This Date In Transactions History News & Rumors

Former Tigers GM Bill Lajoie passed away today at the age of 76. In the words of current Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski, Lajoie "played an integral role in building the [1984] Detroit Tigers into a world championship team."

Lajoie had been a a senior advisor for Pirates GM Neal Huntington since 2009, and Huntington calls him a "terrific evaluator of talent, an outstanding baseball man, a tremendous mentor and a better friend.” Along with the Tigers, Pirates and many others in the baseball world, MLBTR extends condolences to Lajoie's family and friends. 

Now here's a look back at some historical transactions that have occurred on this date:

• The Red Sox signed Josh Bard and Brad Penny on this date in 2008. Bard didn't play for the 2009 Red Sox and fans of the team probably wish Penny hadn't either. The right-hander posted a 5.61 ERA in 131 2/3 innings before moving on to San Francisco, where the results were considerably better.
• The Indians signed Fausto Carmona as an amateur free agent ten years ago today. They've paid him $8.87MM for 746 innings of 4.43 ERA ball so far and have him under team control for four more seasons.
• The Tigers traded Luis Gonzalez to the Diamondbacks for Karim Garcia on this date in 1998. Garcia hit 14 homers for the Tigers in 1999 and was out of the organization the next year. Gonzalez hit 26 homers for the D'Backs in 1999 and didn't stop there. He hit 31 long balls in 2000 and 57 more in 2001, leading the D'Backs to their first World Series title.
• The White Sox traded Tim Raines to the Yankees on this date in 1995. Raines was past his prime, but that didn't stop him from hitting .299/.395/.429 in three seasons in New York as the Bronx Bombers won a pair of championships.
• The Indians signed current Rangers manager Ron Washington on this date in 1987. In his last extended taste of playing action, the infielder hit .256/.298/.363 for the Tribe.
• Last, but certainly not least, we take you back to 1994. On this date 16 years ago, the Astros and Padres completed a memorable 12-player trade that MLBTR's Howard Megdal explained in great detail this June.

The day after Christmas hasn't been a busy hot stove day historically, but there have certainly been a few notable deals struck. Let's review…

• On this date last year, the Mets signed Kelvim Escobar to an incentive-laden one-year deal with a $1.25MM base salary. Escobar had missed most of 2009 and all of 2008 due to shoulder surgery, and sure enough he wasn't able to pitch at all in 2010 (not even in Spring Training) due to another surgery.
• The Giants inked Randy Johnson to a one-year deal worth $8MM guaranteed on this day back in 2008. He gave the Giants 96 innings of 4.88 ERA pitching in return, winning his 300th career game along the way.
• The Padres officially signed Kevin Correia to a minor league contract on the same day San Fran signed The Big Unit. He rewarded them in 2009 with 198 innings and a 3.91 ERA.
• Seven years ago today the Indians signed Ronnie Belliard after the Brewers non-tendered him. He spent the next two-and-a-half years in Cleveland, hitting .285/.337/.433 along the way.
• The Orioles acquired David Wells from the Reds for Curtis Goodwin and minor leaguer Trovin Valdez back in 1995. Boomer posted a 5.14 ERA in 224.1 innings during his one year in Baltimore.
• All the way back in 1953, the Milwaukee Braves traded six players and $100K to the Pirates for 26-year-old Danny O'Connell. O'Connell finished his career as a .260/.333/.351 hitter, and the most notable player Pittsburgh received was Sid Gordon, who was near the end of his playing days.
• Some other players involved in transactions on this date: Bob Howry, R.A. Dickey, Mark Prior, Frank Menechino, and Esteban Yan.

