10 Recent Sports Moves That Screamed 'Win Now'
With one Chris Sale trade, the Boston Red Sox told the sports world, in no uncertain terms, they plan to win. Now.
Across sports, teams are generally at various places. Some are rebuilding, some are just perennially kicking butt, some are the Cleveland Browns. And others, others are making plays to hopefully become competitive in the immediate future.
It's clear when a team makes such a move—they trade a prospect away for a proven veteran or acquire a missing piece to the personnel puzzle.
These 10 teams have made moves recently that just scream, "Win. Now."
Of course, being in win-now mode doesn't necessarily mean a team is winning. In fact, the following teams are having varying degrees of success in the wake of their win-now moves.
Still, they did make them.
Mariners Trade for Jean Segura
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The Seattle Mariners are working on a 15-year playoff drought, but it sure seems like they want to change that, and soon.
In September, general manager Jerry Dipoto said, "We're in our window now. There is no five-year plan," per Matt Calkins of the Seattle Times.
In November, the team pulled off a five-player trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks that, notably, landed them 26-year-old infielder Jean Segura. They gave up starting pitcher Taijuan Walker and shortstop Ketel Marte in the deal, but Segura has big upside.
Per ESPN.com news services, "Segura immediately projects as Seattle's leadoff hitter and starting shortstop, solidifying an infield that already includes Kyle Seager at third base and Robinson Cano at second. Segura hit .319 with 20 home runs and 63 RBIs last season for the Diamondbacks, led the National League with 203 hits and posted a career-high 5.7 WAR."
Segura had a breakout year in 2016, and the Mariners are hoping the trend will continue. He will become an integral piece to a playoff team in 2017.
Knicks Trade for Derrick Rose
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The New York Knicks have been abysmal for three seasons (winning 37, 17 and 32 games, respectively), but the emergence of young big man Kristaps Porzingis in 2015-16 brought some much-needed hope to the faithful at Madison Square Garden.
Then, president Phil Jackson appeared to go into full-on, win-now mode in the offseason.
To join Porzingis and 11-time All-Star Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks brought in 2011 MVP Derrick Rose via trade with the Chicago Bulls and signed his former teammate Joakim Noah as a free agent. They also picked up guards Brandon Jennings and Courtney Lee.
Rose was always a risk given his injury history, but splashy, risky moves are also a hallmark of win-now mode.
In July, ESPN's Ian Begley reported Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said, "I don't think New York, Los Angeles, they're not markets that you are going, 'OK, you're going through a rebuilding process.' You have the ability to spend the money. You have attractive cities to go to. I think they're always on the win-now thought process."
It sure seems that way.
Senators Trade for Derick Brassard
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The Ottawa Senators finished fifth in the Atlantic Division in 2015-16 and missed the playoffs.
It appears they are looking to get over the hump in 2016-17 and, in July, traded young forward Mika Zibanejad to the New York Rangers for veteran center Derick Brassard. (Draft picks were also involved.)
Brassard is 29 years old and less than two years removed from a 60-point season in 2014-15. Zibanejad, however, is just 23 and scored a career-high 51 points in 2015-16.
Swapping potential for proof sure sounds like win-now behavior.
Alan Joseph of CBS Sports wrote, "The Senators decided to pass on Mika Zibanejad's potential for a breakout year by bringing in Brassard, who offers more experience to a team that clearly wants to win now."
Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski similarly pointed out, "A short-term win for the Senators here, because they got the best player in the trade, but with the caveat that Zibanejad could be something special in the long-run for the Rangers."
Mets Re-Sign Yoenis Cespedes
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The New York Mets have done pretty well for themselves the past two seasons—a World Series loss in 2015 and a Wild Card berth in 2016.
But of course, they are looking to get over the hump. The Mets have a solid starting rotation with Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz. But as those in sports know all too well, championship windows only stay open for so long.
The Mets originally traded for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes midseason in 2015. They later signed him to a three-year deal in free agency, a deal he promptly opted out of after the 2016 season.
And here we are again—the Mets have given Cespedes a free-agent deal, except this time it was worth $110 million over four years.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post wrote about the top-heavy National League and explained, "That is why the Mets had to sign Yoenis Cespedes, even with all the questions about the long-term investment in a diva. They can win now, and win-now big-market teams take gambles to capitalize on a moment in time."
The 31-year-old Cespedes hit .280 in 2016 and led the team in home runs (31) and RBI (86).
Vikings Trade for Sam Bradford
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What was the Minnesota Vikings' trade for quarterback Sam Bradford if not a win-now move?
The Vikings finished 11-5 in 2015 and looked poised for another solid campaign in 2016. Then, the hits came.
Starting QB Teddy Bridgewater went down with a knee injury in August and just weeks later, the team was forced to place star running back Adrian Peterson on injured reserve.
The front office could have decided to pack it in, but hey, they still had a solid defense (a defense ranked No. 3 in passing yards allowed through Week 14).
