The Las Vegas Hustlers always make deals at the deadline. Sometimes they're minor, sometimes they involve big stars. Few over the years have been much like the one just completed with the New Orleans Crawdads.
The Hustlers agreed to send 1B prospect Alexander "Gimp" Rigney to the 'Dads for veteran starting pitcher Lee Dedeaux.
And then, they announced that Dedeaux would join the Las Vegas bullpen.
Lee Dedeaux broke into the big leagues in 1992. The 22 year old rookie took his lumps with the New Orleans Crawdads, going 5-18 with a 5.20 ERA but showing promise in his peripheral numbers. From 1993-1997 he was the definition of a "rotation arm", eating innings, never winning more than 10 games.
In 1998, he suffered a shoulder injury and would miss nearly the entire season.
He came back in 1999 stronger than ever, posting the finest season of his career (16-11, 2.97 ERA). The next year he won the most games he'd ever won in a single season (19-7).
From 2001-2004 he had varying levels of success but mostly was a solid major league starting pitcher.
Over the last two seasons, Dedeaux was no longer successful. He had a -5.0 VORP last year and this year had struggled to the tune of a -8.4 VORP. "It's depressing, to know that a guy off the street could probably do a better job than me," Dedeaux said.
Then came the trade. In his career, Lee Dedeaux has pitched in 429 games, all starts. Las Vegas GM Matt Rectenwald announced when the trade was made that Dedeaux would move to the bullpen.
"Something's gotta change for Lee," Rectenwald explained. "It hasn't been working for him the last two years, that's for sure. I know he won't be too happy to make this change, but in the end he'll realize it's the best thing for his career."
Stay tuned to how this experiment works out.
