New York Yankees: Grading the Bombers Recent Deals at the Trading Deadline

The month of June is almost over and yet somehow, the Yankees are in first place.

The same Yankees who have dropped 8-of-9 to the Boston Red Sox head-to-head.

The same Yankees who have Derek Jeter, Bartolo Colon, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Pedro Feliciano, Rafael Soriano and Damaso Marte all on the disabled list.

The same Yankees who had Jorge Posada asking out of the lineup because he was going to bat ninth.

The same Yankees who had Posada hitting under .200 and Nick Swisher batting around .215 at one point.

Yet, not only are the Yankees in first place of the American League East, but have the best record in the American League as well.

But is this a complete team? Not even close. This team has obvious holes that need to be filled if they want to compete for a championship.

July is always an active time for teams to make a move considering the non-waiver trading deadline is July 31.

This especially goes for the Yankees.

Over the last 11 years, the Yankees have been very active in the month of July. We'll take a look back at the Yankees history of the Bombers making deals at the deadline and see if they worked out for them.

2000

The two-time defending champions came away from the deadline being extremely active gearing up for a three-peat.

On June 20, the Dodgers traded Jose Vizcaino for Jim Leyritz.

On June 29: the Indians traded David Justice for Zach Day, Ricky Ledee and Jake Westbrook.

On July 12, the Reds traded Denny Neagle and Mike Frank for Jackson Melian, Drew Henson, Brian Reith and Ed Yarnall.

On July 21, the Cubs traded Glenallen Hill for Ben Ford and Oswaldo Mairena.

The biggest move was for Justice, because in the lineup, the Yankees didn't have the prototypical slugger in there. They attempted to get Sammy Sosa, but the Cubs weren't willing to part with him, but the Indians were willing to part with Justice.

At 34, Justice was still very productive for the Yankees, hitting .305 with 20 home runs and 60 RBI in the second half, ending his year with 41 home runs and 118 RBI.

The Yankees needed to get another starter to add to their rotation of Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Orlando Hernandez and David Cone. Cone was struggling, so they got Neagle with an 8-2 record and a 3.52 ERA.

Neagle went 7-7 with a 5.81 ERA. He was also 0-2 in the postseason for the Yankees, so Neagle wasn't exactly what the Yankees were hoping for. The Rockies eventually overpaid for Neagle in the winter in one of the worst contracts for a free agent.

Both Vizcaino and Hill were key bats off the bench for the Yankees.

Overall: Getting Justice as the DH helped the Yankees, while Hill and Vizcaino gave the Yankees bench a lot of depth as they eventually went on to win the 2000 World Series over the Mets in five games.

Grade: A

2001

Surprisingly, the Yankees didn't make a move at the deadline.

Mike Mussina was signed before the season.

Alfonso Soriano took over for Chuck Knoblauch at second base while he moved to left field.

It was also the last season for the "dynasty team" as Tino Martinez, and Knoblauch left for free agency and Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosius both retired.

The Yankees still won 95 games, defeated the 116-win Mariners in the ALCS but lost in seven games in the World Series to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Grade: N/A

2002

The Yankees were in the beginning of a transition in 2002 as Tino Martinez, Chuck Knobaluch, Paul O'Neill and Scott Brosuis were all gone.

They signed Jason Giambi to a huge free-agent contract, traded for Robin Ventura in the off-season and brought in Rondell White.

The Yankees were looking to upgrade their starting rotation, which already had Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Orlando Hernandez and David Wells, who spurned the Diamondbacks to come back to the Yankees.

On July 5, the Yankees, Oakland A's and Detroit Tigers pulled off a three-team deal.

The Yankees got Jeff Weaver.

The Tigers got Carlos Pena, Franklyn German and Jeremy Bonderman.

The A's got Ted Lilly, Jason Arnold and John-Ford Griffin.

Weaver, 25 at the time, was 5-3 with a 4.04 ERA. He had upside being a young strikeout pitcher. His next season was abysmal, going 7-9 with a 5.99 ERA.

