The Yankees History at The Trading Deadline
July 23, 2009 · Doug Rush · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Over the last seven years, the Yankees have always been active at the trading deadline.
With eight days to go until next Friday’s MLB trading deadline, many people in the baseball world are wondering if general manager Brian Cashman will make a deal to add onto the 2009 team and make a run for the playoffs.
Lets look back at how the Yankees have done in the past.
2002
The Yankees made two significant deals. One was a three-way deal with the Tigers and Athletics. The Yankees got Jeff Weaver, the Tigers got Jeremy Bonderman, and the A’s got Ted Lilly.
Weaver had a lot of upside as a young strikeout pitcher, but he was awful for the Yankees.
The last image I have of Weaver was Game Five of the World Series in Florida where he gave up the cheap home run to Alex Gonzalez that won the game for the Marlins and turned the tide of momentum in their direction.
Lilly on the other hand, has been one of the most durable and dependable starters in baseball, and is a key part of the Cubs rotation.
The Yankees also traded a minor leaguer to the Blue Jays for Raul Mondesi.
Mondesi was known as a player with a bad attitude, but the Yankees needed a right fielder and took a chance on him. Mondesei really never did anything spectacular for the Yankees, he was just another body.
2003
Mondesi was such a dissapointment, he was shipped off to the Diamondbacks in exchange for David Dellucci and Brett Prinz.
Dellucci was a nice bench player during the playoffs, but Prinz never amounted to anything and was mostly a minor leaguer.
The Yankees also sent aging Robin Ventura to the Dodgers for Bubba Crosby and Scott Proctor.
Ventura was well liked, but his career was over at that point. Proctor was a good reliever for the Yankees and Crosby had his moments as the fourth outfielder, but never developed like the Yankees hoped.
They also got Aaron Boone from the Reds for Brandon Claussen.
October 16, 2003 will always be a night in Yankee fans memories, and one for Red Sox fans too, but an agonizing one.
Boone, in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7 in the ALCS, hit a towering home run off Tim Wakefield to send the Yankees to the World Series.
So Boone only hit .125, but he will always be a part of Yankee history forever, even if for one night.
He was injured that January, which lead to the trade for Alex Rodriguez.
2004
The Yankees sent Jose Contreras to the White Sox for Esteban Loaiza.
Loaiza was a 20-game winner for Chicago the season before, so this looked like a good move. But Loaiza was not as advertised and by the end of the season, was moved to the bullpen.
Contreras was horrible in New York and never beat Boston in big games, but was a key part of Chicago’s rotation in their 2005 World Series run.
2005
The Yankees got Al Leiter from the Marlins for a player to be named later.
New York needed to get another starting pitcher with Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, and Kevin Brown all on the disabled list.
So with Florida dumping Leiter on waivers, the Yankees scooped him up and Leiter ended up being a key part of the Yankees run to the playoffs in 2005.
His first game back with the Yankees was a dominating performance and win against the Red Sox in July following the All Star break.
2006
The Yankees again were active at the deadline.
They got Sal Fasano from the Phillies for a minor leaguer in their first deal with them. Fasano was decent as Jorge Posada’s backup, and it allowed them to get rid of Kelly Stinnett, who was awful.
They also sent Shawn Chacon, a savior in 2005, to the Pirates for Craig Wilson. Wilson was a nice player off the bench and a good backup to Jason Giambi.
Chacon was good in 2005, but in 2006, he didn’t have the same magic and the Yankees needed to move him.
The biggest deal the Yankees made was again with the Phillies. The Yankees got Bobby Abreu and Corey Lidle for four minor leaguers.
This was a flat out salary dump by the Phillies. With an injury to Gary Sheffield, the Yankees needed a right fielder and the Phillies were offering up Abreu.
Abreu was very good for the Yankees for three seasons and was always a near .300 hitter and 100 RBI guy.
Lidle was an average starter for the Yankees and was going to be part of the 2007 rotation, but he died that October in a plane crash.
The four minor leaguers the Yankees traded never made it to the majors for Philadelphia.
2007
The Yankees sent Proctor to the Dodgers for Wilson Betemit. Proctor had been overused in the Yankee bullpen by Joe Torre, but was still reliable, but the Yankees wanted another bat off the bench, so in came Betemit.
Betemit never really had any major moments with the Yankees in his tenure and ended up striking out a lot in pinch-hitting situations. He ended up being traded to the White Sox for Nick Swisher, who has been so valuable for the Yankees.
2008
The Yankees trade Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, Daniel McCutchen and Jose Tabata to the Pirates for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.
The Yankees needed to make a move for another outfielder and relief pitcher, so the deal made sense.
Nady was very good down the strecth in 2008, but needed Tommy John surgery in 2009, so he got wiped out.
Damaso Marte was a decent reliever in 2008 and has spent most of the 2009 season on the D.L., but Marte will be back and his value can still go up.
Karstens and Ohlendorf could be part of the Pirate’s future.
The Yankees also traded Kyle Farnsworth to the Tigers for Ivan Rodriguez.
With Posada on the D.L. for the season with shoulder problems, the Yankees needed a catcher because Jose Molina was not the answer as an everyday starter. Farnsworth was a horrible reliever in big situations and was in the Yankee doghouse since the 2006 playoffs.
The Tigers wanted to dump Pudge’s salary, and they needed another arm, so the deal made sense for both teams.
However, Pudge was anything but the Hall of Fame catcher we’ve seen in Texas, Florida and Detroit.
He hit around .200 and the two best Yankee pitchers on the staff—Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina—did not want to throw to him because apparently he was a pain to deal with behind the plate. So when 2/5 of the rotation doesn’t want you catching that day, there’s a problem and it turned out to be a bust.
So for the most part, the Yankees haven’t made that blockbuster trade at the deadline, they are more of a team that adds pieces here and there. For the most part, they don’t really make a trade that works out in the long run.
The Abreu trade was probably one of the better deals because Abreu was a solid player in the three years he was in New York.
Nady’s trade could have had the potential to be a good one, but a massive elbow injury took care of 2009 for Nady.
And, while he only hit .125, Boone is part of Yankee history forever.
These types of deals are also expected at the 2009 deadline, adding pieces where needed for a playoff run and to try and get better than the Red Sox and Rays.
But if the right deal falls into Cashman’s lap, any deal between now and next Friday can always be made.
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