Hartford, CT (AP)- Despite Commisioner Matthew Peck's sudden insistence on
moving the FA Plan deadline back to Wednesday, the Hartford Whalers front
office confirmed the following recent transactions:
- C Joe Girardi and 1B Julio Franco to Deadwood for RHP Tom Gordon
- LF Joe Carter and RF Mark Whiten to Binghamton for overal pick #13
- SS Jay Bell, First Round picks #21, #24, #25, and Second Round Picks #5, #13,
#14, #25 to Larimer for C Chris Hoiles and overall pick #15
The Whalers have gone from holding 7 picks in Rounds 1 and 2 to holding 3.
However, those 3 are dandies; #5, #13 and #15.
Peter Gammons spoke about his first moves as Hartford's GM:
"We (the Whalers) thought it best to move the later picks and move up even if
it meant trading away veteran talent. In actuality, all of these moves were
perfect for us. We planned on putting Girardi, Franco and Carter all on the
block anyway in an attempt to dump their high, veteran salaries. We also knew
we needed pitching help. We jumped on the opportunity to obtain Flash Gordon.
Tom can start, setup or close--he's perfect. We also knew that by letting Joe
(Girardi) go we'd need a backup for Jason (Kendall). Hoiles suits us nicely.
Although we typically look for solid defense in our catchers, we couldn't pass
up tohe chance to ge a power hitter for our bench. As far as the picks go, I
think we did splendidly. We projected 16 quality picks in the upcoming Free
Agent Draft and we'll have 3 of the first 15. We're hoping to land an
outfielder and starting pitcher. I don't think we'll have too much
difficulty."
