As the offseason begins with little fanfare, there have been some trades to kick off the season for everyone. With everything from fourth-round pick swaps to fringe veteran shuffles, teams showed us where their priorities lie — and in some cases, what little patience they have left.
Let’s walk through the deals and break down the winners, losers, and those still stuck in neutral.
📦 Trade 1: Washington Clears Room
Washington Senators send:
- C Mike Stanley (ML)
- 1995 STL 2nd Round Pick
Boston Red Sox send:
- 1995 ORL 4th Round Pick
Grade: Washington: A+
Grade: Boston: A-
The worst kept secret in the entire league was Washington needing to clear salary to make way for its newest batch of young talent. Looking at Washington’s roster, Mike Stanley was really the only option to move. While his methods weren’t exactly inspiring confidence in future players (posting and agreeing to a trade while winning playoff series), he executed it well. Stanley’s salary is cleared in full at the price of a mid/later round 2nd round pick in a weaker draft. Washington is able to do everything it wants to do at the cost of a second round pick.
Boston, on the other hand, walks away with more picks and has the cap room to blow. Low cost and maybe decent reward? If he can play remotely well, perhaps there’s a chance to flip with salary eaten to a team in need of a catcher once the season starts.
📦 Trade 2: Orlando Buys Picks Now, Pays Later
Orlando Sun Rays send:
- 1996 ORL 4th Round Pick
- 1997 ORL 4th Round Pick
- 1998 ORL 4th Round Pick
Pittsburgh Pirates send:
- 1995 SD 4th Round Pick
- 1995 SEA 4th Round Pick
- 1995 PIT 4th Round Pick
Grade: Orlando: Not worth grading
Grade: Pittsburgh: Not worth grading
Orlando needs cheap depth. Pittsburgh, having owned 33% of the fourth round draft picks, clearly needs less cheap depth. Wasting any more words on a trade like this is insulting.
📦 Trade 3: Washington and Pittsburgh Shuffle Deck Chairs
Washington Senators send:
- LF Al Martin (AAA)
- 2B Bill Doran (AAA)
Pittsburgh Pirates send:
- 1B Craig Shipley (ML)
- CF Ernie Young (AAA)
- 3B Freddy F. Garcia (AAA)
Grade: Washington: B
Grade: Pittsburgh: B–
Nothing flashy here — just a minor-league realignment between two teams trying to reshuffle underwhelming pieces. Washington adds volume and presumably the best player in the deal: Craig Shipley, put up a somewhat decent 1995 season, provides backup options for Washington at 1B, 2B, 3B, and LF. Garcia may get an opportunity to play in the infield and Ernie Young is a backup-caliber first flyer for CF. Pittsburgh clears some salary and takes a shot on Al Martin, who’s rates suggest much better production than he’s provided. Bill Doran was presumably included for salary purposes, won’t have much of a impact for the Pirates.
Don’t expect any of these names to headline a playoff roster, but there’s a logic to it for both sides.
📦 Trade 4: Power for Polish Between Seattle and Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Pirates send:
- 2B Randy Velarde (ML)
Seattle Pilots send:
- LF Butch Huskey (ML)
Grade: Pittsburgh: B
Grade: Seattle: B
Pittsburgh takes a chance on Butch Huskey, a young slugger with legit power and an ability to play both corner outfield positions. Outside of power though, there’s not much that Huskey brings to the table. Huskey is younger and cheaper than Velarde, but if this is Pittsburgh’s solution to replace Tony Gwynn, woof.
Seattle, on the other hand, adds a versatile veteran in Velarde who brings a steady bat and plus clubhouse presence. He’ll presumably play 2B and, assuming no crazy rates drop, provide somewhere between 1 and 2 WAR over the course of the 1996 season. That said, this move feels overly short-term. Huskey might never figure it out, but he’s 24. Velarde is 33.
📦 Trade 5: St. Louis and Chicago in the Bargain Bin
St. Louis Cardinals send:
- CF Joe Orsulak (AAA)
- SP Kevin Gross (ML)
Chicago White Sox send:
- SP Jay Tibbs (ML)
- $20,000
Grade: St. Louis: C-
Grade: Chicago: B
This trade boils down to “let’s swap guys we don’t really want and hope it works out,” but has more upside for Chicago. Orsulak and Gross aren’t anything special, but both, particularly Gross, who’s only two seasons removed from a decent year in Cincinnati, represent flippable pieces for the White Sox who continue to play the long game in aiming to right their ship.
St. Louis saves a marginal amount of money and brings in Tibbs, who as a groundball pitcher, should love playing behind one of the strongest infield defenses in the league. That being said, he hasn’t pitched a 100+ ERA+ since 1991 and doesn’t have the pitches to start anymore. Depth? Sure. But Tibbs shouldn’t be pitching at the major league level unless lots of things go wrong for the Cardinals.
📝 Final Thoughts
What this week’s deals, or lack thereof, really show is the growing anxiety in front offices across the DBL.
The smart teams in this league don’t always make headlines. But they do know how to win the small trades — and sometimes that’s what builds a contender.