Nagle turned out not to be so great that Torre shied away from him in the post season. Nagle will be forever remembered for his encounter with an unattractive whore and his big contract with Colorado rather than that trade.

Anyone remember Denny Nagle? It seemed somewhat “major” at the time as I recall.

Clemens for Wells , my Aussie paisan Lloyd and Bush was major? I think that a lot of Yankee fans had their hearts fall out when Boomer was traded. Would the Yankees have won those 99,00 World series without Clemens and with Wells ? Probably. To me Boomer was a true blue Yankee, Clemens not so much even though Boomer played for a gazillion teams, he had such an effusive love for the franchise and its history. He even wanted to wear Babe Ruth’s cap during a game for Chrissakes! Yeah, he let us down in the 2003 World Series, but how did Roger’s 28 million dollar return in 2006 work out? Roger probably turned Andy into a better pitcher BUT albeit a more medicated pitcher.

El Duque is probably the most unsung of all Yankee pitchers for his first tour of duty and his return in 2004. El Duque’s return in 2004 really helped the Yankees get back to the post season with the flops like Vazquez and Brown all around him. That is arguably one of the best signings the Yanks have made of late.

Moose is another one that flies under the radar. WAs he the greatest Yankee pitcher of all time? Hell,no but the Yanks got their money’s worth from him. Compared to Pavano, Wright, Igawa and Weaver he was a relative bargain. As quirky and cerebral that Moose is , he came through on the field. Was he the greatest post season pitcher? We all remember that game back in 2006 against Detroit and that sticks in many a fan’s craw. He also gets special points for calling Pavano on the carpet when the american idle pushed it beyond belief.

I would throw Kevin Brown in there. High expectations.

David Cone, too.

Did people expect David Wells to pitch a perfect game for the Yankees when he was acquired?
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I doubt it, but when signed away from the O’s it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to have expected around 200 above average innings.

Did people expect David Wells to pitch a perfect game for the Yankees when he was acquired?

i think the only “major” pickup that matters enough to be analyzed in the last 12 years is brian cashman, as he is the best thing that has happened to the organization since rivera and jeter were acquired.

This is what do YOU think…who do YOU think was a major pick-up…based on YOUR definition of “major” and using the stats that YOU would think are important…if YOU want to even use stats at all…
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That’s the thing, if you’re discussing major pickups, then you have to include guys like Duque, Contreras & Irabu. Igawa was expected to be a back of the rotation starter, I don’t think he can be considered a major acquisition. Guys like Mussina, Clemens & Johnson, were expected to provide “ace” caliber pitching. Vazquez & Weaver were young guns on the verge of breaking out. So on and so forth.

~~BTW, what stats are you using? Stats that can be controlled by the pitcher, or “traditional” pitching stats?~~

Forget what I’m doing. That’s not the point. This is what do YOU think…who do YOU think was a major pick-up…based on YOUR definition of “major” and using the stats that YOU would think are important…if YOU want to even use stats at all…

The problem that I have with including El Duque in such a list is that he did not come from another major league team when he was signed as a Free Agent.
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First time yes, second time no.