March 31, 1984
St. Louis continues to reject my trade proposals for Ozzie Virgil and Marty Bystrom. So I’ll pivot - Oakland wants Bystrom and Virgil, and is willing to surrender Luis Polonia (CF, 36/45), Steve Kiefer (1B, 2B, 3B, SS, 28/41) and Tim Belcher (SP, 20/42) to start. Then there’s Chicago, which will do Billy Hatcher (LF/CF, 33/45), Jamie Moyer (SP, 31/43) and Henry Cotto (LF/CF, 30/39). Finally, Houston will trade us Glenn Davis (1B, 33/49), Randy Braun (CF/RF/LF/1B, 30/40) and Jeff Heathcock (SP, 36/36). Keith Bonine (SP, 40/42) is also available.
I go back to Oakland, who also offers starter Curt Young (SP, 39/42), who could slide into the AAA rotation. St. Louis doesn’t counter, and Chicago comes up lame. Houston’s offer never seemed that solid, so I think I’m set. Let’s do it.
April 1, 1984
TRADE:
To Oakland Athletics:
Ozzie Virgil Jr - C - 27
Marty Bystrom - SP - 25
To Philadelphia Phillies
Luis Polonia - CF - 20
Steve Kiefer - 1B/2B/3B/SS - 23
Tim Belcher - SP - 22
Curt Young - RP - 23
Cash - $100,000
My fan interest decreases slightly; no worries there. Polonia and Belcher go to class-A Spartanburg, while Kiefer heads to AA Reading and Young to AAA Portland.
That finalizes the roster, too:
C - Bo Diaz / John W Russell
1B - Len Matuszek
2B - Juan Samuel
3B - Mike Schmidt
SS - Ivan de Jesus
LF - Glenn Wilson / Greg Gross
CF - Von Hayes / Garry Maddox
RF - Joe Lefebvre / Sixto Lezcano
UTIL - John Wockenfuss, Kiko Garcia
SP - Steve Carlton / John Denny / Charles Hudson / Jerry Koosman / Kevin Gross
RP - Al Holland / Bill Campbell / Larry Andersen / Tug McGraw / Steve Mura / Dave Wehrmeister
Russell, Mura, and Wehrmeister are all added to the 40-man roster, increasing it to 33.
Let’s now move to Larry Andersen’s extension. My boss wants it done, and as I have $4.4 million available for extensions, I think I can make it work. I’d like to do no more than two additional years, with a contract expiring after the 1986 season. So, with that, I ask what Andersen wants:
A four-year deal worth a total of $1.29 million (average $322K per season).
I’ll meet him close to the average (he currently makes $165K), starting at $300K per season for two additional. He says it’s fair and will consider; I feel good about the offer.
April 2, 1984
It’s opening day, which means predictions and rankings. Also, it means tons of players on waivers, though I’m not dipping in this year. No need for a quad-A type or a flier when I have more than enough currently on my MLB and AAA rosters.
Onto the predictions: Experts have us going 78-84, nine games out of first in the NL East (the Expos are predicted to take the flag with an 87-75 mark). This doesn’t bother me too much - I think we can win anywhere from 75 to 95 games … it’s a big margin of error this year.
Meantime, rookie Juan Samuel is an early offensive darling, predicted to hit .299/.330/.466 with 17 HR and 54 SB. Nobody seems to like Mike Schmidt or our pitching staff this year, which again, doesn’t bother me.
As for Baseball America’s top prospects. Our showing:
- 5. Darren Daulton - C - 22
- 69. Mike Diaz - 1B/C/3B/LF/RF - 23
- 84. Luis Polonia - CF - 20
- 86. Mike LaValliere - C/3B - 23
- 87. Chris James - LF/3B - 21
That works, and heck, I acquired one of them. Plenty of excitement for Daulton, with the only prospects above him being Kirby Puckett (Minnesota), Eric Davis (Cincinnati), Mark McGwire (Oakland), and Danny Tartabull (Seattle). With those five top-100 players, our system is ranked 12th of 26 in the majors. Not bad to start.
Organizational positional rankings:
- Catcher - 20th
- First Base - 24th
- Second Base - 18th
- Third Base - 2nd
- Shortstop - 24th
- Left Field - 13th
- Center Field - 16th
- Right Field - 19th
- Starting Pitcher - 3rd
- Relief Pitcher - 4th
- Closer - 13th
Pitching is my strength, clearly.
Also in the news, after a poor spring, 40-year-old Rusty Staub of the Mets announces his retirement. “Le Grand Orange” finishes his career with 2,685 hits, 290 home runs, a 52.7 WAR, and a line of .280/.363/.431. A bubble hall of famer. Take a bow, Rusty.