This Date In Transactions History

It was on this day in 1888 that the New York Giants arranged to sell future Hall-of-Famer John Montgomery Ward to the (NL’s original) Washington Nationals for $12K, then a record sum.  Whereas no-trade clauses give players control over their movement in today’s era, Ward had a simpler solution back in the 19th century — he simply refused to play for Washington unless he got a share of that $12K.  As a result, the Nationals pulled out of the deal and Ward remained with the Giants for another season.  Ward was one of the game’s earliest pioneers for players’ rights, with a resume that included co-founding the first sports labor union in history in 1885, founding the short-lived “Players’ League” in 1890, and then often representing players in his post-retirement career as a lawyer.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane for a look at some notable deals that were actually completed on November 23…

• It was just a year ago that the Mariners and Diamondbacks swung a big five-player trade that saw Taijuan Walker and Ketel Marte head to the desert in exchange for Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, and lefty reliever Zac Curtis.  It’s still too early to pass judgement on the deal (especially since Segura, Haniger, and Walker all missed significant time due to injuries in 2017), though it looks like it may be a win-win for both teams.  Segura and Haniger performed well when they did play and will be counted on as important everyday contributors for the Mariners.  Walker, meanwhile, delivered very good numbers in Arizona’s rotation, though Marte has yet to firmly establish himself in the Diamondbacks’ crowded middle infield pictures.
• While not a player transaction, it was two years ago today that the Dodgers officially named Dave Roberts as their new manager.  Serving as a first-time manager after a long career as a player and coach, it’s hard to argue that L.A. didn’t make the right call — Roberts has led the Dodgers to an NLCS berth and then an NL pennant (finishing just a game away from the World Series title) in his first two years running the dugout.
• The Yankees made one of their signature free agent splashes when they signed Brian McCann to a five-year, $85MM deal on this day in 2013.  McCann didn’t hit up to his usual standard, posting a .235/.313/.418 slash line over 1565 PA as a Yankee, and he became expendable due to Gary Sanchez’s emergence as a future star behind the plate.  This led New York to deal McCann and $11MM in salary relief to the Astros last offseason for a pair of well-regarded right-handed pitching prospects (Albert Abreu and Jorge Guzman).
• The Tigers signed Victor Martinez to a four-year, $50MM free agent deal on this day in 2010.  Though Martinez missed all of the 2012 season due to a torn ACL, the signing was overall a win for Detroit, as V-Mart hit .321/.381/.487 over 1904 plate appearances over the life of the contract.  A huge 2014 season led to another four-year deal with the Tigers that had proven to be less successful, as Martinez has struggled with injuries and perhaps just late-30’s decline.
• It was also on this day in 2010 that the Giants, basking in the glow of their World Series victory, re-signed Aubrey Huff to a two-year, $22MM deal.  Huff had signed just a one-year, $3MM contract with San Francisco the previous winter that turned into a huge bargain, as the veteran’s tremendous season helped lead the Giants to the championship.  While it could certainly be argued that the overall $25MM investment in Huff worth it for his 2010 performance alone, Huff’s subsequent deal ended up being a bust, as he didn’t deliver much at the plate and Brandon Belt eventually took over the first base job.
• The Braves signed two-sport star Brian Jordan to a five-year contract on this day in 1998.  This was Jordan’s first stint with the Braves but not his first time in Atlanta, as he had previously played for the NFL’s Falcons as a defensive back.  Jordan hit well over three years for the Braves before being traded to the Dodgers as a part of a three-player package for Gary Sheffield in a January 2002 blockbuster.
• The Yankees signed Steve Sax to a three-year deal on this day in 1988, reinforcing the keystone with the longtime second baseman for the just-crowned world champion Dodgers.  Though Sax hit well in two of his three years in the pinstripes, he joined the Yankees at a rare down point in club history, as the team didn’t even post a winning record from 1989 to 1992.  Sax’s time in New York also led to some unfounded accusations from Chief Wiggum and company in The Simpsons’ legendary “Homer At The Bat” episode.
• The Yankees made yet another big November 23 signing back in 1977 when they inked future Hall-of-Famer Rich Gossage to a six-year, $2.75MM free agent deal.  The Goose provided immediate dividends, recording a league-best 27 saves and posting a 2.01 ERA over 134 1/3 relief innings as the Yankees went on to win the 1978 World Series.  Gossage posted a 2.10 ERA and 150 saves during his time with the Yankees, though, like many in the “Bronx Zoo” era, he had his share of clashes with manager Billy Martin and owner George Steinbrenner.

