Ten years ago (if you can believe it), MLBTR standard-setter Ben Nicholson-Smith ran an awesome series looking back at the most notable deals of the prior decade. We have fallen short of the typically lofty BN-S mark, but didn’t want to pass up on an opportunity to round up the biggest swaps of the ensuing ten-year span with the new year upon us.
So, in this post we’ll categorize and cover the most notable aspects of the biggest trades of the past decade. If you want to re-live them in full, follow the links at each title.
Mammoth Contract Swaps
These deals are notable for their sheer scale, in terms of the volume of players and the dollars changing hands.
The August Coastal Blockbuster
Two behemoth teams. Mammoth contracts. This one set the course for the Dodgers and Red Sox for years to come. The Los Angeles organization fell short in the NL West in the year of the swap (2012) but has owned it ever since, with Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett (less so Carl Crawford) helping to set the course. While the prospects added in return didn’t amount to much, the Red Sox used the re-set to vault into a World Series crown in 2013.
And in the ensuing years? The Hollywood Dodgers have turned into a finely tuned, disciplined machine that eschews just these kinds of deals. The Red Sox tired a bit of their own analytics and went old school for a stretch, resulting in another World Series win … followed by a step back to finish off a roller-coaster decade. After Boston’s latest leadership swap, both teams’ baseball operations departments are run by former Rays executives.
If the Sox have put their fans through a coaster ride, the Marlins of the past decade have been one of those stomach-churning drop towers. Long, slow buildups to an expected payoff that turns out to be disappointing … if not downright unpleasant. The late-2012 deal with the Blue Jays was emblematic. As part of part of the generally craven Marlins Park scheme, the Jeffrey Loria-owned Marlins went big in free agency but turned in a complete dud. No worries. The Jays were there to bail them out.
This deal is that actually worked quite well for the Marlins in retrospect. Their MLB roster lost many of its big names — Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle (plus Emilio Bonifacio and John Buck) — but was also relieved of some onerous salary obligations. And the swap brought in a host of affordable, useful pieces. Every single player in this trade would ultimately be a big leaguer, in fact. None of the Marlins’ acquisitions (Henderson Alvarez, Anthony DeSclafani, Yunel Escobar, Adeiny Hechavarria, Jake Marisnick, Jeff Mathis) turned into stars, but most had productive stretches and many are still active.
Unfortunately, the Marlins never really proved capable of capitalizing on the surplus value, due in some part to ensuing trades. They immediately flipped Escobar, shipped Marisnick as part of a multi-player deal with the Astros, and sent DeSclafani out for Mat Latos. (This isn’t the last time we’ll hear from the Marlins or Latos.) The Fish also dumped Heath Bell that winter, another of the players signed the prior winter. This swap also connected to a few other memorable deals on the Toronto side. It was the precursor to the Jays’ acquisition of R.A. Dickey from the Mets later that winter (link), which cost the Toronto organization Noah Syndergaard and Travis d’Arnaud. And Reyes ended up being sent out in another highly memorable deal for Troy Tulowitzki (link).
Fresh off a sale of the team, the Marlins auctioned off all three of their star outfielders — Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna, and Christian Yelich — in the 2017-18 offseason. While this list is going to focus on individual deals for the most part, it makes sense to think about this series of swaps as parts of a whole.
Any follower of the baseball hot stove will remember the Stanton trade as much or more for its build-up than its end result. The prodigious slugger held full no-trade rights, thus launching a highly unusual process in which he met in person with multiple teams (the Cardinals and Giants) before spurning them. Stanton wanted the Dodgers, but the L.A. org had already transitioned to a new-school approach and wouldn’t give up enough in prospects and/or take on enough in salary to facilitate a deal. Sensing an opportunity, the Yankees stepped in.
Once again, the Marlins may ultimately be proven wise to have moved a big contract … though again, that primarily reflects the questionable initial decision to sign it. The Miami organization was forced to eat cash (in the form of the Starlin Castro contract and $30MM in obligations that’ll be owed if Stanton doesn’t opt out next winter) to move … a mid-prime player fresh off of a National League MVP award. It’s possible the Fish will get something out of the young players acquired, Jorge Guzman and Jose Devers, and the contract flexibility is great, but this one goes down as another head-scratcher when viewed in the broadest context. (It also connects to some other major swaps, as we’ll explore below.)
