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T.R. Sullivan: A Retrospective On The Harold Baines-Sammy Sosa Trade

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T.R. Sullivan was a legend on the Rangers beat.  He retired in December 2020 after 32 years writing for the Denison Herald, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and MLB.com.  T.R. is also a friend to MLBTR. A couple of months ago, he kindly offered up a retrospective on the Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas trade.  “I just felt like writing it,” T.R. explained. More recently, Texas got shut down by a snowstorm, which T.R. took as an opportunity to explore the 1989 trade involving Harold Baines, Sammy Sosa and others. We’re proud to publish it!

Texas Gov. George W. Bush was in the middle of an ultimately successful run for the White House in 2000 when he made a guest appearance on Late Night with David Letterman.

At one point, they started talking about Bush’s biggest mistakes, the ones he really regretted.

“Well,” Bush said with a sly smile. “I once traded away Sammy Sosa.”

The line got big laughs from the audience – coming at the height of Sosa’s career as a power-hitting outfielder – but probably not as much from Rangers fans watching at home in Texas. Bush’s twin daughters Jenna and Barbara probably weren’t amused either considering the same trade also involved Rangers shortstop Scott Fletcher.

The veteran infielder just happened to be their favorite player. They named their dog “Spot” in his honor.

The reality is Bush did not make that trade. True, he was the Rangers co-managing general partner in 1989 when Sosa, Fletcher and pitcher Wilson Álvarez were traded to the White Sox for outfielder Harold Baines and infielder Fred Manrique.

But the guy who made the trade was general manager Tom Grieve, who many years later would confess, “The minute I made that trade I knew it was a mistake. We made the deal for all the wrong reasons.”

The guy on the other end of the deal was White Sox GM Larry Himes, who would later hold the same position with the Cubs. In both jobs, Himes pulled off a trade that involved acquiring Sosa for a veteran All-Star designated hitter.

The first trade was not a popular one with White Sox fans at the time.

“It’s an unpopular decision as far as the fans are concerned…it doesn’t mean it wasn’t a good decision,” Himes said in the Chicago Tribune.

The Rangers-White Sox trade came down on July 29, 1989. At the time, the Rangers were trying to stay alive in the A.L West race and the White Sox were in a rebuilding mode. It was a classic mid-season trade, just like hundreds of others that are made or at least talked about at the trade deadline down through the years.

But this trade turned out different. This is the trade that wouldn’t go away. Instead, as the years passed, it really did take on a life of its own with a bewildering number of twists and turns involving implications felt from the White House and halls of Congress to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

In short, the trade involved a future member of the Hall of Fame, but not the one everybody expected, the one who ended up having to testify in front of Congress on national television at the height of baseball’s steroids scandal.

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Bonds, Clemens, Schilling, Sosa Fall Off Hall Of Fame Ballot

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With the Hall of Fame’s announcement this afternoon that David Ortiz was the only player elected by the Baseball Writers Association of America this year, the path to induction via the writers’ ballot has officially closed for four of the most notable players in recent history. Each of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling and Sammy Sosa has exhausted their ten years on the ballot and will no longer be eligible for consideration by the BBWAA.

Bonds and Clemens have two of the greatest statistical resumes in major league history and would’ve been first-ballot Hall of Famers had it not been for their ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds is the all-time leader in career home runs (762). Among position players, he ranks second all-time behind Babe Ruth in FanGraphs measure of Wins Above Replacement. Baseball Reference has Bonds and Ruth tied for first in career position player value (before accounting for Ruth’s contributions as a pitcher). Bonds won seven MVP awards and was a 14-time All-Star.

Clemens, meanwhile, has a strong case as the most accomplished pitcher in the game’s history. An 11-time All-Star and seven-time Cy Young award winner, he appeared in 24 MLB seasons and won seven ERA titles. He ranks third in career strikeouts (4,672), ninth in pitcher wins (354) and is third among pitchers (excluding Ruth) in BRef’s WAR metric.

Each of Bonds and Clemens have a laundry list of accolades, but their non-inductions are obviously not about any flaws in their numbers. Both players, instead, are left outside the Hall because of their ties to performance-enhancing drugs. Both players were named as alleged steroid users in Senator George Mitchell’s 2007 report. Each of Bonds and Clemens were summoned to testify as part of Congressional hearings on PED usage in baseball; Bonds was later convicted on an obstruction of justice charge for giving an evasive answer during his testimony.

