Doing The Deal
By John E. Sacco

Just like any person interested in baseball, Roy Smith—Pirates' assistant general manager—watches the highlight shows late at night.

Just like a regular fan, Smith's ears perk up when there is talk of an injury or a player being available.

In that sense, he is no different than a lot of other professional baseball followers.

But Smith is different. It's his job to keep tabs, in some form, on just about every player in the major leagues and for some in the minor leagues, too.

Smith is a point man for General Manager Dave Littlefield when it comes to pursuing trades or listening to trade offers.

Smith, who relies heavily on the organization's scouting department to gather facts and process information, must know an awful lot about a great many players.

"Trade talk can originate in a lot of places," Smith said. "You check your own reports. If an individual involved is playing in the minor leagues, you check your data base and you rely on your pro scouts."

Some of the first things Smith must know are where a player is in his career. How much major-league service time does he have? How many minor-league options does he have left? How close is he to being arbitration eligible and where is he in his contract? Can the player demand a trade?

Chuck Tanner managed four different teams in 19 seasons. He since has become a special assistant to the general manager with the Milwaukee Brewers in charge of scouting major league talent in the National League and for some American League teams.

He teamed with the White Sox' General Manager Roland Hemond at the 1971 winter meetings to trade 16 players within 18 hours.

"We traded our best hitting catcher a Gold Glove outfielder and shortstop Luis Aparichio," Tanner said. "We got a lot of helpers in those trades."

The White Sox won 23 more games in 1971 than in 1970 and finished third. The following season they were 20 games above .500 and placed second in the AL West Division.

"They won 56 games with those guys (in 1970)," Tanner said. "I told Roland we could win 56 without them. Once you get them, you have to manage them," Tanner said. "A general manager and manager have to be in sync."

Smith and Littlefield talk about trades just about everyday. They evaluate their own team, talk about strengths and weaknesses and also discuss any offers from other organizations. It's a process that rarely ends.

"It all depends on what the motivation is," Smith said. "You always have to consider if a player fits into your scheme. You field calls and make calls. Sometimes Dave will ask me to make "touch-base calls." He'll ask me to call these certain clubs and ask about the interest.

"You're always looking at the transactions around 5 p.m. daily and you want to know if someone has been hurt."

Big Deals

Blockbuster trades are practically a thing of the past. Because of all the factors that go into making a trade in this era, it's just difficult to include a lot of players in a deal.

That is unfortunate because their have been some blockbusters deals through the history of baseball that left fans with their heads spinning.

The one many folks remember in the modern era came in June 1977 when the New York Mets traded pitcher Tom Seaver to Cincinnati for pitcher Pat Zachry, outfielder Steve Henderson, infielder Doug Flynn and Dan Norman.

Sports Illustrated thought so much of the deal that Seaver appeared on the cover with the caption "Look Who's in Cincinnati."

Former Toronto Blue Jays' General Manager Pat Gillick, known to that point as "Stand Pat" pulled off a whopper in December 1990, dealing first baseman Fred McGriff and shortstop Tony Fernandez to San Diego for outfielder Joe Carter and second baseman Roberto Alomar.

Ten years later, Gillick, now Seattle's general manager, traded outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. to the Reds for pitcher Brett Tomko, outfielder Mike Cameron and minor leaguers Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer.

A few others have shook up the baseball world in the past four years. Florida traded outfielder Gary Sheffield, first baseman-third baseman Bobby Bonilla, catcher Charles Johnson, outfielder Jim Eisenreich and pitcher Manuel Barrios to Los Angeles for Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile.

Piazza was deal to the Mets, shortly thereafter.

"In this age, salary dictates unless you're the Yankees, Texas or Atlanta," Tanner said. "And those team still discuss the amount of money. The so-called small-market teams can't go out and try to get a Sheffield. They have to try to get guys who aren't making the big bucks.

Sometimes you make trades with big-money teams because of salary. Consequently, you may trade a player, not because you didn't like him but because you couldn't afford him."

Good And Bad

Some trades help teams immensely. Others can make a team or general manager look bad.

