Stoneman's Quinceanera

The 15 Trades of Bill Stoneman

In a little over five years on the job, Bill Stoneman has averaged 3 trades per season. On a scale of one thru ten, let's judge how well Bill Stoneman has traded.

1. March, 2000: Acquired Adam Kennedy & Kent Bottenfield from St. Louis for Jim Edmonds
Rating: 8 on a scale of 1-10
For all of Edmonds' statistical greatness, he stunk up the Anaheim clubhouse and chickenshitted around before deciding to get surgery - a great ballplayer yes, a clubhouse toxin - absolutely. Kennedy may not be Edmonds' peer at the plate, but he solidified a long-sore spot in the organization and was a key contributor to the 2002 Championship. In addition to Edmonds maintaining an elite status (my money was on him gimping out meekly by 2002), Stoneman could have gotten a better addenda than Kent the Fat Man - reasons this trade is not a 9 or 10.

2. July, 2000: Acquired Ron Gant From Philadelphia for Kent Bottenfield
Rating: 4 on a scale of 1-10
Almost a wash, but you wonder if something else could have been cooked up for a little pitching. Also shows Stoneman's trepidation with deadlines.

3. December, 2000: Acquired Wilmy Caceres from Cincinnatti for Seth Etherton
Rating: 6
Etherton blew out his arm the next season, while we will get to Wilmy's contribution later on this list.

4. March, 2001: Acquired Jose Nieves From CHN for Mike Fyrhie
Rating: 6
Nieves played a small, unsung backup role on the 2002 team, but was let go in August of that season. when I see pictures of non-roster Amezaga cavorting in the Championship dogpile on the mound, I think of Jose Nieves. Fyhrie pitched unspectacularly for the Cubs.

5. March, 2001: Acquired Glenallen Hill from NYA for Darren Blakely
Rating: 4
Blakely never went anywhere, and neither did the cartilage-free Hill, although everyone got to tell the hilarious story about Glenallen's arachnaphobia.

6. July, 2001: Acquired Chone Figgins from Colorado for Kimera Bartee
Rating: 10
At first, it was just a trade of the two weirdest names in sports. Now, it is the gift that keeps on giving. This carries the potential to be Stoneman's legacy.

7. December, 2001: Acquired Mickey Callaway from Tampa Bay for Wilmy Caceras.
Rating: 6
See, Caceres was flipped a season later for a bit player in the 2002 Championship season, but Callaway's bit happened to be in the heat of the August pennant race.

8. December, 2001: Acquired Kevin Appier from NYN for Mo Vaughn
Rating: 9
One of the big ones. He got the cancer out of the clubhouse and 14 wins out of Appier on the way to the World Series title.

9. January, 2002: Acquired Brad Fullmer from Toronto in exchange for Brian Cooper
Rating: 9
Fullmer was an integral part of the 2002 Championship team, and a steal for perennial minor-league diarist Cooper.

10. July, 2002: Acquired Alex Ochoa & Sal Fasano from Milwaukee in exchange for Jorge Fabregas, Johnny Raburn and Pedro Liriano
Rating: 6
Ochoa was less of a presence than Callaway on the late-season '02 champs-to-be, but still helped all in all, had a different die been cast, someone else might have dropped a ball and another team would have won it all. Liriano is still pitching with the Brewers, so there is always the potential for a point or two dropping from my generous rating.

11. July, 2003: Obtained Gary Glover, Scott Dunn & Tim Bittner from CHA for Scott Schoeneweis and Doug Nickle
Rating: 6
There can only be upside to this. In a year or two, it might be an 8 depending on Dunn and Bittner's accomplishments.

12. May, 2004: Acquired Zach Sorensen from Cleveland for a PTBNL
Rating: Tell me who the player is and I still give it a value-neutral 5.

13. November, 2004: Acquired Maicer Izturis and Juan Rivera from Montreal for Jose Guillen.
Rating: 9
Maybe an 8 after this season, maybe a 10.

14. December, 2004: Acquired Dustin Moseley from Cincinnatti for Ramon Ortiz
Rating: 7
A steal with nothing but upside. Could be a 10 in two years.

15. March, 2005: Acquired Bret Prinz from NYA for Wil Nieves
Rating: 7
Lots of upside, but do we castrate Josh Paul if Nieves is flashing signs in the World Series?

Stoneman's rating is 6.8 - with much upside and little (think about it, almost NOTHING) lost.