Mar 15, 2013; Miami, FL, USA; Puerto Rico starting pitcher Nelson Figueroa (27) throws in the fifth inning during the World Baseball Classic against United States at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the Arizona Diamondbacks (7/26/00)
After a long tenure with the Phillies, Schilling was eventually traded again when in 2000 he was sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Now that Schilling was a star, the asking price was much higher. The Phillies received a bundle of pitchers, including Omar Daal, Vicente Padilla, and Nelson Figueroa along with first baseman Travis Lee, in return for the right-hander.
Daal, the veteran of the group, finished off the 2000 season with the Phillies going 2-9 with a 4.69 ERA. He returned again only for the 2001 season where he was 13-7 with a 4.46 ERA.
Padilla remained in Philadelphia through the 2005 season and actually pitched well at times. In parts of six seasons with the Phillies, Padilla was 49-49 with a 3.98 ERA.
Figueroa wore a Phillies’ uniform for only one season and had a very limited role as a spot starter. He went 4-5 with a 3.94 ERA during this first stint with the Phillies before returning again in 2010.
Lee stayed with the team through the end of the 2002 season. He hit an underwhelming 34 home runs with a .258 batting average for the Phillies over the two-and-a-half years he played in Philadelphia.
These four players contributed on a nightly basis for the Phillies, but they were severely outmatched by what Schilling did in Arizona.
In just his first full season with the team in 2001, Schilling helped lead the Diamondbacks to an improbable World Series victory over the New York Yankees. He finished second to teammate Randy Johnson in 2001 and 2002 in the Cy Young voting, winning 45 total games Schilling had reached a new level of greatness that nobody thought he could ever achieve.