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Archives Leigh Sprague's Blue Jays All-Time Annotated Trade Catalogue, Part One - Peter Bavasi
When analyzing Peter Bavasi’s time as GM of the Blue Jays, it is wise to remember that Pat Gillick was really pulling most of the baseball strings behind the scenes. Nevertheless, Bavasi got the final say, so here is his catalogue. For good or ill.


Blue Jays All-Time Annotated Trade Catalogue
by Leigh Sprague

Part One : Peter Bavasi

November 5, 1976
Toronto trades SP AL Fitzmorris to Cleveland for C Alan Ashby and 1B/OF Doug Howard.

Obtained:
Alan Ashby, two seasons in Toronto

Year  avg./obp./slg.  gms   rc  fld/rf
1977  .210/.301/.280  124   33  -/+
1978  .261/.333/.420   81   36  +/+


Ashby traded to Houston on November 27, 1978.

Doug Howard did not play in Toronto. He was released on March 29, 1977.

Traded Away:
Al Fitzmorris, two seasons in Cleveland
Year  ip     w  l   era
1977  133    6  10  5.41
1978   14.3  0   1  6.28

Fitzmorris released by Cleveland on July 7, 1978.

Synopsis: Ashby was the Jays' starting catcher in their inaugural season, giving way to Rick Cerone in 1978. Fitzmorris likely would have cracked the starting rotation for the Jays in 1978, but with no significant positive effect. None of the players that the Jays eventually got in return for Ashby in the subsequent trade with the Astros were of much value. Verdict: innocuous.

December 6, 1976
Toronto trades DH Rico Carty to Cleveland for C Rick Cerone and OF John Lowenstein.

Obtained:
Rick Cerone, three seasons in Toronto
Year  avg./obp./slg.  gms  rc  fld/rf
1977  .200/.245/.270   31   6  +/+
1978  .223/.284/.298   88  23  +/+
1979  .239/.294/.358  136  49  -/-

Cerone traded to New York Yankees on November 1, 1979.

John Lowenstein did not play for Toronto. He was traded to Cleveland on March 29, 1977.

Traded Away:
Rico Carty, one season in Cleveland
Year  avg./obp./slg.  gms  rc  fld/rf
1977  .280/.355/.432  127  71  dh

Carty traded back to Toronto on March 15, 1978.

Synopsis: Cerone served below replacement level as the Jays starting catcher for 1978 and 1979. Cerone's real utility to the Jays was in bringing Damaso Garcia to Toronto in a trade with the Yankees in November of 1979. The Jays got two full seasons of Cerone, plus the return in the subsequent trade, in exchange for one season of Rico Carty. It was a good season, but not good enough to bring this trade into Cleveland's favour. Verdict: slightly advantageous.

February 17, 1977
Toronto trades C Dave Roberts to San Diego for P Jerry Johnson.

Obtained:
Jerry Johnson, one season in Toronto
Year  ip   w  l  sv  era
1977  86    2  4   5  4.60

Johnson released by Toronto on March 22, 1978

Traded Away:
Dave Roberts, two seasons in San Diego
Year  avg./obp./slg.  gms  rc  fld/rf
1977  .220/.268/.323   82  15  -/-
1978  .216/.309/.309   54   9  -/-

Roberts subsequently traded by San Diego to Texas.

Synopsis: Roberts was later traded to Texas with Oscar Gamble and cash for Mike Hargrove, Kurt Bevacqua and Bill Fahey. None of those players made a significant contribution to the Padres... but neither did Johnson to the Blue Jays. Verdict: innocuous.

February 24, 1977
Toronto trades Mike Weathers to Oakland for DH Ron Fairly.

Obtained:
Ron Fairly, one season in Toronto
Year  avg./obp./slg.  gms  rc  fld/rf
1977  .279/.362/.465  132  76  dh

Fairly traded to California on December 8, 1977.

Traded Away:
Mike Weathers did not play for Oakland.

Synopsis: The Jays got one good season out of Fairly, plus the return on a subsequent trade, for nothing. Verdict: good.

March 29, 1977
Toronto trades OF John Lowenstein to Cleveland for SS Hector Torres.

Obtained:
Hector Torres, one season in Toronto
Year  avg./obp./slg.  gms  rc  fld/rf
1977  .241/.282/.346   91  26  +/-

Torres released by Toronto on March 27, 1978.

Traded Away:
John Lowenstein, one season in Cleveland
Year  avg./obp./slg.  gms  rc  fld/rf
1977  .242/.335/.376   81  18  +/-

Lowenstein traded by Cleveland to Texas on February 28, 1978.

Synopsis: Cleveland wins this trade. Although neither Torres nor Lowenstein were remarkable, the Indians did get one good season of starting pitching from David Clyde, whom they had obtained for Lowenstein in a subsequent trade. Verdict: innocuous, from the Jays' perspective.

May 9, 1977
Toronto trades RP Steve Hargan and SS Jim Mason to Texas for 3B Roy Howell.