From the Yanks’ side, it remains to be seen if Stanton can get back on track and deliver what the team hoped he would. He was injured for most of 2019 after a good but not great first campaign in New York. The swap installed a big salary that has impacted the future roster-building efforts of the disciplined (but still big-spending) behemoth. The Stanton pact may have tempered the team’s already less-than-robust interest in Bryce Harper and Manny Machado last winter, but didn’t stop the organization from stepping up to get the star it really wanted — Gerrit Cole — to kick off the new decade.
Somewhat surprisingly, the Miami club may have picked up its best pieces in the swap that sent Ozuna to the Cardinals. Young hurlers Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen have both shown early promise at the MLB level. The latter was cashed in over the trade deadline for prospect Jazz Chisholm. The third part of the return, Daniel Castano, had nice numbers last year at Double-A.
The most notable of the three swaps may end up being the Yelich disaster. This one would’ve fit in some of the other categories below, for reasons that will become obvious as you read them. Yelich has morphed from a very good hitter into an absolute monster over two seasons in Milwaukee, leading the National League in OPS with machine-like even numbers of 1.000 (2018) and 1.100 (2019). The real shame from the Marlins’ perspective is that they had the foresight to lock Yelich up to a contract that still has three affordable seasons of control remaining. The Brewers are the beneficiaries. There’s still hope that the Marlins will get some value out of the return they got for Yelich — outfielders Lewis Brinson and Monte Harrison, infielder Isan Diaz, and righty Jordan Yamamoto — but the initial returns haven’t been especially promising and certainly don’t come close to the immense surplus value created by Yelich.
Young Stars
They say there’s nothing more valuable than a mid-prime, cost-controlled star. So … what does one fetch in an active trade market?
Oof. This one felt strained out of the gates and just never aged well for the A’s. Josh Donaldson reached new heights upon moving to the Jays, delivering the Toronto org huge value throughout his arbitration years. On the other side? It was a volume play with a long-term upside element, but the ledger doesn’t come close to balancing on paper. Brett Lawrie fell apart in Oakland, Kendall Graveman was a solid arm but ended up hurt, and Sean Nolin didn’t contribute much. It all hinges on Franklin Barreto, who hasn’t yet caught on in the majors but has shredded Triple-A pitching and is still just 23 years of age.
This swap, from the very beginning of the epoch under consideration, has a better vibe for all sides. The acquisition of Zack Greinke helped the Brewers to a 96-win 2011 season. While things went south for the team in the ensuing campaign, they were able to ship him out for Jean Segura at the 2012 trade deadline. On the Royals side, while it hurt to part with their staff ace, the deal helped complete the picture for the eventual World Series-winning 2015 outfit by delivering Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi. (Cain has since returned to the Brewers via free agency; we’ll hear more on Odorizzi below.)
There’s nothing like an unfolding Winter Meetings drama, and that’s just what we got when the White Sox decided to blow things up in the 2016-17 offseason. Deep in talks with the Nationals on Chris Sale — can you imagine the resulting rotation?!?! — the South Siders pivoted to the Red Sox when the Boston organization put some of its most valued young players on the table. The return featured two exceptional talents — Yoan Moncada (who turned in a breakout 2019) and Michael Kopech (who’s returning from Tommy John surgery) — who could lead the White Sox to greatness. Luis Alexander Basabe also remains a notable prospect on the Chicago farm. And the White Sox also got some of the players they had targeted from the Nats, including 2019 All-Star Lucas Giolito, when those two teams immediately shifted to a trade involving Adam Eaton. It was a big price, but it was essential to the Red Sox’ 2018 World Series winner.
Deadline Strikes
The summer trade period creates pressures … and often delivers high drama.
The ultimate go-for-broke move came from the 2016 Cubs. The roster was loaded but needed a finishing piece. And one was available … from an unlikely place. The Yankees weren’t even fully out of contention when they began talking with teams about their top-shelf closer, Aroldis Chapman, who had been acquired for a song prior to the season after his offseason arrest. (A reported move to the Dodgers was reportedly scuttled by that news.) Chapman helped the Cubs to the promised land before returning to the Yanks on a record-setting deal in the ensuing winter. For their trouble, the Yanks came away with franchise centerpiece Gleyber Torres (plus other pieces). Having moved Chapman, the Yanks were then able to run up the market for fellow left-handed relief ace Andrew Miller, who was spun off for a big return one week later … to the Cubbies’ eventual World Series competitors, the Indians.
