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« Olney On Felix, Reds, Dye, Indians | Main | Tim Lincecum Contract Update »
Yanks Considered Trading Rivera For Wells In '95
Former Yankees GM Gene Michael told John Harper of the New York Daily News that he considered dealing Mariano Rivera to the Tigers for David Wells back in 1995. Rivera was still considered a starter then, and he was one of the players the Tigers had interest in. Michael, now a scout, says he held onto Rivera because of his control and mid-nineties fastball.
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And this is an example of why sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.
Posted by: thegamev1 | June 30, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Old news. That in Olney's book a couple of years ago.
Posted by: start_wearing_purple | June 30, 2009 at 12:58 PM
Dang that would have been nice. Maybe the Yankees will give us Rivera in exchange for Rodney.
Posted by: Tigers/Reds fan | June 30, 2009 at 01:09 PM
RODNEY SUCKS
Posted by: Tigers/Reds fan | June 30, 2009 at 01:10 PM
And maybe the Tigers try to keep him as a starter and he ends up blowing his arm out or simply flopping and disappearing.
Not saying the Yanks are any smarter than the Tigers, but who knows what career path Rivera might have taken had he changed organizations?
Posted by: TopChuckie | June 30, 2009 at 01:11 PM
And maybe the Tigers try to keep him as a starter and he ends up blowing his arm out or simply flopping and disappearing.
Not saying the Yanks are any smarter than the Tigers, but who knows what career path Rivera might have taken had he changed organizations?
Posted by: TopChuckie | June 30, 2009 at 01:11 PM
Great points. I love Rivera, he's one of the greatest relievers of all time and a first ballot hall of famer, but everything would have changed if he were a Tiger. First of all, he likely wouldn't have 500 saves or 30+ in the postseason. Second, how can we assume that he stays a Tiger for 15 years, like he has the Yankees? Third, as Chuckie pointed out, how can we assume he'd still be a closer at all? Everyone wants to utilize a prospect a different way. Whether that be different positions, waiting longer to call him up, or as trade bait.
I love these types of scenarios. It's sure fun to think about.
Posted by: soxfan93 | June 30, 2009 at 01:20 PM
Thank you for not letting that happen, Yankees. Rivera caused the one bright spot for my favorite team, the Diamondbacks, but sadly they regressed to the second worst team in baseball. So thank you Mariano Rivera.
Posted by: jdub | June 30, 2009 at 01:22 PM
And this is an example of why sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make.
Posted by: thegamev1 | June 30, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Yes, Arod being another example
Posted by: carini26 | June 30, 2009 at 01:31 PM
So David Wells got traded later on for George Kotteras. LOL
Posted by: johns | June 30, 2009 at 01:35 PM
No Mo = No Fo (four).
Posted by: YanksFanSince78 | June 30, 2009 at 01:38 PM
I think a good article could be written about "rent-a-players" - I have a feeling the number of these deals resulting in world series rings is pretty low compared to the number of prospects dealt who resulted in world series down the line.
Posted by: yuppiescum | June 30, 2009 at 01:38 PM
Funny how the Yanks were close to trading Mo and Bernie early on in their careers. Wow.
Posted by: YanksFanSince78 | June 30, 2009 at 01:39 PM
"Funny how the Yanks were close to trading Mo and Bernie early on in their careers. Wow."
Yeah YFS78, You mean like the Sox traded minor leaguer and future HOF'er Jeff Bagwell for washed up Larry Anderson? LOL now, but cry back then...
Posted by: johns | June 30, 2009 at 01:46 PM
Johns I'm ashamed of you, bringing up jeff bagwell is major weaksauce.
BABE RUTH WAS SOLD TO FINANCE A MUSICAL. YES YES NANNETTE!
------------------------
Ok I'm just kidding, sort of.
Posted by: Casanova Wong | June 30, 2009 at 02:01 PM
Fallacy of the pre-determined outcome. Who's to say the Tigers wouldn't have kept developing him as a starter, and Mariano Rivera's career would have then been four-five years as an anonymous middle rotation guy?
Posted by: GrenzNomaas | June 30, 2009 at 02:06 PM
"Congratulations. You win the award for Most Desperate Yankee Fan. Bashing the Red Sox about a trade made almost 20 years ago? Why don't you instead focus on not going 0-16 against the Red Sox this year?"
Wow someone's a lil bitter and edgy today. You know johns is a Red Sox fan right?
Posted by: Boomer | June 30, 2009 at 02:12 PM
Let's not forget that Rivera was also exposed in the 1992 expansion draft. He had an injury at the time and the Rockies and Marlins passed on him.
Posted by: sunblazer | June 30, 2009 at 02:19 PM
Pssssh, that's nothing. At least Wells is a name player. Rivera was also almost traded for Felix Fermin before the '96 season.....
http://tinyurl.com/n3tave
Posted by: rodg12 | June 30, 2009 at 02:22 PM
"Congratulations. You win the award for Most Desperate Yankee Fan. Bashing the Red Sox about a trade made almost 20 years ago? Why don't you instead focus on not going 0-16 against the Red Sox this year?"
You really take jokes about the Red Sox way too personally. You are more of a Yankee hater than a Red Sox fan.
Posted by: B3NG4L | June 30, 2009 at 02:23 PM
Congratulations. You win the award for Most Desperate Yankee Fan. Bashing the Red Sox about a trade made almost 20 years ago? Why don't you instead focus on not going 0-16 against the Red Sox this year?
Posted by: midtown | June 30, 2009 at 01:58 PM
------------------
Hahaha.. Johns is Mr. "I Bleed Red Sox Red" in case you didn't know. I think if he had a baby girl he'd name her Dustina Drew "insert last name".
Posted by: YanksFanSince78 | June 30, 2009 at 02:30 PM
"Wow someone's a lil bitter and edgy today. You know johns is a Red Sox fan right?"
LOL Boston has made some major boners, I admit it. Freddy Sanchez for washed up Jeff Suppan, Sparky Lyle for Danny Cater in the early 70's, Curt Schilling as an AA ML player for Mike Boddicker. All teams do them.
Posted by: johns | June 30, 2009 at 02:32 PM
What about all the can't miss prospects traded for veterans who wound up bringing rings home? This is all speculation. There have been a ton of great deals for teams and a ton of horrific deals. Sometimes the prospect nobody was expecting much out of becomes the greatest in the game (ex. Mo), sometimes the can't miss prospect who nobody likes to trade just fizzes out and does nothing (ex. Andy Marte)
That is why baseball is so great......You never know until you play the game!
Posted by: yanks09 | June 30, 2009 at 04:11 PM
uh yeah it's like he was going to duplicate his NL success in Al East
i could care less about melky but Hughes has made some serious strides on learning how to pitch in MLB and i doubt Yankees would've ran for Sabathia had they have gotten Santana, so there
Posted by: The Goggles Do Nothing | June 30, 2009 at 08:36 PM
I think a good article could be written about "rent-a-players" - I have a feeling the number of these deals resulting in world series rings is pretty low compared to the number of prospects dealt who resulted in world series down the line.
Posted by: yuppiescum | June 30, 2009 at 01:38 PM
1. John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander. Alexander went 9-0 down the stretch but got blown up twice in the playoffs.
Posted by: WillieMaysField | July 01, 2009 at 12:12 AM
I agree, not making the Santana trade was a good move by the Yankees, Hughes is a cheap long term FOR type of guy, and Melky has really turned it around this season.
And I am really glad this trade never happened, I love David Wells and all, but Mo is one of my top 5 favorite Yankees that I've had the pleasure of watching play.
Posted by: Yanksallday | July 01, 2009 at 06:56 AM