THE HOT CORNER
Baseball coverage from the inside — Sacramento Prayers and the FBL
By Claude Playball | Baseball Insider & Analyst | Host, "Hot Corner" Podcast
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May 17 – 26, 2004 | Thirty-Three and Fifteen | A Loud, Complicated Trade | Six Players Out, One Lefty In
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THE BIGGEST DEAL OF THE SEASON WASN'T ABOUT WHO WENT OUT — IT WAS ABOUT WHO CAME IN
Trades that move six players usually involve at least two teams unloading complementary pieces in both directions. This one didn't work that way. On May 27th, Sacramento sent Ivan Morales, four minor league arms and outfielders, a fifth-round pick, three third-round picks, and a second-round pick to Detroit — an almost absurdly large package — in exchange for a single pitcher: thirty-two-year-old left-hander Alberto Galarza, currently sitting on the injured list with a hamstring strain.
On its face, that's the kind of trade that makes a fan base do a double take. Six bodies and four draft picks for one hurt pitcher in his thirties? But the fine print tells a different story than the headline. Detroit is retaining ninety percent of Galarza's remaining salary through the end of the 2005 season, meaning Sacramento is picking up an accomplished, hard-throwing left-hander for a fraction of his true cost — and getting him at a moment when the rotation, still missing Ji-hoon Jeon, badly needed exactly this kind of reinforcement. Whether the price in young talent was too steep will take years to know for certain. What's clear right now is that this front office decided its championship window was worth spending draft capital to keep open.
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DID YOU CATCH THOSE GAMES? — WHAT THE SCORECARDS SAY
@ Fort Worth, May 17-18 (1-1)
Monday's opener in Texas turned into a genuine slugfest, and for a while it looked like Sacramento's night. Ha-joon Choi carried the offense almost single-handedly, going 2-for-4 with a home run and a double, and Sacramento clawed back from an early deficit with three runs in the sixth to briefly seize control. But Fort Worth answered right back, and the game turned late — with the score tied in the bottom of the eighth, a Sacramento fielding error opened the door, and Scott Ritter's Spirits cashed in two unearned runs to steal a 6-5 win in front of a modest Globe Life Field crowd. "We'll put this win in our pocket and go after the next one," Ritter said afterward, and Fort Worth did exactly that the rest of the week.
Tuesday was a much cleaner story for Sacramento. Raul Hernandez was excellent for seven and a third innings for the home team, scattering just two hits, but the Prayers' patience at the plate — ten walks drawn on the night — eventually cracked the dam. Ed Kaiser delivered the decisive blow, a two-run homer off reliever John Benjamin in the eighth that turned a tight game into an 8-2 laugher and pushed Sacramento's division lead to five and a half games. Fort Worth's own manager summed up his frustration afterward with a blunt "what a lackluster performance."
vs. Milwaukee, May 19-20 (2-0)
Wednesday's game at Sutter Health Park had a wild middle-inning turn that decided everything. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the third, Bill Shaw — not a name anyone circles on the lineup card — turned around a fastball from Alex Gonsalez and drove it out for a grand slam, instantly flipping the game and setting the tone for an eight-run seventh inning that buried Milwaukee under a 14-3 final. Edwin Borjas picked up the win, continuing his strong stretch since returning from the offseason conditioning program.
Thursday was tighter and needed a genuinely patient at-bat to decide it. With the score knotted at three in the bottom of the fifth and the bases loaded, Julio Vasquez worked a bases-loaded walk off Franklin Portillo to force home the go-ahead run, part of a three-walk night that typified his disciplined approach all week. Daniel Lozano added two home runs of his own, and Sacramento closed out a 5-3 win that extended the winning streak to three.
@ Nashville, May 21-23 (3-0)
Friday's series opener in Nashville turned into an Ed Kaiser showcase from the very first inning — a triple and two singles to go with a home run, four hits in five at-bats, three runs scored and two driven in. Dave Schmitt matched him blow for blow, a three-run homer in the third that put the game away early, and Sacramento cruised to an 8-1 win that pushed the winning streak to four.
Saturday belonged to the pitcher's duel that never quite materialized as one, with Nick Olmos spinning six shutout innings while Nashville starter Christian Guzman matched him nearly pitch for pitch across eight innings of his own. The difference came down to one swing — Bill Shaw's solo homer in the seventh, which stood up behind a scoreless Sacramento bullpen in a tidy 3-0 win.
Sunday saw Haruhisa Nakamura keep Nashville in it with a strong six and two-thirds innings, but Sacramento's lineup found just enough — a Shikato Nakazawa solo shot in the second, and a two-out RBI walk from Dave Schmitt in the eighth that widened the margin. Andy Benson closed it out for a 5-2 win, and Sacramento left Angel Stadium having swept the series and pushed its record to 31-14.
@ Washington, May 24-26 (2-1)
Monday's series opener in the nation's capital was decided in the first inning, when Josh Taylor's two-run double off Edwin Borjas gave Washington an early cushion it never relinquished, holding on for a 5-3 win despite a two-RBI day from Choi.
Tuesday needed extra innings and a genuinely gutsy performance from both bullpens. Washington's Sean Roberts was excellent across six and a third innings, and the game stayed tied deep into the night before Bill Shaw's RBI single in the top of the tenth broke it open, part of a night that also saw home runs from Shaw and Nakazawa. Andy Benson closed out an 18th save in a 6-4 win.