April 17 is an important day for firsts in baseball history.  Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson and Don Drysdale all made their MLB debuts in games played on April 17, while Alexander Cartwright (the man often considered to be the creator of baseball’s modern rules) was born on April 17, 1820.  It could also be said that pro baseball itself has an April 17th birthday, as the very first professional game was played on this day in 1869.  The Cincinnati Red Stockings defeated the Cincinnati Amateurs by a 24-15 score, and in case you’re wondering, Bartolo Colon didn’t pitch.  Here are some notable early-season transactions that have taken place on April 17th…

2013: The Brewers signed Francisco Rodriguez to a minor league deal that ended up paying him more than $2MM thanks to his time on their MLB roster.  K-Rod’s stint in Milwaukee is almost worth a Transactions History post unto itself, as he was dealt to the Brewers from the Mets in July 2011, rather surprisingly accepted a one-year, $8MM arbitration offer from the club for the 2012 season, then returned on this minor league deal after posting only decent numbers in 2012.  Rodriguez posted a 1.09 ERA over 24 2/3 innings for the Crew before being traded to Baltimore in a July deal for Nick Delmonico, and the veteran reliever then re-signed with the Brewers in February 2014 on a one-year, Major League contract.  All told, Rodriguez signed four different contracts over his four-plus years in Milwaukee — accepting the arb offer, a one-year minors deal, a one-year Major League deal and a two-year, $13MM contract.

2012: Johnny Damon signed a minor league deal with the Indians (with a $1.25MM base salary in the majors), ending a rather unexpectedly long stint on the open market for the veteran.  Though Damon was entering his age-38 season, he hit 16 homers and slashed a respectable .261/.326/.418 over 647 PA with the Rays in 2011, yet was unable to land a Major League contract.  Cleveland may have only been interested in Damon as a fill-in for Grady Sizemore, who was recovering from back surgery.  As it happened, 2012 ended up being Damon’s last season, as he managed just a .610 OPS over 224 PA with the Tribe and was released in August.

2000: Not a player transaction but rather a franchise transaction, as Major League owners approved the sale of the Kansas City Royals to David Glass from Ewing Kauffman’s estate for $96MM.  This wasn’t the largest bid made for the team, though Glass’ bid was considered to be the most stable and he was the only one committed to keeping the Royals in Kansas City.  Many Royals fans have criticized Glass for the team’s small payrolls and lack of success over much of his ownership reign, yet obviously that general opinion has begun to change in the wake of the team’s World Series win and back-to-back AL pennants.  The Royals began this season with a payroll of just under $131.5MM, easily the highest in club history.

1960: It’s very rare to see a blockbuster deal take place so early in the season, yet the Tigers and Indians collaborated on a headline-grabbing trade on April 17, 1960.  Detroit sent reigning batting champion Harvey Kuenn to the Tribe for Rocky Colavito, who led the league with 42 homers in 1959.  Cleveland fans were upset at losing the popular Colavito, especially after Kuenn only lasted one (All-Star) year with the Tribe before being dealt again, this time to San Francisco.  Colavito, meanwhile, hit .272/.364/.502 with 173 homers over the next five seasons before returning for another stint with the Indians in 1965.  Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain Dealer suggested in a 1994 book that the so-called “Curse Of Rocky Colavito” may have been behind the Indians’ mostly-terrible play from 1960 until the mid-1990’s.

