Lugo was originally drafted by the Houston Astros back in 1994 in the 43rd round, and did not sign until May 17th the following year. He ascended through the Astros minor leagues at a decent clip, reaching the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs in 2000. After a brief time in New Orleans, Lugo was called up to Houston. He made his major league debut on April 15, entering the game as a pinch runner for Tony Eusebio in the 8th inning. After playing sparingly in ten games, Lugo was sent back to New Orleans before being recalled on May 28th, where he split time between shortstop and second base. Overall, in 116 games, he produced a decent .283/.346/.431 batting line, with 10 home runs and 22 stolen bases.

In 2001, Lugo became entrenched as the Astors regular shortstop. However, despite appearing in 140 games, he regressed, batting at only a .263/.326/.372 clip. He still managed to hit 10 home runs, but was only 12-23 on stolen base attempts and striking out 116 times against only 46 walks. He struggled again in 2002, playing in 88 games before breaking his left forearm after being hit by a pitch from Kerry Wood on August 12th and missing the rest of the year.

Lugo began the 2003 season in Houston, but struggled out of the gate, batting at only a .246/.338/.292 rate through 22 games. Amid allegations that he hit his wife and after being charged with assault, the Astros released Lugo on May 9th. On May 15th, Lugo was signed by the Rays, where he quickly became a fairly productive player, producing a .275/.333/.427 batting line while slugging 15 home runs and stealing 10 bases. He remained the starting shortstop through 2004 and 2005, displaying solid offense and excellent speed.

In 2006, Lugo appeared on his way to a career year, as he was batting at a .308/.373/.498 clip with 12 home runs and 18 stolen bases when he was traded on July 31st to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Joel Guzman and Sergio Pedroza. Used as a utility player, Lugo bounced between second, third, and short, even spending some time in right and left field. His numbers dropped off dramatically in Los Angeles, as he batted only .219 with no power during the Dodgers playoff run.

A free agent, Lugo was signed to a four year $36million contract by the Boston Red Sox on December 5, 2006, in a move which would turn out to be disastrous. Originally expected to bat leadoff for the Red Sox, he was moved to the bottom of the lineup because he was unable to get on base consistently. His 2007 season reached rock bottom where, between June 15 and July 2, he endured a 0-31 slump which dropped his batting average down to .189. Just a week later, Lugo went on a 14 game hitting streak, which brought his average up to .226. 2007 would end up as Lugo’s worst season in his career, as he only batted .237/.294/.349. However, he turned his game around during the postseason, turning in a .271 batting average as the Red Sox went on to win the World Series that year.

2008 was also a rough season for Lugo, as he not only battles injuries, but was a disaster in the field, leading the American League in errors before being placed on the disabled list for the remainder of the season on July 12. After getting off to a rough start in 2009, and ending up in a time share with Nick Green, Lugo was traded by the Red Sox to the St. Louis Cardinals for Chris Duncan on July 22. Lugo spent the rest of the year in St. Louis, then was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for the infamous Player to be Named Later. After that year, Lugo was signed to a minor league contract by the Atlanta Braves on May 23, 2011. Even though he appeared in only 22 games for the Braves, he was involved in one of the more controversial plays of 2011, when he appeared to be tagged out in the 19th inning of a game against the Pirates. However, he was ruled safe, and scored the winning run to end the marathon. A free agent again after the 2011 season, Lugo appeared to have a minor league contract in place with the Cleveland Indians, but the deal fell through., and Lugo found himself out of baseball in 2012.

Now that he has retired, Lugo will leave behind an interesting legacy. For the Rays, he was a solid shortstop, averaging 3.1 WAR per season. He had a solid blend of speed and power, and was good defensively, as he ranked amongst the league leaders in range factor, total zone runs, assists, and putouts. However, for most everyone else, he may be remembered as one of the biggest busts of the Theo Epstein era in Boston, a player who simply was unable to perform to expectations and became truly despised by the Red Sox fanbase.