The Yankees on July 1 got Raul Mondesi from the Toronto Blue Jays for Scott Wiggins.

Mondesi hit a mere .241 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI. He wasn't known for having a good attitude and reputation. He was eventually traded next season.

Overall: the Yankees went 103-58, won the American League East, but in a stunning upset, were defeated in the ALDS by the eventual World Series Champion Anaheim Angels in four games.

Grade: C

2003

The Yankees and Red Sox were in a heated pennant race, and they wanted reinforcements because they knew there would be a good case they could see Boston in the ALCS.

On July 29, they sent out Raul Mondesi and his bad attitude to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for David Dellucci, Brett Prinz and John Prowl.

On July 31, they traded very popular Robin Ventura to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Bubba Crosby and Scott Proctor.

Why was Ventura traded?  The first: he was at the end of his career and getting old, hitting just .251 with nine home runs and 42 RBI

The second and bigger reason: also on July 31, they traded Brandon Claussen and Charlie Manning to the Cincinnati Reds for Aaron Boone.

The biggest deal was for Boone, who was hitting .273 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI for the Reds.

In the second half, he hit .254 with six home runs and 31 RBI to give him a season total of 24 home runs, 96 RBI while hitting .267.

In the playoffs, Boone hit .170. But nobody will remember that.

Because on October 16 in Game 7 of the ALCS against the Red Sox in the bottom of the 11th inning, Boone took Tim Wakefield's first pitch and smashed it over the left field wall for a walk-off home run that sent the Yankees to the World Series.

Overall: if the Yankees don't trade for Boone, who knows how Game 7 goes. Maybe Boston ends up winning the ALCS and plays the Marlins. But because of Boone, the Yankees won and got to the World Series but were up-ended in six games by the younger Florida Marlins.

Grade: B

2004

Before the season started, the Yankees made a franchise-altering move to the roster. It wasn't big. It was monumental.

After Aaron Boone decided to play a pick-up game of basketball and broke his leg, they sent Alfonso Soriano to the Texas Rangers for Alex Rodriguez, who then went from shortstop to third base.

Two A.L. MVP Awards, a World Series crown and a $315 million contract—the rest is history.

Aside from that, after the 2003 season, the Yankees went through a ton of change in the pitching staff.

Roger Clemens announced his retirement, the first one, from baseball.

In one of the worst moves in recent team history, the Yankees let Andy Pettitte leave for the Houston Astros after they failed to show any interest in re-signing him.

Clemens then un-retired for the first time and then signed with the Astros.

They traded for Javier Vazquez and Kevin Brown in separate deals, got Jon Lieber healthy and brought in Cuban defector Jose Contreras.

Contreras was a bust, 8-5 with a 5.15 ERA in 18 starts, but he was awful against the Red Sox.

The Yankees knew they would likely see those same Red Sox again in the ALCS, so they felt they needed to bolster the rotation.

So on July 31, they sent Contreras to the Chicago White Sox for All-Star Esteban Loaiza.

Loaiza was 9-5 with a 4.86 ERA before coming over to the Yankees.

With the Yankees, Loaiza went 1-2 with an 8.50 ERA in six starts and was eventually moved to the bullpen because he was so awful for the Yankees.

Overall: the Yankees still won 101 games and the American League East, got to the ALCS rematch with the Red Sox, went up 3-0 in the series. The rest we will not discuss. You know what happened in the next four games.

Grade: F

2005

The Yankees made bold changes to the rotation following the disastrous end of the 2004 season.

The Yankees traded for Randy Johnson and sent Javier Vazquez to the Diamondbacks.

They also signed Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright to free-agent deals.

Johnson was good for the Yankees, going 17-8 with a 3.79 ERA.

Pavano and Wright spent most of the season on the DL. Pavano went 4-6 with a 4.77 ERA in 17 starts. Wright went 5-5 with a 6.08 ERA in 13 starts.

