A Decade of A's Trades: The 1980s

The A's new ownership group let Sandy Alderson free to trade, and his deals build the Athletics into a World Series-bound juggernaut.

For the first half of the 1970s, the A’s were a powerhouse; five consecutive American League pennants 1971-75 and three consecutive World Series titles.

The team spun toward oblivion after that, with free agency leading the way to make the A’s less relevant as a baseball force.

Over the course of the 1980s, that all changed. First came BillyBall after owner Charlie Finley hired Berkeley native Billy Martin as his manager for the 1980 season.

That worked out well for the A’s, who jumped from last place to second place under Martin. And it worked out well for Finley, who was able to sell the team to Walter Haas, scion of the Levi-Strauss family, bought the club for $12.7 million. His son-in-law, Roy Eisenhardt, and his son, Wally Haas, took over the reins of the club.

Martin more or less was able to operate as general manager in 1981-82, but Sandy Alderson, who had worked with Eisenhardt at the San Francisco law firm of Farella Braun & Martel, came aboard as general counsel and in 1983, shortly after Martin had been fired, Alderson was named general manager.

Alderson had no previous link with baseball, but he was a quick study, and he wasn’t loathe to use trades to rebuild the club. By 1987, the A’s were competitive and from 1988-1990, the team was the American League representative in the World Series.

In this time of baseball being shut down during the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, it seems like a good moment to look back. at the A’s trades decade by decade. We’re already looked at the trades of the 1970s, and this is a year-by-year rating of the best trades for each year of the decade.

1980

The deal: On Dec. 11, 1980, the A’s traded minor league left-handed pitcher Mike King to the Cubs for infielder Keith Drumright and catcher/first baseman Cliff Johnson.

The result: Johnson was a Martin favorite from the time both were with the Yankees in the 1980s. A right-handed slugger, he hit 17 homers in 1981 and another seven in 1982, But he was gone when Martin was pushed out.

1981

The deal: On March 27, the A’s traded lefty reliever Bob Lacey and minor league right-hander Roy Moretti to the Padres, getting three minor league infielders, Eric Mustad, Kevin Bell and Tony Phillips in exchange.

The result: Phillips was the only one of the three infielders to make an impact in Oakland. A switch-hitter, Phillips was mostly a second baseman/shortstop for most of the 1980s, but as late as 1988 he was spending time in the minor leagues. It was Phillips who fielded the Game 4 grounder from San Francisco’s Brett Butler and flipped to closer Dennis Eckersley to close out the A’s sweep of the Giants in the 1989 earthquake-interrupted World Series.

1982

The deal: On Dec. 6, the A’s traded outfielder Tony Armas and catcher Jeff Newman to the Red Sox, getting minor league pitcher Jerry King, outfielder Garry Hancock and third baseman Carney Lansford.

The result: Lansford would be the first major acquisition by the new ownership group. And for nine of the next 10 years, A’s managers could write his name in the lineup and forget about it. He hit .288 over those 10 seasons, three times hitting over .300. That peaked in 1989 when Lansford posted a .336 average as the A’s went on to win their first World Series title in 15 years. They haven’t won one since.

1983

The deal: On Nov. 21, the A’s traded pitcher Dave Beard and catcher Bob Kearney to the Mariners, getting pitchers Darrel Akerfelds and Bill Caudill.

The result: Although Caudill would be one-and-done with the A’s in 1984 – he’d return for the final six games of his career in 1987 – he turned in a career year with nine wins, 36 saves and a 2.71 ERA as the Oakland closer.

1984

The deal: On Dec. 5, the A’s traded pitcher Bert Bradley and All-Star left fielder Rickey Henderson to the Yankees, getting pitchers Tim Birtsas, Jay Howell, Eric Plunk and Jose Rijo.

The result: Once the A’s decided they could no longer afford Henderson on a team that wasn’t going to be immediately competitive, they got what they could for him. Howell turned in to a competent closer with 29 saves and a 2.85 ERA in 1985, which was his peak while with the A’s. Rijo was just 20 when he came to the A’s and had to learn on the job. His three years with the A’s were undistinguished, but he’d make his mark later, going 2-0 in the 1990 World Series, winning the MVP while with the Reds, who made short work of the A’s.

1985

The deal: on March 24, the A’s traded minor league pitcher and minor league catcher Dan Winters and received outfielder/first baseman Dusty Baker.

The result: the 1985-86 seasons would be the last two of Baker’s playing career. He hit well enough, including served as a mentor for many of the players would form the bulk of the 1988-1992 A’s powerhouses. Baker hit 14 homers and went .268/.359/.440 in 1985.

1986

The deal: On Dec. 11, the A’s traded Donnie Hill to the White Sox, receiving right-handed pitchers Gene Nelson and Bruce Tanner.

The result: Tanner never pitched in the big leagues again, but Nelson was a quiet dynamo after landing in Oakland. In his first four years he averaged 98 innings and had a 3.09 as the A’s made it to the playoffs in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

1987: The year of the trades

The deals: On April 3, the A’s traded minor league infielder Brian Guinn, minor league pitcher Mark Leonette and minor league outfielder Davern Wilder to the Cubs and received [pitcher Dennis Eckersley and infielder Dan Rohn; On Aug. 29, the A’s traded Tim Belcher to the Dodgers, receiving pitcher Rick Honeycutt; on Aug. 30, the A’s traded pitcher Dave Leiper and first baseman Rob Nelson to the Padres and received pitcher Storm Davis; on Dec. 8, the A’s traded pitchers Tim Birtsas and Jose Rijo to the Reds and received outfielder/DH Dave Parker. On Dec. 11, in a three-way traded, the A’s traded shortstop Alfredo Griffin and pitcher Jay Howell to the Dodger and pitchers Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the Mets and received pitchers Bob Welch and Matt Young from the Dodgers.

The results: This series of trades made the A’s, who’d risen from the dead to finish second in the AL West in 1987. With Eckersley saving 220 games from 1988-92 and winning the Cy Yong Award in 1992, with Honeycutt throwing 296.1 innings of setup relief from 1988-92, with Davis winning 35 games over 1988-89, with Parker hitting 34 homers and driving in 152 runs over 1988-89 and with Welch going 84-43 from 1988-92 and winning the Cy Young Award in 1990, the A’s put together a stretch of three straight World Series appearances 1988-90, winning in 1989, and fell just short of the World Series in 1992.

1988

The deal: On March 31, the A’s traded minor league pitcher Russ Kibler to the Twins and received pitcher Joe Klink.

The result: Klink’s career with the A’s didn’t last long, but when the A’s pitching seemed to get injured all at once in 1991, Klink stepped in and went 10-3 in 62 relief appearances.

1989

The deal: The A’s traded pitchers Greg Cadaret, Eric Plunk and Luis Polonia to the Yankees and received left fielder Rickey Henderson.

The result: The A’s were floundering mid-1989 with Jose Canseco missing the first half of the season. Dennis Eckersley out for seven weeks and defending Rookie of the Year shortstop Walt Weiss missing 2½ months. They needed a boost, and Henderson gave it to them. He was hitting .247 with the lackluster Yankees, but he came back to Oakland rejuvenated. He hit .294 in the season’s final 85 games, stealing 52 bases and scoring 72 runs. The A’s went on to win the World Series. Along the way Henderson was named winner of the American League Championship Series MVP award. A year later, he was the AL’s MVP for the 1990 season.