By Jim Callis
December 6, 2002

The Indians and Rangers each filled holes in their starting lineups and picked up rotation fodder with a four-player trade on Friday. Cleveland received first baseman Travis Hafner and righthander Aaron Myette, while Texas added catcher Einar Diaz and righty Ryan Drese. Shortly thereafter, Indians general manager Mark Shapiro was arrested for grand theft slugger.

That last line obviously is a joke. But this was the most one-sided veteran-for-prospect trade since Shapiro got righthanders Ricardo Rodriguez and Francisco Cruceta from the Dodgers for Paul Shuey in July.

Hafner, 25, is one of the better first-base and offensive prospects in the game. A 31st-round pick in 1996 from Cowley County (Kan.) CC, he signed a year later as a draft-and-follow. While there were doubts about his true ceiling, he dispelled them in 2002. Hafner batted .342-21-77 in 110 games at Triple-A Oklahoma, making a run at the Pacific Coast League batting title, leading the minors in on-base percentage (.463) and walking more often (79) than he struck out (76). The consensus among PCL observers was that Hafner was more of a pure hitter than the Cubs' Hee Seop Choi, as he uses the entire field and fares better against quality pitching. One American League scout predicted that Hafner's home run production will continue to increase: "He's an animal. He had the best strike-zone judgment I saw all year. He stays inside the ball well, and his pull power will come." Hafner is a below-average runner and defender, but his main job will be to put runs on the scoreboard. He hit .242-1-6 in 23 late-season games with Texas. Hafner is the leading candidate to fill the first-base void created in Cleveland when Jim Thome left via free agency.

To be fair to the Rangers, they were going to have a hard time fitting Hafner into their lineup. Rafael Palmeiro is firmly entrenched at first base, and Juan Gonzalez and Kevin Mench are going to eat up a lot of the at-bats at DH. Texas also has two elite hitting prospects in Hank Blalock and Mark Teixeira. Both of them are third basemen now, and barring a trade the most likely scenarios are that Teixeira eventually will move to first base or Blalock will shift to left field, further cutting into Hafner's chances for playing time. Moving Hafner to the outfield would be a stretch.

However, the Rangers didn't get enough value for Hafner. Diaz will give them a replacement for Ivan Rodriguez, to whom Texas probably won't offer arbitration and instead is expected to let depart as a free agent. But the 29-year-old Diaz isn't a frontline player. His dismal .206-2-16 performance in 102 games this year can be attributed in part to elbow, hand and triceps injuries, but even before that he wasn't much of an offensive player. He's pull-conscious and rarely hits for home run power or draws walks. In 456 big league games, he has hit .259-15-139 with substandard on-base (.309) and slugging (.357) percentages. He's better defensively, leading the AL by throwing out 35 percent of basestealers in 2001 and finishing third at 27 percent in 2002. While he was Cleveland's GM in 2001, current Texas GM John Hart signed Diaz to a four-year, $6.3 million contract. Diaz will make $1.75 million in 2003, $2.5 million in 2004 and has a club option for $3.25 million or a $400,000 buyout in 2005. By trading Diaz, the Indians continue to trim their payroll, and they also now have a clear opportunity to play catching prospects Victor Martinez and Josh Bard.

Both Drese and Myette were once highly regarded pitching prospects who have failed to establish themselves in the major leagues. They may benefit from a change of scenery.

Drese, 26, was considered a potential No. 1 overall pick for the 1997 draft before he was waylaid by elbow problems. Selected in the fifth round out of the University of California in 1998, he opened the 2002 season in Cleveland's rotation but struggled mightily. Drese went 10-9, 6.55 with 176 hits, 62 walks and 102 strikeouts in 137 innings over 26 starts. He has four pitches that can be major league average or better (fastball, slider, changeup, curveball) but lacked the command to consistently get hitters out. He has a 11-11, 5.90 record to show for 35 big league appearances.

Myette, 25, was a White Sox supplemental first-round pick in 1997 from Central Arizona JC. Traded to the Rangers with the righthander Brian Schmack for Royce Clayton in December 2000, Myette spent two months in the Texas rotation in 2002. He went 2-5, 10.06 in 15 games (12 starts), getting roughed up for 64 hits (11 homers) and 41 walks while fanning 48 in as many innings. He pitched much better at Oklahoma, going 7-4, 3.16 in 16 starts, including a 106-44 strikeout-walk ratio in 106 innings. Myette has a low-90s sinker and plus breaking stuff, but he needs to challenge major league hitters more aggressively. In parts of four big league seasons, he has gone 6-12, 7.88 in 40 games.