Month: July 2012

History of the MLB Trading Deadline

According to MLB, “The non-waiver Major League trading deadline has been July 31st since the 1986 season. Prior to that season, the non-waiver deadline for trades within each League was June 15th and there were also distinctions between when intraleague and interleague trades could be made. Waivers were necessary at all times for interleague trades, with the exception of two non-waiver interleague trading periods: February 15 – April 1 and 5 days after conclusion of World Series – the day before the last scheduled day of the Winter Meetings.

The first appearance of a trade deadline in the Major Leagues came when the National League established a deadline of August 20th in 1917. After that date, a player had to clear NL waivers before being traded. The American League followed suit in 1920, but with a deadline of July 1st. The following year, both the AL and NL agreed on a deadline of August 1st. On December 14, 1922, the deadline was changed to June 15th after gaining approval at the Joint Major League meetings held at the Hotel Commodore in New York. It would stay June 15th until after the 1985 season. In 1953, the interleague trading rules were amended as to require waivers between June 15th and the conclusion of the championship season. The first non-waiver interleague trading period was created for the 1959 off-season and it was from November 21–December 15. In 1970, the start of the period was moved to begin 5 days after the World Series instead of November 21. Seven years later, a second non-waiver interleague trading period was created, February 15–March 15. In 1981, that period was extended through April 1 and was in effect until all distinctions between interleague and intraleague trading were abolished prior to the 1986 season.”

Players may be traded between Major League Clubs until 4:00 p.m. (EDT) on Tuesday, July 31st without Major League waivers in effect.

In July between 2000 and July 25 of 2012, the San Diego Padres have made the most trades, a total of 38 and on the other end of the spectrum, the Angels have made the fewest deals, just 11. The Minnesota Twins have made the second fewest number of trades in that time frame, just 13 but the Francisco Liriano trade the other day would add one to the total. Looking at the rest of the AL Central, the Tigers have made 15 deals, the White Sox have made 25 not counting the recent Liriano deal, the Royals have swung 26 deals and the Indians lead the division with 27 trades. It appears that the addition of two wild card spots this season has deceased the amount of deals but we still have time to bring that number up.

The following table tracks the number of trades that have occurred between June 1-July 31. Three-way trades are counted as one trade.

YEAR Trades between June 1 and July 31
2012 36
2011 33
2010 40
2009 36
2008 25
2007 33
2006 42
2005 30
2004 41
2003 34
2002 32
2001 41
2000 42
1999 28
1998 40
1997 23

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Steven Liddle

Outfielder Steven Liddle is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. Liddle played five games between Low-A Beloit and High-A Ft. Myers, batting .533 (8-for-15) with one double, one triple, one home run and five runs scored. Liddle was drafted by the Twins in the 15th round of the 2009 First-Year Player Draft and is the nephew of current Twins third base coach Steve Liddle.

An outfielder by trade, Liddle has been playing mostly 1B this season. In his fourth season in the Twins minor league system, Liddle has a career average of .253 with 23 home runs and 17 stolen bases.

According to Elias

Rookie Samuel Deduno earned the win for the Twins Saturday night by throwing seven innings and allowing only two hits. That performance came one game after fellow Twins rookie Scott Diamond earned a win by throwing nine innings and allowing only three hits. The last time a major-league team had rookies throw back-to-back games in which they both pitched at least seven innings and allowed no more than three hits was the Pirates in July 2000 (Jimmy Anderson and Bronson Arroyo). The last American League team to do it was the Rangers in a doubleheader on July 26, 1973 (Jim Bibby and David Clyde).

Liriano now a Chicago White Sox

Francisco Liriano

Who would have thunk it? The Twins have traded Francisco Liriano within the AL Central Division to the Chicago White Sox for minor league pitcher Pedro Hernandez and infielder Eduardo Escobar. I have not seen any previous reports of the Mighty Whities interest in Liriano but that is how these trades often happen, all the rumors of interested teams are just that, rumors. At first blush it does not appear like the Twins received much in return but time will tell, we will just have to wait and see. Then again it is not like the Twins traded a superstar, Liriano had to be traded and obviously the Twins don’t think that moving him to Chicago will hurt them long-term.

Pedro Hernandez

So what did the Twins get for Liriano? They received 23-year-old lefty Pedro Hernandez. Hernandez is just 5’10” and goes about 200 and was signed by the San Diego Padres as an amateur free agent in 2006 and was traded to the White Sox this past winter in the Carlos Quentin deal. Hernandez has one big league game under his belt when the White Sox called him up for one start just 10 days ago against the Red Sox but it was not a pleasant experience for Hernandez who lasted just 4 innings giving up 12 hits, 3 home runs and 8 earned runs. In his 6 minor league seasons, Hernandez has 33-13 record with a 3.42 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Hernandez is not a strikeout pitcher and has given up 453 hits in 428.1 innings. Not exactly what I was hoping to get in return for Liriano but he is left-handed and is only 23 years old.

