Memorable A’s deadline deals
The A’s got a head start on Friday’s trade deadline by acquiring reliever Andrew Chafin from the Cubs on Monday and outfielder Starling Marte from the Marlins on Wednesday.
Since 1986, when the deadline was moved to late July, the A’s have made a slew of differencemaking deadline deals, especially to set up their streak of four playoff appearances in the early 2000s.
Here are five of the best and five of the worst, in chronological order:
The best
Rickey Henderson, 1989: The A’s went from the best allaround team in baseball to one of the best allaround teams in history when Henderson arrived in midseason and ignited Oakland to its only World Series championship in the past 46 seasons. The A’s sent the Yankees outfielder Luis Polonia and relievers Eric Plunk and Greg Cadaret, and Henderson ran wild against Toronto in the ALCS, stealing eight bags in five games and winning series MVP. He continued his domination against the Giants during a fourgame World Series sweep. The next season, the best leadoff hitter of all time was named league MVP.
Jason Isringhausen, 1999: Isringhausen developed into an AllStar closer in Oakland and was part of the nucleus that initiated Oakland’s fouryear playoff run. The A’s sent Billy Taylor to the Mets, who gave up on Isringhausen as a starter, only to see the righthander enjoy a 16year career and save 300 games. It was the highlight of a flurry of Billy Beane’s July ’99 trades in which the A’s landed pitcher Kevin Appier from the Royals, outfielder Terrence Long from the Mets and infielder Randy Velarde and pitcher Omar Olivares from the Angels.
Jermaine Dye, 2001: One of Beane’s best. In a threeteam trade, the A’s acquired the powerful outfielder from the Royals and gave up Jose
Ortiz, Mario Encarnacion and Todd Belitz. Dye drove in 59 runs in 61 games, and the A’s streaked to the finish line with 102 wins. Dye played on three playoff teams that got bounced in the first round, then went to the White Sox in 2005 and won a World Series ring.
Ray Durham, 2002: Durham joined the A’s in their Moneyball season and contributed mostly as the designated hitter (and some at second base). He was a solid rental who signed with the Giants as Jeff Kent’s replacement after the season. For Durham’s services, the A’s sent righthander Jon Adkins to the White Sox.
Josh Donaldson, 2008: A .217hitting Class A catcher was included in a package of players the Cubs sent to Oakland, and the A’s converted Donaldson into a third baseman. It turned into a wonderful story, at least until they unwisely traded him after the 2014 season. The firstplace Cubs wanted a starting pitcher and dealt four players (Donaldson, Sean Gallagher, Matt Murton, Eric Patterson) for Rich Harden along with Chad Gaudin.
The worst
Rickey Henderson, 1993:
It’s so perfect that Henderson belongs to both lists. Acquired when the A’s were soaring in ’89, he was traded when the A’s were diving in ’93. In this one, he was shipped to Toronto for Steve Karsay and Jose Herrera, and all Henderson did was swipe 22 bags in 44 games for a Blue Jays team that won the 1993 World Series. Oh, did we mention Henderson signed with the A’s after the season?
Mark McGwire, 1997:
Everyone knew McGwire would be dealt. The A’s were rebuilding, and the first baseman wasn’t part of the future despite his 52 homers in 1996 and 34 at the time of the trade. But the return wasn’t good, three pitchers who did little: Blake Stein, T.J. Mathews and Eric Ludwick. A year later, McGwire outdueled Sammy Sosa to break the season home run record with 70. A year after that, McGwire hit a mere 65.
Matt Holliday, 2009: Holliday was around for one of the inconsequential Bob Geren years, and the outfielder was OK: .286 average, .378 onbase percentage, 11 homers. With the A’s going nowhere at the deadline, he was dealt to St. Louis, and the haul didn’t deliver: Clayton Mortensen, Shane Peterson, Brett Wallace. That the A’s gave up Carlos Gonzalez and Huston Street to get Holliday from Colorado made the Holliday era that much more disappointing.
Mark Ellis, 2011: The popular second baseman who played Gold Glovelevel defense was sent to Colorado for a minorleaguer (Bruce Billings) and player to be named (Eliezer Mesa), basically a giveaway. The A’s thought Jemile Weeks was their second baseman of the future, but he couldn’t match his 2011 rookie year and didn’t hang around long. Ellis finished the year in Denver and played three more seasons, reaching the playoffs with the 2013 Dodgers.
Yoenis Céspedes, 2014: The A’s obtained lefthander Jon Lester, and outfielder Jonny Gomes, but Céspedes was part of Oakland’s heart and soul, a fan favorite and middleofthelineup hitter who had fivetool potential. It didn’t work well because the A’s went 1217 in August and 1016 in September and got only a wildcard game — Lester gave up six runs in a 12inning loss — but it’s a complex analysis. Beane didn’t believe the A’s could have sustained the winning and knew the Angels were coming fast, and after the season said the A’s wouldn’t have made the playoffs without Lester, who posted a 2.35 ERA in 11 starts and 762⁄3 innings. Still, losing Céspedes at that time was a major blow to the clubhouse and fan base.