Blue Jays: An in-depth analysis of trading with the Athletics

The Jays Acquire Rickey Henderson

Gearing up for another playoff run in 1993, the Blue Jays acquired speedy outfielder Rickey Henderson in exchange for Steve Karsay and Jose Herrera. Henderson would go on to hit terribly with the Jays with a .215 average in the season and a combined .173 across the ALCS and WS. His battling qualtiy was most likely hampered by an injury to his hand, as he still ran on base with 22 stolen bases over 44 games with the team. He likely would have had more stolen bases if he could gotten on base more, but I can imagine that it is tough to swing the bat with a broken bone in your hand.

While Jose Herrera would never see major league action after 1996, Steve Karsay was the key piece for the trade to acquire Henderson. Drafted in the 1st round by the Blue Jays, Karsay had a lot of potential as a starting pitcher and was throwing 3.58 ERA with the AA team when he was sent to the Athletics.

As his career progressed, Karsay would struggle with injury problems to his arm and would go on to miss the entire 1995 and 2003 season with injuries to his elbow and shoulder respectively. He would transition to the relief pitching role and would be traded in 1997 to the Cleveland Indians. Another scenario where the Athletics tried to acquire a star prospect and he just did not perform as expected.

Who won the trade? I would have to say Oakland did, but not by much. Henderson did contribute with the Jays when they were in the postseason, and was even on base when Carter hit the historic home run. Henderson would end up returning back to Oakland in 1994 as a free agent and would go on to to steal 54 more bases for the Athletics before signing with San Diego in the offseason of 1995. Acquire the Jays prospect and get Henderson back the next year means a win for Oakland.