Shelton Acquired and Tom Grieve Trade Analysis Part 2

This week, I will analyze the Freddy Guzman trade and continue my analysis of Tom Grieve’s trades.

On December 6th, the Rangers traded Freddy Guzman for Chris Shelton.

Evaluation: I think that this is a win. Freddy Guzman is a scrappy, speedy guy who hasn’t come around for the Rangers. He only had 13 at-bats during parts of two seasons with them and obviously wasn’t part of their plans. Chris Shelton had a very good year in 2005 and can hit for power against righties. He can really help out at 1st base and goes to spring training with a chance to be a starter at that spot. This is a good trade because we gave up someone who wasn’t part of our plans with little potential for someone with good potential to help us.

Grade: A

Also, the Rangers signed Milton Bradley to a 1-year contract for $5 dollars. I think he will be a good center field addition. He’s good defensively (.983 career fielding percentage) and can play well offensively. He has a career .273 average over 8 seasons but has had averages as high as .306 (last season) and .290 (2005). He has hit as many as 19 home runs in a season (2004).

This is part 2 of an analysis of the trades Tom Grieve made while he was Rangers GM. This week I will cover the end of 1985. Each trade will be scored a win, loss, or tie. The score is based on how each player contributed to the Rangers at the major league level.

7. 6-20-85 The Detroit Tigers traded Duane James (minors) to the Texas Rangers for Frank Tanana.

Loss – Duane James never made it to the majors. After being traded, Frank Tanana had ERA’s of 3.34, 4.16, 3.91, 4.21, 3.58, 5.31, 3.77, 4.39, and 4.35. Not a very good trade.

Record: 2-3-2

8. 7-19-85 The Cincinnati Reds traded a player to be named later and Duane Walker to the Texas Rangers for Buddy Bell. The Cincinnati Reds sent Jeff Russell (July 23, 1985) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.

Win - Duane only hit .174 as a Ranger but Jeff Russell was incredible for us. He played 6 and a half very good years of relief for the Rangers. He was a 2-time All-Star, won the Rolaids Relief Man Award and led the league in saves, all as a Ranger. Buddy Bell didn’t do too much after the trade, his most RBI’s were 75 and best batting average was .284.

Record: 3-3-2

9. 8-28-85 The Texas Rangers traded Cliff Johnson to the Toronto Blue Jays for players to be named later. The Toronto Blue Jays sent Matt Williams (August 29, 1985), Jeff Mays (minors) (August 29, 1985), and Greg Ferlenda (minors) (November 14, 1985) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.

Tie - Cliff Johnson didn’t do much after the trade, only playing 1 more year. Matt Williams only pitched 26 innings as a Ranger, Jeff Mays never made it to the majors, and neither did Greg Ferlenda.

Record: 3-3-3

10. 9-13-85 The Philadelphia Phillies traded Rick Surhoff to the Texas Rangers for Dave Stewart.

Loss - Rick Surhoff only pitched 8 and a third innings as a Ranger. Dave Stewart had 5 years of over 225 innings pitched after the trade with ERA’s in those years of 3.68, 3.23, 3.32, 2.56, but then 5.18. Interestingly, Stewart only pitched 16.6 innings for the Phillies over parts of two seasons (with ERA’s of 6.23 and 6.57) before they released him. He then signed with the A’s, where he had some great years.

Record: 3-4-3

11. 11-2-85 The Montreal Expos traded Pete Incaviglia to the Texas Rangers for Jim Anderson and Bob Sebra.

Win - Pete Incavilia had 5 good years with the Rangers and a total of 124 home runs in those 5 years. Jim Anderson didn’t play in the majors after the trade, and Bob Sebra only had a career total of 366 and two-thirds innings pitched over 94 games in 6 years.

Record: 4-4-3

12. 11-25-85 The Chicago White Sox traded a player to be named later, Ed Correa, and Scott Fletcher to the Texas Rangers for Wayne Tolleson and Dave Schmidt. The Chicago White Sox sent Jose Mota (December 11, 1985) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade.

Tie - Ed Correa only played two years with the Rangers and didn’t pitch very well either (ERA’s of 4.23 and 7.59 during two seasons). Scott Fletcher had 3 good years as a Ranger, with batting averages of .300, .287, and .276. Jose Mota has 38 career at-bats. Wayne Tolleson only had 9 career home runs and the best batting average he had after the trade was .265. Dave Schmidt pitched pretty well for the next 3 years after the trade, with ERA’s of 3.31, 3.77, and 3.40 in those three years.

Record: 4-4-4

Results of last week’s poll:
Who do you think is the best player the Rangers got in last week’s trades?
Mitch Williams – 52%
Toby Harrah - 41%
Don Slaught – 5%
All others – 0%

Come back next week for a write-up on Friday’s Newberg Bound Edition Release Party.