One season after winning the World Series, the then-Florida Marlins were part of a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1998. Given the star players who were involved in the deal, it served as another reminder Major League Baseball is in fact a business.
Los Angeles sent their best player, Mike Piazza, as well as Todd Zeile, to South Beach in exchange for one of the Marlins’ best players, Gary Sheffield, plus Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich and a Minor League pitcher to be named later.
Sheffield was in the prime of his career, and as a Florida native coming off his first World Series ring, was not particularly open to being traded.
Further complicating matters was the no-trade clause he had in his contract. According to what Sheffield wrote for The Players’ Tribune, he had strict demands for the Dodgers if they wanted to complete trade their the then four-time All-Star:
I said, “First, you gotta write me a check for $6 million. Then, you gotta buy me a home worth $3 million. Then, you gotta pay my California taxes, up to $1 million. And then … I’ll sign that sheet of paper.”
Despite the fact that Sheffield had yet to waive his no-trade clause, the deal was publicly announced as being completed. That left both clubs squarely on the hot seat and further incentivized to see the trade through.
That led to the Dodgers playing their game that evening and meeting Sheffield’s demands:
By the time the game finished, they had agreed to all my demands. They wrote me that check, and I became a Dodger.
And you know what? I played my ass off for Los Angeles, and I really loved it there and had some of the best years of my career. Batted over .300 and hit at least 34 home runs every year I wore Dodger blue. I demanded to be paid what I was worth because I approached the game as a professional. I was as competitive when it came to negotiating my compensation as I was whenever I went up to bat.
In 22 career seasons, Sheffield hit 509 home runs, was named a Silver Slugger five times and was named a nine-time All-Star. He played for the Dodgers from 1998-2001 before being traded to the Atlanta Braves for Brian Jordan, Odalis Pérez and Andrew Brown.
Sheffield was named an All-Star in two of his three full seasons with the Dodgers, and hit at least 34 home runs and drove in at least 100 runs each year. Over parts of four seasons with Los Angeles, he batted .312/.424/.573 with 88 doubles, 129 home runs and 367 RBIs.
