In a sign that the Pilots were doomed for failure Lou Piniella a 26-year-old rookie is traded at the end of spring training. Piniella was sent down a few weeks earlier despite having substantial numbers in spring games.

The problem was that Pilots manager Joe Schultz did not like Piniella, who was set to make $175, 000. The Pilots did not want to pay him, so they got rid of him.

Piniella would end up with the American League's other 1969 expansion team, the Kansas City Royals, and he would win that year's Rookie of the Year.