Obtained:
Roy Howell, four seasons in Toronto
Year  avg./obp./slg.  gms  rc  fld/rf
1977  .316/.386/.451   96  63  -/+
1978  .270/.325/.376  140  67  -/+
1979  .247/.310/.405  138  62  -/+
1980  .269/.335/.413__142__72__+/+

Left Toronto as a free agent on December 20, 1980.

Traded Away:
Steve Hargan, one season in Texas
Year  ip    w  l  sv  era
1977  12.3  1  0   0  8.76

Sold to California on June 15, 1977.

Jim Mason, two seasons in Texas
Year__avg./obp./slg.__gms__rc__fld/rf
1977  .218/.290/.327   36   5  +/-
1978  .190/.227/.229   55   5  -/-

Traded by Texas to Montreal on December 8, 1978.

Synopsis: The Jays got their starting third baseman for their first four seasons. The Rangers got substantially less. Verdict: good.

[Editor's Note : Join us tomorrow for Part Two of the Catalogue, Pat Gillick -- The Age Of Innocence]
Posted by Craig B on Monday, January 26 2004 @ 05:16 AM EST.
Leigh Sprague's Blue Jays All-Time Annotated Trade Catalogue, Part One - Peter Bavasi | 6 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
_dp - Monday, January 26 2004 @ 05:20 PM EST (#80386) #
This ite is really amazing. In Lawrence Lessig's the future of ideas, he talks about how the web creates allows people to create a large store of quality information, motivated not by economic gain, but by a sense of community participation. This site is a perfect example of that. Great work.
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Coach - Monday, January 26 2004 @ 05:42 PM EST (#80387) #
Leigh, we are very grateful you chose to share this with us.

When analyzing Peter Bavasi’s time as GM of the Blue Jays, it is wise to remember that Pat Gillick was really pulling most of the baseball strings behind the scenes.

You got that right. Here's a little anecdote about the Carty-Cerone deal, from the Baseball America 20th Anniversary issue, which proclaimed Gillick as baseball's best GM:

Gillick is the guy who turned the Mr. Wahoo award against the Indians. It was back in 1976, and Gillick, preparing for the expansion draft that would create the inaugural edition of the Blue Jays, was disappointed to see the Indians protect young catcher Rick Cerone.

"But look at this," Gillick told a roomful of scouts and assistants. "They didn't protect Rico Carty."

Eyebrows arched at the prospect of drafting a 36-year-old DH with bad knees. Peter Bavasi, then Blue Jays president, tried to blow off the idea.

"Rico was Mr. Wahoo," Gillick said to a roomful of blank stares. "Mr. Wahoo. The Indians man of the year. Let's take him. In Cleveland the writers and fans will kill the team if they lose Carty. Then they'll have to trade and get Rico back."

It happened exactly that way. The Jays took Carty in the first round, waited for the shock to set in along Lake Erie, then traded Carty back to the Indians for Cerone.

I'm looking forward to the rest of this fantastic series.
[ Reply to This ]
_Nigel - Monday, January 26 2004 @ 07:03 PM EST (#80388) #
This is a great walk down memory lane for me - thanks very much. I didn't remember the trade for Ashby (unlike the subsequent trade of Ashby to Houston which I hated from day one). I would agree that his acquisition was innocuous in terms of long term value but Ashby was by far the best player in that deal and his '78 line of .261/.333/.420 was pretty good. I would take that in a heartbeat from both Myers and Cash in '04. Ashby went on to have a few good years with Houston and one great year in the late 80's for them.
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Mike Green - Monday, January 26 2004 @ 08:45 PM EST (#80389) #
Wow. Bill James did an analysis in one of the abstracts on 10 years of Philly trades, but this covers 27 years, and with significantly more detail. Thanks, Leigh.
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_jason - Wednesday, January 28 2004 @ 05:30 PM EST (#80390) #
From the "you always remember the trades you didn't make" archives; Didn't Bavasi overrule Pat on a trade that would have netted the Jays Ron Guidry. He was still in the minors at the time and I can't for the life of me recall who the Yankies wanted (HELP!). I remember Gillick telling the story as the reasoning behind getting rid of Bavasi. It has always been a source of 'what if' consternation: Dave Stieb and Ron Guidry, pitching for the Jays.
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Craig B - Wednesday, January 28 2004 @ 11:11 PM EST (#80391) #
They wanted Bill Singer. Singer was the one marquee name the Jays had, and there was no way that Bavasi (desperately trying to sell a hopeless team) was going to let his best playing commodity walk for an unknown kid. Billy Martin didn't like Guidry, and Gillick was sure he could get him straight up for Singer.

Stephen Brunt tells the story in _Diamond Dreams_, p. 91 of my paperback version.

Singer went 2-8 with a 6.79 ERA in 1977 and never pitched again. Guidry went 170-91 over the next 12 seasons.
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Leigh Sprague's Blue Jays All-Time Annotated Trade Catalogue, Part One - Peter Bavasi | 6 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.