San Francisco Giants: 15 greatest MLB trade deadline deals of all time

8. Giants capitalize on White Sox “White Flag Trade”

Date: July 31, 1997
To Giants: LHP Wilson Alvarez, RHP Danny Darwin, RHP Roberto Hernandez
To White Sox: RHP Keith Foulke, RHP Bob Howry, SS Mike Caruso, RHP Lorenzo Barcelo, LHP Ken Vining, OF Brian Manning

This deal became known as the “White Flag Trade” since the Chicago White Sox were essentially waiving the white flag here, despite trailing the Cleveland Indians by just 3.5 games in the AL Central standings.

Wilson Alvarez (11 GS, 4.48 ERA) and Danny Darwin (7 GS, 4.91 ERA) both joined the Giants starting rotation, while Roberto Hernandez (28 G, 4 SV, 9 HLD, 2.48 ERA) became a key setup arm ahead of closer Rod Beck.

The Giants were tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the NL West heading into August, and they went 31-23 the rest of the way to win the division title by two games.

Keith Foulke and Bob Howry developed into key bullpen arms for the White Sox and Mike Caruso briefly served as the team’s starting shortstop. All things considered, it was still a worthwhile move that helped push San Francisco into the postseason.