Saturday, September 23, 2006

John Hart Trade Analysis Part 1 of 4

This is part 1 of a 4 part analysis of the trades John Hart made while he was Rangers GM. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or draw. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

A lot of this information came from Jamey Newberg’s article about John Hart before the 2005 season and from my dad and from my dad’s friend, Tim Breeding.

2001:

1. Nov. 27: Player to be named later traded to White Sox for infielder Herbert Perry; lefthander Corey Lee sent to Chicago to complete the trade on Dec. 17.
Win - Perry had one strong year for Texas (the year we got him). That led to Hart re-signing him for two years, during which he was hurt all the time. But since they got good major league production out of him during the time of the trade, I score it a win. I think it’s a win because they gave up nothing and got something.
Record: 1-0-0

2. Dec. 13: Lefthander Darren Oliver traded to Boston for outfielder Carl Everett and cash.
Draw - Everett was an All-Star during his second year with Texas (they traded him a week or so before the All-Star game, so he appeared as a member of the White Sox). However, Everett did so bad during his first year with the team, had such a bad attitude, and made so much money, that there’s no way I can score this a win.
Record: 1-0-1

3. Dec. 18: Righthander David Elder traded to Cleveland for lefthander John Rocker.
Loss - I think it is a loss even though Elder probably wouldn't have made an impact in Texas. Rocker was not good as a Ranger, posting an ERA of 6.66 in his one season with the club, while Elder had a 3.13 ERA in 23 innings for the Indians in that 2002 season. They combined for 3.1 big league innings in 2003, and didn't pitch in the majors in 2004.
Record: 1-1-1

2002:

4. Jan. 14: First baseman Carlos Pena and lefthander Mike Venafro traded to Oakland for lefthander Mario Ramos, catcher Gerald Laird, outfielder Ryan Ludwick, and first baseman Jason Hart.
Win - Pena and Venafro haven’t done much since leaving the Rangers. Laird looks like a solid batter and throws out most base runners trying to steal off of him.
Record: 2-1-1

5. Mar. 18: Righthander Justin Duchscherer traded to Oakland for righthander Luis Vizcaino.
Loss - Duchscherer is an All-Star, while Vizcaino never played for the Rangers.
Record: 2-2-1

6. Mar. 24: Righthander Luis Vizcaino traded to Milwaukee for lefthander Jesus Pena.
Loss - Vizcaino had a great season in the Brewers bullpen in 2002, a terrible one in 2003, and another solid year in 2004. Pena was awful in 2002, with a .311 opponents' average and a 7.26 ERA for the Redhawks.
Record: 2-3-1

7. Mar. 25: Player to be named later traded to Atlanta for lefthander Rich Rodriguez. No player was ever given up to complete the deal.
Draw - No big deal. Rodriguez posted a 5.40 ERA in 16.2 innings for the Rangers in 2002.
Record: 2-3-2

8. Apr. 3: Lefthander Juan Moreno traded to San Diego for shortstop Jason Moore.
Draw - Moreno only pitched six innings for the Padres in 2003 and I’ve seriously never heard of Jason Moore.
Record: 2-3-3

9. Apr. 4: Outfielder Chris Magruder traded to Cleveland for outfielder Rashad Eldridge.
Draw – Eldridge never made it to the majors and Magruder didn’t do much for the Indians.
Record: 2-3-4

10. Apr. 9: Lefthander Andy Pratt traded to Atlanta for lefthander Ben Kozlowski.
Draw – Neither player pitched over 10 innings for the Braves or Rangers and they both had bad ERA’s.
Record: 2-3-5

11. Apr. 22: Cash sent to San Francisco for outfielder Calvin Murray.
Win - I’ll give this a win because Murray was OK and we gave up nothing for him. It’s always good to get a player for nothing.
Record: 3-3-5

12. Jul. 31: Outfielders Gabe Kapler and Jason Romano traded to Colorado for outfielder Todd Hollandsworth and lefthander Dennys Reyes.
Draw – This trade didn't do a lot of good for anyone. All four players would move on to a different team the next season.
Record: 3-3-6

13. Aug. 18: Righthander Ismael Valdez traded to Seattle for lefthander Derrick Van Dusen and infielder-outfielder Jermaine Clark.
Draw – Neither minor leaguer did much in the Rangers’ system, and the Rangers brought Valdez right back in the off-season.
Record: 3-3-7

14. Dec. 6: First baseman Travis Hafner and righthander Aaron Myette traded to Cleveland for catcher Einar Diaz and righthander Ryan Drese.
Loss – Travis Hafner is an All-Star while Diaz barely did anything for the Rangers and Drese had 1 good year.
Record: 3-4-7

I’ll be taking a week off. Come back in two weeks for my regular season awards. Part 2 of the John Hart series will be the week after that.

1 comment:

Ken Pittman said...

Nice approach to evaluating trades, Grant. It would be interesting to see how your overall record in evaluating Hart's trades compares to the overall record of the Rangers (in winning %) over his time with the Rangers.

Ken