Post by The Vermont Bombers on Jan 16, 2014 21:16:11 GMT -5
Hyde Parks in New York
Senators deal stud Reliever to Yankees, get 1B Skowron, SP Freeman, draft pick
May 7th, Washington, DC
The Senators took a step towards the future by making a small sacrifice to the present yesterday. They did so by shipping stud Relief Pitcher and future Closer Dick Hyde and a 1st round draft choice to the New York Yankees for 24 year olds Bill “Moose” Skowron and Mark Freeman. The Senators also received New York’s third round draft choice in return. It’s hard to say what the Senators have given up with the 1st round pick, but everyone knows what they gave up in trading Hyde to a division rival. Dick Hyde is a stud Closer in the making. It’s assumed that he was be the “heir apparent” to current Closer and 1953 All Star and “Reliever of the Year”, Sonny Dixon.
Hyde was drafted by the Senators in 1949 as an Amateur Free Agent and missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons to military service in the Korean War. Washington sent him straight to Double A upon his return to the Majors in 1953 and he responded with a record of 3-2 with a 3.19 ERA and 14 saves in 24 appearances. Washington was so happy with his Double A performance that they promoted him to Triple A. Hyde met with mixed success during his first turn in Triple A, posting 10 saves in 21.2 innings. Unfortunately for Hyde it also seemed as if his ascension to the Major Leagues would be slowed down, as he posted an ERA of 4.98 to go with a 1-3 record after surrendering 22 hits and 12 earned runs. Hyde also displayed control issues in Triple A, surrendering 11 walks to only 9 strikeouts.
Hyde spent a large part of the 1953-1954 off season working on his pitching mechanics, which had been ascertained to be the reason for his control issues. Upon returning to Triple A in 1954, Hyde displayed not only better mechanics, but also improved maturity and focus. He made 14 appearances that season, closing out 8 games while striking out 8 and walking 4 in 14.1 innings while posting a much improved 3.14 ERA. He still didn’t miss as many bats as Washington wanted him to, but Washington saw enough to warrant calling him up. Hyde slotted right into the Washington bullpen, picking up 7th and 8th inning duties in front of Sonny Dixon. Upon being called up it was clear that Hyde had more to learn, as by season’s end he had posted an ERA of 5.59 while giving up more walks than strikeouts yet again. In spite of the ERA, Hyde showed clear signs of increasing maturity and a stronger grasp of his talents. His inflated ERA was mostly due to his first couple of months in the Majors, when Major League hitters feasted on him. For a while it looked as if he was headed back to Triple A.
It was not to be.
Dick Hyde went into July looking like he was auditioning for a trip back to Triple A. He came out of July looking like a completely different pitcher. Gone was the youthful awe that had always been in his eyes beforehand. In its place was the look of a grizzled veteran. Hyde proceeded to mow down the three batters that came up to the plate, making them all look a bit silly in the process. From there it was clear that Sonny Dixon had a young rival for his job. Hyde finished the 1954 with deceptively ugly overall numbers, however he had opened a lot of eyes around the league in the process.
The Senators fielded trade inquiries about him throughout the 1954 off season, rejecting them all.
“We had no intention of dealing Hyde.” GM Adam Costa explained. “We knew that we had a stud pitcher in our bullpen that could shut down opposing teams and wasn’t done growing yet.”
That changed when New York let it be known that 24 year old First Baseman Bill Skowron was available for trade.
In Washington, First Base is the home of veteran First Baseman Mickey Vernon. Vernon had gone to both the 1953 and 1954 All Star games and had won the American League Gold Glove at First both years. Vernon is an institution in Washington, beloved of both the fans and the organization. He is a clubhouse leader, even though he doesn’t seem to want to be. Washington so respects their veteran first sacker that they offered the then 36 year old a two year, 14 million dollar extension.
In addition to Vernon, Washington has mashing 18 year old Third Baseman Harmon Killebrew in Triple A. While Killebrew currently plays Third Base for Chattanooga, his natural position is First Base. The Senators also have 23 year old Julio Becquer in Triple A and Ramiro Caballero and Jim McManus in Double A. They are a team whose system is replete with young First Baseman. With that in mind, why would they trade for Skowron ?
“Why wouldn’t we ?” GM Adam Costa answered when asked. “It makes all of the sense in the world.”