Whether to include alleged steroid users in the Hall of Fame has been a subject of (often bitter) debate amongst fans and writers. “Sportsmanship” and “character” are among the factors the Hall includes in its instructed criteria for voters, and those terms have been leveraged to make both moral arguments and questions about the authenticity of those players’ numbers to support steroid users’ exclusions from the Hall. Enough voters remained steadfast in their objection to including those implicated with PED’s to keep either Bonds or Clemens from accruing enough late-ballot momentum to get across the 75% threshold for induction. Both players finished in the 65% – 66% range on their final years on the ballot — a small but obviously insufficient bump relative to last season’s 61% – 62% marks.

Schilling appeared in parts of 20 MLB seasons. A six-time All-Star, he never won a Cy Young but finished as a runner-up on three separate occasions. Schilling “only” won 216 career games, but he owned a 3.46 ERA over 3261 innings. His 3116 strikeouts place 15th on the all-time list. Among the top 14, Clemens is the only player not enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Yet Schilling has seen dwindling support in recent years in the wake of a series of controversial public statements. As it became clear he was unlikely to be elected by the BBWAA, Schilling requested to have his name removed from this year’s ballot. That wasn’t granted, although he did see a 12-point drop in vote share between 2021 and 2022 after his push to be removed from consideration. Schilling appeared on 58.6% of ballots this year.

Sosa, somewhat curiously, never had the same level of support as any of Bonds, Clemens or Schilling. He received just 18.5% of the vote this year and never threatened election during his time on the ballot. Despite being one of just nine players to exceed 600 career home runs, Sosa’s career .273/.344/.534 slash line “only” checked in 24 percentage points above the league average by measure of wRC+. Moreover, he wasn’t a highly-regarded defender. But Sosa was one of the sport’s most famous and productive sluggers at his peak, hitting an astounding 332 home runs between 1998-2003 (more than 55 per season).

No doubt contributing to his dearth of support is that Sosa reportedly failed a 2003 survey test for performance-enhancing drugs. As Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs recently explored, though, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred later cast some doubt about the reliability of those results (which had been intended to remain anonymous). Ortiz also reportedly failed that same survey test, but enough voters looked on those results with skepticism to elect him on the first ballot. Sosa was never suspended for a PED test in his career, although he was hit with an eight-game ban in 2003 for corking his bat.

Each of Bonds, Clemens, Schilling and Sosa will need to rely on one of the Era Committees if they’re now to gain induction. Those committees have tended to be more favorable to candidates than has the BBWAA, although it remains to be seen how they’ll approach this particular group of highly controversial candidates.

As far as returning candidates go (full results available here), Scott Rolen jumped from 52.9% to 63.2% in his fifth year. Todd Helton (4th year) and Billy Wagner (7th year) each eclipsed 50%. Andruw Jones and Gary Sheffield both landed in the low-40% range, while Jeff Kent, Manny Ramirez, Omar Vizquel, Andy Pettitte, Bobby Abreu, Mark Buehrle and Torii Hunter received less than 30% of support. (Vizquel’s vote share was cut nearly in half after separate domestic violence and sexual harassment allegations were levied against him within the past thirteen months).

Among first-time candidates, only Alex Rodriguez (34.3%) and Jimmy Rollins (9.4%) received more than the 5% necessary to remain on the ballot for future consideration. As with Bonds and Clemens, Rodríguez has obvious Hall of Fame statistics but PED ties that’ll hamper his path to induction. Joe Nathan, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Howard, Mark Teixeira, Justin Morneau, Jonathan Papelbon, Prince Fielder, A.J. Pierzynski, Carl Crawford and Jake Peavy fell shy of the 5% threshold and dropped off the ballot, as did second-year candidate Tim Hudson.

The Mark Grace Decade Award

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For many years, my go-to baseball trivia question was this: who led the 1990s in hits? 

I won’t bury the lede any further: The answer is Mark Grace. Grace never hit 20 home runs in a season despite being a middle-of-the-order bat, and he spent most of his career on lackluster Cubs teams. He was a three-time All-Star and four-time Gold Glove winner who never finished higher than thirteenth in MVP voting. He was a very good baseball player. But I think it’s safe to say that he’s not the first name that comes to mind when looking for the decade-leader in hits. 

