Which teams won each of the 10 biggest Trade Deadline deals of the past 10 years?
Monday is the non-waiver Trade Deadline, and if it's anything like in recent years, there will be plenty of headline-grabbing deals between now and then. There will also be plenty of instant declarations of winners and losers. But while 2016's deals are undoubtedly interesting, so are the megadeals of years past -- particularly in hindsight.
The question is simple: Who won the 10 biggest trades of the past 10 years? Review the deals and vote below -- and be sure to let us know if you have any blockbusters we chose to leave out.
The Braves were 56-51 when they traded for Teixeira at the end of July. He batted .317/.404/.615 with 17 homers in Atlanta, but they finished 84-78 -- third in the NL East. Teixeira ended up with 6.0 total WAR with the Braves before he was shipped to the Angels at the 2008 deadline.
The Rangers, meanwhile, got their current starting shortstop in Andrus and solid-if-temporary contributions from Saltalamacchia, Feliz and Harrison (who left as part of the
Sabathia only stayed in Milwaukee for half a season, but he pitched 130 2/3 innings with a 1.65 ERA, won 11 games and led the Brewers to their first postseason since 1982.
You might think the Indians didn't get too much in return, until you realize the PTBNL was none other than All-Star and Silver Slugger
Cliff Lee to Phillies (2009)
A year after he won the AL Cy Young Award, Lee was traded midway through the 2009 season for his first stint in Philadelphia. He pitched well enough down the stretch for the reigning World Series champions, but his real value came in October. Lee won five postseason games -- including a 10-strikeout complete game for Game 1 of the WS -- for a team that eventually lost the Fall Classic to the Yankees in six.
On the other side of things, Carrasco is a dominant cog in the Indians' intimidating rotation, and his 2.31 ERA is the best among Cleveland's starters in 2016.
Dan Haren to Angels (2010)
Haren was coming off a season in which he led the NL in WHIP, and the Angels were three games above five-hundred when they traded for him, looking to make a postseason push. Unfortunately, even though Haren would wind up fifth on the team in WAR for 2010, the Angels finished 80-82, third in the AL West. He pitched well enough in 2.5 years in Anaheim -- leading the NL in K:BB in 2011 -- before leaving as a free agent.
Rodriguez, Saunders and Skaggs didn't stay in Arizona for longer than a couple of seasons apiece (Skaggs even went back to the Angels), but
In the last year of his contract with the Mets, Beltran joined the 61-44 Giants for half a season in their pursuit of back-to-back titles. Despite batting .323/.369/.551 with seven homers in 44 games, the Giants ultimately came up short of the postseason and finished 86-76.
In return, the Mets got Wheeler, who at the time was MLB Pipeline's No. 27 prospect in all of baseball. He's now one of the Mets' many young pitchers and is working his way back from Tommy John surgery, with an ETA in August.
Ramirez's batted .271/.324/.450 with 10 home runs in his debut with the Dodgers, but much like Beltran and the Giants a year prior, the slugger couldn't push the team into the postseason, and L.A. finished 86-76. Ramirez stayed another two years with the Dodgers before returning to the Red Sox as a free agent in 2015.
Eovaldi stayed in Miami for 2.5 years before being traded to the Yankees, and McGough pitched a grand total of 6 2/3 innings for the Marlins in 2015 before joining the Orioles off of Waivers.
The A's were 66-41 and all in on the postseason when they traded for Lester and Gomes at the deadline. Lester made 11 starts for Oakland, recording a 2.35 ERA and 71 strikeouts in 76 2/3 innings, and the team did indeed make the postseason. Lester started the Wild Card playoff against the Royals, but that game, you might recall, took a turn for the Royals in the eighth inning. Lester left for the Cubs in the offseason, and Gomes signed with the Braves.
At 48-60, the Red Sox weren't eyeing the postseason quite like the A's. Instead, they moved Lester, who was set to be a free agent at the end of the year, for Cespedes in his third MLB season. Yo didn't stay long, though, as Boston traded him to the Tigers in the offseason as part of a package for
The 58-47 Tigers pulled off this three-teamer to give themselves a second ace to pair with
Jackson, likewise, was shipped by the Mariners at the 2015 deadline to the Cubs, while both Smyly and Franklin remain with the Rays.
After coming up just short in 2014, the Royals were looking to win their first World Series in 30 years. They acquired Cueto in one of a couple of trades they made at the deadline, and while he didn't wow KC during the regular season -- his 4.76 ERA was nearly double his ERA with the Reds that season -- he did win three games in the postseason. Most memorable was his complete game one-run performance in Game 2 of the World Series. And, oh yeah, the Royals won the championship.
In return for a contract-year Cueto, the Reds picked up three young pitchers for their exceptionally young rotation.
In what was a bit of a dramatic deadline for the Mets, Cespedes joined the team and batted .287/.337/.604 with 17 home runs in 57 games, anchoring a lineup that won the NL pennant. And what was almost a rental turned into a mainstay, with Cespedes resigning with the Mets in the offseason.
Fulmer, meanwhile, was MLB's No. 53 prospect heading into 2016, and he's pitched 97 1/3 innings with a 2.50 ERA so far for the Tigers.
