We talked about this some in the offseason when J.J. Putz revealed that the Mets didn’t look at his bone spurs after trading for him last year, but here it is again: a team that didn’t give a physical to a player with an injury history at the time they traded for him.
The team is the Pirates. The player was Aki Iwamura, whom the Pirates snagged from the Rays last year. Iwamura had previously undergone major knee surgery. You’d think such a thing would be the primary issue in the trade. If Iwamura was healthy, he could be a serviceable player for the Pirates. If not, you have given up a player of your own for a valueless guy.
But the Pirates didn’t check. According to team President Frank Coonelly the team didn’t even ask for a physical. Instead, they relied on scouting reports. Of course, Iwamura was just DFA’d because he’s been awful, and he’s been awful in large part because his knee still bothers him immensely. Maybe they need to give their scouts portable MRI machines.
Coonelly says it’s uncommon for teams to request physicals for players for whom they trade. Why? Especially when the trade involves players coming off major surgery. Free agent signings are usually accompanied by physicals, so why not trades? This isn’t a timing thing either, as Iwamura was traded during the offseason. There is no reason why doctors couldn’t have taken a gander at his knee.
Sometimes I accuse baseball teams of being pennywise and pound foolish. Not checking out the players you trade for isn’t even pennywise. What gives?