Vero Beach, FL (AP) - Coming off the worst season in their history --
having missed the playoffs for the first time and barely finishing above
.500 at 82-80 -- the Vero Beach Bums are looking down an unfamiliar path as
the millenium ends: rebuilding.
Last season, the team was torn by the indecision of its increasingly
detached owner, prominent web designer and philanthropist Jason Gohlke.
>From the start of the 1999 season, Gohlke had decided to rebuild the team
after losing shortstop Omar Vizquel in the off-season free agent market.
However, the Bums continued to win games throughout the first half of the
season, anchored by CF Marquis Grissom and 1B Jeff King, closer Trevor
Hoffman, and "the Three Aces" -- starting pitchers Willie Adams, Albie
Lopez, and Ismael Valdes. The Bums got as close as 1 game out of first
place, but as the trade deadline neared, the team was slowly dismantled --
and its chances of reaching the playoffs a third straight time dwindled.
The first sign of the moves to come was the trading of star centerfielder
Marquis Grissom to the Houston Hellraisers, for LF Albert Belle and SS John
Valentin. This move seemed to fill the holes left by the departure of
Vizquel and the Bums' constant lack of power hitting, but the Bums weren't
satisfied. They made a total of four more deals before the deadline.
First, they traded middle reliever Kent Bottenfield, free-agent pick C
Sandy Martinez, and closer Terrell Wade to New Diggens for RF Jeromy
Burnitz. Most experts agree this was the worst deal Gohlke ever made, and
will ever make. Bottenfield had the most solid year in his career in 1999,
and Martinez and Wade showed some improvement in the off-season, while
Burnitz was largely a bust at DH and in RF.
The Bums also sent Belle and Valentin packing -- together -- again -- this
time to Springfield, along with the free-agent compensatory draft pick, for
young contact-hitting 3B Mike Kinkade and draft picks that became LF Geoff
Jenkins and SS Neifi Perez. That deal was a bit easier to swallow, except
for the fact that Springfield allowed the compensatory pick to lapse,
unused. "If I'd have known he wasn't going to use it," said Gohlke in an
earlier interview, "I'd have kept it. It was frustrating sitting there in
the draft room watching that pick go unused, when there were players I
wanted that were available."
The Bums continued to feed the Anchorage Abominations their young, talented
prospects, sending Jenkins, P John Tankersley, and a first-round draft pick
to the Abominations for DH/RF Dante Bichette and P Jim Corsi. (The Bums
earlier traded P Mike Bottenfield and a pick for 3B Phil Nevin.) Just when
it seemed that the Bums' offense was back in force, the unthinkable
happened. Gohlke traded franchise player Jeff King, an original Bum, to
the Washington Sea Dogs for a slew of draft picks and a pitcher at the
trading deadline. "I had to pull the trigger," said Gohlke. "I just had
to decide that we could coast into the playoffs without Jeff -- and I knew
that he would never fetch that amount in trade again, with the surplus of
first basemen in the league."
The Bums' free-fall this year can be attributed to the aging of a number of
its key players, such as 2B Rex Hudler and LF Ron Gant; the loss of key
players such as Vizquel, and later Grissom; the inconsistent performances
of the starting pitchers, of whom only Willie Adams had a truly solid year;
the lack of team chemistry caused by the trades; and the loss of team MVP
right-fielder and leadoff hitter Brian Jordan to a season-ending injury in
August. "With Jordan healthy, it might have been different. We might not
have traded King. We might have made it to the playoffs," said Gohlke.
The 1999 season was only the beginning of the changes that will occur in
the Bums organization. Gohlke, busy with other responsibilities, is
considering hiring a new general manager or even selling the team. He
hopes to make a number of trades this off-season to shore up the bullpen
and the offense, both of which are in transition.
Key players this year include Dante Bichette, projected as the starting DH;
Harry Hoch, rookie 1B who promises to have a breakout year; Mike Kinkade,
3B/CF who is also due for a breakout season; Lopez, Valdes, Adams, and
Hoffman, as usual; and the versatile Phil Nevin, anchoring the offense and
projected to move to 2B.
