The worst Yankees trades of all time

It’s not fairly often that selling looks like an option for the Yankees on the commerce deadline.

However the 2023 Yankees usually are not like most of The Bronx Bombers — the last-place workforce is 55-50 and barely protecting its head above water in a brutal AL East gauntlet.

Final season, the Yankees made a series of deals at the deadline, buying Harrison Bader, whose postseason heroics made the commerce price it, in addition to dealing for Frankie Montas, Scott Effross, Andrew Benintendi and Lou Trivino, which introduced uneven success.

Because the Yankees look out on a commerce deadline of uncertainty, it’s an ideal time to contemplate all of the issues they shouldn’t do.

Listed below are the worst Yankees trades of all time:

A Footnote Turns into a Remorse: Willie McGee

Throughout Recreation 2 of the 1981 World Sequence in opposition to the Dodgers, the Yankees accomplished a commerce that appeared awfully insignificant on the time.

The Yankees despatched minor-league outfielder Willie McGee to the Cardinals for pitcher Bob Sykes, who had principally transitioned to a reliever at that stage of his profession.

The deal was an on the spot disaster.

After the Yankees misplaced the 1981 Fall Basic, McGee helped lead the Cardinals to the subsequent season’s World Sequence as a rookie, hitting .296 with 24 stolen bases his first yr within the large leagues.

McGee then added two dwelling runs and a game-saving catch in Recreation 3 of the 1982 World Sequence, because the Cardinals went on to win the championship in seven video games.

The righty-hitting outfielder then authored a outstanding profession, reaching 4 All-Star video games and profitable the MVP in 1985 after he gained the batting title with a .353 common and swiped 56 luggage.

Sykes, alternatively, was despatched to the minor leagues with shoulder points, by no means to play for the Yankees.

Rookie Mistake: Fred McGriff to the Blue Jays

It’s at all times exhausting to inform in case your prospects are going to pan out — particularly in the event that they’re simply 18 years outdated.

On Dec. 9, 1982, the Yankees traded an adolescent named Fred McGriff, who had simply accomplished his second season in rookie ball, for reliever Dale Murray and designated hitting prospect Tom Dodd.

Clearly, the Yankees didn’t know what McGriff, who had simply posted an. 870 OPS in rookie ball, was going to turn into.

The lefty-hitting first baseman put collectively a legendary Corridor-of-Fame profession, enjoying 19 years and having fun with his finest years with the Padres and Braves as he slugged 30 dwelling runs 10 instances.

He totaled 493 dwelling runs and amassed 56.3 WAR, per Fangraphs, and was inducted into Cooperstown in 2023.

Murray, in the meantime, was a mediocre reliever in New York whereas Dodd by no means obtained an at-bat with the Yankees and solely spent one yr within the large leagues.

From Prospect to Sworn Postseason Foe

The 1998 Yankees are sometimes regarded as an untouchable, immortal workforce.

However they did make one grave mistake: buying and selling Mike Lowell to the Marlins after the season ended.

In Feb. 1999, the Yankees traded Lowell, a fast-rising third base prospect, for pitchers Ed Yarnall, Todd Noel and Mark Johnson, feeling snug with their future on the place due to Scott Brosius’ stalwart 1998 season.

However Brosius by no means fairly matched his 1998 efficiency once more and Lowell turned a star, piecing collectively a 13-year big-league profession wherein he smacked 223 dwelling runs with an .805 OPS and made 4 All-Star groups.

What actually turned the knife within the Yankees’ chest, although, was Lowell’s postseason play.

The third baseman helped the Marlins defeat the Yankees within the 2003 World Sequence, then joined the Pink Sox and aided the Yankees’ most bitter rival of their 2007 championship, which ended the 86-year Curse of the Bambino.

Yarnall, Noel and Johnson fully busted, as solely Yarnall made a giant league look for the Yanks and that displaying was unhealthy — a 5.40 ERA in 20 innings.

