As we get set for another trade deadline season, we take a look back at the best moves the New York Yankees have made at the deadline.
Very rarely are the New York Yankees considered to be “sellers” at the deadline but come this August 1, that very well may change.Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline is eventful, chaotic, stressful, and one of the most interesting days in baseball. Sometimes the moves don’t work out but some (like the players you are about to read about) help by bringing a surplus in production to a team in desperation.
Just because New York may sell this season, it doesn’t mean we can’t reminisce over the greatest trades that provided boosts to a club in dire need of assistance.
Whether it’s a key bat, elite arm, or stellar relief man the Yankees seem determined year in and year out to make a move that would spark a championship run.
For this list, ESNY took a look at which deadline moves proved to be the “right” move. Individual success, team success, and players given up were taken into consideration during the ranking as some players had more of an impact on overall team success than others.
Without further adieu, here are the smartest moves made by the Yankees at the deadline.
Honorable Mentions:
Kerry Wood
Kerry Wood was brought to the Bronx in 2010 as a post All-Star break pick-up and dominated as the team’s setup man.
The former ace of the Chicago Cubs’ pitching staff allowed just two runs in 24 games in the regular season for the Yankees and then gave up absolutely zero no runs in the first two games of the ALDS.
Yes, he was only around for a half season, but the Yankees gave up a mere $500,000 for the deal, which was a steal given the production they got from him.
Cecil Fielder
The acquisition of Cecil Fielder on July 31, 1996, by the Yankees was a classic addition of a crucial bat during a key stretch-run.
The Bombers sent Matt Drews and Ruben Sierra to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for a power bat that provided them with a .260/.342/.495 slash line including 13 home runs in 228 plate appearances. The following season, Fielder would hit 13 more home runs to bring his total Yankee home run total to 26 in 151 games played.
5. Alfonso Soriano
In desperate need for a productive right-handed bat, New York went out and brought a familiar face in Alfonso Soriano back to the Bronx.
In exchange for Corey Black, the Bombers got the Chicago Cubs to pay $17.7 million of the estimated $24.5 million left on Soriano’s deal.
By no means did the Yankees get the 40-40-40 guy from his Washington Nationals days, but they did get 17 home runs in 58 games (47 home run pace) including a seven-game stretch from August 11-17 in which he batted .552 with six home runs and 19 RBI.
4. Shawn Chacon
If you thought the 2014 and 2015 rotations were delicate, the Yankees used 14 distinct starting pitchers in 2005. If it weren’t for Shawn Chacon, that whole season would have been a disaster.
Chacon went from the closer role in 2004 to the starting rotation in 2005 for the Colorado Rockies and went 1-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 12 starts before coming to New York for Ramon Ramirez and Eduardo Sierra.
He was criticized by the media for not being an answer to their rotation woes but for some unexplainable reason, Chacon flourished in the Bronx by going 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 12 starts over the final two months and even turned in a solid performance in the ALDS against the Angels.
3. Bobby Abreu
With Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield out due to injury, general manager Brian Cashman went out and acquired Bobby Abreu for peanuts from the Philadelphia Phillies. What’s better than getting something for cheap? Why getting an excess of production from it, of course.
The Yankees got red-hot following the deal and eventually took the division over the Boston Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays while making the playoffs twice with Abreu in pinstripes.
In his two-and-a-half years in the Bronx, Abreu slashed .295/.378/.465 with 43 home runs. Cashman also received Cory Lidle in this deal who did give the Yankees some quality starts before tragically passing away in a plane crash.
2. David Justice
The Yankees may not win the 2000 World Series without David Justice.
Prior to the deadline, Cashman traded starting outfielder Ricky Ledee and pitchers Zach Day and Jake Westbrook to the Cleveland Indians in order to acquire Justice, who brought the Yankees a third legitimate power bat in the middle of the order.
Ledee slashed .241/.322/.419 with New York in 2000 and would only amount to a .243/.325/.412 career slash line and Day only started in 60 games in 5 total seasons with a 4.66 ERA. Westbrook was valuable, but what they got in Justice, they won’t lose sleep over giving away a .500 career pitcher.
Especially when Justice went on to hit .305 with 20 homers and 60 RBI in 78 games while New York went 50-39 down the stretch to win the AL East after being only two games over .500 when Cashman made the trade.
He returned for the 2001 season and did not do much (18 homers in 111 games) before being traded to the Oakland Athletics in the offseason but he would be the MVP of the 2000 ALCS win over the Mariners. With that, there’s no denying that his presence brought the Yankees their third World Series title in a row.
1. David Cone
Yes, he was traded to the Yankees in the latter portion of his career but David Cone instantly became a key component of New York’s late 90’s dynasty.
Traded from the Toronto Blue Jays to the Bronx in 1995 exchange for two minor leaguers and Marty Janzen (6.39 career ERA), some would argue that just the risk was a victory.
Cone’s performance spoke for itself, though. In the 13 games he pitched in during the second half of ’95 he won nine of them while maintaining a 3.82 ERA across 99 innings of work.
Overall, he won 64 games compared to 40 losses during his six years sporting navy blue pinstripes including an ERA of 3.91, a 20-win season in 1998, and two All-Star appearances. Cone also finished in the Top-10 in CY-Young Award voting twice as he added four rings to his collection.
Do you agree with our list? Which deadline pickups do you think had the greatest impacts on the Yankees? Let your voice be heard in the comment section below.