Tiger shortstop Jose Iglesias was the AL RoY runner-up, turning in a .300 hitting campaign to go with solid defense (0.989 fielding). That by itself would be an unusual rookie campaign for a shortstop, but a mid-season trade from the Red Sox to Detroit made Iglesias’ season more unusual still.

I was curious how often a rookie who had established himself as the “regular” shortstop (i.e. not necessarily an “everyday” player, but the player used at his position more frequently than any other) had been traded to another team to became its regular shortstop. I figured it was probably unusual, but I wouldn’t have guessed it had happened only once before in the live ball era.

After the jump, more on rookies who establish themselves only to get traded mid-season.

For the record, I’m a big Iglesias fan. His speed moving left or right is outstanding, and he looks silky smooth in every aspect of his fielding. How many rookie shortstops have hit .300 with 100 OPS+? Iglesias is just the 16th since 1901 (min. 350 PA), joining a really impressive group.

That one previous occasion matching Iglesias’s season? In 2000, Melvin Mora was the Mets everyday shortstop for two months until he was traded to Baltimore at the end of July. Mora continued in the same role for the Orioles for the rest of the season.

Before Mora, you have to go all the way back to Jimmy Smith of the 1915 Chicago Whales of the Federal League. Smith was the regular shortstop for Chicago before a September 2nd trade sent him to the Baltimore Terrapins where he became the everyday shortstop. But, Smith was no Iglesias, hitting just .207 and committing 69 errors for a not-so-nifty .898 fielding percentage.

Is that just something peculiar about shortstops, or is trading rookies who establish themselves uncommon at any position? Here are the results by position.

1st Base

Dutch Schliebner started the first 19 games of the 1923 season for the Robins until Jack Fournier, acquired in the off-season from the Cardinals, was ready to play. Ten days after Fournier’s return, Schliebner was dealt to the Browns. In St. Louis, Schliebner didn’t miss a game, finishing the year with 587 PA in 146 games, one of the longest careers among players who played only a single season.

After watching from the bench for the first 9 games of the 1934 season, Dolph Camilli started 30 of the next 39 games for the Cubs before being dealt to the Phillies, where he played every game the rest of the way.

Jake Jones didn’t miss a game of the 1947 season after May 3rd, with 45 games for the White Sox and 104 for the Red Sox.

Carlos Pena was the everyday first sacker for the Athletics for the first quarter of the 2002 season, starting fast with 7 HR and an .880 OPS through the first 25 games, but following that with a 4 for 40 swoon that earned him a ticket back to the minors. Oakland traded Pena to Detroit on July 5th and Carlos closed out the season playing all but two of the Tigers’ remaining games. Pena’s 19 HR in 443 PA earned him an 8th place standing in the AL RoY vote.

After a late April call-up Justin Smoak didn’t miss a game for the 2010 Rangers before being dealt to the Mariners on July 9th. Smoak was the everyday first sacker for Seattle in his first 3 weeks there, but a 10 for 63 slide sent him cross-town to Tacoma of the PCL, until a September call-up again put Smoak back in the lineup everyday.

2nd Base

Nobody, really. Closest was Dave Shean, traded by the Phillies to the Braves on July 16, 1909. The Phillies used Shean occasionally (130 PA in 36 games), before he became the everyday second sacker for Boston.

3rd Base

Jimmy Burke was purchased by the White Sox from the Milwaukee Brewers on July 10, 1901. Both teams used him as their regular 3rd baseman, about 3/4 of the time by the Brewers, and about 2/3 of the time by Chicago. The White Sox released Burke on September 15th and the Pirates signed him as a free agent the next day. Burke finished his season as the Bucs’ everyday 3rd baseman.

Goldie Rapp was traded by the Giants to the Phillies on July 1, 1921. Rapp was the Giants everyday 3rd baseman and retained that role in his first 6 weeks in Philadelphia, then was used sparingly for a month (possibly due to injury), before regaining his everyday spot to close out the season.

Other than a two-week stretch at the beginning of May (likely due to injury), George Archie was an everyday player for the 1941 Senators, initially as a first baseman and, from mid-June onwards, at third base. Archie was apparently injured again in early September at which time Washington dealt him to St. Louis. After recovering from his ailment, Archie finished out the year as the Browns’ everyday first sacker.

Probably doesn’t really qualify, but I’ll mention him anyway. The Dodgers called up Willie Aybar in early May of the 2006 season and used him as the everyday 3rd baseman for a month, before sending him back to the minors. Called up again a month later, Aybar was again the everyday third sacker … for a week, before being dealt to the Braves where he played everyday the rest of the season, other than a 3-week stint on the DL.

Catcher

I got nothing.

To this point, letting go of a promising rookie in mid-season is pretty much unheard of at catcher, short or second, and is also quite uncommon at first or third.

