July 1st, 2013 at 6:00 am 
by Evan Bladh We follow the game. We live it and breath it and many of us think that we’d do much better in the General Manager Chair than the person that occupies it. Truth of the matter is we don’t know the deep details of the game and are sometimes in the dark when it comes to the inter-workings of the scouting departments and the experts that watch the game at all levels for a living. There’s a reason why they are there and we are here. Case in point is illustrated below:
July 31, 2011 – A Three Team trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners:
- The Dodgers traded Trayvon Robinson to the Seattle Mariners.
- The Red Sox sent Chih-Hsien Chiang to the Seattle Mariners.
- The Mariners sent Erik Bedard and Josh Fields to the Boston Red Sox.
- The Red Sox sent Stephen Fife, Juan Rodriguez and Tim Federowicz to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
There haven’t been a lot of trades where I think the Dodgers actually committed highway robbery, but in this 7/31/2011 deal, the Dodgers came out looking like Jesse James when he walked away from a Pinkerton Rock Island train.
According to former MLB manager Kevin Kennedy, nobody in the league is better at blocking balls in the dirt than Tom Federowicz, not even Yadier Molina or Buster Posey.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Trayvon Robinson, a Crenshaw High grad, lifelong Dodger fan and promising looking outfielder in the Dodger system, was on the cusp of realizing his dream and playing at Chavez Ravine as a Dodger. Many of us who had followed his career were eager to see what he’d do on the Big League level. He had socked 26 homers through three months in Albuquerque and he was a slick fielding outfielder that looked like a “can’t miss” prospect. When Colletti dealt him away at the 2011 trade deadline, I think it’s fair to say that many were disappointed. Take a look at several of the posts from fans over the the ESPN.com message board the very day this trade went down (names left off to avoid further embarrassment):
Commenter #1
“Either Colletti is a moron or he knows that the Dodgers have so little money next year that they’ll need this weak hitting catcher to back up weak hitting A.J. Ellis. We don’t have a decent hitting outfielder on left and we trade our best hitting minor league outfielder? This is a horrible self-destructive move by my beloved albeit atrocious Dodgers. Another poor hitting catcher and two lousy minor league pitchers for a power hitter? This is %^$#$%!!”
Commenter #2
“The Dodger organization is stealing from us fans. This is robbery!!! How do you trade our homegrown star in waiting? Whoever the heck decides to save the Dodgers better fire Ned Colletti and get a real GM…”
Commenter #3
“Just when I thought the Dodgers couldn’t cause me any more depression they go and pull this move. It makes no sense. You trade a homegrown product that can hit for power and speed and should already be in left field now for 3 middling scrubs.”
Commenter # 4
“We’re going to win 72 games this year and 72 games next year. But at least we’ll have a catcher who’s name I can’t spell or pronounce. Why don’t we ask him to change his name to something easy to spell – like Santana or Martin.”
Commenter # 5
“This trade is living proof that Colletti is out to sabotage the Dodgers before he moves on. MLB should step in and stop this move. Robinson will be a major league player, those from the Sox are never-will-be’s.”
And then there was me. On August 3, 2011 I wrote about the deal and my disapproval of it. I had no idea who Fife, Juan Rodriguez and Federowicz were, which shows my short-sided look at the trade. My quote:
“Robinson was a home grown fit. Perhaps better in center field, but we could have lived with him in left. He wanted to be a Dodger. He respected the organization and would have been a beloved player to the fans. We got cheated out of a player that was going to give us a 100% effort and was going to cherish his time as a Dodger. Does Colletti really believe that Federowicz is a more valuable commodity than Robinson? Are we so desperate for a catcher ranked as the 22nd best prospect in the Red Sox organization that he had to deal off the number 1 or 2 player of our farm system? Couldn’t other players have sufficed?”
“I fear that years from now we’ll be looking at this trade as we do the Konerko deal or the Santana deal or dare I say the Pedro Martinez deal.”
Ouch! So there you have it. It shows that there are times when we simply don’t know the big picture, and I guarantee you that 95 to 99% of knowledgeable Dodger fans disapproved of this trade from the get go. If you had told me in August, 2011 that two years after that trade Trayvon Robinson would be meandering in the minors and probably would never arrive as an impact big leaguer, I would have thought you were crazy.
Stephen Fife has been a steal in this deal for the Dodgers. His 7 innings of shutout ball on Sunday against the Phillies show he has completely arrived and is a fixture on the Dodger staff. He’s an innings eater. He is clutch and he has capably filled in for Chad Billingsley this year. Who could have figured that the Boise, Idaho native and University of Utah grad would be such an important cog in the Dodger’s starting rotation this year when he was number nine on their starting pitching depth chart at Spring training? Yes, NINE on the depth chart.
