Traded by Seattle Mariners along with Jim Mecir to Yankees for Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock on December 7, 1995. Martinez was a Yankee from 1996-2001, 2005.
Regular season numbers: .279 Avg, 175 Hrs, 690 RBI, .837 OPS
Postseason numbers: 317 PA's, .247 Avg, 8 Hrs, 32 RBI, .715 OPS
Accolades: Four World Series rings ('96, '98-'00), 1997 All Star
After the retirement of Don Mattingly, the Yankees needed a first baseman, so they reached out to the Seattle Mariners and acquired Tino Martinez. Martinez was a rock at first base for the Yankees during their dynasty years, and overall he wasn't great in the postseason for the Yankees, but he had some pretty big hits, and was a team leader for a long time which can't be shown on a stat sheet.
Also included in the trade by the Mariners was setup man Jeff Nelson who played a huge role out of the bullpen during the Dynasty years.
#4. Alex Rodriguez
Traded by Texas Rangers to Yankees for Alfonso Soriano on February 16, 2004. Yankees sent Joaquin Arias on April 23, 2004 to Rangers to complete trade. Yankee from 2004-present.
Regular season numbers: .295 Avg, 284 Hrs, 903 RBI, .941 OPS
Postseason numbers: 242 PA's, 260 Avg, 10 Hrs, 33 RBI, .868 OPS
Accolades: One World Series ring ('09), Two MVP's ('05, '07), Three Silver Sluggers ('05, '07-'08), Seven time All Star ('04-'08, '10-'11).
I know a lot of Yankee fans want ARod out, but you can't deny the fact that trading for ARod has ended up being a win for the Yankees. Sure he's struggled in the postseason (outside of 2009), and that's why he's not higher on this list, but he's provided a ton of value along the way. And heck, the guy was willing enough to move to third base so Jeter could stay at shortstop. He's a team player and he tries to do his best to win, and that's all you can ask for.
#3. Sparky Lyle
Traded by Boston Red Sox with Danny Carter to Yankees on March 22, 1972 for Mario Guerrero on June, 30 1972 to complete trade. Lyle was Yankee from 1972-1978.
Regular season numbers: 57-40, 2.41 ERA, 141 saves, 1.94 K/BB
Postseason numbers: 10 games, 3-0, 1.89 ERA, 1 save, 8 K/BB
Accolades: Two World Series rings ('77-'78), 1977 Cy Young Winner, Three time All Star ('73, '76-'78).
The Red Sox trading Sparky Lyle is just another reason why they were deserving of their 86 year curse. What a stupid, stupid move to trade one of your better pitchers (2.85 ERA and 69 saves for the '67-'71 Red Sox) to your most hated rival. Oh well, there's nothing they can do about it and it's awesome. Lyle won the 1977 Cy Young as closer for the Yankees, and guess what? The Yankees signed Goose Gossage, thus Lyle wasn't full-time closer the next year. Tough league.
Traded by Kansas City Athletics to Yankees along with Joe DeMaestri and Kent Hadley for Hank Bauer, Don Larsen, Norm Siebern, and Marv Throneberry on December, 11, 1959. Maris was Yankee from 1960-1965.
Regular season numbers: .265 Avg, 203 Hrs, 547 RBI, .872 OPS
Postseason numbers: 119 PA's, 187 Avg, 5 Hrs, 10 RBI .624 OPS
Accolades: Two World Series rings ('61-'62), Two MVP's ('60-'61), One Gold Glove ('60), Three time All Star ('60-'62).
I know Maris didn't have the greatest numbers, but what puts him so high on this list is because of what he meant to the game of baseball. I mean, c'mon, the guy set the home run record in 1961 which was previously held by Babe Ruth for 34 seasons. His home run race between teammate Mickey Mantle in '61 was epic. I know I wasn't alive to see it, but I could just imagine it. Just imagine if that happened in today's game. The media would be all over it. Well, technically it did. I mean, if you count the race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire in 1998 and 1999. But those guys cheated the game. Maris didn't, he played the game the right way. Barry Bonds currently holds the home run record at 73 set in 2001. But to me, Maris should have the record. Like Sosa and McGwire, Bonds is connected to the performance enhancing drugs situation, thus cheating the game. It's a shame that they did that while Maris played the game steriod free.
#1. Babe Ruth
Sold by Boston Red Sox to Yankees for $100,000 on January 3, 1920. Ruth was Yankee from 1920-1934.
Regular season numbers: .349 Avg, 659 Hrs, 1971 RBI, 1.195 OPS
Postseason numbers: 155 PA's, .347 Avg, 15 Hrs, 30 RBI, 1.282 OPS
Accolades: Four World Series rings ('23, '27-'28, '32), One MVP ('23), Two time All Star ('33-'34)
I know, I know, Babe Ruth wasn't technically traded, but this was Boston's worst move they've ever made in the history of their franchise. After all, this is a Yankee blog, so I'm sure all of you are willing to kick some more dirt on this Boston blunder. This move set the Red Sox back 86 years before their World Series in 2004, and it was in everyone's mind along the 86 year ride. Anyways, look at what Ruth did with the Yankees. Check out his Baseball Reference page HERE and see how many times he led the league in a particular category. It's pretty mind blowing. What's also mind blowing is that he only won one MVP award. Why is this? Was this the start of the supposed Anti-Yankee attitude across Major League Baseball? It very well could have been. He won the MVP in 1923 hitting .393 while leading the league in homers (43), RBI (131), and OPS (1.309), among many other categories. But remember, that wasn't his historic 1927 season in which he smashed 60 homers to set the then single season home run record. He didn't win the MVP that year, his teammate Lou Gehrig did. Gehrig had a great 1927 season, but Ruth was well, Ruthian. Ruth's line in '27 looked like this:
The only stats that he didn't lead the league in were average and RBI. But let's be honest, if someone in today's game did something like what Ruth did in '27 all of Twitter, Facebook, the message boards on all of the sports sites, and even BYB would explode if that player didn't in the MVP, and I mean it. Either way, Ruth was an incredible steal of all time and we'll never see anything like it again, you can count on that.
We hope you enjoyed this list and just so you get the whole list in 1 post, we will be re-posting the whole list over the weekend so it’s easier to eyeball.
--Jesse Schindler, BYB Staff Writer
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