You know never to declare the deadline dealing over until well after the expiration. We often see deals finished at the very last moment, with word only trickling out after the buzzer sounds. But that’s typically a phenomenon of the traditional July trade deadline — now the only trade deadline. In 2017, the August non-revocable waiver trade period delivered the fireworks. Veteran ace Justin Verlander seemed destined to stay put in Detroit, but last-minute scrambling — including JV’s decision to waive his no-trade protection — resulted in a deal to the Astros. The results were magical, as Verlander has found a whole second life in Houston and helped the team to a title. The Tigers seemingly did as well as could’ve been hoped at the time, but likely won’t end up being adequately compensated. It remains to be seen what they’ll end up getting from Franklin Perez, Daz Cameron, and Jake Rogers.
What a flurry … it all began when reports emerged that the Mets were closing in on a deal to acquire Carlos Gomez from the Brewers. You’ll no doubt remember Wilmer Flores shedding tears on the field. Zack Wheeler was also reportedly in the deal, too. Then a kerfluffle involving Gomez’s medicals scuttled things. Quite an alternate history.
As it turned out, the Astros stepped in to land Gomez, which turned out to be a complete bust. The club also got Mike Fiers in the swap, but that was scant consolation given the price … a strong four-some of prospects that included current relief ace Josh Hader, starter Adrian Houser, and outfielders Brett Phillips and Domingo Santana. (At the time, the order of importance of those names was roughly the inverse.)
Meanwhile, the Mets pivoted … to some guy named Yoenis Cespedes. That swap may have delivered the Mets the 2015 pennant. It also came at what has at times seemed to be a steep price (Michael Fulmer). And it launched an ever-fascinating relationship with Cespedes, who has signed two free agent deals with the club, the latter of which was just renegotiated (with the team’s present GM and his former agent) after a bizarre injury.
Go For It
It’s always fun to see what happens when a team decides that NOW is the time to push for the prize.
That’s not what it was at the time, but MLBTR’s Steve Adams has quipped that’s what it’d end up being in the end. There’s some truth in it, as Jake Odorizzi is right now the highest-performing player that was involved in the December 2012 swap between the Rays and Royals. At the time? It was all about the Kansas City organization making a shocking strike for James Shields, giving up top prospect Wil Myers to secure the services of the long-excellent starter. This deal didn’t really shake out as anyone expected. And we’re still feeling the aftershocks.
The Royals did get a lot of very good innings from Shields, who helped them reach the World Series in 2014 even as he was obviously on the wane. But he was gone by the time the club won its ring in 2015 … with Wade Davis, the quiet part of the Royals’ side of the swap, pitching like an absolute maniac from the bullpen. Davis carried a 0.97 ERA in 139 1/3 innings from 2014-15. He was ultimately dealt for slugger Jorge Soler.
Myers was up and down in Tampa Bay before he was traded away in another consequential deal — the three-team arrangement that netted the Rays Trea Turner, only to see him passed along to the Nationals for Steven Souza. Odorizzi ended up being quite a valuable contributor for the Rays before he, too, was traded … in a swap that seems to have fallen flat for the TB org. The Rays also added lefty Mike Montgomery in the original deal, then swapped him out for a few useful seasons of Erasmo Ramirez.
While Craig Kimbrel had been talked about for months by the aggressive Braves, it came as a total surprise when he was dealt to the Padres just before the start of the 2015 season. The highly unusual timing was what really made this deal stand out. The primary purpose for Atlanta was to shed the contract of Melvin Upton Jr., even if it meant giving up the homegrown relief stud and taking on the dollars owed to fellow outfielders Cameron Maybin and Carlos Quentin. Kimbrel was part of a failed San Diego win-now effort. He ended up being sent along to the Red Sox in a deal that brought the Pads Manuel Margot and others … including Logan Allen, who was ultimately a piece of last summer’s three-team swap that landed the Friars a potential eventual Margot replacement in Taylor Trammell. Back to the original deal … the Braves added a solid pitching prospect who didn’t work out (Matt Wisler) and a likely inconsequential outfield prospect (Jordan Paroubeck). But they also added the 41st pick in the 2015 draft, which turned out to be still-interesting young player Austin Riley.
