How One Trade Made All the Difference

by Matt Wells

In this day in age, it seems that it is very rare for BOTH teams involved in a two-team deal to come out “ahead.”  Usually, there is a winner and a loser – one team is better off with the deal, and one team is left to rebuild after the deal, perhaps receiving minor leaguers or youngsters in the deal.

But, hey, who knows?  One deal CAN make all the difference, and this was easily illustrated by a trade made before the 2005 baseball season.  The two key players BOTH involved helped their team become better – again, this is something that is very rare.  One player in the deal made a weak team become stronger; the other player helped his team win a World Series.Monday, December 13, 2004:

Chicago White Sox trade CAROLOS LEE to Milwaukee Brewers for SCOTT PODSEDNIK and LUIS VIZCAINO.

Now, Vizcaino is not my primary concern here, as you can see by the introduction.  The focus of this article is on Lee and Podsednik.  Let’s analyze what they had done prior to the 2005 season and what they did in the 2005 season itself…

Carlos Lee started his career in 1999 with the White Sox, and he immediately emerged as a power hitter.  He hit 18 homers in his rookie year, and his homerun totals would just increase from there, peaking at 31 homers in both 2003 and 2004.

In Chicago, Lee would average over 25 homeruns in 6 seasons.  But, Lee became expendable.  The White Sox had power, as indicated by their 2004 player totals – Paul Konerko (41 HR), Lee (31 HR), Jose Valentin (30 HR), Aaron Rowand (24 HR), Joe Crede (21 HR), and Frank Thomas (18 HR – injury-shortened year).

Take those homerun totals and then look at the stolen base totals for the 2004 White Sox.  There were three (that’s right…three) players on the team with more than 10 steals.  Not a lot, right?  How about this….no one on the team had more than 20 steals.  Ouch.

Now, the Brewers didn’t have much speed, either.  Outside of Scott Podsednik’s 70 stolen bases, the Brew Crew had three guys on the team with more than 10 steals – Craig Counsell (17 SB), Brady Clark (15 SB), and Bill Hall (12 SB).

What the Brewers needed, however, was power.  Their 2004 leader was Geoff Jenkins, who hit just 27 homers.  NOBODY ELSE ON THE TEAM HAD MORE THAN 20!!!!

So, the Brewers needed power (above all else) and the White Sox needed speed at the top of their lineup.

Sit back, and watch the magic happen.

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As already mentioned, Podsednik was traded to the White Sox for Carlos Lee in December of 2004.

The Brewers got legitimate power – Lee’s bat in the middle of a young lineup would be just what the Brewers needed to take other National League teams by surprise.

The Sox got real speed at the top of their lineup – Podsednik, when healthy, is one of the fastest (if not THE fastest) guys in the game.

2005 was a grand year for both Podsednik and Lee…and boy, did they help their teams in BIG ways….

First off, let’s see how Brewers made out.

The Brewers, for a long time, were the laughing stock of the National League (or one of the laughing stocks, anyway).  Year after year, the Brewers would come in 5th or 6th place in their division and they would watch the playoffs from home.

Now, the 2005 Brewers didn’t make the playoffs, but they did finish with a record of .500 for the first time since 1992 – they were in the American League at that time and Phil Garner was their manager.  The last time the Brewers finished over .500, Robin Yount, Greg Vaughn, and Paul Molitor were donning Brewers uniforms.  But, I digress.

Lee’s bat in the middle of a young lineup would be one of the catalysts (along with good pitching) to an 81-81 record in 2005.  Lee would 32 homeruns and drive in 114 runs.  He would be a great complement to the likes of Geoff Jenkins, Lyle Overbay, Brady Clark, and Bill Hall (among others).

Carlos Lee also had 8 assists in the outfield for the Brewers in 2005, meaning that baserunners should be cautious when running on the left fielder.  The future for the Brewers is bright, and Lee will once again be the offensive anchor for the young, upcoming Brew Crew in 2006.

Now, we move on to Scott Podsednik.  The White Sox were desperate for someone to bat leadoff and manufacture runs.  Enter Podsednik.

In 2005, Podsednik completely changed the way the White Sox played baseball.  Manager Ozzie Guillen was able to rely on Podsednik to essentially manufacture at least one run per game.

Here’s how it worked: Posednik would, say, bunt his way on base.  He would steal second, and then get sacrificed to third.  A base hit or a sacrifice fly would bring Podsednik home and, before the opposition knew it, they were trailing.

Now, Podsednik wasn’t even close to replacing Carlos Lee’s bat in Chicago.  In fact, Podsednik hit no homers during the regular season.  Compare that to Lee’s 31 dingers.  Podsednik would steal 59 bases last season and would be the catalyst for the White Sox fantastic season.

Now, the keyword when it comes to Podsednik’s homerun total would be 0 in the REGULAR SEASON.  In Game 1 of the Division Series against the Red Sox, Podsednik would hit a homer in the White Sox 14-2 victory.  Podsednik became the first player ever to hit a home run in a post-season game after not hitting one during the regular season (500 plate appearance minimum).

That wasn’t the end of Podsednik’s heroism.  In the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 2 of the World Series, Podsednik hit a walk-off dinger off of Houston’s Brad Lidge, giving the Sox a 2-0 series lead.  The White Sox, as we all know, would go on to win the World Series in 4 games.

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In conclusion, a trade rarely works out for both teams in this day in age.  However, the Lee for Podsednik deal helped the Brewers become better and the White Sox become one of the more feared teams in the American League any time Podsednik was on base.

Let’s see if they continue performing well for their “new” teams in the years to come.