On Tuesday, the Cardinals sent OF-S Covelli Crisp to the Indians as the player to be named later in the Chuck Finley trade. St. Louis drafted Crisp out of Los Angeles Pierce Junior College in the 7th round of the 1999 draft. After he signed, the Cardinals sent him to the Rookie-level Appalachian League. Crisp split 2000 between New Jersey in the Short-Season New York-Pennsylvania League and A Peoria in the Midwest League. St. Louis promoted him to A+ Potomac in the Carolina League last season and moved him up to AA New Haven in the Eastern league this year.

Crisp possesses very promising plate discipline, complimented by strong speed skills and developing power. Most of his numbers dropped following the jump from A+ to AA, but the 22-year-old still managed 107 H, 16 2B, 1 3B, and 9 HR with a 36:56 BB:K and 26/36 SB% in 355 AA AB for a .301 BA, .365 OBP, and .428 SLG. He's certainly a tough chip for the Cardinals to lose as they try to refill their depleted farm system. However despite Finley's struggles since the trade, he remains a vital part of St. Louis' division push and will be even more important once they reach the playoffs.

Cleveland completed a small deal involving only minor leaguers with Montreal in mid-July, which I haven't had a chance to cover until now. The Indians sent 2B-R Anthony Medrano to the Expos for 1B-R Nick Dempsey. Toronto drafted Medrano out of high school in the second round of the 1993 draft. After he signed, the Blue Jays placed him with their Gulf Coast League team, where he stayed through part of 1994 before they promoted him to A+ Dunedin in the Florida State League. Toronto was set to have Medrano move up to AA in 1995, but in early April they traded Medrano, Chris Stynes, and David Sinnes to Kansas City for David Cone.

The Royals placed Medrano with their A+ Carolina League team for the 1995 season, only promoting him to AA Wichita in the Texas League in 1996. Although Kansas briefly promoted him to AAA Omaha in 1997, he returned to Wichita for all of 1998 and a portion of 1999 before the Royals decided to bring him up to the Pacific Coast League again. He stayed at Omaha through the 2000 season, after which he signed with the Indians and played for AAA Buffalo in the International League.

At the time of the trade, Medrano was hitting .220 with a .284 OBP, and .284 SLG on 58 H, 10 2B, 2 3B, and 1 HR with a 20:25 BB:K and 7/8 SB% in 264 AB at Buffalo. The 27-year-old has shown good plate discipline in the past with moderate speed and power potential, but at this point it seems unlikely that he'll make it to the majors for a significant length of time even as a middle infield reserve.

The Dodgers signed Dempsey as a nondrafted free agent out of South Africa in 1997. LA placed Dempsey with their Rookie-level Pioneer League team in Great Falls through for both the 1997 and 1998 seasons but released him in February of 1999. Dempsey did not play again until last season when he signed with the Expos, who assigned him to Vermont in the New York-Pennsylvania League before promoting him to A Clinton in the Midwest League. This season with Brevard County in the A+ Florida State League, Dempsey had 41 H and 9 2B with a 9:45 BB:K and 1/4 SB% in 163 AB for a .252 BA, .291 OBP, and .307 SLG at the time of the trade. Fortunately, he still has his youth. At 23, Dempsey still has time to develop some useful skills that could lead to a job in the majors. Given Medrano's complete lack of upside, the Indians appear to have won this fairly insignificant trade.

We also learned at the time of this small deal that the Mets had sent RHP Saul Rivera to Montreal as the player to be named later in the Strickland trade. Minnesota drafted Rivera out of the University of Mobile in the 9th round of the 1998 draft. The Twins placed Rivera at Elizabethton in the Appalachian League after he signed and advanced him to A Quad City in the Midwest League for the 1999 season. Rivera split the 2000 season between A+ Fort Myers in the Florida State League and AA New Britain in the Eastern League. He stayed at New Britain through 2001 but was claimed on waivers following last season.

Rivera has worked solely in relief during his professional career, showing excellent dominance but struggling somewhat with his control. He had a bit of trouble with a sore elbow in 2001, so he is at risk for future injury troubles. New York placed him with AA Binghamton in the Eastern League this season. In 38.2 IP, the 24-year-old posted a 32:23 K:BB with only 25 H and 2 HR allowed. His control will have to improve before he'll be able to contribute to a major league pen, but he certainly possesses potential.

While I originally favored the Expos in that trade, Montreal's squandering of Bruce Chen and decision not to call upon either Dicky Gonzalez or Luis Figueroa this season have seriously diminished the upside of their end of the deal. Strickland hasn't dominated in New York largely due to an increase in his HR/9, but he remains an effective reliever. Rivera helps add more upside to the Expos' side of the trade, but although it remains fairly balanced, I currently feel the deal is working out better for the Mets.

I'm sure the Expos would have preferred to have Strickland set as their closer while competing for the Wild Card rather than their bullpen by committee, despite the committee's relative effectiveness.

Lastly, as expected, Montreal sent Don Levinski to Florida on Tuesday as the player to be named later in the Cliff Floyd trade. Due to reports by Baseball America, we knew at the time of the trade Levinski would be headed to the Marlins as soon as a year had elapsed from the time he signed with the Expos following last year's draft, so we discussed his potential with the rest of the trade. However, Levinski injured his shoulder while still in the Expos organization, making a start one week ago today, which was just one day before the anniversary of his August 4, 2001 signing with Montreal.