The 5 Other Times Baseball Managers Were Traded
Blue Jays' manager John Farrell was so highly coveted by the Red Sox to replace Bobby Valentine, Boston sent infielder Mike Aviles to Toronto to bring Farrell to Beantown. The Sox also received pitcher David Carpenter in the deal. Manager trades are pretty rare. Here's a look back at how the other managers who were traded fared after they were shipped out of town.
1. Ozzie Guillen, 2011
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Last fall, fed up with Guillen's antics, the White Sox sent him to Miami to manage the Marlins. Miami also got back pitcher Ricardo Andres for pitcher Jhan Marinez and infielder Ozzie Martinez. A year later, it seems that Chicago made the right call -- they won 85 games this year and competed for a playoff spot, while Guillen's Marlins disappointed Florida fans with just 69 victories. Not the spark management expected from the mouthy manager. Last week, reports surfaced that Guillen's job was in "real jeopardy."
2. Lou Piniella, 2002
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Piniella wanted to keep his career alive, but also wished to relocate closer to his Tampa home. So, in 2002, he was part of a deal that made him the Rays manager, and Randy Winn became a Seattle Mariner. Tampa also received minor leaguer Antonio Perez. Piniella's success in Seattle was hard to match, though he did help the Rays show signs of improvement with a then–team record 70 wins in 2004. But the team ultimately didn't have enough of a fast turnaround to keep Piniella in place -- his contract was bought out after the 2005 season. Soon afterward, the Rays' young talent showed what they had in them, and they became a force to be reckoned with in the American League for several years, post-Piniella.
3. Chuck Tanner, 1976
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The veteran manager came to Oakland before the 1976 season, but he only lasted one year with the A's before owner Charlie Finley sent Tanner to the Pirates in exchange for outfielder catcher Manny Sanguillen. Finley also received a cash amount that some speculated was as much as $100,000. It was all part of cost-cutting measures across the organization. Tanner found a home in Pittsburgh, where he'd go on to lead the team to a World Series win in 1979. Sanguillén was actually a part of that championship team after he was traded back to the Pirates in 1978.
4. Gil Hodges, 1967
In 1967, the New York Mets found the manager of their dreams in former player Gil Hodges. They sent the Washington Senators right-hander Bill Denehy and cash to bring Hodges back to New York, where he'd become a household name as a player. Hodges never had a winning record in four seasons with the Senators. Still, he was able to right the Mets' ship by delivering a championship for the "Miracle Mets" in 1969, just his second year as the team's skipper. Denehy only appeared in 49 career games, going 1-10 with a 4.56 ERA.
5. Joe Gordon and Jimmy Dykes (for each other), 1960
During the 1960 season, Cleveland sought a change, and they found their answer in the form of another team's manager. The Indians sent their manager Joe Gordon to Detroit in exchange for the Tigers' manager Jimmy Dykes. Cleveland GM Frank Lane at first considered the suggestion of the trade to be a joke, but eventually he came around. "It looked in the last two or three days that a change would help us," he said at the time.
The Indians wound up finishing fourth in the division that year, and the Tigers were sixth. The trade was widely considered a publicity stunt. Dykes retired at the close of the 1961 season; Gordon left the Tigers after less than a year with the team, instead signing on as the manager of the Kansas City Athletics for 1961 (he was fired mid-season). Gordon's last chance at managing came in 1969, when he led the expansion Kansas City Royals, but lasted only one season before again being let go.