Yankees Trade for Anthony Rizzo (2021)

July 29, 2021. A day before the trade deadline, Brian Cashman picked up the phone and got the Cubs to hand over a franchise legend for a couple of prospects most Yankees fans couldn't have picked out of a lineup. Anthony Rizzo, three-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, the guy who'd ended a 108-year championship drought in Chicago, was now a Yankee. It felt less like a blockbuster and more like a fire sale, because it was one.

First Base Had Become a Problem

The Yankees needed this. Luke Voit, the reigning AL home run leader from the shortened 2020 season, had been a disaster area of knee surgery and injections, limited to 29 games and hitting a soft .241/.328/.370 before landing back on the injured list. First base had turned into an offensive black hole on a team that already couldn't hit lefties consistently. (When your infield's biggest offensive threat is a rotating cast of replacement-level fill-ins, you go shopping.)

So the Yankees went shopping. A day earlier they'd landed Joey Gallo from Texas, and now they added Rizzo -- two lefty bats within 24 hours of each other, both of them plus defenders at their positions. Cashman wasn't messing around at this deadline. He also brought in Andrew Heaney for rotation depth on deadline day itself. The Rizzo deal specifically was pure need: a switch-hitting-proof, left-handed-hitting, Gold Glove first baseman walking straight into a lineup that was starving for exactly that.

Why the Cubs Were Selling Their Own History

The Cubs weren't rebuilding by design. They were rebuilding because the wheels came off. On June 24, Chicago sat 42-33, tied for first in the NL Central, riding high off a combined no-hitter against the Dodgers. Then they went 5-17 over their next 22 games and collapsed out of contention entirely. Ownership put out the for-sale sign, and the front office moved fast and brutal.

Rizzo went first, on July 29th. The next day, in a span of about two hours, Chicago traded Javier Baez to the Mets, Kris Bryant to the Giants, and closer Craig Kimbrel to the White Sox. Three cornerstones of the 2016 World Series team, gone within 24 hours of each other. That team is never walking back into Wrigley together again. The Cubs finished 71-91, fourth place. (Rizzo wasn't even surprised -- he'd tried to get an extension done that spring, the Cubs offered five years and $70 million, he wanted closer to nine figures, and in March he told reporters flatly, "We've had enough time to talk and figure it out." Everybody in that clubhouse knew a trade was coming. Nobody knew it'd take the whole infrastructure with it.)

What Actually Changed Hands

The Yankees sent two minor leaguers north: right-hander Alexander Vizcaino, a 24-year-old who'd only pitched six times all year after opening the season hurt, and 19-year-old outfielder Kevin Alcantara, a toolsy kid hitting .360 in eight games for the Florida Complex League Yankees. Neither had sniffed the majors. (Alcantara eventually did, debuting for the Cubs in September 2024 as a top-100 prospect -- so at least Chicago got a freakin' actual big leaguer out of the deal, three years late.) The Cubs also picked up nearly all of what remained on Rizzo's $16.5 million salary -- $5,652,403 in cash, leaving the Yankees on the hook for just over $200,000 the rest of the way. This wasn't really a baseball trade. It was a salary dump the Yankees happily wrote a small check to accept.

Rizzo wasted no time making the return look smart. In his Yankees debut on July 30th against Miami, he homered 449 feet into the upper deck in right-center off Zach Thompson -- the Yankees' first run in 15 straight innings -- and added a single and a walk in a 3-1 win. "Putting that jersey with New York across the chest, it's different," he said afterward. "I'm very fortunate to wear the Cubs jersey. This one, obviously, is one of those different jerseys. I felt really good." Not exactly a guy pretending the emotions weren't real.

The Rest of 2021, Briefly

The full Anthony Rizzo story in pinstripes runs four years and gets its own page. This one's about the deal itself, so here's the short version of how the rental half of it went: 49 games, a .249/.340/.428 line, 8 homers, 21 RBI. A hot start (three homers and a .963 OPS in his first nine games) cooled off after an 11-day stretch lost to COVID protocols in mid-August, and the back half of his half-season was much quieter. Good enough to help push New York into the AL Wild Card Game, where he hit a solo shot off Nathan Eovaldi in a loss the Yankees never really had a shot at winning. A preview, in miniature, of exactly what Rizzo would be for the next three years: real, useful production, just never quite enough to finish the job on his own.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did the Yankees give up to get Anthony Rizzo?

The Yankees sent two minor league prospects to Chicago -- right-hander Alexander Vizcaino and outfielder Kevin Alcantara, neither of whom had reached the majors. The Cubs also sent back $5,652,403 in cash, covering nearly all of Rizzo's remaining 2021 salary.

Why did the Cubs trade Anthony Rizzo?

Extension talks broke down that March, and the Cubs collapsed out of first place in late June and July, going 5-17 in a 22-game stretch. Facing a walk-year star with no deal in place, Chicago sold -- trading Rizzo on July 29, then Javier Baez and Kris Bryant within a day of each other, tearing down the core of their 2016 championship team.

How did Anthony Rizzo perform in his first game with the Yankees?

He homered. On July 30, 2021 against the Marlins, Rizzo hit a 449-foot home run off Zach Thompson -- the Yankees' first run in 15 innings -- and added a single and a walk in a 3-1 win.

What were Anthony Rizzo's stats for the rest of the 2021 season after the trade?

Rizzo hit .249/.340/.428 with 8 home runs and 21 RBI in 49 games as a Yankee, including a hot nine-game start before an 11-day stretch missed to COVID protocols in mid-August slowed him down.

Did the Yankees make the playoffs in 2021 after acquiring Rizzo?

Yes, as a Wild Card team. Rizzo homered off Nathan Eovaldi in the sixth inning of the AL Wild Card Game at Fenway Park, but the Yankees lost to the Red Sox, 6-2.

Nobody in the Bronx remembers Alexander Vizcaino or Kevin Alcantara. Everybody remembers the day the Cubs decided a 108-year drought-breaker was worth less than two guys who'd never played a big-league inning. That's the trade deadline for you -- one team's history becomes another team's stopgap first baseman, and four years later, the stopgap turned into one of the more quietly beloved Yankees of his generation.