And Kevin Brown. Yes. The same Kevin Brown, who carried the San Diego Padres to the World Series in 1998 but couldn't pitch his way out of two innings in Game 7 of the ALCS, was 4-7 with a 6.50 ERA in 13 starts and also on the DL.

In so many words, the rotation was a mess.

The Yankees called up 33-year old Aaron Small from the minor leagues on July 20.

All he did was go 10-0 with a 3.20 ERA in nine starts.

On July 28, the Yankees got Shawn Chacon from the Colorado Rockies for Eduardo Sierra and Ramon Ramirez.

Chacon went 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA in 12 starts.

On July 16, the Yankees got Al Leiter from the Florida Marlins after he was designated for assignment by them.

Leiter went 4-5 with a 5.49 ERA in 10 starts. Leiter eventually went to Joe Torre and was willing to move to the bullpen because Small was more effective.

In his first game with the Yankees though on July 17, Leiter went 6.1 innings, allowing one run and three hits and struck out eight in a win against the first place Red Sox.

In Game Four of the ALDS against the Angels, Leiter ended up with the win, pitching 2/3 of scoreless relief.

Overall: because the Yankees were able to do a patch-work job for the rotation, the Yankees knocked off the Red Sox in their 161st game of the year at Fenway Park to win the American League East again. For the second time in the playoffs, the Yankees were knocked out in the ALDS by the Los Angeles Angels in five games.

Grade: B

2006

The Yankees were extremely active before the deadline. They were looking to put some distance between them and the Red Sox in the division.

On July 26, they got backup catcher Sal Fasano from the Philadelphia Phillies for Hector Made.

Fasano was nothing more than just a backup for Jorge Posada.

On July 31, a year after acquiring him from Colorado, the Yankees sent Shawn Chacon, his 5-3 record and 7.00 ERA to the Pittsburgh Pirates for backup first basemen Craig Wilson.

Wilson only played in 40 games, hit .212 with four home runs and eight RBI. Wilson was mostly there as a defensive replacement to Jason Giambi.

Their biggest trade was the day before.

On July 30, the Yankees acquired Bobby Abreu and Cory Lidle from the Philadelphia Phillies for C.J. Henry, Matt Smith, Jesus Sanchez and Carlos Monasterios.

Gary Sheffield went on the DL back in April with a wrist injury, and Aaron Guiel wasn't getting it done, so the Yankees got Abreu in a salary dump by the Phillies.

Abreu that year hit .330 with seven home runs and 42 RBI. At the end of 2006, Abreu hit .297 with 15 home runs and 107 RBI, a very strong season. Abreu was a very strong player for the Yankees for the next two seasons.

Lidle was 8-7 with a 4.74 ERA with the Phillies before getting traded.

With the Yankees, Lidle went 4-3 with a 5.16 ERA in nine starts.

His time with the Yankees was short. On October 11, 2006, Lidle's plane crashed into a building in New York City and was killed as a result. He was only 34 years old. Lidle was under contract and was thought to be a part of the 2007 rotation, but the tragic crash changed those plans.

Overall: Abreu was the biggest part of the trading deadline and went on to replace Sheffield in right field. The Yankees won 97 games and the American League East division but were stunningly eliminated in four games by the Detroit Tigers.

Grade: B-

2007

In 2007, the Yankees were very quiet at the trading deadline. Mostly because they were active before the season.

They righted a huge wrong by bringing back Andy Pettitte after the Astros weren't willing to offer Pettitte the money he wanted while the Yankees were basically ready to hand over a blank check for the mistake they made three years ago.

While getting Pettitte back was a great move, spending any kind of money to get Kei Igawa was one of the worst free agent signings in team history.

In June, Roger Clemens un-retired for the god only knows how many time and pitched in the second half for the Yankees. Clemens went 6-6 with a 4.18 ERA in 17 starts for the Yankees and left in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Cleveland Indians with a hamstring injury; turning out to be his final professional game.

The only trade the Yankees made at the deadline was on July 31 by trading Scott Proctor back to the Dodgers three years later for Wilson Betemit.

