Would Yankees have traded Mariano Rivera?

[PaulFolk]

2 minutes ago, oriolediehard said:

Givens couldn't finish the 9th today!! Britton bailed him out.

I think Givens could have finished it. He only faced two hitters and struck out one of them. But it became a save situation, so Buck was contractually obligated to bring in Britton.

[Tx Oriole]

2 hours ago, brooksfrankjim said:

A healthy Britton is at that level. I'm not saying don't trade him, but if you do you better get the best ever haul for a stud reliever. 

That's impossible to answer. Britton is good but not in league of Rivera. IMO 

[joeyc]

The Yanks wouldn't have had to trade Mariano, they'd have signed him to a long term deal. The Orioles don't do that so they have to trade him.

[Moose Milligan]

This is one of the funnier comps on here that I've ever seen.  

[sportsfan8703]

11 hours ago, dabirds said:

We are not the Yankees.  We cannot afford to pay $11M+ for a relief pitcher.  I like Britton, but if we can get some top notch starting pitching prospects for him we have to trade him!

9 million for O'day the next two seasons. 

[billw76]

No they wouldn't have, and as good as Britton has been, he's no Mariano Rivera.

The Yankees never had a need to trade him either, they were good throughout his career.

[SurhoffRules]

So, Rivera was moved to the bullpen at 26 after an unsuccessful season starting.  Britton toiled in the rotation for a bit longer before being moved to the rotation at 26.

Here's a snapshot of their first four seasons in the bullpen (ages 26-29).  Now Britton isn't finished his 4th year yet so his numbers will grow a bit this year.  It's...a lot closer than I thought would be.

	Year	Tm	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W

1996-1999	NYY	21	10	.677	1.95	247	0	182	0	0	129	309.2	229	70	67	11	89	13	286	6	1	5	1240	242	2.68	1.027	6.7	0.3	2.6	8.3	3.21

2014-2017	BAL	9	4	.692	1.54	223	0	185	0	0	128	228.0	160	47	39	8	63	4	230	2	0	18	877	269	2.43	0.978	6.3	0.3	2.5	9.1	3.65

 

[DirtyBird]

I can't believe this thread is still going. There is one correct and logical response, and it has already been posted.

[Frobby]

2 hours ago, billw76 said:

No they wouldn't have, and as good as Britton has been, he's no Mariano Rivera.

The difference between Rivera and most other elite relievers was how long he was able to stay on top of his game.     There are plenty of guys like Britton whose last three years probably match up pretty well with any three year stretch Rivera ever had.    But doing it for 15+ years is something else entirely, plus he did his best work in the postseason.   

[Number5]

They traded Babe Ruth. 

[OFFNY]

36 minutes ago, Number5 said:

 

They traded Babe Ruth. )  

 

o

 

They didn't trade him, they released him, but I get what you are saying.

 

o

[Number5]

4 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

They didn't trade him, they released him, but I get what you are saying.

 

o

If you say so.  Wikipedia says otherwise.  I don't really know myself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth

"While the barnstorming tour was under way, Ruppert began negotiating with Boston Braves owner Judge Emil Fuchs, who wanted Ruth as a gate attraction. Although the Braves had enjoyed modest recent success, finishing fourth in the National League in both 1933 and 1934, the team performed poorly at the box office. Unable to afford the rent at Braves Field, Fuchs had considered holding dog races there when the Braves were not at home, only to be turned down by Landis. After a series of phone calls, letters, and meetings, the Yankees traded Ruth to the Braves on February 26, 1935. Ruppert had stated that he would not release Ruth to go to another team as a full-time player. For this reason, it was announced that Ruth would become a team vice president and would be consulted on all club transactions, in addition to playing. He was also made assistant manager to Braves skipper Bill McKechnie. In a long letter to Ruth a few days before the press conference, Fuchs promised Ruth a share in the Braves' profits, with the possibility of becoming co-owner of the team. Fuchs also raised the possibility of Ruth succeeding McKechnie as manager, perhaps as early as 1936. Ruppert called the deal "the greatest opportunity Ruth ever had".^[164][165]"

 

^{Doesn't really matter anyway, I was just trying to be humorous.}

[OFFNY]

4 minutes ago, Number5 said:

If you say so.  Wikipedia says otherwise.  I don't really know myself.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babe_Ruth

"While the barnstorming tour was under way, Ruppert began negotiating with Boston Braves owner Judge Emil Fuchs, who wanted Ruth as a gate attraction. Although the Braves had enjoyed modest recent success, finishing fourth in the National League in both 1933 and 1934, the team performed poorly at the box office. Unable to afford the rent at Braves Field, Fuchs had considered holding dog races there when the Braves were not at home, only to be turned down by Landis. After a series of phone calls, letters, and meetings, the Yankees traded Ruth to the Braves on February 26, 1935. Ruppert had stated that he would not release Ruth to go to another team as a full-time player. For this reason, it was announced that Ruth would become a team vice president and would be consulted on all club transactions, in addition to playing. He was also made assistant manager to Braves skipper Bill McKechnie. In a long letter to Ruth a few days before the press conference, Fuchs promised Ruth a share in the Braves' profits, with the possibility of becoming co-owner of the team. Fuchs also raised the possibility of Ruth succeeding McKechnie as manager, perhaps as early as 1936. Ruppert called the deal "the greatest opportunity Ruth ever had".^[164][165]"

 

^{Doesn't really matter anyway, I was just trying to be humorous.}

o

 

Wikipedia is wrong.

In addition to actually seeing the film clip of the Yankees owner giving Ruth his outright release, baseball reference as well as almost every other source states that he was released.

This is one of many newspaper articles from the incident.

 

 

 

o

[Number5]

2 minutes ago, OFFNY said:

o

 

Wikipedia is wrong.

In addition to actually seeing the film clip of the Yankees owner giving Ruth his outright release, baseball reference as well as almost every other source states that he was released.

This is one of many newspaper articles from the incident.

 

 

 

o

Cool.  I trust your knowledge on this kind of stuff.  Odd that Wiki would be so wrong on something like that - down to actually citing the date of the (apparently nonexistent) transaction. 

[OFFNY]

7 minutes ago, Number5 said:

 

Cool. I trust your knowledge on this kind of stuff. Odd that Wiki would be so wrong on something like that - down to actually citing the date of the (apparently nonexistent) transaction.  ) 

 

o

 

Thanks. Much appreciated.

 

Anybody can go on wikipedia and edit/change something, although Ruth's profile is currently closed to editing.

I often use wikipedia for a quick reference because most of the stuff on there is usually correct, but I also keep a grain of salt handy in the event of the occasional mistake(s) that they make.

 

o