The Valentine's Day Massacre: One Year Later

Post date: Feb 17, 2012 12:47:43 PM

Stud outfield prospect Bryce Harper was the linchpin move that began what has become known in A's history as the "Valentine's Day Massacre"

It was the end of the second week in February 2011, one year ago now. The Philadelphia Athletics were coming off a disappointing 12-10, 3rd place season which had ended with a disappointing Division Series loss to 4th place Brantford after the A's had shocked pennant-winning Montreal in the playoffs.

The A's had identified starting pitching depth as the main weakness, and GM Matt Veasey had addressed that weakness a month earlier at the 2011 Winter Meetings. Trades had brought in pitchers Brett Myers, Chad Billingsley, Brad Penny and Scott Kazmir. The club had a strong lineup, three closers, and now increased experience and depth in the rotation. The team left those Winter Meetings feeling satisfied that they were ready to again challenge for the top of the competitive Owens Division.

But as that second week in February rolled around, Veasey was beginning to have a nagging feeling that he couldn't shake. "Something just felt out of sorts" says the GM. "I started to really take a look at our lineup, at our pitchers, at our minor league talent, and then comparing it to our top eastern competitors. All of a sudden, I was getting a sinking feeling."

So what did the GM do about it? Rather than panic, he called a meeting of the club's top talent evaluators. Overnight the meeting was put together at the club's Delaware Riverfront complex. Veasey led the meeting which was attended by manager Buck Showalter, bench coach Don Money, pitching coach Pat Borders, and scouting director Mike Arbuckle.

The group spent hours going over the team's talent, player by player and prospect by prospect. They also went over the overall major and minor league talent levels of the team's top eastern competitors. By the time the day was half over, everyone was on the same page. There was indeed a problem, and something big needed to be done if the organization wanted to avoid more mediocre seasons and return to the top of the division.

The plan that they developed was a bold one that, if fully successful, would shake up the organization more than ever before. It would completely tear down the club that had won a WFBL title just two years earlier, and that the fans had come to identify with and love. But the group believed that more titles would not be coming without something drastic, and their plan began with the pursuit of a single player.

That single player was nothing less than the top prospect in all of baseball, 18-year old slugging outfielder Bryce Harper. The A's traditional top rival, the Montreal Expos, had themselves obtained Harper in a trade from Carolina at the 2010 Winter Meetings. The club decided that getting Harper from the Expos would be the cornerstone move around which they would build their plan. If they couldn't land Harper, they were willing to scuttle the entire plan completely.

To get a prospect as talented and as hyped as Harper would require something special. The A's had plenty of talent, and went after Harper with the very best that they had, 2-time seasonal WFBL All Star and 2009 club Lefty Grove Award winner Tim Lincecum. At just age 26, Lincecum was just entering his prime years. Veasey put in the call to Montreal GM Patrick Murphy.

The sales pitch was that of the top young strikeout pitcher in the game for the top prospect in the game. The Expos had fallen short in the playoffs for the 4th straight season after being upset by the A's that previous September. Veasey sold it to the title-hungry Murphy as the Expos finally getting that title with Lincecum, and staying good with him for a long time to come. After a few days of considering and negotiating, the two GM's finally agreed on a deal. Lincecum for Harper. It was agreed to as a handshake deal.

Within days, Murphy was feeling a little leary, and was looking for a little more insurance in going for that "now" title, so he called back: would the A's consider putting closer Huston Street into the deal for some reasonable price? With the principles of Lincecum and Harper in place, a larger deal was sculpted. When finalized, the A's sent Lincecum, Street, a 2012 first round Ammy pick and a 3rd rounder in 2013 to the Expos for Harper, Montreal's 2013 1st rounder, and two prospect pitchers, Stetson Allie and Dylan Bundy.

With this cornerstone deal accomplished, the rest of the plan was put into action. That plan? Approach as many GM's as possible, trying to deal off currently established A's players for only the highest valued prospects and high Amateur Draft picks, and build a young organization filled with players who would all come together within 2-3 more years.

Closer Francisco Rodriguez went to Las Vegas for pitching prospect Kyle Gibson and picks. 1st baseman Justin Morneau to Houston for Anthony Rizzo, Gabby Sanchez and picks. Those pitchers acquired just a month earlier in the original Winter Meetings plan? They went as well.

Brad Penny was dealt to Detroit for pitcher Taijuan Walker in a deal that included numerous Ammy Draft picks. Chad Billingsley to Georgia for shortstop Ian Desmond, pitching prospect Matt Purke, and picks. Desmond was needed because of another huge deal with a fellow eastern rival.

Off to nearby Horsham went another winter acquisition, Brett Myers, along with team captain and all-time franchise great 2nd baseman Chase Utley and starting shortstop Jimmy Rollins in a deal that brought back top pitching prospect Jameson Taillon among others. One final major deal sent away star 3rd baseman Evan Longoria and closer Joakim Soria and more in a deal that brought back top prospect 1st baseman Eric Hosmer and pitchers Archie and Jed Bradley as well as a number of picks.

When the dust had cleared, in less than a week following Valentine's Day the club had dealt away most of it's starting lineup, much of it's rotation, and all of it's bullpen. Coming in were prospects Harper, Hosmer, Taillon, the Bradleys and more players and picks. The media immediately labeled it "The Valentine's Day Massacre", and Veasey and the club officials were immediately on the hot seat with the press, and by extension with the fans.

The A's felt that with these youngsters added to outfielders Mike Stanton and Desmond Jennings, infielders Manny Machado and Anthony Rendon, and pitchers like Stephen Strasburg and Gerritt Cole, among more talent in what was about to be rated as the WFBL's top minors system, the club had the talent to again return to the top of the division. It would just take patience for a few years, something the team and it's fans had never experienced previously.

Since that week, more moves have been made to keep that high-level prospect progression.

Now one year later, Veasey says he has no regrets, despite a debacle of a 6-16 season, the worst in the history of the franchise. "We were right about the direction we needed to take. I think by the end of the season, with Eric and Dustin (Hosmer and Ackley) coming in and performing well, the fans began to see where we were headed, and began to buy into the plan."

The mood around Liberty Bell Park was far more positive in the final weeks than it had been all year, and while some growing pains are still expected over the next year or two, the A's brain trust believes that last year's transitional phase is over, and that as more and more of the prospects move up to Philly, ala Hosmer and Ackley a year ago and Mike Stanton the year before, the outlook will only continue to improve.