Mike Kelly becomes the first major leaguer obtained in a trade by the Rays when Reds deal the 27 year-old outfielder for a player to be named later. Next week, Tampa Bay will send Dmitri Young to the Reds to complete the trade.
1997 – Pedro Martinez of the Montreal Expos breaks the stranglehold the veteran Greg Maddux and the Atlanta Braves have on the National League Cy Young Award. Since 1991, either Maddux or a Braves pitcher has captured the award. Martinez posted a 17-8 record with 305 strikeouts, a 1.90 ERA, and 13 complete games, giving Canada a clean sweep of the Cy Young this year. Roger Clemens of the Toronto Blue Jays won the American League award a day earlier. It’s a bittersweet moment for Montreal, as Martinez will be traded away a week later.
The Cincinnati Reds trade pitcher Jeff Brantley to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for first baseman Dmitri Young.
Roger Clemens becomes the first American League pitcher to win the Cy Young Award four times. Clemens, the first pitcher since Hal Newhouser in 1945 to win the pitching Triple Crown in the American League, led the league in wins (21), strikeouts (292) and ERA (2.05) in his first season with the Toronto Blue Jays. Clemens won his first three Cy Young Awards with the Boston Red Sox in 1986, 1987 and 1991.
The new Tampa Bay expansion team names Larry Rothschild as the franchise’s first manager. The Devil Rays skipper was the highly respected pitching coach of the World Champion Florida Marlins last season.
The New York Yankees trade pitcher Kenny Rogers to the Oakland Athletics for a player to be named later and cash considerations. Oakland will send third baseman Scott Brosius to the Yankees on November 18th to complete the trade.
For a second time, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America names Dusty Baker as the National League’s Manager of the Year. The Giants skipper, who led his team to a surprising 90-72 record, was first honored in 1993 and will win the honor again in 2000.
The Boston Red Sox trade pitchers Aaron Sele and Mark Brandenburg and catcher Bill Haselman to the Texas Rangers in exchange for C Jim Leyritz and outfielder Damon Buford.
1997 – In an unprecedented move, Davey Johnson resigns the same day he is named American League Manager of the Year. Despite the fact that Johnson ended the Baltimore Orioles’ 13-year playoff drought in 1996 and led the Orioles to the league’s best record in 1997, a dispute over $10,500 in fines to second baseman Roberto Alomar ends Johnson’s reign in Baltimore. Johnson directed the fines to be paid to a charity. Orioles owner Peter Angelos is upset with the way the matter is handled and Johnson resigns.
In what Bud Selig says is Phase One of a realignment of the major leagues, his Milwaukee Brewers move from the American League to the National League. Phase 2 will have to wait until 2013, however.
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