Let's take a look back at which teams got themselves an early Christmas present (or a lump of coal) on past December 23rds…

• It's only been a year since the Blue Jays acquired Brandon Morrow from the Mariners in exchange for Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez, but we might already be able to call this trade in Toronto's favor.  Morrow posted a 4.49 ERA and a 10.9 K/9 rate in 26 starts for the Jays, the most impressive of which was his 17-strikeout, one-hit, complete game masterpiece against Tampa Bay on August 8.  League had a good year himself (3.42 ERA, 2.07 K/BB ratio, 70 appearances) but he and Chavez don't equal a potential ace starter like Morrow.
• Two players that most fans would regard as polar opposites signed free agent contracts on December 23, 2004.  J.D. Drew (often criticized for his alleged lack of passion on the field) signed a five-year, $55MM deal with the Dodgers, while the textbook "scrapper" David Eckstein signed a three-year, $10.25MM contract with the Cardinals.  Eckstein became a folk hero in St. Louis when he was named MVP of the 2006 World Series, while Drew was reviled in L.A. for exercising an escape clause in his contract to sign a five-year, $70MM deal with Boston after the 2006 season.  Drew got some October glory himself the next year, helping lead the Red Sox to the 2007 World Series title.
• You know Arthur Rhodes has played for a lot of teams when today wasn't even the first December 23rd signing of his career.  On this day in 2003, Rhodes signed with the A's but ended up struggling in his new closing role.  Rhodes posted a 5.12 ERA with Oakland and was dealt to Pittsburgh after the season.
• On this day in 1999, the Mets acquired Derek Bell and Mike Hampton from Houston in exchange for Octavio Dotel, Roger Cedeno and Kyle Kessel in a deal that worked for both clubs.  Bell and Hampton were only in New York for one season, but they helped the Mets reach the 2000 World Series.  Dotel, meanwhile, was a standout set-up man for Billy Wagner in Houston, posting a 2.33 ERA and a whopping 11.2 K/9 rate between 2001 and 2003.
• Potential Hall-of-Famer Tim Raines was dealt from the Expos on this day in 1990 to the White Sox in a deal that also saw Ivan Calderon go to Montreal.  Raines posted a .283/.375/.407 line in five years in Chicago, and then was a key cog on the Yankees' World Series-winning teams in 1996 and 1998.
• The late Sparky Anderson was traded from the Dodgers to the Phillies on this day in 1958.  Anderson's only major league experience came in 1959 with Philadelphia (a .531 OPS in 527 plate appearances) and he missed being a part of the Dodgers' 1959 World Series championship squad.  Needless to say, Anderson created his own Series memories years later as a manager.
• Finally, the New York Giants purchased Edd Roush for the princely sum of $7.5K from the Newark Pepper on this day in 1915.  This set the stage for one of the most historically notable transactions in baseball history the following year, when the Giants sent a package of three future Hall-of-Famers (Roush, Bill McKechnie and Christy Mathewson) to Cincinnati on July 20, 1916.  For that bounty the Giants received Buck Herzog (career .664 OPS) and Red Killefer (.642 OPS).

Not one, but two trades involving big-name starting pitchers have taken place on November 28th in the not-too-distant past. Let's review…

• The Rays and Twins completed a six-player swap on this date in 2007. Tampa received Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Eddie Morlan while Minnesota received Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie. The move looked like a steal for the Rays initially, especially after Garza and Barlett helped their new team to its first World Series in 2008, but Young started to even things out with a big season in 2010.
• While that was going on, the Reds signed Francisco Cordero to a four-year, $46MM contract on the same day. He's pitched to a 3.13 ERA with 113 saves in his three seasons in Cincinnati, helping get the team back to the playoffs this year.
• Four years earlier, the Red Sox acquired Curt Schilling from the Diamondbacks for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, Jorge de la Rosa, and minor leaguer Michael Gross. Schilling helped Boston to World Championships in 2004 and 2007, and other than Lyon (4.03 ERA in 232 IP), Arizona didn't get much out of this trade.
• The Astros dealt Pete Harnisch to the Mets for two players to be named later on this date back in 1994. Harnish pitched to a 4.33 ERA in two-plus seasons in New York while neither of the players Houston received, righties Juan Castillo and Todd Beckerman, played in the big leagues after the trade. 
• The Mariners signed a young slugger out of the Dominican Republic by name of David Arias in 1992, and eventually traded him to the Twins four years later. Seattle had incorrectly listed his name after signing him, but everyone knows him by his nickname now: Big Papi.
• Some other players involved in transactions on this date: Chad Bradford, Adam Kennedy, Randy Wolf, Gregg Zaun, Rickey Henderson, and Dennis Eckersley.

