Trades That Never Happened

by jscape2000 on Mar 2, 2008 6:24 PM EST in New York Yankees News

Tyler Kepner gives Robinson Cano's rising star a good long look.

I'd love to know what information some GMs had when they chose to accept or refuse certain deals. As we saw with the potential Santana deal (the Twins refused Phil Hughes and Melky then settled for a lesser package from the Mets), most GMs are shooting in the dark when it comes to player evaluation.

Some refused deals:

In 1997, the Yankees wanted Pedro Martínez, who had priced himself out of Montreal. They offered a young catcher, Jorge Posada, and a third baseman, Mike Lowell. The Expos opted for Boston's offer of pitchers Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr.

Before the 2004 season, [Cano] was offered in the trade that sent Alfonso Soriano to Texas for Alex Rodriguez. The Rangers passed on Canó for a different infielder, Joaquín Árias, who has played only briefly in the majors.

They offered Canó and catcher Dioner Navarro, but the Royals sent Beltrán to Houston in a three-team deal that got them third baseman Mark Teahen, catcher John Buck and pitcher Mike Wood.

the Yankees were prepared to trade any prospect the Arizona Diamondbacks wanted for Randy Johnson. A Diamondbacks scout recommended Canó, but the front office held on to Johnson until the winter.

You know, I like to think I follow the Yanks' minor league system pretty closely, but Cano's success was a surprise to me. He was coming to the majors in the midst of a slump and (as Kepner points out) he'd never been among Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects. As often as a 'sure thing' like Eric Duncan or Jose Tabata fails, someone comes from no where to become a great player. And as often as we regret trading a Mike Lowell or a Jay Buhner there's a GM out there kicking himself for not getting a Cano or a Hughes while he had the chance.

Projecting players is equal parts scouting and luck. Thank goodness luck was with the Yankees.

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Comments

Jinxings for all!

Careful there jscape, Tabata hasn't shown any signs of being a failure. In the same regard, Hughes hasn't "arrived" as a top pitcher yet.

by aszulwach on Mar 2, 2008 7:32 PM EST reply actions

True

I just went and knocked on every spare piece of wood furniture in my apartment, just to be on the safe side.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Mar 2, 2008 7:48 PM EST up reply actions

haa

jay buhner.. remember that guy? talk about steroids..

by Soriano NY 12 on Mar 2, 2008 7:36 PM EST reply actions

but

trading him for Ken fucking Phelps is still moronic.

Lowell was a little more different because he had some seirous injury issues at the time IIRC (including cancer too unless i'm mistaken)

by RollingWave on Mar 3, 2008 5:22 AM EST up reply actions

No mention of Phelps on this site

I will work hard to ban anyone who mentions Ken Phelps on PA. That bastard hit my car one night after leaving the stadium, and then I nearly came to blows with him. For the record, I would have kicked his lard-ass butt.

After the event (and it was), my buddy who hailed from Haiti swears he put a curse on ol' Kenny boy. Did it work? Phelps was outta' baseball just a couple years later... Coincidence, I think not.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Mar 3, 2008 3:06 PM EST up reply actions

jorge for pedro...shiver

"The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." -Casey Stengel

by bxgrl1 on Mar 2, 2008 7:48 PM EST reply actions

You're shivering?

Yes Posada would've been a major loss behind the plate and with his bat, but I still think the Yanks would've won at least two more titles with Pedro in the rotation. Boston would've never rebounded from being down 3-0 if Pedro was with the Yankees instead of Boston.

by andyroth on Mar 3, 2008 6:00 AM EST up reply actions

DBSW

"The secret of managing is to keep the guys who hate you away from the guys who are undecided." -Casey Stengel

by bxgrl1 on Mar 3, 2008 3:42 PM EST up reply actions

Most GM's are in the dark

because most of them are clueless, giving the type of money they do with the likes of Carlos Silva, Adam Eaton, Vicente Padilla, Andruw Jones, Barry Zito,etc. Cashman has plenty of good company among his GM bretheren who are not nearly as dumb as many of the uneducated, illiterate morons managing major league clubs.

by andyroth on Mar 3, 2008 6:05 AM EST reply actions