The NHL trade deadline is insane. This year the rumors about one player being traded from the Rangers won't stop. He is a player I really like so I don't really know how I'll react if he is traded. But it has me thinking about two baseball trades that I wish never happened.
The first is the trade that sent Xavier Nady to the Pirates at the MLB trade deadline in 2006. Nobody saw this trade coming. Duaner Sanchez got the munchies, was in an unfortunate accident, and then Nady was gone. The trade gave Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez to the Mets and wasn't really helpful after 2006. In reality, Nady was expendable because the Mets had this exciting prospect named Lastings Milledge to take over in right field.
In my head, trading Xavier was the biggest mistake that could be made. I cried when I saw the news scroll across the bottom of SNY. It was the first time I had lost a favorite player. I didn't know how I would keep rooting for him in Pittsburgh. Was I supposed to become a Pirates fan too? Could I really just root for one person on a team? The answers didn't really matter to me because I didn't even want to believe he wasn't a Met. But he wasn't a Met and I just knew I never wanted any more favorites to be traded.
Of course, I wasn't so lucky. In December of 2008 Joe Smith was sent to the Indians as part of a three team trade that brought J.J. Putz to the Mets. The Mets bullpen was a disaster in 2007 and 2008 and everybody knew changes were coming. It turned out that those changes meant trading one of the younger guys. Smitty was off to Cleveland.
The first reports of the trade didn't include Joe Smith. And then the trade was finalized and yet again I had to part with my favorite Met. It all unfolded overnight and I'm not really sure how I followed. I guess school and sleep weren't really high on my priorities list because I stayed up until everything was complete. This trade didn't seem to hit me as hard as the Nady trade. I was attached to Smitty but I also knew what it was like to root for one player on a team in a different city. And I already rooted for Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee so the Indians weren't such a mystery to me. But I still hated it. Smitty filled the hole left by Nady and now that hole was empty again. Looking back at old posts, I was actually just pretty mad at Omar Minaya.
The thing about both of these trades is that I didn't see either of them coming. I didn't know either of them were leaving until the trade happened. I have never known one of my favorites was on the market before they were traded. It probably would have been easier if I knew the Mets were willing to part with Nady or Smith. It probably would've just made me hate Omar Minaya more than I already did. The good thing about knowing a favorite might be traded is that if they are, the news isn't really news. On the other hand, it means your team doesn't really find them necessary.
I guess it would always be nice to know something. To not totally be in the dark about the organization's feelings about your favorite player.
I just hope I won't have to deal with any of it any time soon.
The first is the trade that sent Xavier Nady to the Pirates at the MLB trade deadline in 2006. Nobody saw this trade coming. Duaner Sanchez got the munchies, was in an unfortunate accident, and then Nady was gone. The trade gave Oliver Perez and Roberto Hernandez to the Mets and wasn't really helpful after 2006. In reality, Nady was expendable because the Mets had this exciting prospect named Lastings Milledge to take over in right field.
In my head, trading Xavier was the biggest mistake that could be made. I cried when I saw the news scroll across the bottom of SNY. It was the first time I had lost a favorite player. I didn't know how I would keep rooting for him in Pittsburgh. Was I supposed to become a Pirates fan too? Could I really just root for one person on a team? The answers didn't really matter to me because I didn't even want to believe he wasn't a Met. But he wasn't a Met and I just knew I never wanted any more favorites to be traded.
Of course, I wasn't so lucky. In December of 2008 Joe Smith was sent to the Indians as part of a three team trade that brought J.J. Putz to the Mets. The Mets bullpen was a disaster in 2007 and 2008 and everybody knew changes were coming. It turned out that those changes meant trading one of the younger guys. Smitty was off to Cleveland.
The first reports of the trade didn't include Joe Smith. And then the trade was finalized and yet again I had to part with my favorite Met. It all unfolded overnight and I'm not really sure how I followed. I guess school and sleep weren't really high on my priorities list because I stayed up until everything was complete. This trade didn't seem to hit me as hard as the Nady trade. I was attached to Smitty but I also knew what it was like to root for one player on a team in a different city. And I already rooted for Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee so the Indians weren't such a mystery to me. But I still hated it. Smitty filled the hole left by Nady and now that hole was empty again. Looking back at old posts, I was actually just pretty mad at Omar Minaya.
The thing about both of these trades is that I didn't see either of them coming. I didn't know either of them were leaving until the trade happened. I have never known one of my favorites was on the market before they were traded. It probably would have been easier if I knew the Mets were willing to part with Nady or Smith. It probably would've just made me hate Omar Minaya more than I already did. The good thing about knowing a favorite might be traded is that if they are, the news isn't really news. On the other hand, it means your team doesn't really find them necessary.
I guess it would always be nice to know something. To not totally be in the dark about the organization's feelings about your favorite player.
I just hope I won't have to deal with any of it any time soon.
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