One Year Later: Looking Back on the Indianapolis-New York Blockbuster Trade of Last Offseason

Last offseason, the Indy Yetis and the New York Empire pulled off a trade that was massive, in terms of the number of players involved. Now that a year has passed, let's look at how the trade has deeply affected the teams involved.

INDIANAPOLIS RECEIVED:

RP Mike Hunter Hunter never played in the majors for Indianapolis, spending the entire season in AAA, where he pitched very well. He's a free agent now and has a chance to make a major league bullpen next season, but he barely helped the Indianapolis organization during his time with them.

RP Juan Betonio Betonio was a young reliever in whom some GMs saw a lot of potential. Indy's was not one of them, apparently, even though he traded for him, as Betonio was placed on waivers just days after being acquired by Indianapolis. Betonio was claimed by Tuscaloosa, where he spent most of the season as a starter in AAA. He has a chance to make it to the majors, although strictly in a bullpen role, but Indianapolis got nothing out of him.

NEW YORK RECEIVED:

2B Roger Dubois Dubois stuck in the major leagues for the entire season, and he was a useful player for the Emps during an injury-filled season. While his hitting was subpar, Dubois is valuable for his defensive versatility, and his starts last season were almost evenly divided between the infield and the outfield. He is a useful type of player for any team to have.

CF Brencis Dakaev Dakaev spent most of his season in short-season A Pearl, where he played excellently (.360/.427/.545). New York's scouting department still projects him to be a serviceable major league player, although most scouts around the league probably disagree. Dakaev is another player with super utility potential. He is still only 19 years old and has a lot of room to grow.

RF Joe Carpenter Carpenter was a former top prospect for the Yetis, and is now one of the top power hitters in the Empire system. He rose all the way from high-A to AAA last season, although his productivity went down with each increasing level. He could be a major league hitter soon, but at 24 years old he is running out of time to figure out the higher levels of the minor leagues.

2B Gabriel Tejada Tejada has plus plus power and speed, but has not really figured out any other parts of his game yet. He really struggled in 2024, playing for four different minor league teams and not hitting particularly well for any of them. Still, scouts see a lot of raw talent in this young man from Mexico.

IN SUMMATION: New York probably did not receive any game changers in this trade, although they do have prospects with some potential. However, the Empire won this trade almost by default, as Indianapolis, even with their bullpen desperation of the offseason and their in-season fire sale, failed to get any value out of the players they received.