1.November 13, 2008 Traded Jeff Marquez, Wilson Betemit and Jhonny Nunez to the Chicago White Sox. Received Kanekoa Texeira and Nick Swisher. I would have taken a bag of balls for Betemit. Instead, we got a starting rightfielder and one of the most patient hitters in baseball. River Avenue Blues called this a great deal from the start. Swisher is the opposite of Paul O'Neill in some ways out in right, but Swisher's working of a pitcher and the count reminds me a lot of how we ended the last decade. Texeira was selected in the Rule 5 draft by the Mariners but many think he'll be returned at some point, especially with Seattle trading for Brandon League. Nunez is still young, but posted a 9.53 ERA in the majors last year and Marquez was worse (9.85 ERA) in AAA. A championship ring in 2009 to boot makes this deal the biggest steal of the decade.
2.December 22, 1999 Traded Hideki Irabu to the Montreal Expos. Received players to be named later and Jake Westbrook. The Montreal Expos sent Ted Lilly (March 17, 2000) and Christian Parker (March 22, 2000) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade. I know, it's before 2000. But since we're excluding December 2009 and the trade wasn't completed until March of 2000, I figured we could add this one in. Why is this #2? Because the Yankees took an absolutely worthless, overweight, 30-year-old part and traded it for 2 pitchers who ended up being very good. The best part of this deal is former Expos owner Jeffrey Loria's excitement of the deal to The Star Ledger calling him one of their "top starters". Parker started one game in 2001, got bombed, and never pitched in the majors again. The Yankees gave up on Lilly too early and should have signed him instead of Kei Igawa, but that does not mean he hasn't been an excellent major leaguer. And Westbrook ended up being traded for David Justice...
3.June 29, 2000 Traded Zach Day, Ricky Ledee and Jake Westbrook to the Cleveland Indians. Received David Justice. I debated whether this one should be one or two before I dropped it down to 3 (Sports Illustrated puts it in their top deals since '94 list done in 2005 and provides the picture above). The Yankees had lost 10 of 13 when they made this deal and only lead the Red Sox by 2 games. They got Justice in this famous deal (Brian Cashman was calling about getting Gary Tuck his World Series ring) and won 8 of 10. Justice hit .305/.391/.585 the rest of the way with 20 HRs. He then slugged .538 with 2 HR and 8 RBI in the ALCS against Seattle with a huge home run in the final game to lead the Yankees to the Subway Series (and Michael Kay's famous, very hoarse announcement on the radio to "get your tokens ready") and eventually to a 2000 World Series win. He was not only the ALCS MVP, but as the USA Today wrote at the time, Justice seemingly in the middle of all their rallies in that series. All three of the players the Yankees traded ended up becoming decent major leaguers so it wasn't a steal (and Justice's struggles in the 2001 World Series was one of the reasons they didn't win), but delivering one of two World Series' this decade puts this trade on the list.
4. February 16, 2004 Traded a player to be named later and Alfonso Soriano to the Texas Rangers. Received Alex Rodriguez and cash. The New York Yankees sent Joaquin Arias (April 23, 2004) to the Texas Rangers to complete the trade. ESPN's headline was "Selig gives blessing to mega-merger" when the deal was finally completed. I do have mixed emotions about this deal. But the truth is despite his past playoff failures and his off-the-field problems in New York, A-Rod has been one of the best players of the decade and helped lead them to a World Series win this past October/November. Soriano has had a very good major league career since leaving the Bronx but I don't think he would have ever stuck with the Yankees. Arias had a good year as a utility infielder in 2008 but only played in 3 games in 2009. Although it took a while, the Yankees did come out winners in this deal.
5. July 30, 2006 Traded C.J. Henry (minors), Carlos Monasterios (minors), Jesus Sanchez (minors) and Matt Smith to the Philadelphia Phillies. Received Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle. Abreu seemed to be underappreciated in Philadelphia where his power went down after he won a homerun derby but his batting eye never did (.404 career OBP). The Yankees acquired Abreu because they had lost Gary Sheffield and Hideki Matsui to injury and had a gaping hole in the outfield. Keith Law of ESPN loved this trade for the Yankees. They filled it more than capably with Abreu (.330/.419/.507 the rest of the way) who helped them hold off Toronto and then lay a famous 5-game massacre of smack-down in Boston to keep the Red Sox from the playoffs. Lidle was good for the Yankees and could have been a part of their 2007 rotation (and may have prevented them from signing Kei Igawa) had he not died in a plane crash following the season. Monasterios was just drafted in the Rule 5 draft so he is the one player acquired by Philly who may have an impact in the majors. The only blip for the Yankees is that they never won a playoff series in the 2+ years they had Abreu.
