Gaetti, Harnisch and Cormier involved in 2 Trades August 31, 1998
MONTREAL (CP)--Just hours before the trading deadline, the Royals' GM came up with two trades in hopes of improving an injury-laden tired lineup. At 6:00 PM, a trade was confirmed with the Medina Mustangs, sending Pete Harnisch and young starter Bob Peterman south in exchange for New Brunswick-native Rheal Cormier and reliever Bill Simas.
Pete Harnisch will not see action with his new team this season. He is expected to be on the disabled list for another 2-3 months. Before suffering the injury in early August, Harnisch was 9-10 3.90 ERA. Bob Peterman, the 22-year old righthander, was touted as one of the great future pitchers of this franchise. But most of his two seasons in the majors have been frustrating, unable to prove himself as a reliable starter.
With the addition of Rheal Cormier, the rotation is laden with three southpaws: Rueter, Johnson and Cormier. Cormier is 6-7 with a 3.92 ERA in 18 starts this season. Cormier excited to be pitching for in Montreal, said, "I've heard the fans are great up here in Montreal. Montreal is probably this greatest city in all of North America."
Bill Simas, like Bob Peterman, is a pitcher with a lot of promise but little to show for it. Simas's has a 7.08 ERA from his brief stints in the majors. The righthander has an overpowering fastball, and can be effective if he can stay over the plate. "We'll use Bill along side Hetrick," commented GM Carbonetto. "Both are similar pitchers, so perhaps he can learn a thing or two from [Hetrick]."
"If Simas keeps his pitches down, he could be a very crucial component to this ballclub."
The other trade involved thirdbaseman Tim Naehring and another thirdbaseman from Laurel, Gary Gaetti. Naehring was not surprised about the trade. Montreal press has indicated for weeks that he was the most expendible position player on the team. "Gaetti may be 37, but I haven't seen a player contribute more consistently than he has," said manager Gary Carter. "Once in awhile you'll come across a player who improves with age. Gary Gaetti, Andres Galarraga and Nolan Ryan are prime examples of that."
Gaetti hasn't missed a game this year, and he's hitting .317 with 18 home runs and 72 RBIs. At this pace, he could reach 200 hits. He does, however, have more errors than any other Royals except Mike Lansing.