Snakes Pick Up Shelby After Sell By
This deal had disaster written on it from the start, but it turned out much worse than might’ve been expected. The all-in D-Backs signed Greinke and traded for Shelby Miller with visions of a glorious rotation. But the former got off to a rough start — he ultimately redeemed himself and was sent to the Astros this past summer — and the latter completely fell to pieces. The Braves, who had picked up Miller from the Cardinals for one season of Jason Heyward, made out like bandits with two strong, controllable up-the-middle players in Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte. Even if Swanson hasn’t been quite as awesome as might’ve been hoped, there was a load of surplus value here for the Braves.
Beautiful Disasters
There are a host of other memorable trades that have turned into forehead smackers. Many connect up to above-featured deals. The Padres’ win-now effort in 2015 began in earnest with the disastrous acquisition of Matt Kemp and his big contract in a deal that cost Yasmani Grandal. Another player added in that push by the Friars was Shields, fresh off his time in Kansas City. That deal went south quick, but the San Diego org somehow managed not only to offload most of the salary early in the 2016 season, but also to pick up current superstar Fernando Tatis Jr. from the White Sox. Oof.
The Pirates finally went for it by dealing for Chris Archer at the 2018 deadline. What seemed like a buy-low has turned into a total wreck, as Archer has scuffled while Tyler Glasnow and Austin Meadows have soared for the Rays.
The Marlins have a few more duds on their recent resume. Further driving home the dangers of early mid-season strikes, the Fish gave up Chris Paddack for a Fernando Rodney rental. They also lucked out when they were able to un-do a portion of a seven-player deal they struck with the Padres to add Andrew Cashner and Colin Rea. Miami sent the injured Rea back to San Diego and recouped pitching prospect Luis Castillo … only to send him out in the ensuing winter for Dan Straily. Castillo is now one of the best young pitchers in baseball. Miami wasn’t alone in misjudging him; they originally got him from the Giants as part of the return for journeyman Casey McGehee.
The Reds also made out like bandits when they got Eugenio Suarez from the Tigers for Alfredo Simon. Who can forget the series of deals that left Anthony Rizzo in Chicago? The Cubs got him from the Padres for Cashner, then an elite pitching prospect, after the Friars sent Mat Latos to the Reds for a four-player package that included first bagger Yonder Alonso, the aforementioned Grandal, and hurlers Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger. The Cubs got even bigger value in the 2013 deadline deal that brought in buy-low hurlers Jake Arrieta and Pedro Strop from the Orioles for Steve Clevenger and a half-season of Scott Feldman.
Honorable Mention
If there’s a lesson in all of this, it’s that what goes around comes around. The ebbs and flows, the webs of connections, the butterfly effects … it’s all part of the fun of the hot stove.
Cespedes was moved in another major summer swap, too. He went from the A’s to the Red Sox for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes, only to be shipped out in the ensuing offseason for Rick Porcello. The Athletics pulled off another buy-side stunner when they picked up both Jeff Samardzija and Jason Hammel from the Cubs in a deal featuring then-top-prospect Addison Russell. Like Cespedes, Samardzija also ended up on the move again in a deal with a long tail of repercussions.
David Price is another major player dealt multiple times. He moved from the Rays to the Tigers at the 2014 deadline and then on to the Blue Jays the next summer. We’ll see whether there’s eventually a follow-up to last winter’s Robinson Cano/Edwin Diaz blockbuster, which cost the Mets a lot of money and sent two significant prospects to the Mariners. If it seems unlikely Cano’s big contract could be moved twice … well, never say never. The Vernon Wells contract was traded a pair of times, first from the Jays to the Angels (for Mike Napoli) and then on to the Yankees (with the Halos eating most of the remaining salary).
The Rangers didn’t feature at all above, but did pull off a few larger swaps as well. The Ian Kinsler–Prince Fielder deal with the Tigers was a particularly memorable one, with high-profile players and big contracts. And the Texas org also swung major deals for a pair of veteran southpaws, getting Cliff Lee from the Mariners and Cole Hamels from the Phillies.
