August 12, 2008

On This Date in 1987

By Mike McClary in Blast from the Past, Fungoes, Trades & Rumors | 4 comments

…the Tigers sent John Smoltz to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander.

Discuss.

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4 Comment(s)

  1. Jake | Aug 12, 2008 | Reply

    That was a dumb move as time has showed us…..

  2. Doug | Aug 13, 2008 | Reply

    I’ll take the 9-0 from Doyle. Would’ve preferred at least a couple of post-season wins, though.

  3. Mike | Aug 16, 2008 | Reply

    Obviously Atlanta got the better end of this deal, in terms of long term payoff, but people would think completely differently about it if Doyle had helped us get a pennant and not just into the playoffs. As some columnist or blogger once pointed out, by the time Smoltz got so good, the Tigers were already so bad, having him wouldn’t have made that much of a difference. Unless we traded him for other key prospects, he would have left via free agency ASAP. In other words, it wasn’t as bad a move a most people say.

  4. Mike McClary | Aug 16, 2008 | Reply

    I didn’t add my usual defense of the trade in this post, but perhaps I should have. From most accounts, John Smoltz was a middling pitcher mired in double-A. This was not Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen, for crying out loud.

    I agree with Doug and Mike — but especially Mike’s point about Smoltz’s hypothetical Tigers career. With the cupboard bare, he would’ve been traded — most likely by Randy Smith to the Astros or Padres.

    If the Tigers had won the World Series that year, the sting would’ve been soothed considerably,

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