Sunday, August 5, 2012

August 5

2003 Bowman Heritage #57 - Roberto Alomar

On this day in 2004, the White Sox traded for Roberto Alomar for the second time in consecutive years.

Unlike the previous trade for Robbie, it only took one player to pry him away from the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2004, instead of the three players it took to pry him away from the New York Mets in 2003. Much like the 2003 trade, the 2004 trade saw Alomar in the twilight of his career. Only this time, Roberto couldn't even muster a batting average that broke the 200 mark. His fielding percentage was even worse that the previous stint in Chicago. Perhaps it's fitting that 2004 was his last season in the majors.

The 2004 experiment only lasted eighteen games, but it was a move that might have been better left unmade. The only potential benefit was Roberto playing once again with his older brother Sandy. The White Sox were six games in back of Minnesota at the time of the trade and ended up securing second place being nine games back at the conclusion of the season. At this point in his career Alomar was not an upgrade from Willie Harris or Juan Uribe. Sticking with Kelly Dransfeldt or Wilson Valdez would have been better option in 2004.

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