As you have likely heard, the Yankees and White Sox engaged in a fairly large trade last night. The Yankees made their bullpen stronger by acquiring former Yankees David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle, as well as 1B/3B Todd Frazier.
In return, the Yankees sent highly rated prospects Blake Rutherford (a personal favorite), Ian Clarkin, Tito Polo, and reliever Tyler Clippard to the White Sox. Good riddance, you massive flyball pitcher, you.
While I'm bummed to lose Rutherford, the Yankees dealt from a position of strength within their organization. I also know that you need to give up something to get something. It irks me to no end when fans think their team's junk can just be shipped off to other teams for usable players. Ellsbury! Headley! Clippard! For Sonny Gray!
And it's not just a Yankees thing. All teams' (misinformed) fans do it.
Anyhow, what I found amusing about this trade was how many TTM tentacles it hit for me.
Clippard was the latest entry into my Topps Yankees Project.
David Robertson was my 2013 entry, although since replaced by Hiroki Kuroda due to the personalization.
Blake Rutherford signed this card for me not once, but twice last year.
Ian Clarkin was a fantastic TTM signer.
Tommy Kahnle was a success I posted about my first year of blogging in 2011.
In the past, Frazier had been a good TTM signer. I haven't seen many successes from him this year, but knowing how random Yankees enter into Series One (see Butler, Billy), I can't help but think this: Todd Frazier, 2018 Topps Yankees Project entry.
