Commissioner Bud Selig approves the trade of reigning American League MVP Alex Rodriguez to the New York Yankees for secondbaseman Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later. That player would eventually be name as minor league shortstop Joaquin Arias.

Aftermath of the Trade
Alex Rodriguez went on to post 30 homeruns, 100 runs scored and RBI, and all-star appearances in each of his following 3 seasons with the Yankees. He also won the AL MVP for the 2nd time in the 2005 season. He notched his 2000th career hit and 400th career homerun in pinstripes.

Alfonso Soriano put together 2 excellent seasons in Texas culminating in a 30 homer, 30 steal, 100 run, 100 RBI campaign in his 2nd season before being traded to Washington. He was voted to the all-star team each of his 2 seasons in Texas. After being traded to the Nationals he posted a career high 46 homeruns last season.

Joaquin Arias, as of February 7th, was ranked as the 8th top prospect in the Rangers farm system. He went 6 for 11 with a double and 4 runs scored in his September callup last season.