On
November 10, 1998, John Schuerholz pulled off a trade that continues to haunt
the Braves to this day. No, none of the
players the Braves gave up went on to have Hall of Fame careers elsewhere. In fact, neither Rob Bell, Denny Neagle, nor
Michael Tucker did much of anything after leaving Atlanta. And, the package the Braves got in return
arguably helped them to another World Series (and another World Series loss to
the Yankees). Nevertheless, that deal,
made now sixteen years ago reflected a shift in how the Braves would build
their lineup going forward—and it has not proven to be a shift for the better.
In the
trade the Braves acquired Brett Boone from the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for
the three players mentioned above. Boone
was coming off a 24 homerun, 94 RBI season.
He was the model of the slugging second baseman that the steroids-era
had caused to come into vogue. In fact,
it would later be revealed that his power surge and the steroids era did not
coincidentally overlap. The Braves,
though in the midst of their successful 1990s run, had never had the type of
slugging middle-infielder that Boone typified.
After nearly a decade of the serviceable, but unremarkable Mark Lemke,
the Braves had handed over second base duties to Keith Lockhart for a
season. Lockhart had performed similarly
to Lemke—a batting average in the .250s, a smattering of homeruns, dependable
defense. Lockhart, like Lemke before
him, was a player who neither helped nor hurt the team. He was exactly what a second baseman had been
before the 1990s and the ensuing need for every position to produce 25-plus
homers.
The
Boone experiment was not a failure, but it was short-lived. Boone hit .252 with 20 homers and 63 RBI—numbers
that fell short of his prior year with Cincinnati, and far short of his
subsequent steroid-fueled seasons in Seattle, but numbers that the Braves had
no reason to be displeased with. Nevertheless,
perhaps for clubhouse chemistry reasons, Schuerholz shipped him out to San
Diego at season’s end.
Boone’s
departure, however, did not end the Braves’ quest to find a second baseman who
could put up corner outfielder numbers.
Boone was followed shortly thereafter by the homegrown Marcus
Giles. Giles hit 21 homers in 2003, but
never developed into the hitter Atlanta expected him to be. When he finally wore out his welcome, he too
found himself in San Diego. After Giles,
the Braves resorted to just plugging an outfielder into second base and hoping
for the best. Kelly Johnson provided
better than expected defense and reasonable power numbers for two years. But, after a 2009 season in which he hit just
.224 with 8 homers and 29 RBI, he too found himself seeking greener pastures—not
quite making it all the way to San Diego and instead settling in Phoenix.
Dan
Uggla now finds himself the embodiment of this recent legacy of power hitting
second basemen who fail to live up to expectations and turn themselves into
drags on the lineup. He might be the
most egregious example, but he is certainly not the first. Here’s hoping that he will be the last.
Tommy
LaStella arrives in Atlanta with no great power profile. He is not expected to hit 20 homers; probably
not even 10. As a fantasy baseball
owner, I have no interest. As a Braves
fan, I am ecstatic. If LaStella can hit
.260, get on base better than a third of the time, and play stellar defense, I
will ask for nothing more. A lineup
should not be constructed with a second baseman at its heart. LaStella fits the Lemke mold—a solid
eight-hole hitter who will do no harm, and occasionally help. Who knows, with LaStella in place, it just
might start to feel like 1995 again.
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