On December 11, 1987, the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Jay Howell, Jesse Orosco and Alfredo Griffin as part of a three-team deal with the Oakland Athletics and New York Mets in exchange for Matt Young, Bob Welch and Jack Savage.
In the deal, the A’s acquired Orosco and promptly traded him to the Dodgers. The Mets received Savage from L.A., as well as Wally Whitehurst and Kevin Tapani from Oakland.
At the time of the trade, Howell was a two-time All-Star for the A’s, being selected for the honor in 1985 and 1987. With the Dodgers, he took over as their closer and helped them win the 1988 World Series by posting a 2.08 ERA with 21 saves in 65 innings during the season.
In 1989, Howell was named to the All-Star team for the third and final time in his career, and he spent five total seasons in the organization, pitching to a 2.07 ERA in 308.1 innings with 85 saves.
Howell retired after the 1994 season with a 15-year career, finishing with a 3.34 ERA in 844.2 innings.
Orosco was also a two-time All-Star for the Mets, which came during the 1983 and 1984 seasons. He also helped the Mets win their second World Series title during the 1986 season.
Orosco only spent one season with the Dodgers, throwing 53 innings and posting a 2.72 ERA during their championship season. He later returned to the club for two seasons beginning in 2001 during his age 44 and 45 seasons.
He retired after the 2003 season, spending 24 years playing Major League Baseball and throwing 1,295.1 innings with a 3.16 ERA.
Griffin was the 1979 Rookie of the Year winner and was also selected as a 1984 All-Star and 1985 Gold Glove winner, but he was not an impactful player in his time with the Dodgers.
Over four seasons in L.A., the shortstop hit .227/.273/.274 and like the other two players, he was part of their 1988 World Series team. Griffin retired after an 18-year career, winning three championships and hitting .249/.285/.319 over 1,962 games.
Welch was the most established of the players the Dodgers traded, spending 10 years in the organization and posting a 3.14 ERA over 1,820.2 innings. The 1980 All-Star continued his success with the A’s and won the 1990 Cy Young award with them.
Young, a 1983 All-Star during his rookie year, only spent one season with the Dodgers before being traded. He pitched to a 4.47 ERA on 54.1 innings, and those struggles continued for the rest of his career.
Savage did not pitch with the Mets and only threw 3.1 innings for the Dodgers in the 1987 season. His next and only other stint at the Major League level came in 1990 with the Minnesota Twins when he pitched to an 8.31 ERA across 26 innings.
Dodgers trade Dee Gordon to Marlins
Also on this day but in 2014, the Dodgers pulled off a blockbuster trade that sent Dee Gordon, Dan Haren, Miguel Rojas and cash considerations to the Miami Marlins for Austin Barnes, Chris Hatcher, Kiké Hernández and Andrew Heaney.
Heaney, who was the Marlins top prospect, was immediately traded to the Los Angeles Angels for Howie Kendrick. The southpaw pitched for the Angels for seven seasons and returned to the Dodgers for a year in 2022.
Hernández and Barnes both found success in L.A. and helped the club win the 2020 World Series while reaching two others. Hernández turned his time in L.A. where he hit .240/.312/.425 into a multi-year contract with the Boston Red Sox before the 2021 season.
Barnes has spent the majority of his time as the backup catcher to Yasmani Grandal and Will Smith, but he was essential during the 2017 and 2020 postseason. He is now the longest-tenured Dodgers position player and signed an extension during the 2022 season.
Hatcher spent three seasons with the Dodgers but was never able to find his footing, posting a 4.64 ERA over that time.
Gordon was previously one of the Dodgers top prospects and established himself as an All-Star in 2014. He had another All-Star season, while also winning the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger with the Marlins in 2015. However, he was suspended 80 games for using performance enhancing drugs in 2016.
Haren spent one season with L.A. before the trade with a 4.02 ERA, and only pitched one more season following it, splitting time with the Marlins and Chicago Cubs.
Rojas has been the most successful of the three pieces Miami acquired and has since received two contract extensions with them. In his eight years with the Marlins, he has hit .265/.318/.366 while playing a high-level of defense.
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