The Twins waited a few years before they made their first winter meeting trade. In December of 1964 they traded Gerry Arrigo to the Reds for minor league infielder Cesar Tovar.

It was a trade of two 23 year olds. Arrigo made his debut in 1961 and played his first full season with the Twins in 1964. He was a left handed starter pitching in a "plug in starter/long relief" role that year. He finished the season 7-4 with a 3.84 ERA. He struck out 96 batters and walked 45 in 105 innings. He was a promising young left handed starting pitcher.

Cesar Tovar was a minor league second baseman blocked by Pete Rose. He had moved into a utility role in the minors playing SS, OF, 3B and a little 2B in 1964. The Reds could not find a place for Tovar and envisioned him a utility player. The Twins were looking for help at 2B or 3B.

The Twins were ridiculed at the time of the trade. Dick Sisler, manager of the Reds, commented at the time that teams did not deal lefty starting pitchers for minor league infielders. That comment certainly resonates with me. I can't imagine being very excited about trading a major league 23 year old left handed starting pitcher for a minor league infielder stuck at AAA. Arrigo had pitched a one hitter in one of his 12 starts in 1964. Calvin Griffith said they had to pay through the nose in that trade. Reports for the Cincinnati Enquirer said that the Twins were seeking Tommy Helms but settled for Tovar. The Reds were seeking a power hitter and had been trying to get Bob Allison or Jimmie Hall from the Twins.

The Twins must have know something about Tovar. They had him on loan from the Red in AAA in 1963. He worked with Billy Martin and played with Tony Oliva that year. Martin pushed for Tovar. He appreciated his aggresive style of play. Tovar was a player you had to see play. He was better than the numbers. Jack McKeon was the manager of that 1963 club and he had to get him in the lineup to lead off. Trying him in the OF McKeon saw that he got amazing jumps as if he had always played there. He returned to the Reds minor leagues in 1964 and helped his team win the AAA title. Frank Lucchesi commented that Tovar killed them in the field and with the bat. Still he was stalled in his third season of AAA.

When he did play in the majors in 1965 with the Twins he was the ninth Venezuelan to reach the majors. He did not play a lot with the team that year, but the Twins had Billy Martin tutoring him. He finally arrived in 1966 and was among the games best lead off hitters. He played all over the field his first few years playing all nine positions for the Twins and repeating that feat in the Venezuela winter league.

The Twins clearly won the trade. Arrigo never was able to command the strike zone for sustained success. He had 1.6 WAR after the trade and one good season. Tovar is credited with 28.1 WAR. I am sure I would have criticized the trade at the time. Even more now in the era of so much data. Someone on the Twins, likely Billy Martin, saw the player outside of the numbers.

He was such a joy to watch at the Met. You could see his love for the game and his all out effort and aggressiveness that somehow does not get measured well in the numbers. I hadn't see a similarly aggressive young player since until this year. Eddie Rosario's aggressive style on the basepaths, approach at the plate and range in the outfield are very much like the young Tovar when he arrived.

For more reading and sources that I used to write this article follow the links below.

http://www.cooloftheevening.com/cesar_tovar.htm

http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/fb4be4bb

http://www.baseballhistorian.com/trade_details.cfm?first_name=Gerry&last_name=Arrigo