Through the history of baseball, there have been any number of deals that have boosted one team and left another with a red face.

Perhaps the greatest heist of all was the New York Yankees acquiring Babe Ruth from Boston for $125,000 and a $300,000 loan to Red Sox' owner Harry Frazee Jan. 3, 1920. Happy New Year, Boston.

Obviously, there have been others that still leave one scratching one's head.

The Reds have made some great ones and some lousy ones.

Heading the list of the great ones was the acquisition of second baseman Joe Morgan from Houston, along with infielder Dennis Menke, pitcher Jack Billingham, and outfielders Ed Armbrister and Cesar Geronimo in Nov.

1971 for first baseman Lee May, infielder Tommy Helms and Jimmy Stewart.

The contingent Cincinnati swiped for the Astros help to serve as components to what became and outstanding team. Morgan, alone, would have been more than enough.

For as good as that one was for the Reds, their Dec. 1965 trade of outfielder Frank Robinson to Baltimore for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and Dick Simpson was a laugher. Robinson, like Morgan, is one of the great players of all time.

The following are some others one has to sit and wonder about:

o   August 1987, Detroit trades young John Smoltz to Atlanta for Doyle Alexander.

o   May 1989, Montreal trades Randy Johnson, Brian Holman and Gene Harris to Seattle for Mark Langston and Mike Campbell. This from www.thebaseball page.com about that deal: "This is an example of a classic trade made to try and win a pennant right away, but it backfired. Langston did his part (12-2, 2.39 ERA) but the Expos' management badly misjudged the talent level of the rest of the team."

o   March 30, 1992, Chicago White Sox trade Sammy Sosa and Ken Patterson to the Cubs for George Bell.

o   October 1998, Houston acquires Johnson from Seattle for pitcher Freddy Garcia, shortstop Carlos Guillen and pitcher John Halama. Garcia and Guillen are integral parts of the Mariners, and Halama has contributed.

The Astros didn't advance in the playoffs in 1998 and Johnson signed as free-agent contract with Arizona. You know the rest.

"The general manager always makes the final decision," Tanner said. The manager has input and the scouts have input. I always give my honest opinion. I don't change my opinion because I believe what I see. You have to be open-minded because anybody who thinks they know it all is full of prunes. Nobody has all the answers. You have to keep working at it and working at it."

Tanner, who was involved in a unique trade himself coming to Pittsburgh after managing the 1976 Oakland Athletics for catcher Manny Sanguillen, credits Taylor for dealing Wickman and others to Cleveland for Sexson.

"Cleveland got Wickman and a couple of others they wanted. Those guys did OK. That's' what trading is all about."

Always A Risk

The first trade Littlefield made after being hired as the Pirates' general manager during the All-Star break last season was to deal pitcher Jason Schmidt, who was eligible for free agency at the end of 2001, and outfielder John VanderWal for young pitcher Ryan Vogelsong and outfielder Armando Rios.

Vogelsong was a top prospect for the Giants and coveted by many who were looking to trade with San Francisco. Rios was looked at as potential starter in right field.

As fate would have it, both players were injured in only their second games with the Pirates.

Rios actually hurt his knee in his Pirates' debut but then aggravated the injury in the second game. He was lost for the season. Vogelsong, after spending time in the minors to build arm strength to join the Pirates' vulnerable starting rotation, suffered a catastrophic injury early in his second start and was forced to undergo "Tommy John" surgery.

Rios opened the season with the Pirates and was the starter in right against right-handed pitching. Vogelsong may return late in the season.

The dividends of that deal seem far off.

However, a trade Littlefield pulled off this past off-season, trading pitcher Todd Ritchie to the White Sox for Kip Wells, Josh Fogg and Sean Lowe paid immediate dividends.

Through April, Wells owned a 4-1 record, Fogg was 3-0 and Lowe helped to solidify one of the best bullpens in the game through the first month of the season.

"The ground work for some of these trades is laid months ahead of when the trade may actually happen," Smith said.

Any contact you have, you use. You go over every single report and try to be as thorough as possible. You get as many questions answered as you can."