Angel Berroa and Ben Grieve

Angel Berroa was the 2003 American League Rookie of the Year. Now he's 29-years old, four seasons removed from his ROY performance and apparently washed up. It's interesting that Berroa was part of a trade involving another former ROY who turned busto. From the Baseball-Reference.com page for Berroa:

January 8, 2001: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Oakland Athletics with A.J. Hinch to the Kansas City Royals. The Oakland Athletics sent Ben Grieve to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays sent Cory Lidle to the Oakland Athletics. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays sent Roberto Hernandez to the Kansas City Royals. The Kansas City Royals sent Johnny Damon and Mark Ellis to the Oakland Athletics.

Looking at the trade:

- The Royals got Berroa who had one breakout season and then zilch, AJ Hinch who was a poor-man's Doug Mirabelli for two seasons in KC, and a 36-year old Roberto Hernandez who had two decent seasons closing for the Royals (but how important is a decent closer to a 5th and 4th place team?).
- The Devil Rays got 1998 AL ROY Ben Grieve who hit 55 HR in his last two seasons in Oakland but just 31 for the rest of his career after being traded.
- The A's came out the clear winner in this deal. They got Johnny Damon, Cory Lidle and Mark Ellis. Damon was only there for one season but he helped the A's win the AL West and hit over .400 in the playoffs (a 5 game loss to the Yankees). Ellis has been the starting 2nd baseman for the A's the past 5 seasons. Lidle arguable had the two best seasons of his career in Oakland going 21-16 with a combined 3.74 ERA in 40 starts over 2 seasons.

I brought up Berroa in the first place because it occurred to me that even though it was Grieve who received more media attention as a former ROY gone bust - it was Berroa who was the bigger bust overall. Looking back at this trade, however, through the jaded eye of steroids speculation you are also given much cause to pause and think.

Ben Grieve was in Oakland at a time when Jason Giambi went from a 20-HR guy to a 43-HR MVP. Grieve won the 1998 ROY Award largely due to his power numbers and Grieve was valuable as trade bait largely due to his HR hitting potential. Grieve leaves Oakland and sees his power shrivel like the testicles of a juicing first baseman. Lack of motivation or too much pressure are given as the reasons for Grieve's sudden decline.

Berroa was expendable in the first place because Oakland had Miguel Tejada blocking his path to the bigs. This is the same Miguel Tejada who went from 11 HR in 105 games in 1998 to 34 HR and an MVP award just 4 seasons later. This is the same Miguel Tejada named in both Jose canseco's first book and the Mitchell Report. Berroa won his ROY Award also largely due to his power numbers. Berroa hit 17 HR in 2003 to beat out Hideki Matsui and Rocco Baldelli.

You have to wonder if maybe, just maybe the 1998 and 2003 AL ROY Awards are tainted. It also makes you wonder if the phrase "cheaters never prosper" applies here.