Brian Cashman later said that it was the one deal over his 25-year tenure that stands out when he thinks about getting a re-do.

“What the hell did you commerce Jay Buhner for?”

Maybe no commerce looms bigger in Yankees’ infamy than this one, thanks to 1 Frank Costanza.

On July 21, 1988, the Bombers traded 23-year-old outfielder Jay Buhner for 33-year-old first baseman/designated hitter Ken Phelps.

Over the course of the remainder of the season, the commerce didn’t look so unhealthy: Buhner had a .778 OPS for the Mariners and Phelps compiled a .890 OPS in New York.

The outlook would get a lot, a lot worse, although.

Buhner went on to star for the Mariners for 14 years, hitting 307 homers with an .857 OPS as he racked up All-Star nods and MVP consideration.

The commerce prompted an all-time “Seinfeld” clip wherein Costanza grills the present’s George Steinbrenner about buying and selling Buhner away.

“What the hell did you commerce Jay Buhner for?!” an agitated Costanza asks the Yankee proprietor. “He had 30 dwelling runs and over 100 RBIs final yr. He’s obtained a rocket for an arm… You don’t know what the hell you’re doing!”

The fictional Steinbrenner retorts that his baseball folks actually preferred Phelps.

A lot for Phelps’ longevity, although, as a result of he solely performed another half-season in pinstripes after 1988 and was out of the league by 1991.

The Joey Gallo Debacle

An outfielder with a sweet-swinging, lefty energy stroke and a cannon for an arm?

If that sounds good for the 2020s Yankees, suppose once more.

When the Yankees acquired longtime goal Joey Gallo in a 2021 deal, bolstering an offense in nice want of one other bat, it appeared like a triumph for the Bronx Bombers.

It was most definitely not.

Gallo, a two-time All-Star and Gold Glover with the Rangers identified for towering dwelling runs and a penchant for hanging out and strolling — a king of the three true outcomes — tumbled to historic lows with the Yankees.

The lefty outfielder hit .159/.291/.368 with 23 dwelling runs over two years with the Yanks, hanging out 38% of the time as followers within the Bronx relentlessly booed his dismal performance.

In the meantime, the return for the Rangers has helped jumpstart the workforce’s speedy rise to rivalry: Texas acquired Ezequiel Duran, Josh Smith, Glenn Otto and Trevor Hauver.

Duran seems to be the lodestar of the deal, because the 24-year-old infielder has been sensible for the first-place Rangers this yr, hitting for a .820 OPS and 13 dwelling runs whereas enjoying strong protection throughout the diamond.

The Yankees did recoup some worth on Gallo by passing him off to the Dodgers in 2022, buying minor-league starting pitcher Clayton Beeter for him, who had a 2.08 ERA in 60 Double-A innings this yr.

The Ace That Bought Away: Doug Drabek

Simply if you thought the trades couldn’t get any worse for the Nineteen Eighties Yankees, they did.

In 1986, the Bombers traded 23-year-old Doug Drabek together with Logan Easley and Brian Fisher to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Pat Clements, Cecilio Guante, and Rick Rhoden — one of many many blunders that may set their 80s squads again.

After Drabek tossed a decent rookie season in The Bronx, incomes a league-average 4.10 ERA in 131.2 innings, he exploded onto the scene in Pittsburgh, profitable a Cy Younger over six years as one of many workforce’s aces.

Drabek completed a stellar profession after 13 seasons with stints in Houston, Chicago and Baltimore, amassing 29.2 WAR, per Baseball Reference.

Easley and Fisher additionally discovered properties within the Pirates’ pitching workers, serving as a reliever and a starter, respectively, for a number of seasons.

In the meantime, the Yankees’ return apart from Rhoden didn’t serve them very effectively — neither Clements nor Guante was profitable within the Bombers’ rotation, whereas Rhoden turned in two serviceable years on the twilight of his profession.