1987: It was almost Steve Searcy

Doyle Alexander had a long, albeit “journeyman” career in the majors – lasting from 1971 through 1989.  Toward the end of his career, he was still good enough to be the pitcher that teams wanted at the trade deadline.

1986 wasn’t quite that, but Atlanta (41-40) opted to bolster their rotation via a trade with the Blue Jays on July 6th:  they got starter Alexander in exchange for reliever Duane Ward… who wasn’t exactly working for the Braves (7.31 ERA), but got a lot better in Canada.

This was actually Alexander’s second stint in the South:  in 1980, he went 14-10 with a 4.20 ERA for the Braves before being traded to the Giants for John Montefusco.  On his return, Alexander did his job with Atlanta adequately, recording a 3.84 ERA over 117 innings, though was just 6-6 in 17 starts.

Ultimately, that wasn’t enough.  In fact, it wasn’t even close as the Braves faded to last place (5-15 for the rest of July) in the NL West while Houston ran away with the division.

The Braves retained Alexander into the next season, at which point they became the sellers to whomever needed help for the 1987 stretch run.  Even so, it wasn’t clear that Alexander would be a great shot-in-the-arm, for at the time he was moved, he had another 117+ innings, but just a 5-10 record with a 4.13 ERA.  He was 36 years old and playing for a bottom-feeder team, so perhaps all of that was taking a toll.  Or maybe it was also hitter-friendly Fulton County Stadium.

Either way, Doyle Alexander was available.

Enter the Tigers

Despite those early results, though, second place Detroit was all over the Braves about Doyle Alexander… and the Braves were listening, for there was no point in doing otherwise for a team destined to finish 69-92 and mired in 5th place.

The only question was what the Braves could get in return.  This was a question that actually lingered past the non-waiver trade deadline with considerable wrangling over the offers and counter-offers.

Detroit initially gave the Braves a list of 4 players to choose from.  That list was rejected.  Detroit was undeterred and continued to pursue Atlanta about Alexander.

Glens Falls, NY was the home to the Tigers’ AA affiliate from 1980 until 1988 – a town so far north in upstate New York that it’s closer to Canada than New York City.  But scouts get around, and John Hagemann of the Braves had recently been there… scouting the Tigers’ last place team (scouting isn’t pretty).  He’s the one who suggested that Atlanta ask the Tigers for a 20 year old kid named John Smoltz.

Smoltz had started 21 games, thrown 130 innings, had a 5.68 ERA, a 1.63 WHIP, and was walking 5.6 batters every 9 innings… striking out barely more than that.  He led the team in a bad category:  homers surrendered (17).  He was also the youngest on the staff, and by those stats, certainly didn’t appear to be the best.

Enter Steve Searcy

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Along the way, somebody had also suggested

for the Braves.  Apparently, the Braves were okay with either he or Smoltz, because they put the fate of the trade – and  maybe their future – into the hands of Detroit:  the Tigers would have the final decision.

Searcy was at AAA Toledo that year.  He would record a 4.22 ERA that year over 10 starts in just 53 innings.  His control was better, his K-rate was better, his WHIP (still bad at 1.52) was better, and so on.  He was also a 3rd round pick in 1985 by Detroit, was 23 years old… and was almost major-league ready.  That was a sticking point.

Some reports suggest that the Tigers didn’t think that much of Smoltz at the time.  That actually wasn’t the case at all, despite his AA struggles.  Ralph Treuel was the roving pitching instructor for the Tigers then, and reported that Smoltz was a “definite” top-half-of-the-rotation prospect.

Hagemann only got to see him twice before the trade – and only once in a game situation.  Nonetheless, he said his report was “best arm I’ve seen so far… top-of-the-rotation guy”.  He told Bobby Cox “real live fastball – really good stuff.”

Front Office Battles

But it was between Smoltz and Searcy, as far as Detroit was concerned.  Reports from the time indicate that there was a decided rift in the Tigers’ Front Office – a long-standing conflict between team President Jim Campbell and GM Bill Lajoie, resulting in many of Lajoie’s decisions being subject to the approval of Campbell.  Lajoie wanted to deal Searcy to Atlanta, though his own office poll seemed to suggest otherwise.  Campbell didn’t want to part with a pitcher so close to being in the majors… or perhaps Campbell simply didn’t trust the word of his GM.  Campbell and the office consensus won.

"“(Cox) called back about 30 minutes later,” Hagemann continued. “He said, ‘John, they’re willing to give him up. Should we do that?’ I said, ‘Yeah, absolutely—you’ll be real happy you got this kid.’ “"

The trade went through on August 12th, 1987.  Since this was after the deadline, Doyle Alexander had to pass through waivers to be dealt, which probably had already been done.  But any team would have had the opportunity to file a claim on Alexander that would have thwarted the deal that ultimately occurred.

No team bit.  And the Braves got 20-year-old John Smoltz.

Results, Reactions

Steve Searcy was in and out of the minor leagues from then until 1993.  His major league career ended in Philadelphia in 1992 with a 6.10 ERA.  His threw 187 major league innings with a 6-13 lifetime record, 21 starts (all for Detroit), 5.68 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, and he’s the one who ultimately walked nearly as many as he struck out (1.18 K/BB ratio).

Doyle Alexander did exactly what Detroit needed – and more.  9-0 (plus a 10.2 inning no decision) with a 1.53 ERA in leading them to a first place finish.  Unfortunately for the Tigers, once in the playoffs, both he and his staff-mates were hammered by Minnesota, losing the series 4 games to 1 (barely winning the one, 7-6).  The trade was still useful… for the 2 months.  Then everything flipped.

John Smoltz was a native of Lansing, Michigan.  His family was there.  Getting a chance to play for the Tigers meant playing for his own ‘home’ team.  He was crushed at the trade – as was his family.  That wound took some time to heal, but it did… and the Braves saw enough in Smoltz to give him his major league debut on July 23, 1988… one month and six days before Steve Searcy’s first game in a Detroit uniform.

One more thing:  the next time Detroit would see post-season baseball at all was in 2006.  That was Smoltz’s 19th major league season.