Growing up, Grace was my favorite player, but that’s only part of why I loved this trivia question. In my mind, Grace epitomized something special about the game. He played smart and with obvious boyhood joy. He could hit .300 falling asleep, and though he wasn’t known for his power, he held his own – in his words – by “turning triples into doubles” (he also led the nineties in doubles). #17 wasn’t a superstar to the world (he didn’t hit home runs, he didn’t run well, and he played for the lovable loser version of the Cubs), but Grace made the most of his physical abilities and let his personality shine through. And ah yes, he had more hits in the nineties than Tony Gwynn, Robby Alomar, Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, Cal Ripken Jr.…or anyone else.

That he accomplished this feat speaks to the randomness and the breadth of the game of baseball. Only a player who played in every season of the decade is likely to lead all major leaguers in hits (see the exception to this rule later). And yet, what a tremendous accomplishment! The juxtaposition of those two thoughts encapsulates so much of what makes baseball unique. Timing is a huge factor in determining what becomes part of the baseball zeitgeist, and yet, there’s an ocean of information beneath the surface of any given statistical achievement. 

Not to date myself, but there’s been two full decades since Grace led the nineties in hits! Granted, hits are no longer the be all and end all of offensive production. Not anywhere close. But they’re still important. Leading the league in hits over a decade is more trivia than player analysis, but it’s still an accomplishment that shines a light on a particular style of hitter. So without further ado, I thought it would be a fun exercise to see who wins the Mark Grace Award for leading a decade in hits.

2010-2019

  1. Robinson Cano (1,695)
  2. Nick Markakis (1,651)
  3. Adam Jones (1,647)
  4. Starlin Castro (1,617)
  5. Miguel Cabrera (1,595)
  6. Elvis Andrus (1,595)

Kicking it off, this is not the list I expected for our most recent decade. Cano taking the title is impressive, if not surprising for the career .302 hitter, because he only appeared in 107 games this last season and only 80 games the year before that. Taking the crown regardless speaks to how difficult it is in this day and age to stay in the game. Kudos to the the rest of the list as well, which provides a real working class crew (Miggy aside). Cano is also, for what it’s worth, the least productive hits king in any decade since the war-torn forties when the Indians’ Lou Boudreau took home the title with 1,578 hits.

2000-2009

  1. Ichiro Suzuki (2,030)
  2. Derek Jeter (1,940)
  3. Miguel Tejada (1,860)
  4. Todd Helton (1,756)
  5. Vladimir Guerrero (1,751)

Tejada is the only name on this list that might take more than a couple of guesses. Of course, the most impressive feat here is that Ichiro managed to chalk up more than 2,000 hits in only 9 seasons.

1990-1999

  1. Mark Grace (1,754)
  2. Rafael Palmiero (1,747)
  3. Craig Biggio (1,728)
  4. Tony Gwynn (1,713)
  5. Roberto Alomar (1,678)

Biggio or Gwynn probably would have been my guess had I not known the answer beforehand. Biggio led the league in plate appearances in 5 seasons (’92, ’95, ’97,’98,’99), but he hit “only” .297 for the decade (versus .310 for Grace). Gwynn hit .344 in the nineties, but only managed to appear in more than 140 games twice.

1980-1989

  1. Robin Yount (1,731)
  2. Eddie Murray (1,642)
  3. Willie Wilson (1,639)
  4. Wade Boggs (1,597)
  5. Dale Murphy (1,553)

Willie Wilson gave himself a good head start with 230 hits in 1980, but Yount and Murray managed to make up the difference before the end of the eighties. The Royals’ great did crush the competition for most triples in the decade, however, with 115 (Yount was second with 83).

1970-1979 

  1. Pete Rose (2,045)
  2. Rod Carew (1,787)
  3. Al Oliver (1,686)
  4. Lou Brock (1,617)
  5. Bobby Bonds (1,565)

No surprises here, with Rose and Carew atop the list.

1960-1969

  1. Roberto Clemente (1,877)
  2. Hank Aaron (1,819)
  3. Vada Pinson (1,776)
  4. Maury Wills (1,744)
  5. Brooks Robinson (1,692)

For the decade, Clemente hit .328/.375/.501. He took the batting crown four times and hit over .350 twice (1961: .351 BA, 1967: .357 BA).

