All-Star traded at deadline twice in MLB career has advice for first-timers
Thirteen-year major league veteran Lance Lynn spent barely half a season in retirement before lining up his first post-playing job as a host with MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM earlier this month.
Lynn, 38, will periodically hop on various shows on the network from his home studio in Illinois. He joined just in time for Thursday's MLB trade deadline — a hectic time of year for many players.
Lynn should know.
Lynn was traded from the Minnesota Twins to the New York Yankees on July 30, 2018. Five years later, he was traded by the Chicago White Sox to the Los Angeles Dodgers along with Joe Kelly.
The two experiences were different, Lynn said in an interview withThe Big Lead on Wednesday. The first time is always the hardest.
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"Moving from Chicago to LA, finding a place for the family and kids, getting acclimated to new surroundings is part of the gig," he said. "I think being traded to New York the first time really helped with that move for myself and my family. You knew what was going to go down. I was more prepared for it. There was a lot more writing on the wall I was going to be traded to LA. It was a little simpler move."
When it came time for Lynn to OK the trade to Los Angeles, it helped that he could lean on someone for help. Kelly had played with the Dodgers for three seasons already (2019-21) in his career.
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It also helped that Lynn and Kelly were teammates in Chicago and on Team USA when they were in college. He had a trade buddy — a familiar face in a sea of strangers.
"Joe said a hundred times (in 2023) if it weren’t for my no-trade clause it would’ve happened already," Lynn said of the trade that ultimately sent them to the Dodgers.
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Lynn accumulated plenty of nuggets of wisdom while playing for the St. Louis Cardinals (2011-17, 2024), Twins (2018), Yankees (2018), Texas Rangers (2019-20), White Sox (2021-23) and Dodgers (2023). He also accumulated plenty of teammates, coaches, managers, and the ability to connect with a variety of people.
Those people skills ought to come in handy now that Lynn is the one asking the questions.
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"As a player," he said, "what I started paying attention to the older I got was, how can you ask a question and get an honest answer without putting them on their heels?"
Lynn said he wasn't keen on giving unsolicited advice to younger teammates during his playing career. But for those who are getting traded this week for the first time, he's got some.
"Use all the resources you can," Lynn said. "Don’t be afraid to ask. When all is said and done, the team that’s trading for you has resources to get you set up. The team that’s trading you can do the same thing. Baseball’s a community that takes care of its own. They’re there to help."
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