After Stephen Fife’s masterpiece on Sunday, he and Hyun-jin Ryu have identical 2.83 ERAs.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
Fife is pitching with conviction now. He is confident. He knows he belongs. It’s a great story and one that is far from over. Behind Puig’s record-breaking run and the Hanley Ramirez resurgence, the Stephen Fife story should be right up there as one of the most compelling success stories of the 2013 season.
Posted in 
RT @Think_BlueLA: New post – The Fife and Federowicz trade – two years later
@Think_BlueLA Great article!!
RT @Think_BlueLA: New post – The Fife and Federowicz trade – two years later
Great article, Evan!
I got to meet Stephen during spring training 2012 at (of all places) the stands of a Dodgers/Mariners game in Peoria. He was there as a fan with his father and his nephew. We spoke briefly about his trade to the Dodgers. He said that he was happy to be there (like what else is he going to say, right?). I immediately became a Stephen Fife fan that day. (It was the same day that Cranbrook Mike dropped his Ruthian chili cheese dog on the ground and picked it up and ate it).
After Fife’s outstanding spot starts during the latter part of the 2012 season, I knew that the Dodgers had found a diamond in the rough. And then when we saw him during ST13, I was disappointed that he wasn’t on the opening day roster and in rhe starting rotation over Capuano, Harang or Lilly.
As for Federowicz, I have liked him from day-1. I actually think he is a better overall catcher than A.J. Ellis aside from A.J.’s throwing arm.
Again, great article.
That answers my question Evan- When will Stephen Fife receive some love? Nice article.
I too questioned the trade of Trayvon although I liked getting three young players for a change. I did expect Juan Rodriguez to get to the Dodgers quickly but now I don’t even know where he is playing.
I expect I should be more understanding when young players are acquired for one or more of my favorite baby Dodgers as with young players there is always the possibility of success in the future.
This certainly has to be one of Ned’s better trades. Trading Milton Bradley in the Andre Either deal was a good one. The Hanley Ramirez trade seems to have strong possibilities for success if Hanley can stay off the DL. It is difficult being a GM. My biggest complaint has been the expensive three year contracts for players in or approaching their declining years.
Fife is surprising and makes one wonder where he fits if Ricky Nolasco is acquired. I too like Fedex. He just looks like a ball player, a catcher.
According to David Vassegh, the Ricky Nolasco stuff is all media hyperbole. Apparently the Marlins contacted the Dodgers and asked if media reports that they were interested in Nolasco were true.
As much as I like Ned Colletti as a person, I think he is a lousy GM. He has made far more bad signings than good – and I mean a lot more. The good (and great) signings he has made were became of the outstanding work of Logan White and his great scouting staff (IMHO).
Ned has made some good trades but his free agent signings have been terrible.
Does anyone know if Juan Rodriguez is still in the organization? He was a fireballing right hander that would hit 100 MPH on the gun. I understand that he was disciplined by the Dodger organization for undisclosed reasons last season. I’m not sure if he’s hurt or if they simply cut him loose due to the disciplinary reason. I don’t recall seeing him at Spring training this year, but in the time I was there, the minor leaguers had not reported yet. Baseball-reference.com shows that he hasn’t pitched an inning in the minors this 2013 season and that he closed out the year last season at Great Lakes.
According to True Blue LA and MiLB baseball reference, Rodriguez was not assigned out of ST13, which suggests that he was unconditionally released and was not picked up by another MLB team. Now this isn’t to say that he isn’t playing in another league (such as a Dominican League, etc.), but at 24 years old, I seriously doubt it and believe that he is out of baseball.
This from True Blue LA:
@Think_BlueLA great article, I totally forgot we got Fife in that deal! #Dodgers
This is one of the reasons it pays to be dumb and just sit back and wait to see what happens. Some deals look crazy when they are made then years later they turn out to be a lot different than most of us feared or even hoped for.
This one definitely turned out well, but it is really a difficult to predict who can make the jump from the minor leagues to the majors. More than stats many times success is dependent on a player’s mental fortitude which is hard to gauge. There is still a big role for good old fashioned scouting and getting to know the player. The saber-metric guys have yet to quantify that one.
Just read this oin Chad Moriyama’s blog :Loaned to Mexican League: RHP Juan Rodriguez (Veracruz)