The list of outfielders that follows is a longer one, but really is exactly proportional to the number of first baseman. That being said, 6 of these 15 outfielders came from just the 1901 to 1904 seasons, and three more were during World War II. So, don’t let the length of the list fool you – letting go of a good rookie outfielder is also pretty unusual and hasn’t happened at all in over 20 years.

Outfielders

Another player from the unfortunate 1901 Brewers, Irv Waldron was released on July 7th, despite a .297 batting average (but with 14 errors and an .883 fielding percentage). His defense improved for the Senators who picked him up the next day. For the season, Waldron led the AL in games, PA and AB. His 651 PA are the most among players who played just a single season.

Lefty Davis played in a bit more than half of Brooklyn’s first 46 games in 1901 before being released. He was picked up by Pittsburgh where he was the regular right-fielder the rest of the season. Possibly, Davis’s start in Brooklyn was delayed by contractual hassles – his B-R player page indicates he “jumped” from the fledgling Athletics to the Superbas just before the season started, an apparent euphemism for walking out on his contract.

George Browne was the regular left-fielder for the Phillies and Giants in 1902, changing teams in a July 21st trade. In New York, Browne raked at a 137 OPS+ clip, earning him an everyday position in 1903 when he led the NL in games played while batting .313 and swiping 27 bags.

That promising 1903 season by Browne didn’t stop the Giants from giving him some competition in 1904 in the person of Moose McCormick. McCormick stole time from all three Giant outfielders, appearing in about 2/3 of New York’s games before being dealt to Pittsburgh in a 3-team trade that brought Mike Donlin to Gotham (where he led the NL in runs the following season). McCormick finished the 1904 season playing everyday for the Pirates, mainly in right field, but would not appear in the majors again until 1908.

Frank Huelsman was playing for his 3rd team of the season when he landed in St. Louis in mid-June of 1904. He played regularly for the Browns for a month before a trade to Washington made him the Senators everyday left fielder for the rest of that season and the next.

Braggo Roth split time between left field and 3rd base for the 1915 White Sox, but played almost everyday until a June 27 trade to the Indians. In Cleveland, Roth played about half the games, all in center field, with the remaining games at that position split among several players. Cleveland would solve its center field problem when Tris Speaker arrived the next season, with Roth moving over to become the Indians’ regular right fielder.

Mike Chartak started the 1942 season with 5 pinch-hit appearances for the Yankees, then was dealt in early May to the Senators. In Washington, Chartak played every inning of 24 straight games and then was dealt again, this time to St. Louis where he was the Browns’ everyday right-fielder until falling from favor in mid-August.

Ford Garrison played every inning of the the Red Sox’ first 12 games in 1944. A week later, he was in Philadelphia where he played almost everyday for the Athletics. Meanwhile, Hal Epps similarly played every inning of the Browns’ first 14 games, then was used sparingly until a June trade, again to the Athletics. Epps played regularly the rest of the season save for a week in late August (probably banged up). It would be Epps’ final major league appearance.

Jim Rivera played all but a handful of games in the 1952 season, manning center field, first for the Browns and then the White Sox, becoming a mainstay in Chicago for most of the decade.

Tony Gonzalez started the 1960 season as the Reds’ regular right-fielder before a June trade took him to the Phillies in exchange for veteran Wally Post. Post would be an important role player on the Reds’ 1961 championship team, but Gonzalez would be the Phillies’ regular center-fielder for most of the decade.

George Foster was the Giants’ regular left-fielder in 1971 until a May 29 trade took him to Cincinnati where he became the Reds’ everyday center-fielder and later the power engine of the Big Red Machine. San Francisco would compound the folly of that trade by packaging Frank Duffy (received from the Reds for Foster) with Gaylord Perry to pry the suddenly ordinary Sam McDowell from Cleveland.

Bobby Bonilla split his time between the White Sox and Pirates in his rookie year of 1986. After initially starting him at first base, Chicago moved Bonilla to the outfield in mid-May, where he played the rest of the way for both his teams, save for a handful of games at first and at third.

Brady Anderson was a regular with the Red Sox to start the 1988 season, before being sent down to Pawtucket in June. Anderson was still in the IL when Boston dealt him to Baltimore at the trade deadline. The Orioles immediately promoted Anderson to the big club, where he played almost everyday the rest of the season. Also going to the Orioles in that deal was a young Curt Schilling. In exchange, Boston got two-and-a-half good seasons from veteran right-hander Mike Boddicker.

After cups of coffee the previous two seasons, Felix Jose was the regular right fielder for the defending World champion Athletics in 1990. Alas, with an eye to October, Oakland dealt Jose at the deadline for rental Willie McGee who signed in the off-season with the cross-town Giants.

Mark Whiten was the Blue Jays’ everyday right-fielder for the first quarter of the 1991 season. With the arrival of Joe Carter from San Diego, the Blue Jay outfield was crowded, prompting a June trade that took Whiten to Cleveland where he again played everyday except for a September stint on the DL. Whiten would place 6th in AL RoY voting that season.

That’s all, folks!