Let’s take a look back at some notable trades and signings that have taken place on January 10…

2015: It was exactly one year ago that the Rays sent Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar to the Athletics in exchange for John Jaso and prospects Daniel Robertson and Boog Powell.  It’s a sign of how busy both those franchises have been over the last year that today, four of those five players (Robertson excepted) have again moved on to new teams.  Zobrist and Escobar, in fact, have both switched uniforms twice since that initial deal; the A’s flipped Escobar to Washington just four days after acquiring him from Tampa.  Given all of the new talent that joined the rosters in subsequent deals, it may be several years before we can definitively declare a winner of the five-player swap.  It could really turn into a comparison of Robertson and lefty Sean Manaea, the top pitching prospect who the A’s acquired in the deadline deal that sent Zobrist to Kansas City.

2012: One of the key names of the 2015-16 free agent market first came to Major League Baseball on this day four years ago when Wei-Yin Chen signed with the Orioles after four tremendous seasons in Japan.  Chen signed a three-year deal worth $11.388MM in guaranteed money, plus a $4.75MM club option for the 2015 season.  That contract ended up being a terrific bargain for the O’s as Chen was a key contributor to their two playoff teams over his four years in Baltimore.  Needless to say, Chen’s next deal will be a much more expensive one, as he and agent Scott Boras are looking for a five-year, $100MM contract on the open market.

2010: The Giants signed Aubrey Huff to a one-year, $3MM contract that, at the time, drew some poor reviews from executives from around the game.  Huff had been a very solid contributor over his first nine seasons but was coming off a down year in 2009 in his age-32 season.  Critics wondered why the Giants would sign a seemingly declining veteran when they had an up-and-comer (Brandon Belt) and a superior defender (Travis Ishikawa) as internal first base options.  As it turned out, the Giants guessed wisely that Huff would bounce back, as he rebounded with a big .290/.385/.506 line and 26 homers over 668 PA to help lead San Francisco to a World Series title.

1991: Cover your eyes, Orioles fans.  It was on this day 25 years ago that the O’s sent Curt Schilling, Steve Finley and Pete Harnisch to the Astros in exchange for Glenn Davis.  While Davis had been one of the game’s better and more underrated sluggers in Houston, injuries curtailed his production in Baltimore and he didn’t play again after the 1993 season.  WAR-wise, it’s not pretty from the Orioles’ perspective — Davis generated just 0.7 bWAR over his three seasons in Baltimore while Harnisch and Finley combined for 24.1 bWAR from 1991-94.  As for Schilling, it could be argued that the Astros didn’t really know what they had in him either, as he was dealt to the Phillies for Jason Grimsley in April 1992.  It wasn’t until he came to Philadelphia that Schilling put it all together and exhibited his superstar form.

1928: Rogers Hornsby hit a whopping .361/.448/.586 with 26 homers for the New York Giants in 1927, but it was Hornsby’s off-the-field issues that led to the Giants trading the Hall-of-Famer to the Boston Braves for catcher Shanty Hogan and outfielder Jimmy Welsh.  Hornsby was one of the most disliked players of his era, unpopular with both teammates and management, and he was also a big bettor on horse racing.  These issues reportedly led to his departure from New York for a relatively meager return, though Hogan ended up posting good-to-very good numbers as the Giants’ semi-regular catcher until 1932.  As for Hornsby, he won the “slash line Triple Crown” by leading the league in average, OBP and slugging in 1928 and even managed the Braves for much of the 1928 season.  He didn’t last long in Boston either, however, as the Braves dealt him to the Cubs for five players and $200K after the season.

