That Time The Atlanta Braves Traded For Barry Bonds

For approximately 24 hours in 1992 Barry Bonds was an Atlanta Brave. Sort of. Let me explain.

The deal was done over the phone – standard GM operating procedures. Barry Bonds was coming to Atlanta. But, at the very last minute, the Pittsburgh Pirates backed out.

It was the spring of 1992. Spring training in West Palm Beach, Florida was just under way for John Schuerholz and his reigning National League West champions the Atlanta Braves. The Braves were coming off an incredible year where they not only took their division, but went to the World Series. It was Schuerholz’ second year as the Atlanta Braves GM, one year into his historic 14-straight divisional titles run.

At the time, the Atlanta Braves were clearly the hottest team in the National League. Their respectable farm system that Bobby Cox had built up during his time as the Braves GM (from ’86 – ’90 before appointing himself as the manager) had finally made their way to the big leagues and it was paying off.

At the very same time, Pittsburgh Pirates superstar Barry Bonds was the best player in baseball. And he only had one year left on his contract. Because of the Braves’ frugal spending and their brilliant managing of their farm system, the club planned to not only trade for Bonds, but to offer him a generous extended contract. Their grand plan was for Barry Bonds to come to Atlanta and to stay in Atlanta for a very long time.

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Over the course of several grueling days of talks during 1992 spring training camp, John Schuerholz had negotiated a major deal with Pirates GM, Ted Simmons. How he managed to negotiate said deal still remains a mystery. Let’s just say, John Schuerholz knows how to negotiate. The Pittsburgh Pirates had agreed to take pitcher Alejandro Pena, young outfielder Keith Mitchell (cousin of the great Kevin Mitchell), and a prospect to-be-named-later for BARRY BONDS.

As the heated negotiations between Schuerholz and Simmons progressed and it became clear that Alejandro Pena was a key piece in the trade, the Braves had to get Pena’s permission to include him in the trade.

Alejandro Pena sort of gets forgotten about these days, but at the time, he an extremely effective closer. In 1991, he threw for a 1.40 ERA with the Braves. So trading Barry Bonds for Pena at the time was certainly not smart… but it really wasn’t THAT crazy.

And Keith Mitchell was no slouch either. In 1991, the rookie 21-year-old hit .318 in 48 games and was expected to have star potential.

Due to Pena’s contract, Schuerholz had to get Pena to sign a trade release. Schuerholz explained the situation to Pena, and after careful consideration Pena accepted the trade and signed the waiver. It was basically as official as you could get back in ’92.

After Schuerholz got the green light from Pena, he called Ted Simmons and they agreed to the deal over the phone. The entire deal was in place. Every player involved was told that evening, Schuerholz informed Bobby Cox and owner Ted Turner, and press releases were written. Their plan was to notify the media the very next morning of the massive news. As you can imagine, Schuerholz, Cox and Turner was pretty darn excited that night.

Next: The infamous last minute phone call...