1995 - Money Left on the Table
I just completed digitizing the draft rosters and transactions of the entire 1995 season. Thanks to former commissioner Steve Sharik for keeping all paper records of the season - including Kinko’s fax cover sheets, receipts, and transaction slips that he left his apartment with en route to Kinko’s. In addition, all weekly standings reports are included as well. Top notch!
Some interesting tidbits:
- 1995 started oddly, as the MLB strike/lockout ran into the season, and Opening Day was Monday, April 25th.
- Several free agents didn’t sign until after the season started.
- A few “replacement” players were kept on, such as Benny Agbayani, Matt Herges, Cory Lidle, Kerry Lightenberg, Kevin Millar, Damian Miller, Rick Reed, and Chris Truby. (Thanks to Baseball-Almanac.com)
Money Left on the Table:
1995 was the year that money was left on the table:
- Shoeless Jews: $33
- Goodfellas: $21
- Misogynistic Tendencies: $20
- Fear of a Black Ballclub: $20
- X-Men: $15
- Cork County Cronies: $14
- Dr. Style’s Studs $9
- Stanimals $9
It should be noted that several teams may have traded “Cash” in 1994, and thus these numbers are inflated. I doubt that more than $10 per transaction changed hands, though.
Contract Extensions:
1995 saw the invention of “Contract Extensions”, which allowed each owner to protect players for an additional $5 per year after their initial 3-year contract. Thus, Mike Piazza (normally $5), had a 6 year contract at $20. Here is an index of the 1995 contract extensions:
- Six Year Contracts:
- Mike Piazza 6/20
- Moises Alou 6/20
- Reggie Sanders 6/19
- Royce Clayton 6/16
- Matt Williams 5/40
- Jeff Bagwell 5/29
- Ken Hill 5/24
- Gary Sheffield 5/22
- Dave Hollins 5/18
- Bill Swift 5/18
- Derek Bell 5/17
- Darren Daulton 5/16
- Pedro Astacio 5/15
- Rod Beck 5/15
- Curt Schilling 5/15
- Deion Sanders 5/15
- Wil Cordero 5/13
- Darren Lewis 5/11
- Jeff Fassero 5/11
- Fred McGriff 4/35
- Marquis Grissom 4/31
- Pete Harnisch 4/19
- Jeff King 4/11
- Mariano Duncan 4/11
- Danny Jackson 4/10
- Darryl Kile 4/10
- Johnny Ruffin 4/10
- David Nied 4/10
- Mark Portugal 4/8
- Eric Karros 4/6
- Bernard Gilkey 4/6
Big Money Players:
And yet there was money left on the table. The below prices seem pretty reasonable:
- $61 Barry Bonds - Guns ‘n Braves
- $40 Larry Walker - Dr. Style’s Studs
- $39 Sammy Sosa - Stanimals
- $36 Roberto Kelly - Goodfellas
- $36 Gregg Jeffries - Dr. Style’s Studs
- $36 Steve Avery - Shoeless Jews
- $35 Andy Benes - Stanimals
- $33 Tom Glavine - Shoeless Jews
- $33 Craig Biggio - Stanimals
- $33 Bobby Bonilla - Misogynistic Tendencies
- $32 Barry Larkin - Cork County Cronies
- $31 Doug Drabek - Shoeless Jews
Protected Minor Leaguers That Did Nothing:
- Alan Benes - Andy’s Atomic Roadrunners
- Chad Mottola - Dr. Style’s Studs
- Trey Beamon - Stanimals
- Nigell Wilson - Cork County Cronies
- Billy Ashley - Cork County Cronies
- Ron Coomer - Cork County Cronies
- Chris Roberts - Cork County Cronies
Great Looking Minor League Selections . . .Down the Road:
- Round 1 - Billy Wagner - Goodfellas
- 1 - Ugueth Urbina - Shoeless Jews
- 3 - Andruw Jones - Misogynistic Tendencies
- 6 - Scott Rolen - Stanimals (no surprise there)
- 6 - Derrek Lee - Dr. Style’s Studs
- 7 - Richard Hidalgo - Dr. Style’s Studs
- 8 - Bobby Abreu - Shoeless Jews
- 11 - Jason Schmidt - Dr. Style’s Studs
- 12 - Mike Lieberthal - Fear of a Black Ballclub
- 12 - Paul Konerko - Dr. Style’s Studs
- 14 - Todd Helton (Tennessee) - Dr. Style’s Studs
- 14 - Darin Erstad (Nebraska) - Andy’s Atomic Roadrunners
- 15 - Edgar Renteria - X-Men
Questionable Minor League Selections:
- 10 - Roberto Clemente - Shoeless Jews
- 11 - Trajan Langdon (Duke basketball, Padres) - Goodfellas
- 14 - Roberto Duran - Shoeless Jews
- 15 - Chris Webber (Washington Bullets) - Guns ‘n Braves
- 16 - Paul Blair (All-Star OF for the 1964-76 Orioles) - Goodfellas
- 16 - Manon Von Gerkan (Supermodel) - Dr. Style’s Studs
Fan Favorites:
- Rod Henderson - P - MON - Guns ‘n Braves
- Archi Cianfrocco - CM - HOU - Guns ‘n Braves
- Curt Leskanic - P - COL - Goodfellas
- Blas Minor - P - PIT - Goodfellas
- Joe Orsulak - OF - NYM - X-Men
- Scott Bullett - OF - CHI - X-Men
- Jim Tatum - C - COL - Misogynistic Tendencies
- “Taco” Tavo Alvares - P - MON - Misogynistic Tendencies
- Andy Stankewicz - IF - HOU - Shoeless Jews (to which Steve wrote “BENCH” for position)
- Steve Buechele - 3B - CHI - Shoeless Jews