Shelby Miller.
How did Robinson Cano to the Mets not make this list?
We don’t have a full account of that deal yet. And it still feels less interesting than some of the others. But I will try to work it in somewhere.
You will notice I tried to do that with a bunch of other deals … just, there are so many.
Yeah. I guess the Mariners prospects have to actually make their way up to the majors and start performing before we know how the deal will turn out. Cano still has a few years left on his contract too. Martin Prado for Justin Upton would have been a good one. Or the Braves acquisition of Dan Uggla from the Marlins for Omar Infante. Come to think of it, you’re right. There have been way more trades that seemed big at the time than I previously thought.
Well, in 2019 the Mariners got more value in terms of WAR from players in the major leagues(Swarzac and Bruce combined for 0, Diaz and Cano -.3). Although, I don’t see Diaz being as awful as he was in 2019 again.
The more I branched out as I thought about “what happened after that trade,” the more I realized … yeah, there are just so many. Everyone will have different personal senses of what was most notable.
It was hard to conceive at the time, but the Marlins sold high on Stanton and won that deal with ease.
Haha. I like your name. It made me chuckle a little bit.
Yup and there were tons of Sox fans at the time claiming that Jeter did some back office sweetheart deal for the Yankees. BWAHAHA! They refused to see the deal as a pure and simple salary dump. They were shocked! Shocked, I tell you, that Miami did not get more players/prospects. Now of course they are all over the storyline of Cashman screwing up…
I don’t think this is a fair representation of that trade either, with hindsight it looks bad because of Stantons recent injuries but at the time it was a great deal for the Yankees. They gave up practically nothing, got Castro and his 30 mil out of the way and got the reigning NL MVP. More important with the structure of Stantons contract and the money the Marlins had to send with him he has an luxury tax AVV of 22mil. The question is if he was a FA that winter would the market have rewarded him with a 10 year 222mil contract? I would imagine so. I think Stanton’s future injury problems were predictable but you dont often get MVP’s that cheap so it was definitely worth the chance, also god knows there’s plenty of time on the contract for him to make an impact.
MVP. lol
Please change “August Coastal Blockbuster“ to the only correct name for the trade…”The Nick Punto Trade”.(who you didn’t even mention in the summary)
this ^
Lol for real tho
I thought for sure the Jon Jay for Jedd Gyorko trade would have made the list.
Yeah. I couldn’t believe Robinson Cano trade didn’t get mentioned either. I know it hasn’t been super impactful, but isn’t that kind of the point? Plus, there were other trades on the list that are long since over but were even less impactful than the Cano trade.
Padres and Cardinals both came out on that deal. Jay was having a good season and looked like a great trade chip before he was hit in the hand/wrist with a pitch.
The domino effect the LAD/BOS Beckett/Gonzalez deal was probably the biggest.
It lead to the Dodgers becoming a powerhouse, and probably won the 2013 Red Sox a World Series.
Allowed the Dodgers to reset their farm system while fielding a competitive team (a better method than tanking) and the Red Sox to get out of some troublesome contracts.
Yes and even more so it rebooted Dodger Stadium, which after the long demoralizing McCourt bankruptcy and divorce episode, was half empty most nights. That deal also unexpectedly gave Josh Beckett his last hurrah, thanks to AJ Ellis.
The funny part is the Red Sox got essentially nothing in that deal. Loney and de la Rosa each played in 30 unimpressive games for the Sox. Webster played in far fewer. DeJesus played in like 6 games and Sands never saw Fenway. De La Rosa and Webster were dealt for Wade Miley, who was dealt for Carson Smith, who got injured and did nothing. Had a small market team gotten this little in a major trade, it would have major ramifications and certainly not be considered a success.
For Boston it was all about unloading the salaries of Beckett and Crawford. That was the real cost to the Dodgers of acquiring Gonzales.
Never thought I’d see the name Heath Bell mentioned again.
Steal of the Decade…….Cubs getting Jake Arrieta for almost nothing !
Another good one to note, thanks!
