Winter Meetings Wrapup
ORLANDO (December 10, 2018) -- When the Alltime Baseball League trade deadline came during the 2018 season, the lack of deals caught most off guard.
The ABL's first Winter Meetings saw more activity, though there were no major trades made.
"The fact that everyone is very affordable right now because of the infancy of the league is the biggest reason deals aren't being made," one general manager said. "Everyone trusts their initial draft and believes those players will evolve and develop to expectations. I suspect you won't see big names traded with any frequency for another couple of years when arbitration hits."
Here's a look a the winter meetings activity:
San Antonio traded RF Mike Mitchell (.231-9-46) to Omaha for pitcher Ken Heintzelman (5-13, 5.05).
Louisville traded catcher Charles Johnson (.210-2-14) and relievers Steve Farr (3-6, 7.07) and Scott Bankhead (5-3, 2 SV, 4.14) to Sacramento for first baseman Norm Siebern (.275-12-57) pitcher Jake Westbrook, who spent all of 2018 on the reserve squad.
Portland traded shortstop Jonathan Villar, who was on their reserve squad throughout 2018, to Omaha for reliever Doug Fister (0-1, 3.56).
Orlando dealt second baseman Tim Teufel (.220-1-9) to Boston for relievers Ray Scarborough (0-0, 4.00 ERA) and newly drafted Jeff Samardzjia.
And in what was probably the biggest deal of the meeting, Chicago sent third baseman Morgan Ensberg (.245-21-62) to San Antonio for newly-drafted reliever Dan Plesac, their second-round pick.