The two most active managers in the Millennium League, Cleveland's Brian Feig and the New York Rippers Bill Hobbs, pulled off yet another deal between them, collaborating for the second time this season. They had previously exchanged starting pitchers when Mike Hampton went to the Rock 'N Rollers for Wade Miller. These two teams have combined for 11 deals so far on the young season. Brian has been especially busy of late, making four trades in a little over a week. Let's take a look at their most recent transaction.
CLEVELAND sends Freddy Garcia, Rich Aurilia, Marty Cordova and their 2001 3rd round pick
to the
NY RIPPERS for Kevin Brown, Rey Sanchez and BJ Surhoff
Cleveland manager Feig is doing everything he can to make his team better to contend in the current season. The Rock 'N Rollers record at the time of their first deal was 17-19, and while they are only 6-6 in their last 12 since that deal, they are 5-2 in their last seven games. Things are only going to improve as the season unfolds. They are currently five games back of Pittsburgh in the Classic League's Rust Belt Division, but their run differential of +36 is second only to the Crawfords in the entire CL.
New York is currently 7.5 games back of Boston in the CL's Metro Division. Manager Hobbs has been the most active in the trade market, making six deals to date. With the dealing away of Brown and Sanchez, the Rippers have traded away every single one of their first ten selections in the 2000 draft. They have basically assembled an entire new lineup. The highest remaining holdover from the draft is 11th round pick Gerald Williams. One has to wonder if his days in a Rippers uniform is numbered??
The big name in this deal is 1st round pick Kevin Brown. In the year 2000, the big right-hander was incredible, posting a league-leading 2.58 ERA and league-leading .991 WHIP. He's very good again in 2001, posting a 2.65 ERA and 1.141 WHIP, but carries an F durability for that season. He's injured in 2002, starting only ten games with a 4.81 ERA. But he responds in a huge way in 2003 by posting a 2.39 ERA in 32 starts. He has a decent 2004 for the Yankees before falling apart in 2005 and retiring the next year. Brown joins Mike Hampton and Bartolo Colon at the top of the Rock 'N Rollers rotation.
Brown's Career Statistics:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brownke01.shtml
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Rey Sanchez comes to Cleveland to provide one thing - defense. In Rey's 15 year major league career, he never had an OPS+ number that reached the league average of 100. As a matter of fact, the highest OPS+ number of his career was only 80 in 1994 for the Chicago Cubs. His OPS+ in the year 2000 was only 61. Where Sanchez excels is defensively. He brings a B+/100/-5 defensive line to the Rock 'N Rollers. In 2001, he actually improves to an A/100/-5 card line. He moves positions in 2002 and has a couple of more decent years.
Sanchez's Career Statistics:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sanchre01.shtml
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The final piece coming to Cleveland is left-fielder BJ Surhoff, who posted a respectable .291/.344/.443 triple slash line in 2000. In 1999, Surhoff was an All-Star for the only time in his 19 year career. 2000 was arguably his best offensive season. His .839 OPS was the second highest of his career. But his days are certainly numbered. In 2001, he is below average, compiling an 84 OPS+. He only has 75 at-bats in 2002. He bounces back somewhat in 2003-2004, but probably only enough to provide a bench presence. He's out of baseball following the 2005 season.
In Cleveland, Surhoff joins a crowded outfield that includes Richard Hidalgo, Terrance Long, Raul Mondesi, David Justice and Wil Cordero. He does have some value though in 2000, even if it is in a bench role.
Surhoff's Career Statistics
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/surhob.01.shtml
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Coming to New York are three players who have outstanding seasons in 2001. The first of which is Freddy Garcia. While he by no means is Kevin Brown, Garcia is pretty good nonetheless. In 2000, he is nowhere near as good as Brown, but in 2001, Garcia had the best season of his 19 year MLB career. In that year, he went 18-6 with a 3.05 ERA for the 116 win Seattle Mariners. He was an All-Star in that season as well as in 2002, when he posted a 4.39 ERA in 34 starts. From 2002-2006, Garcia averaged 14 wins with a 4.18 ERA and 1.267 WHIP. He is injured in 2007 and misses most of the next three seasons. He returns in 2010 to finish his career with a couple decent years. He, along with Wade Miller, will sit atop the Rippers rotation.
Garcia's Career Statistics
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garcifr03.shtml
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Replacing Sanchez in the Rippers lineup will be Rich Aurilia. Comparing these two offensively is like comparing apples to oranges. Aurilia hit 85 home runs between 2000 and 2003 (21/yr) with a combined .805 OPS. Sanchez hit 15 homers in his entire 15 year career. His highest OPS in a single season was .682. Aurelia though is lacking defensively. He's not terrible, mind you, but he's not Sanchez either. His range tops out at a C+ rating.