6.July 31, 2003 Traded Robin Ventura to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Bubba Crosby and Scott Proctor. Traded Brandon Claussen, Charlie Manning and cash to the Cincinnati Reds. Received Aaron Boone. Two trades, one day. Amazingly, the Yankees got a lot more value out of what they received for Ventura than the Reds did for what the Yankees gave them for Boone. Boone hit one of the most famous homeruns of the decade and extended Red Sox suffering for another year. Proctor was a useful reliever for the Yankees for a while until his arm started to get worked off by Joe Torre and Bubba Crosby was almost their starting CF. Boone's injury in a pickup basketball game after the season voided his contract which may have been a blessing for the Yankees because he didn't really hit all that well in the Bronx, but Sports Illustrated recognized that deal as one of the best.
7.July 21, 2000. Traded Ben Ford and Oswaldo Mairena to the Chicago Cubs. Received Glenallen Hill. At the time the Yankees were only only a half game in front of the Red Sox with the rest of the AL East no more than 3.5 back. Well Hill took over August hitting a ridiculous .411/.456/.877 with 10 HR and the Yankees were propelled by their strong July and August into the playoffs. This trade was overshadowed by the Justice trade a month earlier, but Hill was huge for the Yankees.
8. July 21, 2007 Traded Jeff Kennard (minors) to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Received Jose Molina. The Yankees didn't have a decent backup to Jorge Posada since Joe Girardi left town so this move was a lot bigger than it seems. Molina would never hit for the Yankees, but his defense was huge and the pitchers loved to work with him (especially A.J. Burnett).
9. May 15, 2004 Traded Brian Myrow to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Received Tanyon Sturtze. Sturtze was a useful player for the Yankees and a good find by Brian Cashman. He was never great, but in 2005, he started off the season with a 2.32 ERA through June 8th with a .546 OPS against and at least provided Joe Torre one reliable arm to throw out there every game.
10. December 7, 2001 Traded David Justice to the New York Mets. Received Robin Ventura. Not a great trade by any stretch of the imagination but the Yankees took a declining player in Justice and made it into one useful year of Robin Ventura. Ventura was an All Star in 2002 and provided good defense over at 3B. And then they flipped him for some more useful parts as you see in #6 above. Much more useful than the Steve Karsay signing the same day.
Three I just couldn't figure out but lean positive:
- July 28, 2005 Traded Eduardo Sierra (minors) and Ramon Ramirez to the Colorado Rockies. Received Shawn Chacon. The Yankees rotation was a mess in 2005 until Chacon and Aaron Small came along. Chacon went 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA the rest of the way and actually pitched very well in the playoffs as well. Things didn't go so well for him the next season (7.00 ERA) and he was traded away for Craig Wilson. That second season and the way Ramon Ramirez has pitched in the majors pushes me to the fence on this deal. But the fact that Ramirez hasn't stuck with a team despite good numbers leads me to believe he would have never stuck with the Yankees either so I'll rate this deal positively.
- July 26, 2008 Traded Daniel McCutchen (minors), Jose Tabata (minors), Jeff Karstens and Ross Ohlendorf to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Received Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady. I have gone back and forth on this deal many times. Nady got injured all of this past season and Marte sucked all season long...but then all was forgiven as Marte was a big part of the Yankees World Series win this year. Only Ohlnedorf I believe would have stuck with the Yankees, and although I miss him, I don't know if you hold out on this trade because of it. And after reading Jeff Pearlman's piece on the trade recently, I like it a lot more. So I'll put it here instead of on the next post.
- August 7, 2000. Traded Chris Spurling to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Received Luis Sojo. This is less here about the players and more about the concept. Instead of resigning Sojo, the Yankees let Sojo get away before the 2000 season only to have to give up a player to get him back a few months later. Spurling never turned into anything and Sojo got a few huge hits in the World Series so I'll rate this one positively.
Posts
Don't see how the Justice deal isn't #1. Nick Swisher helped the Yankees win the World Series in 2009 but David Justice practically carried the Yankees during the second half of 2000, plus he had that huge 3 run home run off of Arthur Rhodes in game 6 of the ALCS. Without Justice, the Yankees barely scratch their 87 win total.
