Hi, I was here a few months ago on the anniversary of Ike Davis's arrival. How about that Paul Skenes.
Today's ten-year anniversary trade is what Jerry Dipoto straight-up called a swap of "struggling closer for struggling closer." Jason Grilli had been excellent in 2013, but had a rough start to 2014 and missed a month with an oblique injury. During that time, (1) Mark Melancon was fantastic and (2) Jason Grilli's book came out, which had a bunch of quotes that made him seem like a jerk (“I was going to be practically standing in the soup line on the Triple A disabled list … I made about sixty grand for the year, etc). He was also 37 and reportedly unhappy about pitching outside of the closer role.
Ernesto Frieri had spent the past two seasons closing for the Angels after his arrival from San Diego. He was something of a three-true-outcomes pitcher who was good as long as the strikeout percentages remained high enough. He had some rough outings to start 2014, figured it out for an excellent month of May, and melted down again in June.
Jerry Dipoto said that the Angels and Pirates spent seven minutes negotiating this trade. Apparently, neither guy could get a direct flight between Pittsburgh and Kansas City (where the Angels were playing). Inside a bathroom at Chicago O'Hare airport, the two pitchers recognized each other and met for the first time. How about that.
Frieri ended up throwing 10.2 innings in Pittsburgh and allowed 12 earned runs in that time. He was sent to the minors in August and released in September. Grilli bounced almost all the way back in Anaheim, pitched two scoreless innings for them in the playoffs, and ended up closing games for Atlanta in 2015. The Pirates lost this trade, sorry.
A much deeper dive into this trade can be found at this link to the Trades Ten Years Later Substack. I didn't bother posting here for the June 1 anniversary of Bryan Morris being traded for the draft pick that was used to select Connor Joe, but I'll throw that in here as well if you don't mind.
5 comments
I never understood that trade as a kid. Grilli was excellent for 3 years and one struggling start and they gave up on him. But now I see it as how volatile RP/CP are, they took a chance on a another struggling closer who had many great seasons before for a 37 yo
My favorite fact about Jason Grilli is that he once DMed my mom on Twitter saying “How are you”
I completely put Jason Grilli sucking in 2014 out of my head. Amazing how good he was from 2011-2013 for me to not even remember how his time ended a decade later.
Ah Ernesto Frieri the Pirate legend. Didn’t he get traded again later in his career for $1 or something stupid like that? Or is that something I just made up?
I was sad for Grilled Cheese. He added so much to the fun of the Zohan years.