Exercising his no-trade clause, Phil Nevin once refused a deal that would have brought Ken Griffey Jr. to San Diego. Nevin, then 34, also turned down trades to Baltimore and Milwaukee. The Texas Rangers, however, were not on his no-trade list when General Manager Kevin Towers completed a swap on this date — July 30 — in 2005.
“It’s been an unbelievable ride,” a teary Nevin told the Union-Tribune before exiting the Padres’ clubhouse for good.
He was right.
Nevin arrived as a journeyman in 1999 who, to that point, had failed to live up to his billing as the No.