Good call. It is certainly one of them
Of course. If you consider that the Cubs winning a World Series and ending the longest drought in professional sports history, was easily the biggest story of the decade – which it most certainly was – well, they don’t do it without this trade. People point to Chapman but Arrieta was so damn good for about a year and a half he was as good as any pitcher ever was over a short stretch like that.
rememberthecoop
The Giant dynasty’s 3 wins in 5 years was a pretty big story this decade, too.
Don’t forget that Pedro Strop was also part of that trade “for nothing”, and he ended up tossing a 2.90 ERA across 5 1/2 incredibly consistent seasons (and 1 outlier) with the Cubs.
The Cubs return for Dempster turned out pretty good, as well. Not Arrieta good, but not bad.
The Marlins are not the only team to trade Luis Castillo. Castillo was previously with SF, a lottery ticket exchanged for Casey McGehee. McGehee was dropped months later when Matt Duffy outplayed him.
Good point, should’ve added that in.
Padres only made 2 good trades last decade: the Tatis and Paddack trades
The Latos and Kennedy deals werent bad
The Latos deal was terrible. People forget how good he was when they traded him.
Those very well might be franchise changing trades tho
It’s looking like that Tatis trade may be the steal of the decade if he ends up a 5-7 WAR player
quality over quantity
Yonder Alonso for Drew Pomeranz? Andrew Cashner for Josh Naylor? Tyson Ross for Andy Parrino?
Expanding a little more on the A’s trading Josh Donaldson to the Jays. Turned out the Athletics went in for all in that 2014 season and traded – right at the end of the trade line – then mega star Yoenis Céspedes to the Red Sox for Jon Lester and Jonny Gomes. A’s Billy Beane insisted the traded was necessary to reach the playoff which wildcard they lost in incredible fashion to the Royals. Anyway, the trade impacted the A’s offense
… Donaldson, already a superstar, and who had two more years to go with Oakland before reaching free agency, already expressed his displeasure with the Céspedes trade to Boston saying the A’s simply didn’t want to spend the buckies. Then immediately after that 2014 season was over, the Athletics traded Donaldson to the Jays. It was just a trade to get rid of Donaldson who not only talked the truth about the team’s management but who was soon to command a good deal of cash…
Apparently most of the management wanted Stroman over Nolin and Lawrie, but Beane wanted Nolin more than anything, and Lawrie balanced it out because he was a top prospect and Nolin was….look, why Beane loved Nolin is anyones guess.
Honestly, if the deal was just Stroman, Barreto and Graveman for Donaldson it’s not bad at all. Beane royally blew it on that one, proving that making trades for their own sake isn’t a wise move, youd wish Dipoto and Preller would take a look at what they’re doing and instead stand pat, which is funnily what Beane is mostly doing this offseason now he has too many internal options.
i dont think Donaldson was already a “superstar” when he was traded. maybe a good player, but he didnt really become The Bringer of Rain until 2015.
Donaldson had back-to-back 7 WAR seasons with the A’s and had top 10 MVP finishes both years
Some good ones to tack on there … not that I intended this to be exhaustive, but may as well pack em in where I can.
Trading Cespedes in the middle of a playoff push was thoroughly ridiculous.
It really was ridiculous when the A’s traded Céspedes. It dismantled the all dynamics of the entire lineup. It is also noteworthy that there were rumors Beane wasn’t pleased with Céspedes’s lack of discipline at the plate which drove Oakland coaches just nuts… Maybe the all thing escalated to a point Oakland just got tired of Céspedes bringing in Lester to help the team moved past the wildcard game with the Royals. Lester did not work as expected that year either. Go figure!!!
Coco had gotten hurt a couple of games before the trade and there was talk that they asked Cespedes to move to CF and he refused. Anyway, if Jason Hammel pitches decently after coming over in the earlier trade with the Cubs, they probably leave well enough alone. But Hammel was terrible in his first 3 or 4 starts – I think that was the impetus of the Boston trade as much as anything.
The Vernon Wells disaster? The Angels not only took on the worst contract in baseball, we shipped out the highly productive Mike Napoli to do so.
Deserves mention. Worst trade of the decade.
Napoli probably is a HOFer if the Angels didn’t decide he was a “platoon split guy” and give him 500 PA every year from his rookie year onward. That guy could definitely mash but the Angels mishandled his career so badly.
