Fire sale (sports)

In professional sports, a fire sale occurs when a team trades many of its veteran players, especially expensive star players, to other teams for less expensive and usually younger players, usually for financial reasons. The term is generally thought of as separate from merely "rebuilding" a team, because during a rebuilding process, teams often obtain players who are already in the major leagues or who are close to being major-league-ready, while retaining at least some of their key veterans (such as a franchise player) while also getting players from their minor league system. On the other hand, trades in a fire sale often result in a team receiving draft picks and prospects who have little to no major-league experience in their sport, in exchange for proven, experienced veterans. The term comes from the perception that the team is trying to get rid of all its players, and is derived from the huge discounts of a fire sale that occurs after a store has suffered a fire.

Examples

Florida Marlins

The textbook example of a "fire sale", and the incident most commonly referenced meant when the term is used in American professional sports, is when the Florida Marlins traded away most of their high-priced players after their 1997 World Series victory and finished in last place the following year. Most of the prospects they obtained never became regular major-league players, and the Marlins did not have a winning record again until 2003. They also suffered a substantial drop in attendance.cite web
url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teams/marlins3.shtml|title=Florida Marlins Attendance Data|publisher=Baseball Almanac|accessdate=2008-05-23]

During the 2005 offseason, the Marlins held another fire sale, shipping off many of their star players (including 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett) for mainly minor-league pitching prospects. Notablewhat|date=November 2007 prospects acquired in this fire sale were Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez, Ricky Nolasco, Mike Jacobs, Gaby Hernandez, and Yusmeiro Petit who is no longer with the team. About the same time that they had announced their plans to explore relocation.

Montreal Expos

The Montreal Expos had a fire sale following the strike shortened 1994 season, which robbed them of a possible berth in the 1994 World Series. Among the notable players who were either traded or released were Larry Walker, John Wetteland, and Marquis Grissom. Some of the notable players the Expos received were David Segui and Henry Rodriguez. Following the fire sale, fan interest in the team declined dramatically and the team was sold to Major League Baseball prior to the 2002 season, with the hopes of the franchise being contracted. The demise of the Expos paved the way for their eventual relocation to Washington, D.C. where they became the Washington Nationals prior to the 2005 season.

San Diego Padres

The San Diego Padres had a fire sale at the end of their 1998 NL championship run. Ken Caminiti, Steve Finley and Kevin Brown were all granted free agency status and signed with the Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers respectively (though in their defense, Brown was offered a reported 5-year, $60 million dollar deal, which was rejected in favor of a 7-year, $105 million dollar contract with the Dodgers). Joey Hamilton was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Woody Williams and two other players. Greg Vaughn and Mark Sweeney were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Reggie Sanders, Damian Jackson and a minor leaguer. Jim Leyritz, who was considered their late-inning hero down the stretch was sent back to the New York Yankees for a minor leaguer.

Washington Capitals

Similar to the San Diego Padres, the Washington Capitals had a fire sale during the 2003–04 NHL season because their team was in the midst of what would become their worst season in 26 years. They traded several of their veteran stars, obtaining many minor-league players and draft picks. One of the players that they traded, Robert Lang, was the NHL's scoring leader at the time; this was the first time in NHL history that an NHL player was traded during a season in which he had led the league in scoring.

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls had a fire sale after winning their sixth NBA championship following the 1997–98 NBA season. Michael Jordan retired for the second time, Scottie Pippen was traded to the Houston Rockets, and Dennis Rodman was also released. Other players would also leave the team, and the Bulls lost 37 games in a lockout-shortened 50-game season in 1999. Chicago would not make the playoffs again until the 2004–05 NBA season, when they lost to the Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs.

Phoenix Coyotes

The Phoenix Coyotes, at the end of the 2006–07 season may have been in the midst of a fire sale of their own. They traded away some of their top players in Ladislav Nagy, Mike Comrie, All-Star centre Yanic Perreault, former first-round pick Oleg Saprykin and enforcer Georges Laraque.

Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators are currently also engaged in a fire sale, and the term is being used frequently in connection with the team. It is believed that if the attendance level drops below 14,000 per night, the team's owner's (the team will probably be sold), will be able to exit the lease for a penalty. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?id=2908877 ESPN article] ] One of the top teams in the league in the 2006–07 season, many analysts expected the team to be one of the leagues worst in the 2007–08 season after the talent hemorrhage. However, the team managed to win a playoff spot in the NHL Western Conference and a playoff matchup with the Detroit Red Wings. Among the players who left Nashville were Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen, Tomas Vokoun and Paul Kariya.

Oakland Athletics

The A's have in recent years been linked with trading away many of their best and most high-priced players. Among the players they lost to free agency were Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada and Barry Zito. To go along with that, the A's also traded some of their best pitchers, such as Mark Mulder, who was traded to St. Louis and Tim Hudson, who was traded to Atlanta.

The A's went through a disappointing 2007 season where the team saw multiple key players go down with injuries which prompted them, going into the off season, looking to improve on health and make some big changes. Most notable of the injuries were to Rich Harden, Eric Chavez, Huston Street, Mark Kotsay, Milton Bradley, and Bobby Crosby, all of whom contributed greatly to their 2006 run the ALCS. The fire sale began shortly after the 2007 MLB Winter Meetings when the A's failed to make any major moves to increase the team depth that had been depleted during the season due to injures. On December 14, the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Dan Haren, along with pitcher Conner Robertson in exchange for six prospects, including left-handed pitchers Greg Smith, Brett Anderson, and Dana Eveland, infielder Chris Carter, outfielders Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez. Shortly after the move, A's General Manager Billy Beane confirmed that he's in full rebuilding mode. Nearly a month later, Beane made another blockbuster trade where they traded fan favorite Nick Swisher to the White Sox for two highly regarded pitching prospects, Gio Gonzalez and Fautino De Los Santos, and outfielder Ryan Sweeney. [ [http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080103&content_id=2338863&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak The Official Site of The Oakland Athletics: News: A's deal Swisher to White Sox ] ] Along with Swisher and Haren, a few others have been dealt by Oakland including fan favorite Marco Scutaro. [ [http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071118&content_id=2303194&vkey=news_oak&fext=.jsp&c_id=oak The Official Site of The Oakland Athletics: News: A's deal Scutaro for two prospects ] ] In 2008, the A's continued to trade away some of their high-priced players as they shipped Harden to the Chicago Cubs for several players including Matt Murton and Sean Gallagher, and Joe Blanton to the Philadelphia Phillies for prospect Adrian Cardenas and others.

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles held a "fire sale" in the 2007–08 off-season, trading shortstop Miguel Tejada to the Houston Astros and pitcher Erik Bedard to the Seattle Mariners. In both cases, they got five prospects, which is commonly called a "Von Hayes deal", named after the former Philadelphia Phillies player who was traded from the Cleveland Indians in the 1982–83 off-season for five players, most notably Manny Trillo and Julio Franco.

References