Yankees traded Wells for Clemens in 1999. Why?

David Wells February 18, 1999: Traded by the New York Yankees with Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd to the Toronto Blue Jays for Roger Clemens.

Not even up. Wells plus Bush and Lloyd.

Wells:

Bats: Left  •  Throws: Left

6-3

Born: May 20, 1963

Clemens:

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Right

6-4

Born: August 4, 1962

Wells was younger and lefty, which was better in Yankee Stadium.

baseball-reference.com uses June 30 as the cutoff for showing player ages for a season, so both are shown as 36 in 1999, the first season after the trade but Clemens was almost ten months older than Wells.

Clemens pitched for the Yankees 1999-2003, then left for Houston. He pitched again for the Yankees in his final season 2007 at ages 44-45: June 9, 2007 through September 16, 2007 (won in Boston).

Wells pitched for Toronto 1999-2000, then White Sox in 2001, then back to the Yankees 2002-2003. Wells:

January 14, 2001: Traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Matt DeWitt to the Chicago White Sox for Mike Williams (minors), Kevin Beirne, Brian Simmons and Mike Sirotka.

November 5, 2001: Granted Free Agency.

January 17, 2002: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees.

November 2, 2003: Granted Free Agency.

So Wells and Clemens were Yankee teammates 2002-2003. Let's compare them 1999-2003.

1999
Wells with Toronto ERA+ 101; led AL CG, IP, H

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
1999 Totals	17	10	.630	4.82	34	34	0	7	1	0	231.2	246	132	124	32	62	2	169	6	0	1	987	1.329	6.6	2.73

Clemens ERA+ 102

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
1999 Totals	14	10	.583	4.60	30	30	0	1	1	0	187.2	185	101	96	20	90	0	163	9	0	8	822	1.465	7.8	1.81

2000
Wells with Toronto ERA+ 123; led AL W, GS, CG, H

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
2000 Totals	20	8	.714	4.11	35	35	0	9	1	0	229.2	266	115	105	23	31	0	166	8	1	9	972	1.293	6.5	5.35

Clemens ERA+ 131

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
2000 Totals	13	8	.619	3.70	32	32	0	1	0	0	204.1	184	96	84	26	84	0	188	10	1	2	878	1.312	8.3	2.24

2001
Wells with White Sox ERA+ 104

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
2001 Totals	5	7	.417	4.47	16	16	0	1	0	0	100.2	120	55	50	12	21	1	59	3	0	2	432	1.401	5.3	2.81

Clemens ERA+ 128; led AL W-L%, WP

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
2001 Totals	20	3	.870	3.51	33	33	0	0	0	0	220.1	205	94	86	19	72	1	213	5	0	14	918	1.257	8.7	2.96

2002
Wells ERA+ 118

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
2002 Totals	19	7	.731	3.75	31	31	0	2	1	0	206.1	210	100	86	21	45	2	137	5	0	4	873	1.236	6.0	3.04

Clemens ERA+ 102

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
2002 Totals	13	6	.684	4.35	29	29	0	0	0	0	180.0	172	94	87	18	63	6	192	7	0	14	768	1.306	9.6	3.05

2003
Wells ERA+ 106

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
2003 Totals	15	7	.682	4.14	31	30	0	4	1	0	213.0	242	101	98	24	20	0	101	8	0	3	887	1.230	4.3	5.05

Clemens ERA+ 113

Split	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	SO9	SO/W
2003 Totals	17	9	.654	3.91	33	33	0	1	1	0	211.2	199	99	92	24	58	1	190	5	0	5	878	1.214	8.1	3.28

Both could be a pain in the neck, maybe Wells more than Clemens. Clemens was the bigger name and owner George Steinbrenner wanted the bigger name. Brian Cashman was starting his second year as Yankee general manager but Cashman was little more than a clerk in big transactions. George Steinbrenner made the big decisions.

But the Yankees could have done about as well on the field with Wells in those first two seasons that Clemens pitched for the Yankees, 1999-2000, and maybe for all five seasons. The Yankees won the World Series both seasons against Braves and Mets, then just pennants in 2001 and 2003, losing the World Series to expansion teams Arizona and Florida.

Post season with the Yankees:
Wells before being traded for Clemens:
1997: one start: 1-0
1998: four starts: 4-0; ALCS MVP

2002: one start: 0-1
2003: four starts: 2-1

Clemens:
1999: three starts; 2-1; against Boston: 2 IP, 5 ER
2000: four starts: 2-2; 0-2 round one, 8.18 ERA
2001: five starts; 1-1
2002: one start: 5.66 IP, 4 ER
2003: four starts: 2-0

Which of the two is welcomed by Yankee fans in 2019?