"I traded Dmitri Young for Jeff Brantley, and Brantley was hurt most of the time," Jocketty said. "We traded for him to be our closer after [Dennis] Eckersley. I think Eckersley ended up spending his last year back in Boston, and we wanted a closer in the same price range. Brantley was the guy."
Brantley had saved 44 games for the Reds in 1996, but he missed most of '97 because of right shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. The '97 season was Young's first year in the Majors, and he had batted .258/.335/.363 with five home runs and 34 RBIs in 110 games.