The reality is that Julio Lugo was a decent enough player who truly blossomed in Tampa. For the Rays, he was considered a good player according the WAR rankings, yet produced a -1.2 WAR elsewhere. Perhaps if he remained in Tampa, his career may have turned out differently, and Lugo would be remembered in a better light. Yet, his legacy is likely to be those two and a half horrific seasons as a member of the Red Sox.

Dominican Winter League: Leones de Escogido 8, Aguilas Cibaenas 7

It’s been 16 months since Julio Lugo played in the big leagues and more than three years since he was anything of note. But for one game, he looked as good as ever. Lugo had a huge game, going 5 for 5 with a triple and 3 RBI. Lugo’s first 4 hits helped Escogido build a 7-0 lead only to watch Cibaenas rally for 7 runs in the bottom of the 8th to tie it up, including a 2-run single by Manny Ramirez. But in the 9th, Lugo singled again, was pinch-ran for by Freddy Guzman, and Guzman scored on an RBI single by Fernando Tatis to give Escogido an 8-7 win. Lugo, 37, is hitting .272 in 26 DWL games.

Mexican Pacific League: Venados de Mazatlan 10,  Naranjeros de Hermosillo 2

Humberto Cota doesn’t get to play too often for Hermosillo- but when he does, he racks up some hits, like he did in this one when he went 2 for 4. Jorge Cantu went 0 for 3 for the Naranjeros. Cota has played just 10 times in last 19 days despite sporting a .421 OBP during that stretch.

Venezuelan Winter League: Tiburones de La Guaira 7, Leones del Caracas 4

Henry Wrigley homered for Caracas in this one, but his flaws seem to resonate more than his strengths. Wrigley slammed a solo homer in this one, but he also went just 1 for 4 with 2 strikeouts and now has a 44-12 strikeout to walk ratio on the season, which won’t cut it at any level. Wrigley is hitting .299 on the VWL season, but his lack of patience has made his average keep slipping. Wrigley has 4 extra-base hits, including 2 homers, and 8 RBI in his last 10 games, but he’s also hitting just .222 with a .256 OBP. Cesar Suarez also went 1 for 4 for La Guaira in this game.

7/31/06: Tampa Bay Devil Rays trade SS Julio Lugo to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for 3B Joel Guzman and OF Sergio Pedroza.

Andrew Friedman thought he had another steal of a trade. Instead, both sides would rather look the other way if you brought up this deal.

The Rays had gotten extremely lucky on Julio Lugo. Lugo came up in the Houston Astros organization and had a nice rookie year in 2000 in which he posted a .283/.346/.431 line with 10 home runs and 22 stolen bases while working as a bat-first utility player. But Lugo fell apart over the next two-plus seasons for the Astros and after he had just a .246/.338/.292 line through May of 2003, they released him and the Rays scooped him up. The rest of the season, Lugo was the Devil Rays’ starting shortstop and was great, posting a .275/.333/.427 line with 15 homers and 10 stolen bases. Lugo followed it up with a .275/.338/.392 line in 2004 with 7 homers and 21 steals, and then he broke out in 2005, posting a .295/.362/.403 line with 6 home runs and 39 stolen bases. And in his contract year in 2006 at age 30, Lugo continued to play well, posting a .308/.375/.498 line with 12 homer and 18 steals, making him a prime trade candidate at the 2006 trade deadline.

Guzman, just 21 at the time of the trade, was already becoming a living legend. Signed for 2.25 million dollars as a 17 year old back in 2002, the 6’7″ Guzman was drawing Miguel Cabrera comps thanks to prolific raw power and excellent bat speed that gave him the ability to be a well above-average major league third baseman with 30 to 40 home run power. In 2004 at just 19 years old, Guzman worked his way from High-A to Double-A with incredible numbers, posting a .297/.341/.540 line with 33 doubles, 11 triples, 23 homers, 86 RBI, and 9 of 16 bases in 133 games. He did strike out 122 times compared to 34 walks as his patience was never great, but rockets came off his bat and it didn’t seem like it would make too much of a difference. In 2005, Guzman slipped a little bit as he moved up to Double-A, posting a .287/.351/.475 line with 31 doubles, 16 homers, 75 RBI, 7 0f 10 steals, and 128 strikeouts versus 42 walks. Then his slugging percentage continued to drop in Triple-A to begin 2006 even as he moved to the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League as he posted a .297/.353/.464 line with 16 doubles, 11 homers, 55 RBI, 9 of 14 steals, and 72 strikeouts versus 26 walks. He did see time in 8 big league games as well, hitting .211. But despite the warning signs, the D-Rays saw Guzman as a hitter with excellent ability at the plate and the Rays hoped that he could be an anchor of their lineup for years to come (although with Evan Longoria, drafted in 2006, at third base, he was going to end up at first base or in left field).