Wednesday's finale turned into a Ray Burdick coming-out party. The third baseman hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the second that got Sacramento rolling early, and finished with three RBI in an 8-4 win that closed out the road trip and pushed Sacramento's record to 33-15, a comfortable eight games clear in the American League West.
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BREAKING DOWN THE GALARZA DEAL
Start with the player Sacramento is getting. Alberto Galarza has a career record of 131-82 with a 4.11 ERA across twelve major league seasons, a genuine workhorse who has thrown 200-plus innings in eight different years and currently sits on a 2.25 ERA through three starts in 2004, a small sample but an encouraging one. His fastball sits in the 96-98 mile-per-hour range, still elite velocity for a pitcher in his thirties, and his knuckle curve grades as a genuine out-pitch. On pure stuff, this is a rotation upgrade over what Sacramento currently has behind Jang and Thompson, and at a modest $790,000 salary — ninety percent of it covered by Detroit through 2005 — the cost to Sacramento's payroll is close to negligible.
Now the price. Ivan Morales, a rotation piece for parts of several seasons, was the most established name heading out, along with four younger players still developing in the minors and a full slate of draft picks: a fifth-rounder, three third-rounders, and a second-rounder. That's a significant chunk of future asset value walking out the door for a single, currently-injured 32-year-old, even a good one. Farm systems that stay productive over long stretches, the way Sacramento's has, generally do it by not making trades like this too often. This is the kind of move that gets graded very differently in three years depending on whether Galarza gives this rotation eighteen months of quality innings or breaks down after one strong half-season.
The short-term logic, though, is straightforward. With Jeon out for the year and the rotation depth already stretched thin behind him, this front office decided the current championship window was worth spending future assets to protect. Whether that turns out to be the right call is a question for 2005 and 2006. For right now, in the middle of a season this team is winning at a near-record pace, it's a defensible bet on a roster that has already shown it can absorb one significant loss without missing a step.
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WHO'S HOT, WHO'S COLD
Who's Hot: Tim Thompson has been dominant across his last four starts, 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA. Jung-keun Jang has been nearly untouchable over his last five, 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA. Nick Olmos continues his excellent season, and Shikato Nakazawa is hitting .348 with four home runs over his last seven games.
Who is Cold: The injury list keeps growing — Julio Vasquez is dealing with a strained back, expected out three weeks, and Tim Van Ham remains sidelined with bone chips in his elbow. Between those two and Jeon, this roster is absorbing real attrition even as it wins.
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AROUND THE LEAGUE
Las Vegas third baseman Daniel Mele hit his 500th career home run on May 21st, a milestone reached in a losing effort that he shrugged off, saying simply, "I don't play for homers — I play to win." Tucson remains the hottest team in baseball at 32-16, while Sacramento's own 33-15 mark, aided by this stretch's 8-2 run, keeps this club within shouting distance of the league's best record.
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THE INBOX
From Delphine Vasari of Sacramento's Sierra Oaks neighborhood, a genetic counselor, who asks: "Six players and four draft picks for one hurt pitcher seems like an enormous overpay. Did Sacramento get fleeced here?"
I understand the instinct, but I'd hold off on that verdict. The headline number of bodies involved is large, but the actual value being surrendered is softer than it looks — none of the four minor leaguers going to Detroit were considered elite prospects, and while losing four draft picks stings, none of them are guaranteed to become anything. Meanwhile, Sacramento is getting a proven, cost-controlled starter with genuine swing-and-miss stuff at almost no salary impact. It's a real gamble on Galarza's health and durability at thirty-two. It's not an obvious fleecing.
From Anastasi Villareal of Sacramento's Curtis Park neighborhood, a marine electrician, who asks: "With Detroit covering 90% of Galarza's salary, why would they still want to include so many prospects going the other way? What's in it for them?"
Detroit is clearly rebuilding rather than contending this year, and for a team in that position, prospects and draft picks are worth more than a thirty-two-year-old veteran on an expiring window, even a good one. Eating most of his remaining salary is a small price for Detroit to pay to accelerate their own farm system, and getting four young players plus four picks in one swoop is a legitimate haul for a rebuilding club looking to restock. Both sides had real incentives here — Sacramento wanted rotation help now, Detroit wanted young talent for later. That's usually the sign of a trade that made sense for both parties, even if it looks lopsided in raw player-count terms.
From Guadalupe Fenwick of Sacramento's Land Park neighborhood, a hydrologist, who asks: "Once Galarza is healthy, does he slot straight into the rotation, or does someone get bumped?"
Almost certainly he slots in once his hamstring clears, and the most likely candidate to lose a rotation spot is whoever's been filling the gap left by Jeon and Morales, presumably Nick Olmos given the incremental way the staff has patched things together. It's also worth remembering Galarza is walking straight into an unfamiliar clubhouse and league, so there may be an adjustment period even once he's physically ready. I'd expect the staff to ease him in over a start or two rather than handing him a full workload immediately, but longer term, this looks like a clear rotation upgrade once he's actually on the mound.
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Eight wins in ten games, a comfortable division lead, and the biggest, most complicated trade of Sacramento's season completed on the same week. The Prayers gave up real future value to bring in Alberto Galarza, a bet on rotation stability at exactly the moment this roster needed it most. Philadelphia arrives at Sutter Health Park next for a marquee series, with Portland to follow as June begins.
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Claude Playball is a baseball insider and analyst and host of the Hot Corner podcast, based in Sacramento, California.