The Yankees Trading Jay Buhner to the Mariners

On July 20, 1988, the Yankees traded Jay Buhner to the Mariners in exchange for Ken Phelps.

It was a deal made especially famous by a later Seinfeld episode, but at the time, Mariners manager Jim Snyder just said, “He’ll go right into right field tomorrow night. From what I can see, he can play center or right, and we need the help in right. I’ve got a guy in center (another former Yankee, Henry Cotto) who can run the ball down and is playing decently. I think a group of Cotto, Buhner and Mickey Brantley in left will be a strong one."

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on the kid. He’ll hit third. We’ll move Mickey (Brantley) from third to second to keep his speed near the top of the order,” Snyder said.

Ken Phelps said, “I don’t know what it is with Seattle. It just isn’t the same as it was last year. I don’t know if it is chemistry, or not having the confidence in ability, or expecting to lose."

Phelps continued, “But it should be different. The talent is here, better than a lot of clubs in this league. You go to spring training after you made some deals, signed some guys and you expect to improve eight or 10 wins. Instead, we’ve gone eight or 10 games the other way."

“It confuses the Mariner players most of all, I think. And things can change in a hurry, through trades or guys clicking together," said Phelps. “I’d love to see things change here and I’d like to be a part of it, but one way out of it is to trade older guys like me (34 in August) for younger guys.”

The Mariners’ Scott Bradley said about Buhner, “From what I hear from the guys I know in the Yankee organization, Buhner can do it all. He’s got a tremendous amount of pride in what he does. I know the Yankees love him.”

Mariners General Manager Dick Balderson said, “This kid, right now, is one of the top five prospects in our league. He is a player. He needs to play. There are no guarantees, but he has a chance to be very good. If you don’t take a risk on quality players, you don’t get quality players. I can see Mickey [Brantley] in left, Griffey in center and Buhner in right.”

You can read more about the Buhner trade at my 1995 Mariners blog here, especially in the comments area.