The fact Scioscia routinely sat Napoli in favor of Mathis should have eliminated him from Manager of the Year consideration.
I honestly thought that was not of this decade, ha. Have always cited it when people call contracts unmovable. I’ll add that in too!
That was making a trade just to make a trade. It cost Reagins his job. Napoli and Scioscia didn’t get along. I’m sure sooner or later Napoli would of been shipped somewhere.
That was an over reaction to losing out on Beltre. They did something just to do something, as you said.
I’m surprised the orioles, Arrieta-Strop trade to the Cubs didn’t make a mention.
The best trade the Reds have made in recent years is dumping Alfredo Simon to the Tigers for Eugenio Suárez ….what a lopsided deal thy turned out to be. For ever winning trade there’s a dud for sure …
Severe lack of BUD for HOES here.
The jury is still out on the Rob Manfred for Bud Selig trade.
I think bud is the clear winner in that trade. don’t like both of them but Rob is absolutely terrible
Choo Bauer Didi
Yeah I thought about that deal but I just don’t think it quite rises to the level of others in here. Was a rare sort of swap though.
Thanks for the great articles MLBTR! Happy New Year!
Isn’t the Trea Turner part of this article inaccurate? Wasn’t he drafted by the Padres, and traded to the Nationals as the PTBNL? Come on, MLBTR! #factcheck
And that trade had nothing to do with Odorizzi… who is the editor on these?
No. Turner was sent to Ray’s who sent him to Nationals. That was fact.
It was announced as a 3-team trade but it involved the Rays passing along two players acquired from the Padres for Myers — Turner (as PTBNL) and Ross — to the Nationals for Souza. So, really, the Nats-Rays part was a side deal. The Rays could’ve kept Turner and Ross and just done it with the Padres.
When did I suggest the Myers/Turner deal had anything to do with Odorizzi, specifically? I cited it as part of the fallout from the original trade between the Rays and Royals (which did include Odo).
Mike Clevinger for Vinnie Pestano is probably the biggest disaster of the decade for the Angels
Oh wait. Didn’t realize the Vernon Wells trade happened this decade. Jk then
Reds botched the trades of Jay Bruce, Cueto, and Chapman.
Its a good thing they made up the difference with Luis Castillo and Geno Suarez.
Yep … and I think DeSclafani was in that deal also … he’s been decent …
and the royals won that year
DeSclafani was acquired for Mat Latos
it was a bad approach to begin with. they tried to do the rebuild too quickly instead of chasing guys what’s higher ceilings they took guys is that where closer
Don’t forget Cozart, Leake, Harvey and Hamilton.
Cease and Eloy and two more prospects for Q!
Trade of the decade.
Yeah, Cease’s 5.79 ERA sure is intimidating.
Cease just turned 24.
He will help lead Sox to, at least, 5 WS in next 10-15 years.
Q turns 31 in a few weeks. Cubs lucky to finish 3rd in their own division during next 15 years.
Greatest trade ever for Cubs. World Series Champs. The just one in my lifetime for all fans. Would have traded 3 Torres to break the curse !
Q trade was win-win!
Notice I didn’t put a Sox spin on it.
The best trade is when both teams win.
The Cubs haven’t won much with Q.
Q wasn’t even on the Cubs World Series team.
So pretty stupid comment for you!
Excellent interesting article, thanks!
Prince Fielder for Ian Kinsler was a pretty big deal that deserves an honorable mention. Of course Jon Daniels would prefer to forget about it.
Hmmm that was a fairly memorable one with two big contracts. I’ll see if I can work it in somewhere.
How about my keeper fantasy baseball trade for a playoff push where I traded a not yet rookie trout for Napoli. Ughhhhhhh. Ps, got knocked out of playoffs in second round lol.
I have an opening in my league. Please join.
Hahaha yeah yeah lol
Frazier, Robertson and Kahnle for Rutherford and other assorted scraps.
Semien, Bassett, Phegly and Ravelo for 1 year of Samardzija.(A’s got 10 fWAR last year alone from that one)
The Second Shark deal had a super long fuse … I did add mention of that one.
How about the Blue Jays getting Mike Napoli for Vernon Wells and then having him shipped on to Texas where he became a stud?
