5 huge heists in MLB trade deadline history

Trades sometimes work out for both teams, with each side getting something of value. But many of the trades we remember are ones that worked out lopsidedly for one of the parties. With MLB’s non-waiver trade deadline approaching, here is a closer look at five midseason deals that had huge impacts.

Though it seems impossible, not that long ago the San Diego Padres weren’t terrible. With a pair of division titles and a Game 163 not too far in their rearview mirror in 2010, San Diego were nursing a 1½-game lead in the National League West on July 31.

The Padres got outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-team trade. Ludwick hit .281/.343/.487 (a 123 OPS+) with St. Louis, but just .211/.301/.331 (a 78 OPS+) with the Padres. The Cardinals came out pretty well in the deal, getting the best of starter Jake Westbrook (3.48 ERA in 12 starts) down the stretch after struggling (4.65 ERA in 21 starts) for the Cleveland Indians.

Cleveland was not a contender in 2010, so they took on a pair of prospects, one of which was a 24-year-old pitcher in Double-A named Corey Kluber. After a little more percolating, Kluber emerged as one of the best starting pitchers in baseball, winning Cy Young Awards in 2014 and 2017. Since the start of 2014, Kluber’s ranks second in baseball in ERA+ (152), second in innings pitched (1,014) and third in wins (75).

San Diego in 2010 was ultimately caught by the Giants, who would win their first of three championships in five seasons. The Padres haven’t had a winning season since, and their 555-684 record (.448) since the start of 2011 is the third-worst in baseball, an average of 89 losses per 162 games. Oops.

The young Atlanta Braves were coming off a pair of World Series trips but needed more offense, and there were few in 1993 that were more suited than slugging first baseman Fred McGriff. He was the only player in baseball with 30 or more home runs every year from 1988-92, hitting .283/.393/.531, a 157 OPS+ during that time.

McGriff joined the Braves on July 20, and they started that day nine games behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West. Atlanta went 51-17 (.750) the rest of the way, thanks in large part to McGriff hitting .310/.392/.632 with 19 home runs in just 68 games. The Braves needed every one of those wins since the Giants won 103 games. The Braves won 104 and went to the NLCS, and San Francisco stayed home. The wild card began the next season.

The players headed to San Diego were outfielder Melvin Nieves, who played parts of seven major league seasons with a career high of 0.0 Wins Above Replacement; pitcher Donnie Elliott, who pitched 35 innings in the majors; and an outfielder named Vince Moore who never made the majors.

McGriff played for the Braves through 1997, played in two World Series — winning in 1995 — and averaged 28 home runs per season.

This one didn’t quite work out in the Braves’ favor, and featured quite a return for the Texas Rangers. Teixeira was one of the best first basemen in the game in 2007, probably the Paul Goldschmidt of his day. Atlanta was 3½ games back in the NL East when they made the deal on July 31.

Teixeira was fantastic for the Braves, hitting .317/.404/.615, a 161 OPS+, with 17 home runs in just 54 games. But Atlanta fell short of the postseason.

What they gave up for 1½ seasons of Teixeira was quite a haul. Shortstop a Elvis Andrus, pitchers Neftali Feliz and Matt Harrison, and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Three of those were ranked top-90 prospects prior to the 2007 season by Baseball America, and the youngest (Feliz) was about to be. Andrus, Feliz and Harrison were all regular contributors on two Rangers World Series teams in 2010 and 2011.

Teixeira remembered his new teammate Chipper Jones greeting him in Atlanta (per ESPN): “He goes, ‘You know, we gave up our four best prospects for you,’”.

Seeing that much prospect capital dealt anymore is rare these days, and the contrast was stark for Atlanta just one year later. Teixiera was traded to the Angels at the 2008 trade deadline for fellow first baseman Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Stephen Marek.

Speaking of huge prospect hauls, it’s hard to top what the Montreal Expos sent to Cleveland in 2002 for Bartolo Colon. The 29-year-old right-hander still had a season and a half before free agency, while the Expos were trying to stay relevant and alive, with Major League Baseball took ownership of the Expos before the season after a patented Jeffrey Loria torpedo ownership tenure.

“The No. 1 priority was not long-term. Long-term, we were going to be contracted,” Expos GM Omar Minaya recalled to Ken Rosenthal in 2012 at Fox Sports. “And if you were going to be contracted, the No. 1 priority was to be as competitive as you can.”

In 2002 Montreal was technically in contention, six games out of a playoff spot entering play on June 27, when they acquired Colon from the Indians. The Expos finished 2002 with 83 wins, a full 12 games out of a playoff spot. They weren’t contracted, but he franchise did move to Washington D.C. for the 2005 season.

Things didn’t work out for the Expos but Colon was just fine. He was 10-4 with a 3.31 ERA in 17 starts the rest of the way. The fact that Colon has started 386 major league games since the trade and is still pitching today is remarkable in itself, especially since none of the players he was traded for is still in the majors.

Brandon Phillips is in the Red Sox minors now and could possibly join them at some point this season, but the 37-year-old second baseman has already had a fine 16-year career. He’s one of just six second basemen with 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases, and totaled 31 WAR.

Cliff Lee won the 2008 AL Cy Young Award with the Indians, and for probably a four-year period (2008-11) was in the conversation for the best pitcher in baseball.

But the key to the deal was Grady Sizemore, who was an absolute star before his body broke. Just 19 at the time of the trade, Sizemore was in the majors by 2004 and an All-Star outfielder two years later. From 2005-08 Sizemore hit .281/.372/.496 and averaged 41 doubles, 27 home runs and 29 steals. His 24.6 WAR in those years ranked fourth in the majors.

The Mets wanted pitching down the stretch in 2004, and at the deadline acquired Victor Zambrano, a 28-year-old right-hander who was roughly league average. It was bad enough that the Mets knew about a flexor tendon issue when they acquired Zambrano, but things got worse when he only made three starts the rest of the season.

But what made this deal a disaster for New York was that the 20-year-old lefty they traded away made an immediate impact for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Kazmir debuted in 2004, and was an All-Star two years later. Kazmir had a 127 ERA+ from 2005-08, led the league in strikeouts in 2007 and was part of the starting rotation for the only World Series team in franchise history.

Zambrano last pitched in the majors in 2007.