"You like to think of yourself as a fixture," he said. "But, the bottom line is it's a business."
So, after two disappointing seasons, the Royals made a move, sending Saberhagen and Bill Pecota to the Mets for Kevin McReynolds, Gregg Jefferies and Keith Miller.
"When you finish in sixth place for two straight years, you do things and take risks that you might not ordinarily do," Royals general manager Herk Robinson said.
As it turned out, the Mets-Royals trade, just like the Seattle-San Francisco swap that sent Mitchell to the Mariners, had been in place for weeks. The star players were already set and agreed upon, but the role players--would it be Pecota or Terry Shumpert?--are what held it up.
The Royals made their first move of the meetings Monday when they signed free agent Wally Joyner. He's expected to fill some of the offensive void left by Danny Tartabull, who became a free agent and is expected to sign with either the Chicago White Sox or San Diego.
Tartabull, Jack Morris and Frank Viola are the top free agents left, and a team that gets one of them might still make more moves.