The Tuesday Discussion

November 26, 2024

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This week we asked our writers to respond to the following:

Remembering back, which Yankees off-season acquisition was the most exciting for you?

Here are their responses...

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Cary Greene - For me, the most exciting off-season acquisition the Yankees ever made was on November 29th in 1976, when George Steinbrenner signed Reggie Jackson to a five-year $3.5 million contract. Netting Reggie, who was the prize catch in the first ever crop of free agents, was thrilling for Yankees fans at the time.

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Tim Kabel - The two most exciting off-season acquisitions that I have seen by the Yankees were both for San Diego Padres’ outfielders. The first was in the winter of 1980 when they signed Dave Winfield as a free agent and the second was last season when they traded for Juan Soto. Hopefully Juan Soto plays longer for the Yankees than Winfield did and brings home at least one World Series victory. 

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Ethan Semendinger - I wish I could say my answer was when the Yankees brought in Hideki Matsui in 2003 (or when they signed him to a 4 year extension in 2005) as he is my favorite player, but I was too young at the time to remember that now. I'd also wish I could say when the Yankees originally got Ichiro Suzuki from the Mariners, but that was a trade at the 2012 deadline. Then again, I was extremely excited when they re-signed Ichiro for another two years after that half season. However, I think my clear favorite offseason move the Yankees have made was when they brought Bryce Harper to his childhood favorite team.

Wait. They didn't sign Harper? That seems like a huge mistake. I guess I'll go with the signing of Masahiro Tanaka. It was nice to see the Yankees as big players in Japan again with that move (even if they haven't brought in any big Japanese stars since then).

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Paul Semendinger - I have two.

First, I was overjoyed when the Yankees signed Jack Clark. It was amazing and awesome and I hoped (so so so much) that he'd help bring the Yankees a championship.

Second, I was amazed, shocked, and thrilled when the Yankees acquired Rickey Henderson.

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Ed Botti - For me, it wasn’t just one acquisition. Baseball, as a team sport, requires a full roster.

In the winter of 1992/1993 the Yankees changed the culture of 5 plus years of futility or mediocrity. After Buck Showalter took over in 1992 they improved by 5 games, but the roster needed more “ball players” and leaders to put on the field with Don Mattingly, and needed to rid themselves of dead weight. So that winter Gene Michael got to work adding to the minor league system and added the following players to the major league roster.

Spike Owen

Wade Boggs

Paul O’Neill

Jimmy Key

Jim Abbott

I was fired up as a fan. I knew by watching the above players how they went about their business, and how much they cared about winning. I knew, the Yankees were well on their way to being back! Especially, when you looked at what was in the system and close to being in the Bronx.

A complete change of culture. The 1993 team improved by another 8 games over 1992 and was ready to now challenge for a title in 1994 (which they would have won if league wide greed didn’t slam that door shut).

Of note to everyone worried about Juan Soto leaving the Yankees and the complete catastrophe that would follow. In that winter of 1993, the Yankees made a full court press to acquire Barry Bonds. Arguably the league’s best player (and a better player than Soto). He Balked and took more $ from the Giants. They also went hard after Gregg Maddox, arguably the best pitcher in MLB. He balked and went to Atlanta.

The following year in 1994, the Yankees were dominating baseball up until the strike stopped play on August 12 by playing hard, fundamental, winning baseball.

By 1996, a true Dynasty was built on heart and soul players that wanted to be Yankees. Players that felt pain when they lost!

You know the rest….

So when Mr. Soto leaves (sorry, but that’s my prediction), keep your composure. All is not lost. They/we have been down that road before.

Of course, I should note that we don’t have Gene Michael building the roster and Buck Showalter/Joe Torre managing the roster. We have Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone. Which is a huge drop off in talent evaluation, roster construction skills, on field strategy and leadership qualities and proficiency.

That, will be the biggest problem/hurdle for this team in 2025 --- with or without Mr. Soto.

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

Only 78 days until pitchers and catchers!!

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Andy Singer - This one is a no-brainer for me: the A-Rod trade just one day prior to the report date for pitchers and catchers in February 2004. It was a seismic trade that came as a complete surprise. Sure, Alfonso Soriano had become a really fun player that was quite valuable due to his surprising power and speed combination on offense, but after Aaron Boone tore his ACL playing pickup basketball in the offseason, the Yankees needed a 3B.

The Boston Red Sox were just a whisker away from making a blockbuster deal to acquire the services of the best player in baseball, Alex Rodriguez. The Red Sox balked at A-Rod's contract, and though A-Rod was willing to restructure to help the acquiring team out, the union put a stop to A-Rod's willingness to give up guaranteed money. In the meantime, Boone went down, and the Yankees went after the best player in baseball, regardless of position. A-Rod was willing to move to 3B, and the rest is history.

The Yankees dealt a young Alfonso Soriano (one of my personal favorites growing up, and a guy who ultimately did reach the 40/40 threshold) and prospect Joaquin Arias for Alex Rodriguez. At the time, it was almost impossible to believe. I really thought A-Rod was the missing piece after the Yankees got beat in the World Series in 2003; we know now that it took quite a bit longer for the team to get over the hump, but A-Rod was a huge part of that effort.

Fun fact: rumor has it that the Rangers had a choice of position player prospects for the second player in that deal, and the Rangers' choice ultimately came down to Arias or...Robinson Cano. The Yanks dodged a bullet and got the best player in the sport. Who knew that Santa occasionally leaves gifts on the sleigh by accident, only to return them in February?!?! It was a fun time to be a Yankee fan.