Comments on: Why don't teams give physicals to the players for whom they trade?

By: Matthew Middleton

Matthew Middleton — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:57:09 +0000

Actually, if I remember correctly, this was a timing thing. The way Aki’s contract was structured the Rays had a deadline to trade him or he would become a free agent. The Pirates didn’t feel that they could sign him if he became a free agent, and the Rays didn’t want to loose him and not get a return, so they jumped on the trade before that deadline. Other than that, I completely agree with the physical before a trade, I’m kind of dumbfounded that they don’t insist on it. I will say that in Aki’s case, I think a lot of his inability to play this year was more a mental thing, not wanting to do more damage to his knee, you could tell he was hesitant to go all out on it.

By: JBerardi

JBerardi — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:18:12 +0000

Yeah, “Hey, you can have this guy for peanuts just as long as you don’t even look at his knee” sounds like a great deal to me.

By: BC

BC — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 11:09:57 +0000

I’d figure that sometimes teams can get a bargain in a trade if they blow off the physical. The Pirates clearly got burned on this one though.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:21:32 +0000

Because ballplayers smell bad when you take off enough of their clothes to get close to them with a stethoscope?