- Basil Shabazz - OF - STL - Shoeless Jews
- BOTH Brian Hunters - (OF, HOU) and (3B, PHIL) - Andy’s Atomic Roadrunners
- Howard Johnson - CM - NYM - Dr. Style’s Studs
- Chris Nabholz - P - CHI - Fear of a Black Ballclub
- Charlie O’Brien - C - ATL - Stanimals
- Rich Aude - SS - SD - Stanimals
- Jacob Brumfield - OF - CIN - Cork County Cronies
- Hiram Bocachica - SS - MON - Cork County Cronies
Trades:
- May 16th
- Guns ‘n Braves gets OF Dave Justice
- Dr. Style’s Studs gets P’s Shane Reynolds, Chan-Ho Park, and 1B Roberto Petagine
- Shoeless Jews gets OF’s Al Martin and Darryl Whitmore
- Fear of a Black Ballclub gets P’s Carlos Perez and Pete Smith
- Goodfellas gets 2B Quilvio Veras and P Jeff Fassero
- Dr. Style’s Studs gets 1B Brooks Kieschnick, OF Midre Cummings, and P Joey Hamilton
- Misogynistic Tendencies gets
- 2B Mickey Morandini and P Heathcliff Slocumb (from Goodfellas)
- OF Larry Walker and P Frank Castillo (from Dr. Style’s Studs)
- Dr. Style’s Studs gets 2B Mike Lansing and P Jason Isringhausen
- Shoeless Jews gets 2B Bret Boone, and P’s Greg Swindell and Dustin Hermansen
- Stanimals gets 1B Cliff Floyd and OF Dave Clark
- Guns ‘n Braves gets
- 3B Matt Williams (from Dr. Style’s Studs)
- SS Mariano Duncan, OF Chuck Carr, and P Tom Glavine (from Shoeless Jews)
- Marquis Grissom (from Stanimals)
- Dr. Style’s Studs gets P John Hudek
- Cork County Cronies gets P Tom Henke
- Guns ‘n Braves get P Danny Jackson from Goodfellas
- Goofellas get “future considerations” from Guns ‘n Braves
- Stanimals gets OF Alex Ochoa and P Heathcliff Slocumb from Misogynistic Tendencies
- Misogynistic Tendencies gets OF Sammy Sosa and C Charlie O’Brien
- Goodfellas gets OF Ellis Burks
- Guns ‘n Braves gets P Frank Castillo, OF Andruw Jones, and $10 for 1996
- Misogynistic Tendencies gets
- SS Chad Fonville (from Goodfellas)
- OF Barry Bonds (from Guns ‘n Braves)
Cover Zero: Marcus Giles Signs with Colorado (NL)
Free agent 2B Marcus Giles has signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Rockies. According to the Rocky Mountain News, the deal is said to be non-guaranteed and pending a physical.
Cover Zero retains eligibility to protect Giles for the 2008 season for 2 years at $12.
Tags: Cover Zero, Free Agents, MLB Transactions
Voting Results!
All Ballots have been received. Thanks everyone for completing this in a timely fashion. Here are the results:
Draft Weekend: TBD
- March 21, 22, 23 - 40 points, 6 first-place votes
- March 28, 29, 30 - 35 points, 4 first-place votes
- March 14, 15, 16 - 8 points
Given that 9 league members put the 21st and 28th 1-2 or 2-1, and the 10th can still attend either, let’s have some discussion. Namely, anyone who CANNOT attend one of March 21/22/23 or March 28/29/30 please post to the list. Technically, all that is required is an 8-hour window to draft.
Draft Location: Miami area
- Miami Area - 23 points, 4 first-place votes
- Las Vegas - 15 points, 2 first-place votes
- Ann Arbor - 9 points, 1 first-place vote
- Phoenix - 8 points, 1 first-place vote
- “Florida” - 6 points, 1 first-place vote
- Scranton - 5 points, 1 first-place vote (Thanks, Drew!)
Other locations on multiple ballots:
- Tampa/St. Pete
- Washington, DC
Given general Florida locations appeared on all but two ballots, I’m recommending the Miami area as the draft location. Hopefully those that voted for “Florida”, Tampa/St. Pete, or Ft. Myers/Sanibel Island are okay with this.
MAX PROTECTIONS: Reduce from 15
By a vote of 7-3, the league has voted to reduce the maximum number of protections from 15 (starting in 2009). We’ll have some discussions on the ideal number, but most of the suggestions have been either 12 or 10. 10 might be a problem because . . .
MIN PROTECTIONS: Keep at 9
By a vote of 6-4, the league has voted to keep the minimum number of protections at 9. Three ballots sought to reduce the Maximum while keeping the minimum.
RESERVE ROSTER SPOTS (Minors): Keep it at 12
This ended in a tie (5-5). Since a majority is required to win a rule change vote, the motion fails to pass, and the status quo will remain.
Next Steps:
1. Post to the email alias either of the weekends that you cannot possibly draft.
2. Provide some suggestions for number of Maximum protections. Personally, given that we’re staying at a minimum of 9, a maximum of 12 might make the
most sense. However, given the results, perhaps those wanting to keep it at 9 might be willing to reduce to 7? Discuss.