1950-1959

  1. Richie Ashburn (1,875)
  2. Nellie Fox (1,837)
  3. Stan Musial (1,771)
  4. Alvin Dark (1,675)
  5. Duke Snider (1,605)

Integration wasn’t exactly a comprehensive process from the jump when Jackie Robinson first appeared for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, so we’ll make the fifties the last decade. All in all, Pete Rose unsurprisingly was the most prolific hits leader in any decade with 2,045 knocks in the 70s, but I’m not sure there’s a more impressive name on there than Ichiro, whose wizardy with the bat came up just 15 hits shy of Rose in just 9 seasons from 2001 to 2010.

Otherwise, definitely some names you might have expected (Rose, Young, Clemente), but it’s not as if a 3,000 hit king rules every decade. Ashburn, like Grace, hit the league at the perfect time to snag this award, as his career spanned from 1948 to 1962. He joins Grace and Cano as the non-3000 hit players to lead a decade in hits (though Cano still has an outside shot to get there). For their careers, Grace takes the distinction as the player with the least career hits to lead a decade in the category.

Who else on these list surprises you? Al Dark? Elvis Andrus? Who did you expect? Let’s hear your takes in the comments!

NL Notes: Sosa, Norris, Wieters, Magic, Ichiro

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The Cubs’ rocky relationship with former star Sammy Sosa — or, perhaps, the lack thereof — has been well documented. But Sosa himself hasn’t been much willing to discuss it, until participating in a chat with MLBTR contributor Chuck Wasserstrom at his personal blog. Sosa admits to some mishandling of the end of his tenure with the Cubs, saying: “My intention was to finish my career in Chicago. … The only thing we cannot do is turn back time. We can’t do that. But hey, we have to move forward. I understand I made a mistake. I regret it, definitely, but I have to move on.” There’s quite a bit of interesting information for Cubbies fans to digest; you’ll want to give the interview a full read.

Here’s more from the National League:

  • Nationals manager Dusty Baker strongly hinted that the club will look to find a taker for catcher Derek Norris after agreeing to terms with Matt Wieters, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets. “There’s always someone looking for a front line catcher,” the veteran skipper said of Norris. The addition of Wieters creates an immediate glut at the catching position for the Nats, who also employ reserve Jose Lobaton and prospect Pedro Severino. While the immediate speculation turned to the youthful Severino, who’d be a much more likely candidate to help the Nats address another need at the major league level than is Norris, he still has options and likely maintains an important place in the team’s long-term picture at the catching position.
  • Over at Fangraphs, Dave Cameron opines that the Nationals’ deal with Wieters doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. While the price is reasonable enough, says Cameron, it’s just not clear that Wieters represents a significant enough upgrade over Norris to make it worthwhile. I’d note that the maneuvering could make greater sense if Washington were instead considering parting with Lobaton, whose switch-hitting capabilities aren’t as useful with a fellow two-sided hitter joining the mix, though the above-cited comments from Baker suggest that’s not the likely outcome.
  • In his own look at the Wieters move, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports suggests that the signing was largely driven by the special relationship between agent Scott Boras and the Nationals’ ownership group. As discussed in our post on the deal, Boras and the Nats have linked up on a variety of contracts in recent years, often coming to fruition when the super agent sits down with principal owner Ted Lerner. As Rosenthal puts it, “Nats ownership … operates to its own rhythm, with Boras frequently calling out the beats.”
  • NBA legend and part Dodgers owner Magic Johnson has taken over as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations, and you can find all the details at MLBTR’s sister site, Hoops Rumors. Despite his new duties, Johnson’s role with the baseball organization won’t change, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter links). “Whenever we need Magic, he’s been available,” says Dodgers president & CEO Stan Kasten. “That won’t change.”
  • Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki suffered a bruised knee in a collision with fellow outfielder Brandon Barnes today, as Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports (links to Twitter), though it was perhaps notable for reasons other than the actual injury. The ageless Ichiro is expected only to miss a few days, but did require — incredibly — the very first training-room treatment of his 16-year MLB career. Teammates used the opportunity not only to mark that occasion, but also to have some fun at Barnes’ expense. A note, signed by Ichiro, was left at his emptied locker informing him that he had been cut loose and wishing him good luck in Korea.