ReplyDeleteI didn't put it #1 because the trade wasn't made in a vacuum. The Yankees gave up a lot in that deal. Westbrook became a good starter with Cleveland, Ledee was never great but he was a good player for many more years, and Day even had some success in the Majors. Justice wasn't good the next season and was shipped off for Robin Ventura.
ReplyDeleteCould it have been #1 because of his impact those few months in 2000? Sure. But I don't think so in retrospect. The Nick Swisher one was more of a steal because of the lack of prospects the Yankees gave up
Another deal that went under the radar in 2000 was Jim Leyritz for Jose Vizcaino. Leyritz was basically done and Vizcaino wound being a solid contributor, especially against the Mets.
ReplyDeleteGood call, missed that one. Vizcaino was a horrendous hitter in the regular season but was great in the ALCS and the World Series.
ReplyDeleteHe had a .319 OBP, which is terrible, but if you remember, he came to the Yankees after Chuck Knoblauch forgot how to throw to first and the two utility infielders were Clay Bellinger and Wilson Delgado. He did an admirable job filling in at 2B and 3B. I was actually upset that Cashman didn't bring him back in 2001.
ReplyDeletethe 2004 one is definitely the most interesting. In 2005,06,07,and '08 I was upset with this trade. A-rod turned out to be a bum in the clutch and let's face it, no one liked him. Then they win it all in 09 and he produces big time. Amazing how won title changes the perspective. But still, does a 3-0 comeback ever happen if this deal isn't made? I say no. Is the curse ever reveresed (of course, the Sox won in 07 anyway). So in all, you have the worst moment happen in Yanks history, 5 years frustration of people calling the Fan saying they'll never win with A-rod (myself included), culminated by a turnaround year. In all do i like this trade? I'm not sure, now I guess I do slightly.
ReplyDeleteFacing your future claude giroux jersey this? The old saying that robert griffin authentic jersey said: "no angrily of volunteers, without the continuous beating; no, no HeHeZhiGong." A self-improvement of heart, focused efforts, will have the bright future; Boil live kung fu, every bit of accumulation, just can have brilliant achievements. When the vigor can't collapse; There is no common heart problems without. East mix west to mix, was unlucky; Without knowledge no volunteers, suffer mental agony. Life is very long, I go step by step. Young when doing little things impatient, remember what other people bad things is very clear. One who laugh at offend remember peyton manning broncos kids authentic jersey words clearly understood. 2 who have little problems have sinned against you make a clear two white. How many years all hate. People may have inadvertently offend, people would have envy and uneven. The old saying that said: "the shouts and not biological, water is too pure have not to get together fish. People who have the skill and time, when jian and fellowship of." As long as he didn't mean to andrew luck jersey hurt you all you can spot cooperation. When young bear is trouble. Do business learn skills will have a common problem: a just go in time carl nicks buccaneers authentic jersey is interested, a result not easy to find out, progress is slow, gave up. 2 not one, feel matt flynn seahawks authentic jersey trashy will give up, in fact narrow field of pure, can cause and big trend of common things. The old saying that said: "kung fu is required, accumulate over a long period, from planning for good. Don't rush, uninterrupted, Pepsi can become." Hold on, good lenovo brandon marshall bears authentic jersey young when the hardest have common heart, is a proud head, a frustrated is upset. His do STH over and over again, proud
ReplyDeleteto show off the front nevertheless, down here complain that the talk. To see cortland finnegan rams authentic jersey long-term patient to the main road. The old saying that said: "the situation, the changes in temperature and the poor, at any time change, origin so. Only stands apart, and can be hot, can be hot acid can be cold, the mind about the calm, in the meantime, qi hin calendar brandon marshall bears jersey often change, and eventually the ups and downs do not change its degrees." Not much when young heart flat always feel do boring, the surrounding environment bad colleagues detestable. Life worse, the emotional didn't work. But again and don't want to line or improve, is blind worry about, put a cavity untimely complaints of unrelated things out. Don't worry about their own things, hopes to CheXianPian all day vincent jackson buccaneers authentic jersey long. A focus first on with her, two handle their life and feelings. The old saying that said: life all things must be productive, KuiBu jiangshan LiaoKuo namely. "First worry about yourself