And so, they took a chance. Just days after news of Bridgewater's injury, the team shipped two draft picks to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for the injury-prone Bradford.
General manager Rick Spielman said, per Ben Goessling of ESPN.com, "I think everybody knows how we feel about Teddy, but to me, it was just too unique of an opportunity to bring in a caliber of player like Sam Bradford. Going into next year, we have two very talented quarterbacks."
Warriors Sign Kevin Durant
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You saw this one coming.
The Golden State Warriors have been in win-now mode for several years—that's what good teams do. Like the New England Patriots, teams like Golden State just generally operate in win-now mode.
And yet, even the 2015 NBA champions outdid themselves with the biggest free-agent acquisition in recent memory. They signed 2014 MVP Kevin Durant to a two-year, $54.3 million deal in July that shook the league to its core.
Given the Warriors won the title in 2015 and came within one game of repeating in 2016, the meaning of the Durant signing was clear—the Warriors don't plan to settle for anything less than immediately winning a championship.
Durant himself told Sina Sports (via ESPN.com news services), "I want to win a championship, but you've got to play great basketball to win a championship. Those guys were so close last year, so they're hungry this year to get back. I want to help them. I want to be the guy that takes them over the top."
Canadiens Trade for Shea Weber
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The Montreal Canadiens missed the playoffs in 2015-16 after three straight appearances. They lost star goaltender Carey Price to a season-ending injury in November, but he is back in 2016-17 and the Habs clearly hope to right the ship.
In June, they made one of the offseason's biggest trades, sending franchise defenseman P.K. Subban to the Nashville Predators in exchange for All-Star veteran Shea Weber.
The move signified a win-now mentality not just because Weber has four years on Subban, but because the Habs clearly wanted the right player in terms of cultural fit.
The Habs actually have six new players in the lineup, per Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette. Per Cowan, coach Michel Therrien said, "I think, honestly, this year's a little bit different from our standpoint. We added an important piece of the puzzle regarding leadership and those guys are doing a great, great job."
Cowan added, "The Canadiens need to win and they need to win now while they have a strong nucleus of veteran talent and a 29-year-old superstar goalie with a history of knee problems and one more season after this remaining on his contract."
Braves Sign Bartolo Colon and R.A. Dickey
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No offense to Big Sexy, but he is what they call "over the hill" in baseball years. No one goes out and gets a 40-plus-year-old pitcher unless they are trying to win now.
And they especially don't get two.
That's why the Atlanta Braves' offseason acquisitions of 43-year-old Bartolo Colon and 42-year-old R.A. Dickey were so telling. The Braves signed each to one-year deals in November, Colon for $12.5 million and Dickey for $7.5 million.
It seems odd to say "win now" in conjunction with the Braves—a team that won just 68 games in 2016 and spent the year in rebuilding mode—but, here we are.
Adam Rubin of ESPN.com wrote, "The Braves went 50-47 after an 18-46 start, including 12 wins in their final 14 games. General manager John Coppolella made it clear he expects to be a playoff contender next season when the team moves from Turner Field to its new $622 million stadium in suburban Cobb County."
Magic Trade for Serge Ibaka
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The Orlando Magic haven't made the playoffs since 2012 and have been in rebuilding mode for several years, developing young players like 2014 draft pick Aaron Gordon and 2015 selection Mario Hezonja.
After a 35-win 2015-16 season, they traded 2013 draft pick Victor Oladipo to the Oklahoma City Thunder for veteran forward Serge Ibaka.
Deadspin's Patrick Redford wrote, "Getting Oladipo out of the fold means Evan Fournier and Mario Hezonja will have larger roles next year, but trading for Ibaka is a win-now move, especially since he's a free agent after next season"
Compound that with the fact head coach Frank Vogel opted to start veteran Jeff Green over Gordon in early November.
Fansided's Philip Rossman-Reich offered, "The Magic are in win-now mode. They are no longer waiting for development anymore. And, for better or for worse, that will change the way the Magic treat their young players and their goals for the team’s long-term future."
Red Sox Trade for Chris Sale
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The Boston Red Sox won 93 games and reached the American League Division Series in 2016—not bad (though they did get swept by the Cleveland Indians). And yet, their offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox to land pitcher Chris Sale was classic win-now behavior.
The Sox traded baseball's No. 1 prospect and Minor League Player of the Year, infielder Yoan Moncada, and three other prospects to land the perennial All-Star.
Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said, per Jen McCaffrey of masslive.com:
"This is one of those deals where we're absolutely thrilled to have Chris Sale on board with us. We feel it gives us a chance to win now. He's under contract for three years, our rotation we feel is very strong, we feel we solidified our bullpen earlier today but we gave up some good young talent. There's no question we gave up two of the better prospects in baseball in Moncada and Kopech, we like the other two in Basabe and Diaz but for us it came down to we thought at this point it gave us a really significant chance to win.
"
There you have it. The boss wants to win now, and trading young prospects for veteran talent is a prototypical move proving that.
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