Pedroza, 22, wasn’t quite at Guzman’s level of prospect but still had promise. Pedroza, a power-hitting outfielder, was the Dodgers’ 3rd round pick in 2005 and had a nice first full season in the pro ranks at Low-A in 2006, posting a .281/.437/.562 line with 24 doubles, 21 homers, 75 RBI, and 73 walks compared to 91 strikeouts in 89 games. He was then promoted to High-A, where he hit .154 with 3 homers prior to this trade. Pedroza, 6’1″, 196 featured big power and good plate discipline, but his problem was a swing that often got too long, leaving him susceptible to strikeouts. He also happened to be an absolutely horrendous outfield defender. Pedroza had many more questions surrounding his game than Guzman, but he had the ability to pair with him and Evan Longoria to give the Rays a trio of big-time power hitters.

Lugo probably should have been traded in the midst of his breakout 2005, but unfortunately, Andrew Friedman was not yet GM. However, Lugo’s continued impressive performance made him still a pretty hot commodity at the deadline and Friedman got an interesting package of players for him. Guzman had the obvious warning signs, but his talent was so evident and he was still so young, and he had superstar upside. Pedroza was truly a throw-in in the deal, but if the D-Rays were lucky, they would end up with two great power hitters. In a perfect world, Friedman wound has wound up with a prospect with a higher floor in this deal, at least in terms of the throw-in. But Guzman’s upside was too much to pass up. Guzman was a worthwhile gamble for Friedman in this deal, and neither side made a bad trade. The Dodgers got a shortstop for the stretch run while giving up a pair of risky prospects, while the Rays gave up a decaying asset and received a player in Guzman with the potential to provide huge value to their ballclub going forward in addition to another possible contributor in Pedroza.

As it turned out, Lugo was a disaster in LA, posting just a .219/.278/.267 line with no homers and just 6 of 11 stolen bases in 49 games. Lugo then signed a three year deal with the Red Sox and actually hit 8 homers and stole 33 bases in 2007 but posted just a .237/.294/.349 line and was never again the player he was over the course of his last two years in Tampa Bay, moving on to St. Louis, Baltimore, and then Atlanta before retiring following the 2011 season at age 36. Guzman’s warning signs turned out to be his downfall as he played in 16 games with the Rays in 2007 but never did return as his lack of plate discipline was exploiting by upper-levels pitching. Guzman has played in the Nationals, Orioles, and Reds organizations since then along with an unsuccessful stint in Japan and now the Mexican League in 2012 after the Reds released him. Guzman is still just 27 years of age.

Pedroza was the throw-in as a part of this deal, but what happened to him may be the most interesting. Pedroza had his flaws offensively, but the Rays hoped to resolve his defensive issues by finding him a set position in a new place. They decided to try Pedroza at catcher in 2007 and he seemed like a possible fit thanks to his strong arm and solid athleticism. Unfortunately, it completely fizzled, and when Pedroza’s lack of bat speed sapped his power at Double-A in 2008, the Rays cut ties with him. Pedroza spent 2 years in independent ball before signing with the Marlins organization, where he spent a year and a half before getting released. Pedroza is currently back in independent ball with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. He’s still only 28.

Friedman and the Dodgers both get a wash for this one as basically the worst-case scenarios happened all around. Each made a move aimed towards helping their team, and neither worked out. Sometimes even when a trade looks like a win-win, everyone can lose. Both sides had the right idea, but just every player involved fizzled out. Not every trade can come together perfectly, not even for either team, and you just have to live with it.