jeremy | October 29, 2009 at 01:21 PM
Not to mention that the Expos had Youppi, one of the greatest mascots around!!
But for real, I remember when this trade happened and it was a huge shock that they made this move. However, it was understood that the Expos were going for the jugular by going for a top-notch pitcher at the time.
They knew their franchise was a mess and ready to move on from Canada or be contracted, they had no one at their games, they had Vladimir Guerrero and Javier Vazquez ready to move on within a year or two, they had a good manager in Frank Robinson, and they actually had some good role players such as Jose Vidro (who people forget was a really, really good hitter at one time), Orlando Cabrera, etc. It was a failed effort but it was worth it at the time.
Posted by: MattyMets | October 29, 2009 at 01:33 PM
If the Indians won the series in 07 then there would be no arguement that this was the best trade of the decade. I still say though, this was a trade that defined the Indians for years and with the trade of Lee could defined them for another decade.
Posted by: start_wearing_purple | October 29, 2009 at 06:41 PM
the carter-hawk-rock era expos unis remain of the greats of all-time, the latter years ruined for me by those generic pinstripes.
baseball was a hot ticket in hot montreal for many years, but man, the Big Owe was some kind of dump: a cold, concrete, toilet bowl of a stadium.
another bad example of the 70s 'multi-use' facilities and a perfect example of corruption-meets-construction.
i did sit in the place for two epic moments: one great, one nightmare
nightmare: black monday
great: pink floyd, july 6, 1977
BTW, there was a precedence for the Colon failure: randy johnson for mark langston
Posted by: crash | October 30, 2009 at 02:08 AM
The resulting trade of Brandon Phillips (to the Reds) was subsequent to two plus years of mediocre to less than mediocre results. Jeff Stevens was the player to be named in the trade. Stevens along with two other minor leaguers (Gaud & Archer; neither has become an impact player in MLB) were then packaged and sent to the Cubs for Mark DeRosa
The net effect was trading Brandon Phillips for Mark DeRosa, a trade that still favors the Reds.. Mark DeRosa was then sent to the Cardinals around the trading deadline for two young pitchers, Chris Perez (a head case w/r to how he worked or didn't work with Dave Duncan) and Jess Todd. Both Perez and Todd have made their way to the parent club and are well thought of with respect to the coming 2010 season.
With respect to the Lee trade to the Phillies, sure, the initial results are clearly in favor of the Phillies. Cliff Lee is an excellent pitcher that has given the phillies a good chance to win the 2009 World Series. Ben Francisco is also contributing. As far as the return: "..spare parts that weren't needed anyway.." This is an arrogant POS comment from a neophyte, non baseball observer. You cannot judge the value of a trade of this type (established MLB players for minor prospects) within 10 weeks of the trade. It's naive and just plain dumb.
Can this trade work out as well as the Colon for Lee, Sizemore and Phillips?. Maybe, maybe not. One thing is certain, Cliff Lee will command a salary similar to that of any other cy young winner or around $ 18 -24 MM per year. The Indians are not a club that will have a single player accounting for more than 30 % of their payroll. It's just not going to happen..
what say you?
Posted by: EIi | October 30, 2009 at 08:11 AM
"baseball was a hot ticket in hot montreal for many years, but man, the Big Owe was some kind of dump: a cold, concrete, toilet bowl of a stadium.
another bad example of the 70s 'multi-use' facilities and a perfect example of corruption-meets-construction."
Spot on. It was about as ugly as the Vet, but at least the Phillies had a crowd to phil it up occasionally. Having a crowd of 15-18k in a stadium that might hold 80k is depressing. Had they renovated Jarry into a nice place (Fenway North), and kept it a neighborhood kind of place, rather than a corporate type environment, I think they'd have done better. It's like taking the local school B-ball gym which holds 200 and gets nuts, and then trying to move it into MSG. It can't be done.
Posted by: Joey B | October 30, 2009 at 01:27 PM