Aurilia's 2001 season is really something. He led the National League in hits with 206. His triple slash line was .324/.369/.572. That equates to an OPS of .941 from the shortstop position. He belted 37 doubles and 37 homers. For his efforts, he was awarded the Silver Slugger award, and he was an All-Star for the only time in his 15 year career. He normalizes from 2002-2004 before having a couple more good season in 2005-2006 for the Reds.
Aurilia's Career Statistics
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/aurilri01.shtml
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Marty Cordova provides next to nothing for the 2000 season. He only hit .245 with a .327 OBP. His outfield arm is rated a +3 so he not valuable in the field. But in 2001, he turns things around. As a matter of fact, he had the best season of his career that year, topping his 1995 year in which he won the American League Rookie-of-the-Year award. His triple slash in 2001 was .301/.348/.506. His arm rating is neutral so he's not a liability in the field. He follows up in 2002 with a decent season before retiring in 2003
Cordova's Career Statistics
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cordoma01.shtml
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DEAL SUMMARY
Here is another example of Brian making a deal to improve his team this year. Adding Brown to his rotation to go along with Bartolo Colon and Mike Hampton gives him probably the best top-end staff in the league. Brown is a difference maker. He comes to the Rock 'N Rollers having compiled a 2.78 ERA in 12 starts for New York, striking out 88 batters in 81 innings. Hampton has a couple of down years in 2001-2002 while pitching in Colorado. But in 2003, these three all have outstanding seasons.
Brian has addressed his lineup in previous deals, adding Edgardo Alfonzo and Jason Kendall. The addition of Sanchez, an excellent glove at the most important infield position, is a nice move. The lineup around Sanchez can provide enough offense. Surhoff will likely provide a proven bat off the bench, with the ability to start when necessary.
It's really hard not to like what the Rock'N Rollers have done in the span of a couple weeks. The lineup now boast four Clutch rated batters, while the staff has six Jam rated pitchers. This team is going to make the playoffs this season. It's hard to imagine them not. And while Brian has traded away some future pieces, it's not like he's completely mortgaged the team's future. Brown has a couple of excellent season left in the tank, with ERA's of 2.65 and 2.39. Hampton and Alfonzo each have a couple nice seasons left. And Kendall is a quality catcher for another half-dozen years.
In the end though, I believe Brian is doing everything he can to win it all in 2000. The fact that he's been able to add to his team without dealing many of his top picks is unbelievable. As a matter of fact, Cleveland still has nine of their first 14 picks on the roster from the draft. The only player gone from the first five rounds is Garcia, who was drafted in the 3rd round. He's added a 1st rounder in Brown as well as two 2nd rounders in Hampton and Kendall. Alfonzo was picked in the 6th round. It's hard to imagine that Brian could have done any better.
The Rippers, as noted before, have revamped their entire team. With this move, it looks as if Bill may have an eye on the future. All three of the players acquired in this deal are excellent in 2001. He also added a 3rd round draft pick which will likely add a bullpen arm or bench player.
Determining a winner of this deal is difficult, as the two teams are trading for different reasons. The prize of the deal though is obviously Brown. He's a bonafide ace, top of the rotation prize. The Rippers, have added three quality pieces who are excellent next season. If we add up the rounds that each player was drafted, we find that Cleveland received a 1st, 10th and 18th round pick, while New York added a 3rd, 6th and 21st. Add those up and we can grade Cleveland as adding 29 round points compared the Rippers 30. That's about as even as you can get. New York also added a 3rd round pick from Cleveland., which even this deal out even more.
For grading purposes, we will say that Cordova for Surhoff is a wash. Aurilia is far better than Sanchez, despite the difference in defensive ability. And while Brown is better than Garcia now, the future shows us that Brown only has probably 2.5 good season's left (excellent season's really), while Garcia is a solid pitcher for another 6-8 years. So while Brown is the bonafide prize of the deal, it looks like Brian had to pay the price to get him. I'd say Bill grades out slightly better based on the strength of 2001 cards he received, as well as the length of Garcia's career. But again, Brian is the definite winner in our current season. His moves have made him one of the front-runners in my estimation to take down the inaugural MBL title.
On Tuesday night, Houston Buffaloes starter Reid Cornelius made history against the New York Rippers by becoming the first pitcher in Millennium League history to throw a no-hitter. Before his home crowd at the Astrodome, Cornelius was masterful, retiring the first 26 batters he faced without incident. Ripper pinch-hitter Shane Spencer coaxed a walk with two outs in the ninth to spoil the perfect game bid. Rondell White then lined out to Desi Relaford to end the game and preserve the no-hitter. Cornelius struck out nine Rippers in the game.