Thus far Skowron has had an underwhelming season in New York. While he has played very good defense at First, his bat has had trouble catching up. Through May, Skowron has only managed a .234 batting average in 77 at-bats with one home run and 9 RBI. It’s far less than what most expected of him after his 1954 season, even this early on. Skowron finished 1954 with 249 AB, while mashing 11 home runs and knocking in 40 RBI, posting a .341 batting average. Most had predicted him to put up All- Star numbers in 1955. It’s safe to say that thus far, he has disappointed. Given that the Yankees had 27 year old Vic Powers in the Majors and 24 year old highly touted prospect Gus Triandos almost ready to enter The Show down in Triple A, Skowron couldn’t afford to come out of the gate so slowly. His slow start made him expendable.
When Senators GM Costa contacted Yankees GM Chris Cosenza to inquire about Skowron, the response that came back across his desk off of the wire was a single word. “Hyde”. Initially, Costa replied to this message by demurring, asking Cosenza if there were other players on the active roster or in the system that interested him. Cosenza didn’t immediately reply. When he did, he showed how serious he was to acquire Hyde for his Bullpen, making two offers that were “very strong” according to industry sources.
“Chris wanted Hyde and he was willing to blow us away to get him.” Costa explained. “When he told us that he was going to do everything that he could to make the trade work, we expected him to make a strong offer. We weren’t expecting the one’s that he sent us.”
The first offer is rumored to have included not only Skowron, but also a Middle Reliever and New York’s First Round draft choice for 1955. It fulfilled two needs for Washington, providing them with a replacement arm for Hyde while providing them with their potential future First Baseman. The addition of the lower first round draft pick was a strong addition. It was the second offer, the one that became the official offer that got the Senators attention.
“The addition of Freeman was really what put the second offer into the realm where we couldn’t say “no” to it.” Costa explained. “We wanted Skowron and saw him as our future First Baseman. We love the thought of having him at First with “Killer” (Killebrew) at the hot corner. They make the middle of our lineup not just “potent”, but outright “scary”. When I saw the name “Mark Freeman, SP” below Skowron’s name, I have to admit that I smiled.”
Right Hander Mark Freeman is the #2 prospect in the Yankees system and #27 overall. He’s the #15 rated pitching prospect in the Minor Leagues. If Freeman has any knocks against him, they are his endurance and his pitch selection. In his defense, he has seen a lot of work out of the bullpen since being drafted in 1953. His entire first season in the Minors was out of the bullpen, when he posted a 2.66 ERA in 40.2 innings. In fact, Freeman has only pitched 20 of his 77 major league appearances as a Starter. In that short time though, he has put up solid numbers.
Freeman is a Fastball/ Slider pitcher. That can be problematic as a Starter as it offers very little variation in how pitches can be mixed up. Freeman has dealt well with that however and pitches to his strengths, amongst them his strong and developing control. Freeman is good at keeping the ball in the park and not putting runners on, but he really lives off of the strike out. Thus far in Triple A, he has a K/BB rate of slightly over 3 to 1 and he’s posted 38 strikeouts in 40.2 innings. It is this ability to strike out batters and keep the ball down that make him attractive as a starting pitcher. Most experts consider him to be a #2 or 3 Starter. He’ll likely slot into the 1956 Washington rotation behind current Ace Don Newcombe, if the Senators can re-sign Newcombe. If not, he could either be the #2 behind Walt Masterson or the #3 after Masterson and Camilio Pascual. If there is one thing that Washington has, it’s minor league pitching depth. Freeman just gives them another strong young arm to stock their major league rotation with.
Losing Dick Hyde will hurt the Senators. It’s hard to believe otherwise if one knows anything about baseball. Sending him to a division rival, especially the perennially contending Yankees, was not an easy decision. Sending the first round draft pick back with him was even harder, although if Washington can keep up their current path, it could be a lower first round pick, which would ease the pain a little bit. In the end it was a move that the Senators had to make. With youngsters Harmon Killebrew and Yo-Yo Dovalillo in the wings and almost ready to come up and present major leaguer's Pete Runnels and Jackie Jensen already making some noise in Washington, the future of the Senators lineup looks very good.
If the Senators can re-sign Newcombe, continue to see positive development out of present third starter Chuck Stobbs and pair them with Freeman, Pascual and the currently injured Harley Grossman, Washington could have one of the best young rotations in the league. If they can do that, the team can focus on building up the bullpen and filling in their offensive holes behind the plate and in Center Field. If you were to ask the Senators why they gave up their future Closer so easily you could expect their answer to be a very short one.
