Quote:
Originally Posted by JustAnotherGuy
I always thought of it as a trade that was good for both teams. I wonder what the stats say.
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Well McGriff had 2 and a half pretty productive years with the Padres, in a ball park that wasn't all that hitter friendly. Finished top 10 in MVP voting the two full seasons, and led the NL in home runs the second year. Although Tony Fernandez was okay in San Diego, he found his way back to Toronto in 93 and was much more productive offensively as a Jay, and was getting to a point where he had to switch position.
Really the deal there was that the Padres held a major fire sale during the 1993 season in which they traded pretty much every guy earning any kind of salary who wasn't named Tony Gwynn. In 1992 the Padres had the 4 tops with Gwynn, Fernandez, Gary Sheffield and McGriff at the top of their order.
Ultimately though the deal worked for the Jays because Alomar and Carter hit what are probably the two most memorable post season home runs that allowed those Jays teams to win the World Series those years. Although one could argue Ed Spragues pinch hit 2 run homer in 92 should be there.