July 12, 2000: Reds/Yanks Blockbuster Trade - A 5 year look back

Note - Taken from my diary post over at RedReporter.com

On July 12, 2000, the Cincinnati Reds traded Mike Frank and Denny Neagle to the Yankees for Brian Reith, Jackson Melian , Drew Henson, and Ed Yarnall.

Looking back now, I think it's safe to say the Reds scored a victory on this one. Not because of any of the players involved in this deal panned out, but because Henson was later flipped back to New York for current Reds starting OF Wily Mo Pena.

Denny Neagle spent the remainder of the 2000 season with the Yankees, where he made 15 starts.

Here are his 2000 stats

91.3IP, 400TBF, 99H, 59ER, 31BB, 58K, 5.81ERA, 1.42WHIP  

Neagle would leave NY as a free agent just after the season, taking Colorado's big bucks en route to being a free agent bust of Milton-esq proportions.

Mike Frank, who had a cup of coffee with the Reds two years before the trade, lasted thru 2001 with the Yankees AAA squad, before he was released. He caught on with the Cardinals in 2002, where he bounced back and forth between AA and AAA, before the Redbirds released the then 27 year old light hitting OF.

Drew Henson, who never met a breaking ball in the dirt he didn't like, was, as earlier mentioned, flipped back to the Yankees less than 10 months later after a juvenile spat where he claimed he couldn't choose between football and baseball while a Red. After the trade back to the Yankees, Henson suddenly awoke one morning and decided he wanted to play baseball full time, and took the Yanks offer of a bundle of cash. Grand total of 64AB as a Reds minor leaguer. Now warms the bench for the Dallas Cowboys.

Ed Yarnall didn't make it out of spring training the followinig year, and spent all of 2002 in Japan working on his shuuto. Currently in the Nationals organization, where he's done the following in 2005

69.1IP, 314TBF, 81H, 47ER, 29BB, 71K, 6.10ERA, 1.59WHIP  

Jackson Melian spent the entire 2001 season at Chattanooga, where he was released following the season. Has made the rounds in the remaining years, bouncing between AA and AAA for the Braves, the Yankees, the Brewers and the Cubs. Still struggles at times trying to figure out what to do with that funny looking stick they hand him every time he walks to the plate.

Brian Reith, who was released last year and is now pitching at AAA for the Pirates, was the only player in the deal to spend any significant time in a Reds uniform.

Here are his numbers on the year at AAA.

15.0IP, 67TBF, 14H, 6ER, 7BB, 11K, 3.60ERA, 1.40WHIP  

And his numbers in a Reds uniform, over three seasons.

127.0IP, 597TBF, 147H, 84ER, 71BB, 85K, 5.92ERA, 1.72WHIP  

Not a pretty return in any way. I think it's rare to look back at a blockbuster trade in which all sides and all players involved turned out to be such dismal flops.

If it weren't for the Reds flipping Henson for Wily Mo, this might go down as one of the most worthless trades in the collective history of the two organizations.