Raul Mondesi, who turns 54 today, had a mixed MLB career primarily with the Dodgers and a less impactful tenure with the Blue Jays after being traded for Shawn Green. Despite hopes that Rogers Centre would enhance Mondesi's performance, he struggled in Toronto, hitting .251 with 66 home runs over 320 games. When compared to Green's impressive performance during the same period, the trade appeared regrettable. Eventually, the Yankees acquired Mondesi, after a need arose due to injuries and a serendipitous media mention about his availability.
Fortunately for the Blue Jays, at the end of July 2003, George Steinbrenner decided he wanted Mondesi: "As Paul Godfrey tells it, the Yankees were struggling with injuries to their outfield at the time, and a play one day led a T.V. announcer to wonder why Steinbrenner was doing nothing with Mondesi on the market."
It wasn't a good trade for the Jays. Gord Ash felt Mondesi's numbers would improve since Rogers Centre is a much better hitter's park than Dodgers Stadium. It didn't happen.
Green demanded a trade when the team hired Cito Gaston as the hitting coach. Green didn't get along with Cito when he first came to the majors.
In Toronto, he hit .251/.328/.470 with 66 home runs in 320 games. These are not horrible numbers, but considering Green hit .284/.375/.543 with 115 home runs in 481 games over those three seasons, the trade looked terrible.
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