“Long term success”.
Senators deal stud Reliever to Yankees, get 1B Skowron, SP Freeman, draft pick
May 7th, Washington, DC
The Senators took a step towards the future by making a small sacrifice to the present yesterday. They did so by shipping stud Relief Pitcher and future Closer Dick Hyde and a 1st round draft choice to the New York Yankees for 24 year olds Bill “Moose” Skowron and Mark Freeman. The Senators also received New York’s third round draft choice in return. It’s hard to say what the Senators have given up with the 1st round pick, but everyone knows what they gave up in trading Hyde to a division rival. Dick Hyde is a stud Closer in the making. It’s assumed that he was be the “heir apparent” to current Closer and 1953 All Star and “Reliever of the Year”, Sonny Dixon.
Hyde was drafted by the Senators in 1949 as an Amateur Free Agent and missed the 1951 and 1952 seasons to military service in the Korean War. Washington sent him straight to Double A upon his return to the Majors in 1953 and he responded with a record of 3-2 with a 3.19 ERA and 14 saves in 24 appearances. Washington was so happy with his Double A performance that they promoted him to Triple A. Hyde met with mixed success during his first turn in Triple A, posting 10 saves in 21.2 innings. Unfortunately for Hyde it also seemed as if his ascension to the Major Leagues would be slowed down, as he posted an ERA of 4.98 to go with a 1-3 record after surrendering 22 hits and 12 earned runs. Hyde also displayed control issues in Triple A, surrendering 11 walks to only 9 strikeouts.
Hyde spent a large part of the 1953-1954 off season working on his pitching mechanics, which had been ascertained to be the reason for his control issues. Upon returning to Triple A in 1954, Hyde displayed not only better mechanics, but also improved maturity and focus. He made 14 appearances that season, closing out 8 games while striking out 8 and walking 4 in 14.1 innings while posting a much improved 3.14 ERA. He still didn’t miss as many bats as Washington wanted him to, but Washington saw enough to warrant calling him up. Hyde slotted right into the Washington bullpen, picking up 7th and 8th inning duties in front of Sonny Dixon. Upon being called up it was clear that Hyde had more to learn, as by season’s end he had posted an ERA of 5.59 while giving up more walks than strikeouts yet again. In spite of the ERA, Hyde showed clear signs of increasing maturity and a stronger grasp of his talents. His inflated ERA was mostly due to his first couple of months in the Majors, when Major League hitters feasted on him. For a while it looked as if he was headed back to Triple A.
It was not to be.
Dick Hyde went into July looking like he was auditioning for a trip back to Triple A. He came out of July looking like a completely different pitcher. Gone was the youthful awe that had always been in his eyes beforehand. In its place was the look of a grizzled veteran. Hyde proceeded to mow down the three batters that came up to the plate, making them all look a bit silly in the process. From there it was clear that Sonny Dixon had a young rival for his job. Hyde finished the 1954 with deceptively ugly overall numbers, however he had opened a lot of eyes around the league in the process.
The Senators fielded trade inquiries about him throughout the 1954 off season, rejecting them all.
“We had no intention of dealing Hyde.” GM Adam Costa explained. “We knew that we had a stud pitcher in our bullpen that could shut down opposing teams and wasn’t done growing yet.”
That changed when New York let it be known that 24 year old First Baseman Bill Skowron was available for trade.
In Washington, First Base is the home of veteran First Baseman Mickey Vernon. Vernon had gone to both the 1953 and 1954 All Star games and had won the American League Gold Glove at First both years. Vernon is an institution in Washington, beloved of both the fans and the organization. He is a clubhouse leader, even though he doesn’t seem to want to be. Washington so respects their veteran first sacker that they offered the then 36 year old a two year, 14 million dollar extension.
In addition to Vernon, Washington has mashing 18 year old Third Baseman Harmon Killebrew in Triple A. While Killebrew currently plays Third Base for Chattanooga, his natural position is First Base. The Senators also have 23 year old Julio Becquer in Triple A and Ramiro Caballero and Jim McManus in Double A. They are a team whose system is replete with young First Baseman. With that in mind, why would they trade for Skowron ?
“Why wouldn’t we ?” GM Adam Costa answered when asked. “It makes all of the sense in the world.”
