Keith Hernandez was a batting champion, an NL MVP, a clubhouse leader, and a two-time World Series winner with the Cardinals and Mets during his 17-year career. But while he wasn’t a traditional slugging first baseman — he never hit more than 16 homers in a season, and only had more than 100 RBI once

After six years in the majors, Giants outfielder Matty Alou had long shown he was hardly the hitter his older brother Felipe was. So when Matty was traded to the Pirates on this day in béisbol, December 1, 1965, for a losing pitcher and a weak-hitting infielder, Pittsburgh was hardly expecting the deal to turn

Miguel Tejada was at the tail end of his controversial career when the former AL MVP shortstop signed a one-year deal with the San Francisco Giants on this day in béisbol, November 30, 2010. The Dominican native was arguably the best-hitting shortstop in the American League during his heyday, averaging 29 homers, 118 RBI and

Yoenis Cespedes was coming off an all-star season with the Mets in 2016 when he re-signed with the team on for four more years in a $110 million deal on this day in béisbol, November 29. An international free agent from Cuba, Cespedes was with his fourth team in four years when he was traded

White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu spent nine productive seasons in Chicago before signing a three-year, nearly $60 million contract with the Astros on this day in béisbol, November 28, 2022. Abreu, then 35, was one of the first international free agents from Cuba who flooded MLB, especially the White Sox, in recent years, joining

Jose Canseco wasn’t yet an official “Bash Brother” — or an MLB pariah for publicly outing a large number of players of taking performance enhancing drugs. On this day in béisbol, November 25, 1986 the controversial Oakland A’s outfielder made news for his actions on the field by winning the AL Rookie of the Year