At the time, nobody in Philadelphia was crediting Von Hayes with pushing the Phillies to the World Series in 1983, and honestly, I never associated the two.

Yet earlier this week when the White Sox made a five for one trade with the Braves, the Hayes trade came up. Nobody ever believes the Braves get fleeced in multiplayer deals, but I’ve already heard comments that suggest otherwise.

A little history is in order. The Phillies had just won the World Series in 1980 and were hoping to replicate that in ’83 with some tweaking. Hayes, a left-handed hitting outfielder (and later first basem305an) hadn’t really proven himself with the Indians, but he represented youth. At 24-years old, he was one of only three position players younger than 30 that had any impact that season (Joe Lefebvre and Bobby Dernier were the others).

The five players Philadelphia traded to Cleveland aren’t household names, but a couple were back then and two of them contributed to the 1980 World Series, Manny Trillo and George Vukovich. The biggest get of the trade was professional hitter, Julio Franco. Jerry Willard and Jay Baller were marginal contributors after the trade at best. When my folks went to ST a year or two later, Dad claimed Baller (then a hack in the Cubs system) was a Buster doomed to put on weight at an alarming rate.

Hayes would put up decent numbers with the Phillies 124 homers, 568 RBI and a slash of .272/.363/.427 in 9 seasons and 1208 games. His best season was 1986 when he hit .305 with 19 homers and 98 RBI. Soon thereafter, chants of 5 for 1 greeted him.

On the face of it, the Sox and GM, Chris Getz, fared well in the current 5/1. They were able to unload a middle reliever coming off a subpar season (6.79 ERA in 61 appearances) and an injury-plagued ’22 season. The Sox are trying to restock their minor league system with some ML ready talent and getting five bodies for nothing is a good start.

While their ceilings may not be very high, Getz and company have scouted infielder Nicky Lopez (via K.C and Naperville) and Riley Gowen (Libertyville and University of Illinois). They also acquired Braden Shewmake and Jared Shuster neither of whom resonate in the grander scheme of things but will be given ample opportunity in Chicago.

The player with the highest ceiling and biggest name is RHP, Michael Soroka who showed great promise at the ML level before suffering two torn Achillies tendons. If the Sox get the pre-injured Soroka, they may have found a #2 starter.

Some have suggested Getz thought he reacquired former Sox lefty starter, 52-year-old, Mike Sirotka. Suffice to say, Atlanta believes they can fix Bummer and the cost isn’t that high. Trades aren’t necessarily zero-sum games, and both teams can benefit.