This Day in Yankees History: Didi Gregorius is traded to the Bronx

Welcome to the relaunched This Day in Yankees History. With the offseason well underway, the Pinstripe Alley team has decided to continue the revived program in its new format. These daily posts will highlight two or three key moments in Yankees history on a given date, as well as recognize players born on the day. Hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane with us!

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This Day in Yankees History (December 5)

36 years ago

The Oakland Athletics ship Rickey Henderson and Bert Bradley to the Yankees in exchange for pitchers Jay Howell and Jose Rijo, outfielder Stan Javier, and minor leaguers Tim Birtsas and Eric Plunk. Henderson played five years with New York, four of which were All-Star seasons. He hit .288/.395/.455 while in pinstripes with 326 stolen bases. Also, on the same day, the Yankees trade Rick Cerone to the Braves for Brian Fisher.

Six years ago

The Yankees acquire Derek Jeter’s replacement, Didi Gregorius, in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. New York sent Shane Greene to the Tigers. The Tigers sent Robbie Ray and Domingo Leyba to Arizona to complete the trade. Didi played in pinstripes for five years and many would say he outperformed his expectations. To their credit, while neither reached the heights Gregorius briefly touched during his time in New York, both Ray and Greene have gone on to representative careers in MLB.

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Birthdays

Happy birthday to Nick Nelson!

Nelson, a rookie in 2020, threw 35 innings last season with a 4.37 ERA. He made his MLB debut on August 1 against the Boston Red Sox where he pitched three shutout innings in relief, and was even credited with the win.

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We thank Baseball Reference and Nationalpastime.com for providing background information for these posts.