From: niguma@ug.cs.dal.ca (Gordon Niguma)
Subject: Milwaukee: One Gary Sheffield from a title
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 23:29:17 GMT

  I just posted an article on how the Melido Perez-Steve Sax trade hurt the
ChiSox and cost them a few games. But really the big mistake of the year was
trading Gary Sheffield and it very well could have cost the Brewers the 1992
American League East crown.
 Now before I start I know there are people screaming "Well he wouldn't have
done it in Milwaukee" so they seem to think the trade was justified because
Sheffield amounts to nothing if he stays in Milwaukee. I think something closer
to the truth was that somebody upstairs in the Milwaukee brass put undue 
pressure on Sheffield to produce and he responded...well by acting like a
brat. And he didn't play well.
 Does it seem really likely that had Sheffield stayed in Milwaukee he would
have blown his entire career? I think he would eventually realize that he was
throwing his career down the drain and stop brooding and play ball. Wouldn't
you? Haven't you ever been in a position where you blamed everyone but then
when things didn't get better you finally blamed yourself and cleaned up your
act? It seems like the situation an alcoholic might get into, and once he     
realizes the root of the problem he can deal with it and overcome it.
  Everyone seems to forget that Sheffield played quite well in 1990 and hit
over .290. I'm not exactly sure what happened from 1990 to 1991 but something
was obviously wrong and he turned into a malcontent. Yet when he went to San
Diego the Padres gave him their vote of confidence with Greg Riddoch having
talks to some of the start players around him and he was given an important
offensive role to begin the season and responded with an almost MVP year. 
I think all he needed was someone to believe in him and make him feel welcome.
He didn't seem to get that in Milwaukee. He said some stupid things as well.
But no one would wipe the slate clean.
  Or maybe I'm wrong, maybe Sheffield did need a new place to dwell. Milwaukee
just wasn't his place to be (but why did he produce so well in 1990). The
main point is, if you have a talent like Sheffield you DON'T TRADE HIM FOR
RICKY BONES AS A CENTERPIECE OF A DEAL! Well, Matt Mieske was in there too
but he isn't that great a prospect he was about 23 or 24 and still in A ball
at the time. Trading Sheffield for this little is a big indication that the
Brewers brass just wanted to get rid of him and his attitude. Maybe it seemed
justified at the time.......now it just seems like a great big mistake.
  As a side note, we can see that Milwaukee finished 4 games behind the Jays
in 1992. The difference between the two teams very well could have been the
difference between Gary Sheffield and Kevin Seitzer. Ridding themselves of
Bones may have brought Eldred to the majors quicker and would have been an
improvement. I don't know the whole situation, but it seems quite plausible that
the Brewers, in trying to justify the Sheffield trade, kept Bones ahead of 
Eldred longer than they should have. I know Eldred struggled in spring training
but he also did very well in AAA (in a mammoth offensive park) so it was quite
likely that he was ready earlier than when he was brought up.
  As it stands now, Milwaukee lost the trade very badly. Nothing will ever    
change this fact. Bones will never be a good major league pitcher and Mieske
sure won't be a superstar, although he will likely reach the major leagues.
The other player involved in the deal was protected by the Brewers and it
was hinted by ESPN at the draft that this was an effort to justify the 
Sheffield deal. As a result they lost Darren Holmes....
  PS- I realize that most of the things in this post are somewhat subjective,
but I do think the Brewers got almost no return for a tremendous talent, which
is never a good thing to do. A lot of what I discussed was subtle, which of
course may or may not be true (ex the loss of Holmes to protect the third
player in the deal, guessing what the problem was in Milwaukee) but was based
on some evidence. I just think that it's very interesting to postulate
on the deeper, underlying effects the Sheffield trade may have had on the 
Milwaukee ballclub.

						Gord Niguma
						(fav player: John Olerud)