Most memorable Cleveland Indians November transactions since 1990

November is typically a quiet month for Major League Baseball, but the Cleveland Indians have made some noise in the first full month of the offseason over the years.

The first full month of what is expected to be a pivotal offseason for the Cleveland Indians is upon us. This November, the Indians will decide whether to make a push towards a championship in 2021 or begin a rebuilding process.

While November marks the start of free agency and first full month of the offseason for all 30 MLB clubs, it is usually a quiet month when it comes to movement.

November is mostly known for players to either opt-in or out of their contracts, teams’ deciding whether or not to pick up team options on players or whether or not to extend qualifying offers.

However, every now and then, big moves are made in the month of November, whether they’re trades, free agent signings, or contract extensions.

Like most of baseball, the Indians have been relatively quiet in November over the years, but since 1990, there have been some significant transactions that fans still remember today.

Here are some of the most notable November Cleveland Indians transactions since 1990 that prove this month is still an exciting one for baseball fans looking for action.

In November of 1992, MLB held an expansion draft as they welcomed the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies to the league. As a result, unprotected players became available to baseball’s newest clubs to select and three Cleveland Indians ended up being selected.

The first was outfielder Darrell Whitmore who was selected 16th overall by the Florida Marlins. Whitmore was drafted by the Indians in the second round of the 1990 MLB Draft after a successful two-sport career at West Virginia University (Football and Baseball).

He never reached the majors as an Indian but made his MLB debut with the Marlins in 1993 and played there until 1995, playing in 112 games in which he totaled five career home runs, 67 hits and 21 RBIs before going overseas to finish his pro career in Japan.

With the 39th pick of the draft, the Marlins took Indians right-handed pitcher Jack Armstrong. Armstrong pitched for Cleveland in 1992 in which he pitched in 35 games, including making 23 starts posting a 6-15 record with a 4.64 ERA.

While Armstrong did not perform great in Cleveland, he did play a major role in helping the Cincinnati Reds win the 1990 World Series as he put together an All-Star season, threw three scoreless innings of Game 2 of the World Series that was won by the Reds.

Finally, left-handed pitcher Denis Boucher was taken by Colorado with the 76th overall pick of the draft.

Boucher pitched for the Tribe in both 1991 and 1992 and struggled mightily as he posted a 8.34 ERA in five outings and then a 6.37 ERA in eight 1992 outings. While he was drafted by Colorado, he never pitched for the Rockies as he instead wound up with the Montreal Expos.

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.

In November of 1998, the Indians made not one but two notable trades as they dealt right-handed pitcher to Chad Ogea to the Philadelphia Phillies and outfielder Brian Giles to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ogea will best be remembered by Cleveland fans for his efforts during the 1997 World Series. Not only did out-duel Marlins right-hander Kevin Brown twice in the series to lead the Indians to victories but he shocked everyone with his ability to produce at the plate as he became the first Cleveland pitcher to pickup two RBI’s in a World Series since 1920.

In exchange for Ogea, the Indians received 6-foot-7 right-hander Jerry Spradlin. Spradlin would last just four games in a Cleveland uniform as he posted a woeful 18.00 ERA.

As for Giles, he spent the first four years of his MLB career with the Indians, including slashing .268/.368/.459 with 17 home runs and 61 RBI’s in Cleveland’s 1997 American League title season.

He took his game to a new level in Pittsburgh, however, as he was named an All-Star in both 2000 and 2001 before going onto finish his career with the San Diego Padres.

In exchange for Giles, Cleveland acquired left-handed pitcher Ricardo Rincon. Rincon would spend three and a half seasons with the Indians and posted strong numbers in both 2000 (2.70 ERA) and 2001 (2.83 ERA).

After seeing their five-year postseason drought come to a close in 2000, the Indians decided to bolster their offense early in the offseason with a November signing of veteran Ellis Burks to be their new designated hitter.

Burks signed with the Indians having already played 16 years in the majors in which he was named an All-Star in 1990 with the Boston Red Sox and 1996 with the Colorado Rockies.

He came to Cleveland fresh off a strong 2000 season with the San Francisco Giants that saw him slash .344/.419/.606 with 24 home runs and 96 RBI’s,

In his first season with the Tribe, Burks slashed .280/.369/.542 with 28 home runs and 74 RBI’s and followed that up by hitting .301 in 2002 before taking a step back in 2003.

He’d finish his career with the Red Sox in 2004 but would rejoin the Indians organization as a special assistant to the general manager after the 2005 season.

While Burks never made the postseason while wearing an Indians uniform, he continued to perform at a high-level despite his age and played a key role as a leader in the clubhouse making the signing worth it for the Tribe.

In November of 2009, the Indians made a move that little could’ve anticipated when they signed 17-year old international free agent Jose Ramirez to a deal that included a $50,000 signing bonus.

After parts of three seasons in the minors, Ramirez was called up to the majors in 2013 but did not begin to truly breakout until 2016. That season, the Cleveland third basemen slashed .312/.362/.462 with 11 home runs and 76 RBI’s in 152 games.

In the postseason, he played a key role in the Indians’ ALDS sweep of the Red Sox, hitting .500 in the series and then hit .310 with a home run in Cleveland’s seven-game World Series loss to the Cubs.

He’d follow up his breakout 2016 season with back-to-back All-Star seasons in 2017 and 2018 and finished third in AL MVP voting in both seasons.

After a down year in 2019, Ramirez again played at an MVP level in the shortened 2020 season as he slashed .292/.386/.607 with 17 home runs and 46 RBI’s. He was named one of three AL MVP finalists in late October and will learn his MVP fate on Nov. 12.

Needless to say, this November signing will go down as one of the best in Cleveland Indians’ history.

In November of 2013, the Indians inked veteran outfielder David Murphy to a two-year $12 million deal, which was leaked by his youngest daughter, who told her daycare caretakers that her dad would be signing with Cleveland.

The Indians signed Murphy after he put together five successful seasons with the Texas Rangers that saw him help Texas reach the World Series in both 2010 and 2011, hit .304 with 15 home runs and 61 RBI was in 2012.

With the Indians, Murphy could not quite replicate his success from his days in the Lone Star State. In 2014 he slashed .262/.319/.385 with eight home runs and 58 RBI’s.

In 2015 he played in 84 games with the Tribe in which he slashed .296/.344/.437 with five home runs and 27 RBI’s before being traded to the Los Angeles Angels at the trade deadline.

Murphy would go on to sign minor league deals with the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins in 2016 but never made either roster and eventually announced his retirement.

While Murphy’s time in Cleveland wasn’t all that memorable, the story of his daughter breaking the signing will not be one anyone will forget.