Always A Roll Of The Dice When You Add Latecomers To The Mix

Something funny goes on in Major League Baseball along this time of the summer. As the calendar charges forward to the end of July, the 30 teams get funneled into two categories. And we stop talking about them as baseball teams and start referring to them in Wall Street terms.

Buyers? Sellers?

The deadline for consummating trades between teams without players having to pass thru waivers is July 31. Once the clock strikes midnight on that day, any trade that is made after that point becomes less likely to come to fruition, because all involved players must make it thru the waiver process – meaning that every team in the majors must take a pass on said players, which is not always likely. It’s kind of like going to a garage sale, finding a great deal on a lamp, and having to ask everyone else if they want it – and everyone saying no, before you can purchase it.

The Tigers have been “buyers” the last two seasons – meaning they have something to play for in August and September, and thus are looking to add to their roster. The have-nots – aka the “sellers” – can get into fire sale mode, wanting to peddle as many players (read: contracts) as they can, usually to acquire prospects. And when the buyers and sellers get together on or around July 31, the rumble can be seismic.

But this season, there seems to be some question as to whether the Tigers should consider themselves buyers. Yet, they would appear not to be sellers, either – not with their cache of huge contracts and the recent purging of their farm system. But in baseball when it comes to the trading deadline, you’re either a buyer or a seller. Nothing in between. So let’s call them buyers.

Jim Campbell, the crusty general manager of the Tigers from the early-1960s to the early-1980s, sort of made it his habit to secure latecomers for his manager, trying to give Chuck Dressen or Mayo Smith or Billy Martin or Sparky Anderson those extra horses needed to nip the pack. And as what happens when you are a “buyer”, you must beware. Sometimes those horses come up lame.

Not so in 1972.

Martin was at the helm in Detroit, working his usual magic, and pissing people off in the process – namely, his own players. Nobody could make a closer replica of chicken salad out of chicken feathers than the hyper Martin, and nobody could grate on his players’ nerves quite like Billy, either. Jim Northrup, for one, once told me that he never hated a manager as much as he hated Billy Martin. But check out Northrup’s numbers while Billy was here. Not shabby – which speaks to the professionalism of Northrup, and the fire-lighting ability of Martin.

Martin’s tenure in Detroit (1971-73) was marked with aging veterans and precious few legitimate prospects being groomed at the minor league level. Basically, Billy was asked to coax one more championship out of the core that made up the 1968 World Series-winning team. And he darn near did it in 1972 – with some help from Campbell.

As four teams jockeyed back and forth for the divisional lead – the Tigers, Red Sox, Yankees, and Orioles – Campbell went to work, burning up the phone lines talking to his counterparts who were that year’s “sellers”.

From Philadelphia came lefty pitcher Woodie Fryman. Duke Sims, a catcher/outfielder, was acquired from the Dodgers. Frank Howard came over from the Texas Rangers.

Fryman was sensational, going 10-3 down the stretch for the Tigers. Sims provided clutch hits and batted over .300 after the trade. And Howard, who didn’t join the team until mid-September, hit a couple home runs and became the team’s no. 1 cheerleader. All that was left was for Martin to push the right buttons – and he did so, including those of his players, on occasion. The Tigers won the East by a half-game over the Red Sox, then fell, 3-to-2, to the Oakland A’s in the ALCS.

In 1988, Bill Lajoie tried to supply Sparky with some of those extra horses. And it involved some manic air travel.

On August 31 – the last day players can be acquired and still be eligible for a playoff roster – Lajoie worked out one of those waiver deals with the Baltimore Orioles. Coming to the Tigers would be 36-year-old outfielder Fred Lynn – a bona fide All-Star in his heyday. Only, this wasn’t his heyday – hence him clearing waivers.

Anyhow, Lajoie makes the trade, but according to MLB rules, Lynn must be in the same city the Tigers are in by midnight that night, or else he can’t be eligible for the playoffs. In other words, he has to literally join the team before the clock strikes twelve. Sort of a twisted, baseball version of Cinderella. The Tigers are in Milwaukee, and Lynn’s Orioles were on the west coast when the trade was made. So Freddie hops some planes and lands in Milwaukee a tad before midnight. I’m not making this up.

This SI cover's headline had even more meaning when the Tigers dealt for Lynn in 1988

Lynn is eligible after all. He hits some home runs in September, plays some good defense, and basically holds up his end of the bargain. But the Tigers end up in second place, one game out of first place, when the season’s curtain comes down. Not enough extra horse power, apparently.

In 1993, Jerry Walker is the Tigers GM and he pries another one-time superstar past his prime, outfielder Eric Davis, from the Dodgers on trade deadline day. Davis easily makes it to Detroit in time, and hits a home run in his first game as a Tiger. But the Toronto Blue Jays have more and better horses, and leave the Tigers in the dust.

Two summers ago, the Tigers rescued Sean Casey from the Pirates. In the World Series, Casey was easily the Tigers’ best hitter, going 9-for-17 with a couple of homers. Last season, the Tigers – although considered buyers by most – stood pat, satisfied with their horses. But too many of them came up lame, and before you knew it, the Tigers were done – shoved ingloriously out of playoff contention by the Indians and Yankees.

This year, the Tigers are fiddling around with .500 and they’re on the cusp of being sellers, but they probably consider themselves buyers, if they’re wearing their rose-colored glasses. Trouble is, glasses or not, one thing never changes.

Caveat emptor.