On December 15, 2016, the Yankees were the beneficiaries on both ends when they signed free agent lefty closer Aroldis Chapman for the upcoming season. They had traded the hard thrower away five months earlier for, among others, Gleyber Torres.
Other Dynamite Moves
Outfielder Dave Winfield became baseball’s highest-paid player when he signed a 10-year deal with the Yankees on December 15, 1980. Despite being eventually labeled “Mr. May†by an enraged George Steinbrenner, Dave would notch a World Series-winning hit with the Blue Jays later in his career. Dave contributed often and played hard in the Bronx. He smashed 205 homers with 818 rbi’s in eight-plus years.
Facing postseason free agency on December 15, 1981, Ron Guidry re-signed with the Yankees, inking a four-year, $3.6 million deal, a small price to pay for his upcoming 67-38 mark.
The Yankees picked the pockets of the Red Sox on December 15 at least twice over the years, trading for righthander Waite Hoyt in 1920, and nabbing third sacker Wade Boggs as a free agent on the same day in 1992. Hoyt went 147-98 with 28 saves pitching for three Series winners in the Bronx, and Boggs helped win the 1996 crown playing in Pinstripes.
Comings and Goings
Third baseman Andy Carey, a 1950 free agent signing with New York, died on December 15, 2011. Carey started for the Yankees at the hot corner from 1954 through 1960, hitting  47 home runs good for 259 rbi’s during that time. And righty 1968 Rookie of the Year Award winner Stan Bahnsen was born on December 15, 1944. Stan posted a 55-52 record pitching for some pretty bad teams in the Bronx from 1966 through 1971.