This may be a bit of a cheat on the “this date” headline but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve bent the rules at Thanksgiving — it’s anything goes when my family plays our post-dinner game of Rummoli.  (Nothing says Thanksgiving like bluffing your grandma out of a nickel.)  Here are some of the notable transactions that have occurred both on November 26th and also transactions that took place on past Thanksgiving Days…

2014: It was a year ago today that the Diamondbacks signed Cuban star Yasmany Tomas to a six-year, $68.5MM contract that contained a player opt-out clause after the fourth season.  Between defensive struggles and a .273/.305/.401 line with nine homers over 426 PA, Tomas posted a below-replacement -1.3 fWAR in 2015.  Arizona signed Tomas without having a clear idea of where he would play, and a year later, that’s still an open question — Tomas struggled badly at third and the corner outfield spots have now been filled by David Peralta and Ender Inciarte.  Tomas will get his share of at-bats against southpaws since both Peralta and Inciarte are left-handed hitters, but the D’Backs certainly expected more from their investment than a platoon bat.  It’s still too early to render a verdict, however, since Tomas just turned 25 and should now be more fully acclimated to American baseball.

2012: Three years ago today, the Rays made an even bigger commitment to the face of their franchise by agreeing to a contract extension with Evan Longoria.  The Rays guaranteed (and increased the value of) three club option years for 2014-16 they held on Longoria from his pre-existing contract, paid him a $1MM signing bonus, then guaranteed him $94MM covering the 2017-22 seasons.  Tampa also has a $13MM club option on Longoria for 2023 with a $5MM buyout, which made the total value of the extension worth $100MM in new money for Longoria.  It was a surprising deal at the time since Longoria was coming off an injury-shortened season and because the low-payroll Rays had never splurged on a nine-figure contract.  Longoria posted superstar numbers over his first six seasons but has slowed down over the last two years, hitting .261/.324/.419 with 44 homers over 1370 PA in 2014-15.  If Longoria is already slowing down as he enters his age-30 season, this contract could end up being a major albatross for the revenue-strapped Rays.

2005: One of the biggest blockbuster trades of the 21st century was finalized on Thanksgiving Day 2005 when the Marlins traded Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota to the Red Sox in exchange for Hanley Ramirez, Anibal Sanchez and right-handers Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia.  The Marlins were eager to move Beckett and Lowell for payroll reasons, and they ended up hitting it big on their haul of minor leaguers as Ramirez lived up his reputation as a blue chip prospect and Sanchez eventually developed into a big piece of the Marlins rotation.  Beckett had something of an up-and-down tenure in Boston that saw him generate 14 WAR from 2007-09 but also featured a couple of rough seasons and a role in the infamous “chicken and beer” controversy that clouded their 2011 September collapse.  Lowell was coming off a down year in 2005 but rebounded for four more good seasons with the Red Sox.  The trade became an instant win for the Red Sox in 2007 when they won the World Series, with Lowell being named Series MVP and Beckett winning the ALCS MVP Award in the previous postseason round.

2005: Only the Marlins would finalize two payroll-slashing mega-trades on the same Thanksgiving.  The Marlins’ swap of Carlos Delgado to the Mets for Yusmeiro Petit, Mike Jacobs and minor league infielder Grant Psomas was also made official ten years ago today.  (The Fish also sent along $7MM to help cover some of the $48MM remaining on Delgado’s contract.)  Delgado hit .267/.351/.506 with 104 homers as a Met in what ended up being the last four years of his Major League career.  The Marlins’ return wasn’t quite as impressive in this trade, though Jacobs had some solid power numbers in his three years in Florida.  Psomas never reached the bigs and Petit only had one season as a Marlin.  Petit never truly established himself until emerging as a dominant swingman option for the Giants in recent years.

1997: The Blue Jays signed Randy Myers to a three-year, $18MM free agent contract on this day 18 years ago, signing the former Nasty Boy away from their division rival in Baltimore in the wake of Myers’ excellent 1.51 ERA, 45-save season with the Orioles in 1997.  Myers wasn’t nearly as effective in Toronto, however, posting a 4.46 ERA and just a 6.5 K/9 over 56 2/3 innings as a Jay.  Fortunately for the Blue Jays, they were able to unload Myers to the Padres in a waiver deal in August 1998.  San Diego only put in the claim to block Myers from going to Atlanta and didn’t actually plan on landing the reliever (or his remaining salary).  Myers didn’t pitch again after 1998 due to injury, so the Padres ended up paying him over $13MM in 1999-2000 with no return on their investment.