Though November 26th hasn't historically been as action-packed as the day that precedes it, some memorable transactions have gone down on this date in baseball history. Here's a closer look:

• One year ago today, the Blue Jays signed free agent shortstop Alex Gonzalez to a one-year deal with an option for 2011. He responded by hitting 17 homers and 25 doubles in 85 games for the Blue Jays. When it became apparent that Yunel Escobar had fallen out of favor in Atlanta, GM Alex Anthopoulos flipped Gonzalez and two prospects to the Braves for Escobar and Jo-Jo Reyes.
• On this date in 2007, Kerry Wood signed a one-year deal with the Cubs worth $4.2MM plus incentives. Wood rebuilt his value by saving 34 games and posting 11.4 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 and went on to sign a two-year, $20.5MM deal with Cleveland the following winter.
• The Yankees released Hensley Meulens on this date in 1993. Now the Giants' hitting coach, Meulens is reunited with longtime Yankee executive Brian Sabean in San Francisco.
• On this date in 1986, the Yankees sent Doug Drabek to the Pirates in a six-player trade. In six seasons in Pittsburgh, Drabek logged 1362 2/3 innings of 3.02 ERA ball and won a Cy Young Award. His son Kyle Drabek, now a pitcher for the Blue Jays, was born a year after the Yankees-Pirates trade.

On this date last year, the White Sox signed Andruw Jones and the Blue Jays locked up John McDonald. Those deals were relatively small, but November 25th has traditionally been a busy day for hot stove action. Here's a quick recap:

• On this date in 2005, the Phillies sent Jim Thome to the White Sox for a package that included Aaron Rowand and Gio Gonzalez. Thome went on to hit 124 homers in four seasons for the White Sox, but the Phillies didn't miss him too much. Ryan Howard developed into an offensive force and replaced Thome's bat in the middle of Philadelphia's order. The White Sox didn't miss Gonzalez for long – they re-acquired him along with Gavin Floyd for Freddy Garcia one year later. Meanwhile, Rowand turned in one mediocre season and one excellent season before signing a free agent contract with the Giants. 
• The Phillies-White Sox swap may not have a clear winner, but this 2003 trade certainly does. Seven years ago today, the Cubs sent Hee-Seop Choi and Mike Nannini to the Marlins for Derrek Lee. The Marlins would soon flip Choi to Los Angeles with Brad Penny in the deal that sent Paul Lo Duca, Guillermo Mota and Juan Encarnacion to Florida. The Cubs got years of All-Star production from Lee, who posted a .298/.378/.524 line in seven seasons in Chicago.
• Back in 1998, the Yankees signed free agent center fielder Bernie Williams to a seven-year $87.5MM deal. The Yankees had been offering $60MM, so Buster Olney wrote in the New York Times that "the team caved… in a stunning reversal." The Red Sox also had interest in Williams, and the Yankees had their sights on Albert Belle as a backup plan until the Orioles offered him $65MM over five years. Ultimately, Williams said "It came down to the fact that I wanted to be a Yankee."

We'll remember August 4th as the day on which Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th and 600th home runs. But before A-Rod was born and, coincidentally, as Roger Clemens celebrated his second birthday, the Giants made some baseball history of their own on August 4th, 1964.

That was when they signed Bobby Bonds, a future All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner, as an amateur free agent. That's right, they signed Bonds, then a powerful 18-year-old outfield prospect, as a free agent. One year later, Major League Baseball implemented the amateur draft, but in 1964 teams could still sign amateur players without drafting them.

Four years later, Bonds debuted for the Giants and he soon became a fixture in their outfield. From 1968-74, Bonds hit .273/.356/.478 and averaged 27 homers and 38 steals per season. He was never the offensive force that his son would become two decades later, but Bonds was well on his way to posting career totals of 332 homers and 461 steals.

San Francisco traded him to the Yankees for Bobby Murcer after the 1974 season, but the Giants certainly got their money's worth when they made Bonds one of the last great pre-draft era signings 46 years ago today.