Betemit was supposed to provide depth and pop off the bench, but really, he was anything but. He hit .226 with four home runs and 24 RBI. He struck out more times then he did get hits, 33 strikeouts as to 19 hits.

The biggest move the Yankees may have made might have been an internal one, calling up Joba Chamberlain on August 7 from AAA Scranton/Wilks-Barre.

In 19 appearances, Joba went 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA, striking out 34 batters in 24 innings. As the new setup man for two months, he was unhittable.

The only person to even get to Joba in the regular season was a solo home run by Mike Lowell in September.

In the playoffs, Joba gave up runs to the Indians because of midges swarming around Joba's head that caused him to get rattled and lose his focus.

Overall: Betemit wasn't much of a difference maker, the Yankees had a good enough of a team to win 94 games and win the Wild Card but were eliminated in the ALDS in four games by the Cleveland Indians.

Grade: D

2008

2008 was an interesting year for the Yankees.

It was Joe Girardi's first year as manager, replacing Joe Torre.

It was the final year in the old Yankee Stadium.

They spent the majority of the season in third place.

Trying to get a jolt and compete with the Red Sox and surprise Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees made a few moves.

On July 26, the Yankees got Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jeff Karstens, Ross Ohlendorf, Jose Tabata and Daniel McCutchen.

Marte was 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in 25 appearances. Not his best stuff. His best stuff was the following year in the World Series when he was striking out Chase Utley and Ryan Howard in crucial spots.

Nady normally played right field, but with Bobby Abreu on the team, Nady mostly played in left.

Before being traded, Nady was hitting .330 with 13 home runs and 57 RBI.

With the Yankees, Nady hit .268 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI, ending his season with 25 home runs and 97 RBI and a .305 average, a solid season.

Because the Yankees had Nady signed for 2009, the Yankees let Bobby Abreu walk. Seven games into the season, Nady injured his shoulder and was out for the season.

Jorge Posada suffered a shoulder injury which required season-ending surgery, so the Yankees needed a catcher.

So on July 30, the Yankees sent erratic reliever Kyle Farnsworth to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for All-Star catcher Ivan Rodriguez.

Pudge had been known as one of the best overall catchers in the game, being a 13-time gold glove winner and a former A.L. MVP.

But at age 36, his best years were behind him. He was an absolute bust for the Yankees.

On offense, he hit .219 with two home runs and three RBI in 33 games. Yuck.

On defense, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina didn't want to pitch to him because he was considered stubborn and a pain in the butt to deal with and preferred Jose Molina behind the plate because Molina was easier to work with behind the plate. Pudge wasn't brought back after 2008 and rightfully so.

Overall: the Yankees won 89 games, but for the first time since 1994, they missed the playoffs, while the Red Sox and Rays competed against each other in the ALCS. The Yankees never tried to trade for a starter because they thought transitioning Joba Chamberlain from reliever to starter was the answer until early August when he was put on the DL with a shoulder injury.

Overall: D+

2009

The Yankees made some huge changes after missing the playoffs in 2008.

Jason Giambi and Bobby Abreu left for free agency. Mike Mussina retired.

They brought in CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira via free agency. They traded Wilson Betemit to the Chicago White Sox for Nick Swisher.

They were determined to never let the 2008 season happen again.

They spent a lot of the season near the top of the division and were trying to battle off the Red Sox for first place.

To add depth to the team, the Yankees acquired Eric Hinske on June 30 from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Casey Erickson and Eric Fryer.

He did only hit .226, but he also had seven home runs and 14 RBI in 39 games played. Hinske was used at third base, left and right field by the Yankees.

On July 31, the Yankees acquired Jerry Hairston, Jr. from the Cincinnati Reds for Casey Weems.

Hairston hit .237 with two home runs and 12 RBI, but Hairston wasn't brought in for offense.

Hairston played second, third, shortstop, left, center and right field for the Yankees, giving the Yankees a ton of depth off the bench.

