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Most memorable Cleveland Indians November transactions since 1990

By Aaron Gershon

CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 21: David Murphy #7 of the Cleveland Indians hits a sacrifice fly to second scoring Roberto Perez #55 to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning agains the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field on June 21, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians defeated the Rays 1-0. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH - JUNE 21: David Murphy #7 of the Cleveland Indians hits a sacrifice fly to second scoring Roberto Perez #55 to win the game in the bottom of the ninth inning agains the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field on June 21, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians defeated the Rays 1-0. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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4 Oct 1996: Jeff Kent of the Cleveland Indians throws the ball during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians won the game, 9-4. Mandatory Credit: Jed Jacobsohn /Allsport
4 Oct 1996: Jeff Kent of the Cleveland Indians throws the ball during a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The Indians won the game, 9-4. Mandatory Credit: Jed Jacobsohn /Allsport /

In November of 1996, the Indians made a blockbuster trade. Just months after they added infielder Jeff Kent in a trade deadline deal with the New York Mets, Cleveland sent Kent packing again as they dealt him to San Francisco in a six-player deal.

The Indians traded Kent, right-handed pitcher Julian Tavarez, infielder Jose Vizcaino and pitcher Joe Roa to the Giants in exchange for San Francisco fan favorite Matt Williams and outfielder Trent Hubbard.

While six players were involved in the deal, Kent and Williams were by far the two biggest names traded.

Kent would go onto play seven seasons in San Francisco, where he was named an All-Star three-times, win the NL MVP Award in 2000, win four Silver Slugger Awards and help lead the Giants to the World Series in 2002.

He is now a member of the Giants Wall of Fame at Oracle Park and has been debated as potentially being voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile, Williams would only spend one-year in Cleveland that saw him slash .263/.307/.488 with 32 home runs and 102 RBI’s as he won both Gold Glove and Silver Slug Award honors.

After the season, he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for slugger Travis Fryman and Tom Martin.

While Williams had a productive 1997 season that helped the Indians reach Game 7 of the World Series, Kemp was the player who ended up developing into a border line Hall of Famer and that Cleveland probably wishes they never dealt.

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