So, who saw this one coming?

Ryan <viper4789.DeleteThis@aol.communist> wrote:
> The Diamondbacks acquired Raul Mondesi and cash in return for outfield
> David Dellucci, minor league pitcher Bret Prinz, and catcher John
> Sprowl. Anyone want to lay claim to forseeing this?

Yikes. It's not an awful trade, and Joe Jr. sure didn't overpay, but
Mondesi is one scary basket case of an individual. I'll never forget the
game at the BOB where Mondesi pouted about something and instead of going
to the Dodgers' dugout at the end of the inning, he went and sat in the
D-Backs' bullpen.

If it's true that Mondesi is in the last year of his contract, then I like
this deal even better.

I still would have preferred Rondell White, but the Padres aren't
desperate to unload him the way the Yankees couldn't wait to get rid of
clubhouse cancer Mondesi.

Of course, what do I know? I actually preferred Kevin Brown over Randy
Johnson back in the winter of 1999.

--Paul
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"Kevin Olean" <kaolean RemoveThis @cox.net> wrote in message
news:W6KVa.48026$AD3.33722@lakeread04...
>
> "Ryan" <viper4789 RemoveThis @aol.communist> wrote in message
> news:20030730003217.00758.00000507@mb-m25.aol.com...
> > The Diamondbacks acquired Raul Mondesi and cash in return for outfield
> David
> > Dellucci, minor league pitcher Bret Prinz, and catcher John Sprowl.
> > Anyone want to lay claim to forseeing this?
> > --Ryan "Wait till the teenage girls find out Dellucci is 3000 miles
away."
>
> Gammons said he was goin to Arizona in the 6pm SC. Mondesi
> was also held out of tonights game.

It also ran on the local sports-talkers over the weekend and into Monday,
prompting Tuesday morning-newspaper dismissals (although not outright
=denials=) from team officials.

Good deal, of course; for whatever reasons, Prinz had become a non-factor in
the organization (at least, in the collective wisdom of the organization's
upper hierarchy) while Dellucci wasn't seen as anything other than a spare
part who wasn't going to be around after his reserve period expired next
year -- and maybe well before then, as his likely 2004 seven-figure
arbitration figure wouldn't figure with the team's salary figure.

Sprowl worries me a bit.... he has every chance of emerging in '05 or '06 as
the next Paul DeLuca if he stays healthy and focused.

OTOH, we got back a guy who wants to be out there every day.... a guy whose
tools are every bit as good as, if not better than, Sammy Sosa's in every
respect -- except self-discipline. He's got an ego as big as his talent,
though, so he'll need a special combination of positive stroking and firm
butt-kicking to get maximum output from him. So far, only Lasorda's been
able to provide that for an extended period.

Oh, and we come out of this with more salary room (thanks to the Yanks
paying off nearly all of Mondesi's remaining 2003 contract) to be able to
take on a low-priced addition (Jose Hernandez?) between now and tomorrow
afternoon.

Not bad.
_____

"In Seattle, a man broke a world record when he scored almost 1 million
points in the video game, Donkey Kong. As his prize, the man will get a
trip to his favorite place in the world, 1986."
-- Conan O'Brien
_____

>
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