In Game 2 of the ALCS, Hairston singled to start the bottom of the 13th inning off Ervin Santana. Brett Gardner sac bunted Hairston over to second, and Robinson Cano was intentionally walked. Melky Cabrera hit a ground ball which ended up being botched, which allowed Hairston to score from second base and the Yankees won Game 2, 4-3.

On August 7, seven days after the non-waiver trade deadline passed, the Yankees claimed Chad Gaudin off waivers from the San Diego Padres.

Gaudin was used as both a starter and reliever down the stretch for the Yankees. In six starts, Gaudin was 2-0 with a 3.43 ERA.

He wasn't overpowering or dominating, but Gaudin gave the Yankees innings and some options in the rotation

Overall: the Yankees seemed destined to win the World Series. They won 103 games and the American League East crown, had 15 walk-off wins in the regular season, a walk-off win in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Twins and Game 2 of the ALCS against the Angels. They swept Minnesota, finally beat the Angels in a playoff series and then defeated the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 World Series.

Grade: B+

2010

The Yankees were in a heated pennant race with the Tampa Bay Rays, who just refused to go away in 2010.

The Yankees were on the verge of pulling off a deal for Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners on July 9, a deal which would have centered around Jesus Montero, but the deal fell apart when the Yankees didn't want to include Eduardo Nunez in the deal.

Lee eventually went on to be traded to the Texas Rangers that same night.

So it left the Yankees exploring other options to add, which they found.

On July 31, the Yankees thought they found one when they acquired Lance Berkman from the Houston Astros for Jimmy Paredes and Mark Melancon.

Everyone thought the Yankees were getting a great switch-hitting power hitter in the lineup. Wrong.

In 37 games played, Berkman hit .255 with one home run and nine RBI. He hit 13 for Houston before coming to the Yankees.

He did come up big in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Twins when he hit a huge home run that eventually propelled the Yankees to a win. He also hit .500 in that series. So while he was a bust in the regular season, he did have some worth in the playoffs for the Yankees.

The Yankees weren't done with just Berkman on July 31. They made two other deals with the Cleveland Indians.

In the first one, the Yankees got Austin Kearns for Zach McAllister.

Kearns was supposed to provide depth off the bench, but he struggled. He hit just .235 and had more strikeouts (38) than hits (24).

In the second and better deal, the Yankees then got Kerry Wood for Andrew Shive and Matt Cusick.

First off, back when he was a young phenom prospect striking out 20 guys as a starter, if you ever thought Kerry Wood would be a Yankee, much less a Yankee reliever, you would have never believed it. Fast forward 12 years and a bucket load of injuries later, and it comes true.

Wood was terrific out of the bullpen for the Yankees, taking over as the setup man for Mariano Rivera.

Wood was 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in 24 appearances for the Yankees in the regular season. Wood also pitched very well in the playoffs for the Yankees, building a strong bridge to get the ball to Rivera in the ninth.

Overall: the Yankees won 95 games but finished one game behind Tampa for the division. They still won the Wild Card and got to the playoffs. They again swept the Twins but ran into the Texas Rangers in the ALCS. The trade that doesn't happen comes back to bite the Yankees in Game 3 when Lee shuts the Yankees out for eight innings, and the Yankees bats seemed to disappear as the Rangers eliminated the defending champions in six games.

Grade: C+

What To Expect in 2011?

The Yankees have some big decisions to make in the next month.

Do they stand put with the lineup they have now, or do they add some offense? Would a trade for Carlos Beltran be possible?

Do the Yankees try to add a starter or do they simply wait for Phil Hughes and Bartolo Colon to return from injuries?

Or do they try to add a reliever like Francisco Rodriguez, Heath Bell or even attempt to get Kerry Wood again.

Over the next month, we will all hear the rumors and the whispers and rumblings.

People will make their wish lists and trade demands that they want the teams to make.

What will the Yankees do before July 31?

If history repeats itself, it'll show that the Yankees are one of the most active teams before the deadline.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe. The Hot Stove is about to start heating up really soon.