Blue Jays: Acquire Joe Carter, Roberto Alomar- 30 Years Later

This past weekend marked 30 years since the Blue Jays made arguably their biggest deal in team history when they traded Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff to the San Diego Padres for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar.

By the end of 1990 the Blue Jays were in the midst of a half decade run where if they were not winning the AL East they were finishing just a couple games back.  By the end of that season the club finished 10 games above .500, but found themselves two games back of the Boston Red Sox for the pennant.  GM Pat Gillick was looking to make a splash and was looking to take advantage of a surplus the team had in one position.

Fred McGriff was coming off his third consecutive season of 30+ home runs where he averaged 35 long balls a season during that span and was one year removed from winning the Silver Slugger award as the top hitting First Baseman.  McGriff looked like an All-Star caliber middle of the order hitter, however they had a 22-year old John Olerud coming off his rookie season and pushing to take the spot.  San Diego was intrigued by the deal as they were losing their first basemen Jack Clark to free agency.  With the emergence of Olerud, the Blue Jays could use McGriff to help improve the club at other positions.  As such, the deal was struck.  In this article, we will look at how each trade piece worked out.

When McGriff went to San Diego he did not stumble at all and only got better.  He continued his streak of consecutive 30+ home runs and would lead the National League in that category in1992, while taking home the Silver Slugger that season.  Midway through the 1993 season the Padres were nowhere close to contention and the Atlanta Braves were in a hunt for another postseason, so he was traded to the Braves for Vince Moore, Donnie Elliott and Melvin Nieves.  Elliot was a good reliever for one season, while Moore would never make the major leagues and Nieves would hit .207 over two seasons with the Padres before being traded.  McGriff would take over for Sid Bream at First Base and go on an absolute run finishing the his season with 19 home runs in a Braves uniform, totalling 37 for the season that led to winning his third Silver Slugger Award.

McGriff would play almost five years in Atlanta, winning his only World Series in 1995 in a post season that saw him hit .333 with 10 extra base hits in 14 games.  He would go on to play in Tampa Bay, Chicago (Cubs) and Los Angeles (Dodgers) before his career was over.  After the trade from Toronto, McGriff played in five All-Star Games, won two Silver Sluggers and most importantly his World Series win.  He would also finish his career with 493 home runs and 1,500 RBI, which many think is enough to be considered for the Hall of Fame.