Thus far Skowron has had an underwhelming season in New York. While he has played very good defense at First, his bat has had trouble catching up. Through May, Skowron has only managed a .234 batting average in 77 at-bats with one home run and 9 RBI. It’s far less than what most expected of him after his 1954 season, even this early on. Skowron finished 1954 with 249 AB, while mashing 11 home runs and knocking in 40 RBI, posting a .341 batting average. Most had predicted him to put up All- Star numbers in 1955. It’s safe to say that thus far, he has disappointed. Given that the Yankees had 27 year old Vic Powers in the Majors and 24 year old highly touted prospect Gus Triandos almost ready to enter The Show down in Triple A, Skowron couldn’t afford to come out of the gate so slowly. His slow start made him expendable.
When Senators GM Costa contacted Yankees GM Chris Cosenza to inquire about Skowron, the response that came back across his desk off of the wire was a single word. “Hyde”. Initially, Costa replied to this message by demurring, asking Cosenza if there were other players on the active roster or in the system that interested him. Cosenza didn’t immediately reply. When he did, he showed how serious he was to acquire Hyde for his Bullpen, making two offers that were “very strong” according to industry sources.
“Chris wanted Hyde and he was willing to blow us away to get him.” Costa explained. “When he told us that he was going to do everything that he could to make the trade work, we expected him to make a strong offer. We weren’t expecting the one’s that he sent us.”
The first offer is rumored to have included not only Skowron, but also a Middle Reliever and New York’s First Round draft choice for 1955. It fulfilled two needs for Washington, providing them with a replacement arm for Hyde while providing them with their potential future First Baseman. The addition of the lower first round draft pick was a strong addition. It was the second offer, the one that became the official offer that got the Senators attention.
“The addition of Freeman was really what put the second offer into the realm where we couldn’t say “no” to it.” Costa explained. “We wanted Skowron and saw him as our future First Baseman. We love the thought of having him at First with “Killer” (Killebrew) at the hot corner. They make the middle of our lineup not just “potent”, but outright “scary”. When I saw the name “Mark Freeman, SP” below Skowron’s name, I have to admit that I smiled.”
Right Hander Mark Freeman is the #2 prospect in the Yankees system and #27 overall. He’s the #15 rated pitching prospect in the Minor Leagues. If Freeman has any knocks against him, they are his endurance and his pitch selection. In his defense, he has seen a lot of work out of the bullpen since being drafted in 1953. His entire first season in the Minors was out of the bullpen, when he posted a 2.66 ERA in 40.2 innings. In fact, Freeman has only pitched 20 of his 77 major league appearances as a Starter. In that short time though, he has put up solid numbers.
Freeman is a Fastball/ Slider pitcher. That can be problematic as a Starter as it offers very little variation in how pitches can be mixed up. Freeman has dealt well with that however and pitches to his strengths, amongst them his strong and developing control. Freeman is good at keeping the ball in the park and not putting runners on, but he really lives off of the strike out. Thus far in Triple A, he has a K/BB rate of slightly over 3 to 1 and he’s posted 38 strikeouts in 40.2 innings. It is this ability to strike out batters and keep the ball down that make him attractive as a starting pitcher. Most experts consider him to be a #2 or 3 Starter. He’ll likely slot into the 1956 Washington rotation behind current Ace Don Newcombe, if the Senators can re-sign Newcombe. If not, he could either be the #2 behind Walt Masterson or the #3 after Masterson and Camilio Pascual. If there is one thing that Washington has, it’s minor league pitching depth. Freeman just gives them another strong young arm to stock their major league rotation with.
Losing Dick Hyde will hurt the Senators. It’s hard to believe otherwise if one knows anything about baseball. Sending him to a division rival, especially the perennially contending Yankees, was not an easy decision. Sending the first round draft pick back with him was even harder, although if Washington can keep up their current path, it could be a lower first round pick, which would ease the pain a little bit. In the end it was a move that the Senators had to make. With youngsters Harmon Killebrew and Yo-Yo Dovalillo in the wings and almost ready to come up and present major leaguer's Pete Runnels and Jackie Jensen already making some noise in Washington, the future of the Senators lineup looks very good.
If the Senators can re-sign Newcombe, continue to see positive development out of present third starter Chuck Stobbs and pair them with Freeman, Pascual and the currently injured Harley Grossman, Washington could have one of the best young rotations in the league. If they can do that, the team can focus on building up the bullpen and filling in their offensive holes behind the plate and in Center Field. If you were to ask the Senators why they gave up their future Closer so easily you could expect their answer to be a very short one.
“Long term success”.
