Tampa Bay Rays: 3 Most Unfortunate Trades in Franchise History

We take a look at three trades in Tampa Bay Rays’ history that didn’t work out in the team’s favor.

The Tampa Bay Rays are notorious for making out like bandits in trades. Recently they moved Chris Archer for Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, and Shane Baz. They traded Delmon Young in 2003 and are still reaping the benefits today. 

As good as the trade history is for the Rays, you can’t win them all. Today, we’ll take a moment to look back at three trades that didn’t work out for Tampa Bay.

Jose Bautista for $50,000

Jose Bautista was a 20th-round selection in the 2000 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2003, he was left unprotected heading into the Rule-5 draft. The Orioles snagged him but opted to place him on waivers in June. That’s when the Rays staked their claim and Jose Bautista was in Tampa.

Bautista had been a solid player prior to his Rule-5 selection, but at that point, he hadn’t even reached Double-A. When the Orioles took him, he had to go to the major league roster as a stipulation of the Rule-5 draft.

Bautista only logged 12 games for the Rays in 2004. Just three weeks after being claimed by Tampa he was sold to the Royals for $50,000. He eventually found himself back in Pittsburgh by the end of 2004. In 2005 he finally got his first crack at Double-A at the age of 24, when he crushed 23 homers, 90 RBI, and hit .280 with a .364 on-base percentage.

Of course, Bautista would go on to make six consecutive All-Star appearances between 2010-2015, leading the major leagues in home runs in both 2010 and 2011.

He was likely not ready for the show when the Rule-5 draft whisked him away to the big leagues. Luckily, he ended that roller coaster 2004 back with the Pirates and was able to resume his development in the minor leagues in 2005.

You can’t blame the Rays for missing out on the guy. He was a 20th-round selection and was passed around from team to team in 2004. The whole league missed out. Plus, he didn’t break out until 2010 at the age of 29. Even so, the amount of production he put forth following the $50k transaction is enough to qualify Jose Bautista for this list.

Dmitri Young for Mike Kelly

The Devil Rays were doing a lot of wheeling and dealing in the days leading up to the 1997 expansion draft. The first deal ever made in franchise history was for Mike Kelly. The Rays wanted the services of the former top prospect and the Reds had just traded for Dmitri Young from the Cardinals. The deal was struck to send Kelly to the Rays for a player to be named later. In a pre-arranged deal, the Devil Rays drafted Young with the 16th pick of the expansion draft and sent him straight back to the Reds, naming him as the player to be named later and thus completing the deal.

Mike Kelly was taken second overall in the 1991 draft but had yet to live up to expectations. He had shown glimpses in his first four seasons, slashing .241/.303/.432 prior to joining the Rays. He played 106 games for Tampa Bay that season, posting an OPS+ of 79. He would go on to play in only two more major-league games for the rest of his career.

On the flipside, Dmitri Young, the fourth-overall pick of the 1991 draft (two spots behind Mike Kelly) would go one to become a solid major-league player who would hit .292 with an OPS of .826 over a 13-year career.

While Mike Kelly’s career circled the drain in St. Pete in 1998, Dmitri Young would have a breakout season, smashing 48 doubles to go with a .310 batting average and a .364 on-base percentage for the Reds. Young finished his career with three seasons of 20 or more homers.