Today in Blue Jays history: A great trade and Roy Halladay retires

Today in Blue Jays history:

2013

Roy Halladay signed a 1-day contract with the Blue Jays and then retired as a Jay. He would finish with a 203-105 record and a 3.38 ERA. As a Blue Jay he was 148-76 with a 3.43 ERA. I'd call him the best AL pitcher of the oughts. He won 2 Cy Young awards, one as a Jay, one as a Phillie and was named to 8 All-Star teams. Three more years and he'll be on the Hall of Fame Ballot.

1982

The Jays pull off one of the best trades in team history.

We sent reliever Dale Murray and minor leaguer Tom Dodd to the Yankees for outfielder Dave Collins, starter Mike Morgan and Fred McGriff.

What the Yankees got:Todd Dodd never made it to the Yankees. they released him in 1983 and he went to the White Sox then the Orioles. He played in 8 games with the Orioles, 16 at bats, the total of him major league career. He did have a long minor league career, that included a season here in Calgary. He had a lot of power, hitting 206 home runs in 11 seasons, and in 2008, he hit 37 home runs with a .289/.381/.583 slash line in Charlotte Double-AA.

Dale Murray had been a pretty good reliever. He pitched with the Expos from 1974 to 1976. in 1976 he pitched in 81 games, 113 innings, with a 3.26 ERA and 13 saves for a team that only won 55 games. He bounced around from team to team, but in 1982 he pitched in 56 games for the Jays with a 3.16 ERA and 11 saves. In 111 innings he only had 60 strikeouts.

For the Yankees, in 2 seasons plus 3 games he had a 4.73 ERA, in 62 games, 1 save. In 120 innings he allowed 147 hits, 7 home runs, 27 walks with 58 strikeouts. They released him in April of 1985. Baseball Reference has him at a 0.0 WAR in his time as a Yankees. If you add in Dodd, they got 0 WAR out of the trade.

The Jays, on the other hand, received:

Dave Collins played two seasons with the Blue Jays. The first one wasn't great, hitting .271/.343/.328 with 31 stolen bases, 7 times caught, as part of a pretty complicated platoon in the outfield.

He had a great season in 1984, hitting .308/.366/.444 with 60 stolen bases, 14 caught, and a league leading 15 triples as part of a complicated platoon in the outfield. Collins, a switch-hitter would play left against RHP, pushing George Bell to right field, Wilie Aikens and Jesse Barfield to the bench. Against lefties, Collins would sit, Bell would play left, Barfield right and Cliff Johnson would DH. As the season went on Barfield got more playing time.

In his two seasons as a Jay, Baseball Reference credits him with a 4.3 WAR.

Mike Morgan didn't do much for us. He was 0-3 with a 5.16 ERA in 45 innings in 1983, then went on the DL and missed all of 1984. The Mariners took him in the Rule 5 draft after the 1984 season and he went on to have an up and down career. 0 WAR as a Jays.

Fred McGriff....well you know. He was great for us. In 4 seasons, plus 3 games, he hit .278/..389/.530 with 125 home runs, 305 RBI in 578 games. Baseball Reference has him at an 18.4 WAR.

And that doesn't tell the whole story. Collins would be traded to the A's for Alfredo Griffin and Bill Caudill. Caudill had one good season (2.99 ERA and 14 saves in 1985) and one awful season (6.19 ERA and 2 saves), then was released in April of 1987. Back then, the team thought Caudill was the 'proven closer' that the team needed. Tom Henke would become that guy.

And McGriff, as you know, was traded the the Padres (with Tony Fernandez) for Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar and we would go on to win two World Series.

On the list of Blue Jays great trades, this one has to be in the top 3.