Easily forgotten (I suppose) is the STL/TOR mid season trade in 2011 that sent Rasmus to the Blue Jay’s for Edwin Jackson and other key pieces that helped propel the Cards to a World Series title.
I failed to mention this was a bold move that drew a lot of criticism from Cards fans ( including yours truly)and the so-called experts
yeah but it really wasn’t that impactful sure he contributed but that was about it
O’Neill for Gonzales may end up as noteworthy down the road.
The White Sox have already been mentioned in a few trades here including the likely booms involving Chris Sale and Adam Eaton and the bust that was James Shields. There was one additional trade that had Jose Quintana dealt to the Cubs for their crosstown rival’s top two remaining prospects at that time, OF Eloy Jimenez and SP Dylan Cease. It was White Sox GM Rick Hahn’s third and final major trade along with the Sale and Eaton deals that jump started their 2016 rebuild that will see six key prospects in 3B Yoan Moncada, LF Eloy Jimenez along with SP’s Lucas Giolito, Michael Kopech, Reynaldo Lopez and Cease on a 2020 roster that looks to be their first competitive one since those transactions went down. Two additional prospects in SP Dane Dunning and OF Luis Alexander Basabe from those deals could also play roles with the White Sox beginning in 2021.
Quintana will be a free agent following the 2020 season if the Cubs don’t deal him before then while Jimenez has the ceiling of an MVP caliber generational slugger and Cease a potential TOR to mix and match with Giolito and Kopech. I also wouldn’t be surprised to see White Sox organizational and fan favorite Quintana back with the team by 2021 just in time for him to contend for a world championship which has thus far eluded “Q” since joining the Cubs at the 2017 summer trade deadline.
The Q trade was significant but I don’t think it quite rates to the level of this list. Maybe if Eloy makes a star turn that’ll change. Cross-town move does add some shine.
Cubs fan here. Gotta hand it to the Sox … they’ve made some impressive deals over the past few years. Hindsight may be 20/20 … I was a fan of “Q” when he was with the Sox. At the time, I did think the Cubs slightly overpaid for “Q”, but I didn’t think it was horrible. To me, the jury is still out, but the Sox probably came out on top. Honestly, if he doesn’t re-sign with the Cubs, I’d love to see him play on the South Side again. My wife lived on 33rd & Wells …. I spent a fair amount of time getting off at the 35th Station.
I feel like there should be an entire Matt Kemp category to this article. The 2017 trade with the braves and dodgers should be included with the dodgers-Sox “Nick Punto trade” (both of which included A-Gon) for the sheer money moved around. A good example of the contract laundering nature of many trades around the game now.
I’m a little surprised there was no mention of the Pineda/Montero swap, if only for the hilarious quotes it produced from the GM’s involved and the teams’ fans imagining how they could be the pieces that make or break the Yankees/Mariners next few seasons.
(They were not)
Manny to LAD in 2008 was a stunner. Probably should have made honorable mention list
A decade is 10 years.
Lmao
Trea turner
One of the more fascinating trades of this decade involved the Cleveland Indians. They were on the verge of getting Lucroy when he wouldn’t waive his NTC. Instead, they pivoted to get Andrew Miller and he became a postseason weapon for them in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Lucroy quickly fell from grace after leaving Milwaukee.
The Garret Cole heist comes to mind if only because the Pirates basically turned Cole into Archer and spare parts.
Then again, you could argue that Cole wouldn’t have developed into such a great pitcher if it weren’t for the mechanical tweaks he made with the help of the Astros.
uhhh did I miss the one where a pitcher with a 4 era gets traded and develops into the highest paid pitcher in all of baseball…I’d say that was pretty memorable
What about Allen Craig and Joe Kelly for John Lackey?
Kelly provided some decent innings, but otherwise the Red Sox certainly wish they could do that one over given how well Lackey performed for the Cardinals and how much the Sox paid the injury-ruined Craig to play in AAA over the next few years.
reds got good vaule when they neede it for latos. I get they overpaid but they made the postseason. they did get robbed for cueto who helped KC to win. on the otherside they stole swarez, Castillo and disco
Donaldson for Merryweather didn’t make the cut?
Cubs trade Cashner to Padres for Rizzo … how this didn’t get mentioned is beyond me.