December 5, 1990: The Trade That Made the Blue Jays

Joe Carter, October 23, 1993

December 5, 1990: The San Diego Padres trade outfielder Joe Carter, whom they've had for only one season, and 2nd baseman Roberto Alomar, to the Toronto Blue Jays for 1st baseman Fred McGriff and shortstop Tony Fernández.

Just one year earlier, the Padres had gotten Carter from the Cleveland Indians, for Roberto's brother, catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. He might be the best player ever to be traded for both halves of a pair of brothers in Major League Baseball.

Carter was then 30 years old, had hit 147 home runs in the last 5 seasons, had just had his 4th season of at least 105 RBIs, and was defensively versatile: He could play all 3 outfield positions and 1st base. Alomar was 22, and had just batted .310, played in his 3rd All-Star Game, and won his 2nd Gold Glove. Why get rid of them?

It wasn't money: Combined, McGriff and Fernández were going to be paid roughly the same in 1991 as Carter and Alomar. And while McGriff and Fernández were roughly equal to Carter and Alomar, respectively, in terms of talent at that point, they weren’t noticeable upgrades.

To make it even more bizarre, in 1993, their 3rd season in San Diego, both McGriff and Fernández would be traded, in what was a clear "salary dump" by the Padres. And Carter and Alomar would both be key to the Jays' back-to-back World Series wins. In fact, Carter was involved with the final play both times: As the 1st baseman, he made the final putout in 1992; and in 1993, he hit the Series-winning home run.

If anyone can come up with a "Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame" for the Padres making this deal, then that person knows the Padres' history better than I do.

*

December 5, 1990 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football was in midweek. There were 8 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Denver Nuggets, 148-140 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 43 points.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Orlando Magic, 119-110 at the Orlando Arena.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Phoenix Suns, 126-121 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 113-109 in overtime at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the San Antonio Spurs, 110-108 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Detroit Pistons, 106-85 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Dallas Mavericks, 93-89 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.

* The Washington Bullets beat the Golden State Warriors, 104-98 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.

And there were 7 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Calgary Flames, 4-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Vancouver Canucks, 9-4 at the Brendan Byrne Arena in the Meadowlands. Claude Lemieux scored 3 goals and an assist. Patrik Sundström had 2 goals and 2 assists.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Hartford Whalers, 4-3 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Quebec Nordiques, 3-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* And the Winnipeg Jets and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 3-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.