The other player that the Twins received for Liriano was 23-year-old switch hitting 2B/SS/3B Eduardo Escobar. Escobar was signed by the White Sox as an amateur free agent in 2006. Escobar appeared in 9 games with the White Sox in 2011 and in 35 games this season. In the minors, Escobar played mainly at SS and 2B but with the White Sox this season he played primarily at 3B although he also played a few games at SS and 2B and even appeared in the outfield for a game. In his 89 big league at bats over two seasons, Escobar hit for a .202 average with no home runs and 2 stolen bases.

Swarzak to the DL and Luis Perdomo called up

 

Luis Perdomo

The Twins are sending reliever Anthony Swarzak to the DL due to a strained rotor cuff and calling up reliever Luis Perdomo from Rochester. The 28-year-old Perdomo was promoted from New Britain to Rochester earlier this season and since his promotion Perdomo is 2-1 with 7 saves and an ERA 0.92 in 19+ innings. During his stay in Rochester, Perdomo has struck out 18 and walked 2.

Perdomo was the Twins Minor League Player of the week earlier this month. The 28-year old Perdomo was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Cleveland Indians in 2003 but since then has been with the Cardinals, Giants, and Padres before signing as a FA with Minnesota this past November. Luis has been in the minors for 7 seasons posting a 21-30 record with a 3.41 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP and strikes out about 8.6 batters per 9 innings. Perdomo has pitched in the big leagues with the Padres in 2009 appearing in 35 games and in 2010 but that season he pitched in just one game. When Perdomo pitches in a Twins game, he will be the 23rd pitcher Minnesota has used this season (not counting Drew Butera).

Welcome to Minnesota Luis Perdomo.

According to Elias

Cole De Vries

The Twins bullpen collapsed last night, allowing four runs in the seventh inning and five in the eighth as the White Sox rallied for an 11-4 victory. It was the third time this month that Minnesota’s hard-luck starter, Cole De Vries, left a game in line for a victory only to see his teammates squander the lead. That total ties De Vries for third most in the AL for the entire season.

This Day in Twins History – July 25, 1977

Coming off a double header sweep (with the 2nd game going 12 innings) of the A’s the day before, the Twins are again going up against the boys from Oakland at Met Stadium. The game goes 11 innings before the Twins prevail 2-1 on a bases loaded single by Larry Hisle. But, the real story of the game is Twins starter Dave Goltz who pitches all 11 innings throwing 180 pitches. Goltz improves his record to 12-6 as he faces 41 batters giving up 8 hits and walking 1 while striking out 14 Oakland A’s. In spite of all of this, the game is over in 2 hours and 39 minutes. Goltz goes on to finish the season with a 20-11 record and 303 innings pitched in 39 starts and a 3.36 ERA. The SABR bio for Mr. Goltz can be found here.  Box score

Check out the other events that happened on July 25th by going to the Today in Twins History page.

This Day in Twins History – July 23, 1961

Catcher Earl Battey with special batting helmet

Minnesota catcher Earl Battey is beaned in the 7th inning by Cleveland Indians pitcher Bobby Locke at Met Stadium, fracturing his cheek. Battey returns to action less than two weeks later at Yankee Stadium on August 4th wearing a special batting helmet. Back in the day, players were tough. Be sure to check out the SABR Biography piece on Battey here.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

outfielder Oswaldo Arcia

New Britain outfielder Oswaldo Arcia is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for July 15-21. Arcia appeared in eight games for the Rock Cats hitting .370 (10-for-27) with two doubles, three home runs and 13 RBI while scoring eight runs. The 21-year-old Venezuelan, was signed by the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 2007, he was ranked by Baseball America as the fifth best prospect in the system prior to the 2012 season.

The left-handed hitting Arcia started the season in Ft. Myers playing in 55 games before being promoted to New Britain where he has played in 29 games. In 2012 Arcia has 356 plate appearances and is hitting .312 with 12 home runs and 63 RBI’s. Arcia who is willing to take a free pass, has walked 31 times and has a .901 OPS.

Arcia was signed by the Twins at the age of 16 and is in his 5th season of pro ball. Arcia played for the “World” team in the 2012 Futures game and went 1 for 2 with a double.

According to Elias

Joe Mauer led off the 11th inning with a double and scored moments later on Josh Willingham’s single and the Twins took a 2-1 decision in Kansas City. In a tight game when the offense has to do something to win, there has been none better in recent years than Mauer, who, over the last three seasons, is now batting .365 (50 for 137) in Late-Inning Pressure Situations-those spots in the seventh inning or later in which the score is tied or the team at bat trails by up to three runs (or four runs if there are at least two runners on base). Mauer’s .365 batting average is the best in the big leagues over that stretch among more than 300 players who have had at least 100 at-bats in those situations.