Yankee Moves

[Timmer]

Don't worry, we're not going over Buhner for Phelps or the Scott McGregor trade again (although FTR, both were bad deals.)

I decided to look at the Yankees' moves since 1998. Those are still recent enough that there are players involved who are still active. I have only selected some deals where there are still players active. There are also a couple of "trade chains" I'd like to look at.

I'm not happy with this pattern.

Look at these deals and tell me if you think we'd be better off not having made them.

My information comes from Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Baseball Statistics and History

Except for the trade chains, I'll try to keep these chronological.

Here they are:

2/6/98 Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, and Danny Mota to the Minnesota Twins for Chuck Knoblauch

2/1/99 Mike Lowell to the Florida Marlins for Ed Yarnall, Todd Noel, and Mark Johnson

6/29/00 Ricky Ledee, Jake Westbrook, and Zach Day to Cleveland for David Justice

That began a chain that continued on 12/7/01 when the Yankees traded David Justice to the Mets for Robin Ventura, then concluded on 7/31/03 when the Yankees traded Ventura to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bubba Crosby and Scott Proctor.

7/12/00 continuing the Lowell trade chain, Ed Yarnall, Drew Henson, Brian Reith, and Jackson Melian to the Cincinnati Reds for Denny Neagle, then on 3/21/01 reacquired Henson, along with Michael Coleman, for Wily Mo Pena

6/13/01 Damaso Marte to Pittsburgh for Enrique Wilson

7/5/02 Ted Lilly, Jason Arnold, and John-Ford Griffin to Oakland in the three-way deal that brought Jeff Weaver from Detroit (BTW, the trade where the Tigers got Bonderman), then continuing the chain on 12/13/03 by trading Weaver, Yhency Brazoban, and Brandon Weeden to the Dodgers for Kevin Brown

Then a signing that resulted in a trade:

12/19/02 Mike Stanton signs with the Mets, leading to the trade of 12/3/04 sending Felix Heredia to the Mets for Stanton, who was then released on 7/1/05

1/15/03 Orlando Hernandez to the Chicago White Sox for Antonio Osuna and Delvis Lantigua

3/19/03 Rondell White to San Diego for Bubba Trammell, Mark Phillips, and cash

6/6/03 Marcus Thames to Texas for Ruben Sierra

12/6/03, the beginning of the "Johnson" trade chain, Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and Randy Choate to the Montreal Expos for Javier Vazquez; 12/3/04 Vazquez, Brad Halsey, and Dioner Navarro to Arizona for Randy Johnson; 1/9/07 Randy Johnson to Arizona for Luis Vizcaino, Ross Ohlendorf, Stephen Jackson, and Alberto Gonzalez (Ironically, Vizcaino was one of the players Arizona got when they traded Vazquez to the White Sox.)

12/3/04 Kenny Lofton to Philadelphia for Felix Rodriguez

12/8/04 Jon Lieber, whom the Yankees paid for a year of rehab, signs with Philadelphia

Had we not made these moves, we'd have: Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, Mike Lowell, Ricky Ledee, Jake Westbrook, Zach Day, Wily Mo Pena, Damaso Marte, Ted Lilly, Yhency Brazoban, Mike Stanton, Orlando Hernandez, Rondell White, Marcus Thames, Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, Randy Choate, Brad Halsey, Dioner Navarro, Kenny Lofton, and Jon Lieber. We would not have Scott Proctor, Luis Vizcaino, Ross Ohlendorf, Stephen Jackson, and Alberto Gonzalez.

Would we be better off?