Sometimes a Trade is Just a Trade

By Charles Curtis 

With trade winds a-blowin' before July 31st in baseball, the one thing you can count on is controversy. There are players who desire nothing more than to be dealt to a contender. Then there are athletes who would compromise their $8 million-a-year contracts just to stay put for their family or comfort. This year's deadline dealing left only one National League club, the San Francisco Giants, with a stronger team while others attempted to clean house. But it was two teams that were put in the spotlight, as bitter rivals allegedly played a game of "anything you can get, I can get better."

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have been at each other's throats for baseball supremacy for the past century. It's easy to see that the Yankees have won that battle. However, with a tight AL East race this season, the press focused on how the BoSox and Yanks were making excessive trades in order to one-up each other. It was a chess game: the rookie, 29-year-old Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein, versus George Steinbrenner's pawn, GM Brian Cashman. Even before the deadline, all the way back to the beginning of the 2003 season, the Yankee-Red Sox war was in full swing. Cuban pitching phenom Jose Contreras was signed by the Yankees just to thwart Epstein's attempts to acquire the pitcher (according to pundits around the nation). The gauntlet had been thrown down.

With the deadline looming in the third week of July, much was made of Boston's acquisition of Scott Sauerbeck, a left-handed reliever coveted by Steinbrenner. This was the first grenade in a volley of deals that apparently were meant to trump each other. And finally, with the five combined deals that both teams made on July 31st, war between the two organizations was declared by the press and no one was declared winner. However, everyone overlooked the fact that these two teams happened to be desperate for some help as the playoffs loomed on the horizon. The fact that they were made by rivals looking for some of the same parts is simply a coincidence. However, this year is no ordinary one in the lives of the Yankees and Red Sox. What once seemed to be an unconquerable empire is now crumbling slightly, at least in the eyes of its owner. And what is usually a team full of holes is starting to look like a true contender.

The Yanks still lead their division, but not with the same passion and dominance that is usually a given along with its massive payroll. Their bullpen, filled with two former closers (Juan Acevedo and Antonio Osuna) plus a former Brave who had a career year in 2002, Chris Hammond, was sure to protect leads for an ace-packed staff and be able to give the ball to the game's most dominant ninth inning arm, Mariano Rivera. But then the breakdown started: Rivera was injured and Acevedo couldn't throw anything but gopherballs. The Boss got mad as he watched his $36 million Cuban investment, Contreras, fail in early season tests. Even the lineup, which in recent seasons has been able to showcase dominant players in every spot, showed signs of weakness. Robin Ventura couldn't bring himself out of a season-long slump and was traded to the Dodgers last week. Underachieving right fielder Raul Mondesi was tagged as a failure, and got dumped before the deadline to the Arizona Diamondbacks. With injuries to Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, the Yanks started to sweat as they saw their lead in the AL East diminish. With no room for mistakes as the BoSox got hot, there was no doubt that they needed to fill those holes with the best players possible. And that's exactly what they did on Deadline Day: Third basemen Aaron Boone arrived to bring the Yanks some much-needed power and speed (a third baseman with 15 steals? That's something you don't see in baseball these days). Bullpen help was also on the way, as they picked up Gabe White, a dependable middle reliever with a 3.45 ERA in his last two years. White was part of the bullpen overhaul that included two former New York Met closers, Armando Benitez, and the "pitch to one batter a game" wonder, Jesse Orosco. Though they are still problems with the team's roster (Karim Garcia in right field? Jeff Weaver a starter?), the Yanks needed a hot bat to plug the two disappointments that left their lineup slightly depleted.

In Beantown, the trade deadline allowed them to touch up their team with a few improvements instead of a complete overhaul. The Sox lineup is the most formidable it has been in years. Third baseman Bill Mueller suddenly became a hitter, while David Ortiz's bat came alive in the last two months. Catcher Jason Varitek returned to and will surpass his 1999 numbers. Add those pieces to Kevin Millar, whom the BoSox fought with the Japanese to reacquire after a contract dispute, and consistent Todd Walker, and all of a sudden, Nomar Garciaparra and Manny Ramirez are surrounded by dangerous hitters. Who has the more dependable lineup now? The problem lies in Boston's pitchers, with an older Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, who fell to Earth after a near-Cy Young season. Their bullpen started to wear down without a true closer, and now, recent acquisition Byung Hyung-Kim is making management nervous. That's why Epstein went to the phones and tapped the fire sale in Cincinatti, picking up closer Scott Williamson, who could be a perfect 8th inning setup man for the team. And what playoff-hopeful team is complete without a fifth starter? Jeff Suppan, who has shown flashes of consistency this season, will help settle the problems that Boston had when Casey Fossum was a starter. However, one indication that Epstein felt the Red Sox could win this year was his decision to trade highly touted second baseman prospect Freddy Sanchez in the Suppan deal.

These deals were more than necessary for both teams as other American League teams, the Oakland A's and Chicago White Sox, picked up spare parts to begin their run at playoff berths. Of course, it didn't help the Yanks that Boston was breathing down their necks in the division race. But both GMs knew that their teams, like any other roster in the heat of a playoff run, would need tinkering. Only the next two months will declare a winner in the category of Best Deadline Dealer. Though these deals appeared not to be made to spite each other, one fact is still certain: even if Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez think a Sox fan and a Yankee fan can live together peacefully as they pointed out to Pat O'Brien, we aren't going to see love between these teams and their fans anytime soon.