After seven hours spent subjecting their fans to a series of names that seldom came with recognizable faces, the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays showed their cards late Tuesday night.
Baseball’s two newest teams failed to take even one millionaire among the 70 players in the draft. But both Arizona and Tampa Bay were involved heavily in the flurry of transactions that followed the draft.
Tampa Bay’s signing of former White Sox closer Roberto Hernandez and Arizona’s trade for Detroit third baseman Travis Fryman were among deals that caused 30 players to change teams.
The late round of trading overshadowed Tampa Bay’s selection of Florida left-hander Tony Saunders with the first pick. The trades were fueled by the desire of the world champion Marlins and the Montreal Expos to dump salaries.
Florida, which is being sold by owner H. Wayne Huizenga, continued the downsizing that has been in the works since the end of the World Series parade. Closer Robb Nen was traded to San Francisco for a trio of pitching prospects. Center-fielder Devon White was traded to Arizona for minor-league left-hander Jesus Martinez, who had been acquired minutes earlier from Los Angeles in the expansion draft.
General Manager Dave Dombrowski said the Marlins are continuing discussions for other veterans, including outfielder Gary Sheffield and pitchers Kevin Brown, Al Leiter and Dennis Cook.
“We’re going to go back home and regroup,” Dombrowski said. “There are still some moves we will be making.”
Montreal completed the much-rumored trade of Cy Young winner Pedro Martinez to Boston for Triple-A right-hander Carl Pavano and a player to be named. It then sent second baseman Mike Lansing to Colorado for a group of minor leaguers, including the Rockies’ top two picks in the 1996 draft.
It doesn’t take much imagination to think of the expansion Diamondbacks competing on even footing with the world champion Marlins next year. They will feature a left side of the infield with shortstop Jay Bell and Fryman, who was acquired from the Tigers for three prospects they picked up in the draft (including one of their own, right-hander Matt Drews).
During the draft, the Diamondbacks selected left-hander Brian Anderson from Cleveland, right-hander Jeff Suppan from Boston and catcher Jorge Fabregas from the White Sox. Anderson and Suppan were their top two picks.
“We felt good about the pitching part of the draft,” Arizona manager Buck Showalter said.
Hernandez, part of the White Sox’s nine-player trade with San Francisco on July 31, was Tampa Bay’s most prized acquisition. He signed a four-year, $22.5-million with the Devil Rays that includes an option for a fifth year that could bring the total package to $28 million.
“One of my feelings was to be somewhere where I would be part of something, a rebuilding or starting something new,” Hernandez said.
Fred McGriff will join Hernandez in Tampa Bay. The Devil Rays added the former All-Star first baseman in a deal with the Atlanta Braves, who will receive a player to be named.
Besides drafting Saunders and adding Hernandez and McGriff, Tampa Bay solidified five positions Tuesday. It traded for San Diego catcher John Flaherty and Philadelphia shortstop Kevin Stocker and added second baseman Miguel Cairo, center-fielder Quinton McCracken and designated hitter Brooks Kieschnick. Cairo and Kieschnick came from the Cubs.
“We’re going to try to be as competitive as we can as quickly as we can,” Devil Rays GM Chuck LaMar said.
Between them, the Diamondbacks and Devil Rays selected 39 pitchers, including 12 in the first round. More of the picks probably will pitch in Triple-A next year. But the expansion teams did select a handful of established major leaguers, including knuckleballer Dennis Springer (Tampa Bay from Anaheim) Hector Carrasco (Arizona from Kansas City), Brian Boehringer (Tampa Bay from the New York Yankees), Joel Adamson (Arizona from Milwaukee).
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the draft was that none of the high salaried players left available was selected. White Sox left-hander Chuck McElroy, who earned $817,000 last year, was the highest paid player taken by either team–and he didn’t stay long. Arizona, which took McElroy in the third round, traded him to the Colorado Rockies.
Both Saunders and Anderson–the top two picks–go to expansion teams after pitching in the just-completed World Series. But if they were disappointed, they were trying not to let it show. Anderson even said he plans to have the Diamondback logo tattooed on his back.
Saunders, 23, made 21 starts for the Marlins last year. He made the jump from Double-A after compiling a 34-16 record in the minor leagues.