Mets Deny Sheffield’s Request For Extension

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FRIDAY, 9:10am: Sherman reports that Sheffield demanded to be released or traded to the Marlins.

THURSDAY, 8:48pm: SI's Jon Heyman reports, via Twitter, that the Giants were the team that claimed Sheffield on waivers earlier this month.

6:23pm: David Lennon at Newsday reminds us that earlier this month, the Mets placed Sheff on waivers, but pulled him back when he was claimed. This means he cannot be traded; the Mets could release him or place him on irrevocable waivers and lose him if he is claimed.

5:57pm: Via Twitter, Sherman cites a Mets official who says that "Sheffield has not been released."

5:47pm: Joel Sherman of the New York Post is reporting that Gary Sheffield and the Mets are at odds about his contract situation. Sherman cites "two sources" who say that Sheffield asked the team for a contract extension and was denied. The sources say he is now threatening to leave the team.

The two parties are now in discussions, according to Sherman, and the release of the aging outfielder is "a possibility." Sheffield was pulled from the roster for tonight's game, but Jerry Manuel said he pulled himself "to clear his head."

Odds And Ends: Sosa, Harper, Pedro, Ibanez

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Links for Tuesday evening…

Sammy Sosa Set To Announce Retirement

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Yoel Adames of ESPNdeportes.com is reporting that Sammy Sosa will announce his formal retirement from baseball soon. Sosa was still waiting for contract offers as recently as last Christmas. He last played in the Major Leagues in 2007, when he hit .252-.311-.468 in 454 plate appearances for the Texas Rangers. Sosa will retire sixth on the all-time career homerun list with 609.

Mike Axisa writes for River Ave. Blues.

More Jocketty Talk On The Reds

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C. Trent Rosecrans of TheLotD.com also talked with Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty today. Here are some conversation highlights:

  • The Reds are still talking to Jerry Hairston Jr. to play left field. “We’re still trying to get Hairston,” Jocketty told Rosecrans. “We’ll have a different look on our club, but we still have guys like (Joey) Votto, (Jay) Bruce, (Brandon) Phillips, (Edwin) Encarnacion and even (Ramon) Hernandez with power.”
  • Jocketty hasn’t spoken with Pat Burrell in awhile. They are holding back on that one right now.
  • Health remains a serious issue with Rocco Baldelli, Jocketty said.
  • The Reds have been in discussion with the New York Yankees about their extra outfielders, but no deals are close.
  • No Barry Bonds; no Sammy Sosa.

No Sammy In Miami, Texas Or Cincy?

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The MLB Hot Stove Blog is reporting that free-agent veteran Sammy Sosa won’t be playing for the Florida Marlins.

Joe Frisaro believes the Marlins want to go into Spring Training with a younger group of outfielders, in particular John Raynor and Scott Cousins, competing for a major-league job.

Raynor is a speedster and played for Double-A Carolina Mudcats in 2008. He hit .312 over 452 plate appearances, and he stole 48 bases. He can play left field or center field.

Cousins split 2008 between Carolina and High-A Jupiter. He hit .304 with the Jupiter squad and dropped to .264 with the Double-A club. He primarily saw time at right field and center field.

Frisaro wrote that Jeremy Hermida will switch from right field to left field, and Cody Ross will be in right field.

Rangers beat writer Anthony Andro of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram notes that the Texas Rangers don’t want Sosa’s services, either. “I don’t think we’ll pursue Sammy,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels wrote.

C. Trent Rosecrans of TheLotD.com, and formerly of the Cincinnati Post, spoke with Cincinnati Reds general manager Walt Jocketty about Sosa. “I don’t think so,” Jocketty told Rosecrans.

Sammy Sosa Still Waiting

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Does anyone have a major league job for Sammy Sosa?

That’s the question that he’s (still) waiting for the answer to, according to Dominican newspaper Listin Diario (via ESPN.com). "I still don’t have an offer and I shouldn’t be looking for offers out there," said Sosa, 40, who sat out 2008 after posting a .252/.311/.468 line for the Texas Rangers in 2007. He currently sits at 6th place on the career home run list, with 609.

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