1990 Profile: Greg Cadaret

"The Yankees liked what they saw after obtaining him from the Athletics with Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia for Rickey Henderson last June 21. Cadaret joined the Yankees' rotation after making four relief appearances with them and impressed his new club with his durability as a starter, going 4-5 with a 4.02 ERA in that capacity. He pitched at least six innings in nine of his 13 starts. His best start was a 9-0, 2-hit victory against Cleveland on August 7.
Cadaret should pitch much better if his role is clearly defined at the outset. He's extremely tough on left-handers.
Born in Detroit, he was Oakland's 11th round pick in 1984."

-Tom Pedulla, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1990 Edition

"When the Yankees traded a valuable commodity in Rickey Henderson to the pitching-rich Oakland A's, one Yankee front office executive was asked why they were unable to get a front-line hurler in exchange. Without hesitation, he said firmly, 'We did.'
He was referring to Greg Cadaret who, along with Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia came over in the June '89 deal. As baseball purists will tell you, the value of a deal can only be truly measured a few years after it is completed. While the name Greg Cadaret didn't open any eyes at the time, the plan is that someday it will.
The 28-year-old left-hander brings an explosive fastball to a team in need of pitching. A starter during much of his five-year stint in the minors, he was a reliever until the Yankees gave him his first big league start. Now, after seeing a great deal of promise from Greg Cadaret, the Yankees are hoping the future has arrived for this fine pitcher."

-The New York Yankees Official 1990 Yearbook

"Greg was obtained by the Yankees last June 21 along with pitcher Eric Plunk and outfielder Luis Polonia in exchange for outfielder Rickey Henderson. At the time of the trade he was 0-0 with a 2.28 ERA and a .214 batting average against. He had pitched 27.2 innings and allowed nine runs (seven earned) on 21 hits and 19 walks [1.45 WHIP] and had struck out 14, not allowing a homer. Greg made his Yankee debut the day he arrived (June 22) and was the winning pitcher, 10-7, in a New York victory; he allowed two runs (one earned) over 2.2 innings, earning his first win since September 18, 1988.
His first four outings were in relief with Greg going 1-0 with a 7.36 ERA. On July 7 at Boston, he made his first major league start and first professionally since starting for the AA Huntsville Stars in 1986. He had a tough first inning (4 R, 5 H) but then settled down. He allowed six earned runs on nine hits (including his first homer of '89, to Mike Greenwell) over a then career-high 5.2 innings and was the losing pitcher. At the break Greg was 1-1 with an 8.31 ERA in five appearances.
Greg made three straight starts (July 7-21) and went 1-2 with a 4.34 ERA. On July 16 he pitched a rain-shortened seven-inning complete game. He ended July by pitching two games out of the pen (3.2 IP, 1 ER).
After July, Greg made 11 appearances of which 10 were starts. He made six straight starts in August before ending with a relief appearance. On August 7 at Cleveland, he pitched a complete game 2-hitter (the Yankee low-hit game of 1989) in a 9-0 win. Greg had a no-hitter until Brook Jacoby led off the 8th with a single to left on a 2-2 pitch; he allowed a ninth-inning double to Luis Aguayo for the other hit. After a loss at Minnesota he had another strong outing, allowing one earned in seven-plus innings in a 2-1 win at Detroit; he left leading 2-0 as the Yankees had scored twice in the first inning on a two-run single by Mel Hall before the Tigers scored an eighth-inning run.
From July 16-August 17 (eight appearances) Greg was 3-2 with a 2.44 ERA, lowering his ERA from 8.31 to 3.77. For the month of August he was 2-2 in seven games with a 4.42 ERA and in four September games (all starts) was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA.
On September 2 Greg pitched a complete game 6-hitter in a 2-1 Yankee win over the Angels in New York; the lone run came on a sixth-inning Brian Downing home run. His final outing of the season came against the Brewers in New York and he lasted two innings, allowing six earned runs on five hits to take the loss and drop his record to 5-5.
In 13 starts Greg was 4-5 with a 4.02 ERA (80.2 IP) and in seven relief outings was 1-0 and posted an 8.49 ERA (11.2 IP). He signed a contract for the 1990 season.
Greg was drafted by the A's in the 11th round of the June 1983 draft. He reported to Medford where he went 7-3 with a 4.36 ERA and struck out 51 in 64 innings. Greg moved to Modesto of the California League in 1984. He was 13-8 there with a 3.08 ERA, allowing just 162 hits in 171.1 innings while striking out 138. He made 26 appearances, all starts, and had six complete games.
He started at Modesto in 1985, then moved to AA Huntsville for the completion of the season. Greg was 3-9 at Modesto with a 5.87 ERA and had control problems, walking 54 in 61.1 innings but struck out 43. At Huntsville, he was 3-7 with a 6.12 ERA, appearing in 17 games, all starts. Greg spent the entire 1986 season at Huntsville and was 12-5 with a 5.41 ERA. He still had control problems, walking 98 in 141.1 innings but also struck out 113.
In 1987, Greg opened the year at Huntsville where he was switched to a relief role after being a starter for all but one game of his minor league career. He went 5-2 with nine saves in 24 games for the Stars with a 2.90 ERA and was named to the Southern League All-Star team. Greg was moved up to Tacoma on June 15 and was 1-2 with a save and a 3.46 ERA in seven games.
Selected by the A's on July 2, Greg made his major league debut on July 5 against Boston in the Coliseum- he came in to face Wade Boggs with the bases loaded and no one out. He wound up walking Boggs but came back on July 17 to record his first major league win over the same Red Sox at Fenway Park.
An injury to Matt Young enabled Greg to be a part of the A's staff on Opening Day of 1988 and he proved to be a very valuable member of the A's record-setting bullpen. He was just about on his way to Tacoma when Young developed elbow problems at the end of spring training. Used as a left-handed setup man, Greg's finest month was May when he pitched a total of nine innings and allowed just four hits and one earned run and had six strikeouts.
His longest stint of the season was four innings on June 11 at Texas; he allowed just one hit that night, walking two and striking out two, and earned his first win of the year. Greg picked up his first career major league save at Seattle on July 31.
He had a fine August, going 1-1 with a 1.80 ERA. For the season, he allowed just 10 of 57 inherited runners to score (18%).
In college, Greg was first-team all-conference in baseball at Grand Valley State. He graduated from Central Montcalm High School in Stanton, Michigan where he played golf, basketball and baseball- Greg was first-team all-conference and team MVP in both basketball and baseball. He played Little League and Babe Ruth League ball in Stanton, grew up a Tiger fan and his favorite player was Al Kaline.
Greg listens to Huey Lewis and enjoys golf, fishing and hunting and spending time with his family in the off-season."

-1990 New York Yankees Information Guide