Arm Guardians wish they hadn't traded just became Freddy Peralta collateral damage

On Nov. 19, 2021, the Cleveland Guardian made a trade that’s going to come back to haunt them for years. 

After a forgettable 2021 season, Cleveland's front office made 17 (!!) roster moves that day, as the jettisonned multiple veterans off the roster to make room for some of the team’s glut of prospects. 

But the move that quickly became the headliner of that roster shuffle was their decision to trade Junior Caminero (who was an infielder for the team’s Dominican Summer League at the time) to the Rays in exchange for Tobias Myers.

You likely know the rest. Caminero ended up becoming the No. 1 prospect in baseball and is arguably the best slugging third baseman in baseball (even though he’s not better than José Ramírez). Meanwhile, Myers never threw an inning in Cleveland and blossomed into a solid depth arm for the Brewers after the Guardians cut him loose. 

But that trade gained some new life on Wednesday when the Mets pushed their chips to the middle of the table by trading top prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat to the Brewers in exchange for ace Freddy Peralta… and Myers. 

It’s reminiscent of when Carlos Carrasco was included in the Guardians’ trade of Francisco Lindor to the Mets ahead of the 2021 season. 

Even if the Guardians aren’t really impacted by the trade since it involves two National League teams, Myers being included in the deal adds an extra layer of intrigue to the deal for Guardians fans. 

Former Guardian bust Tobias Myers surprisingly included in Freddy Peralta trade 

While Peralta is the obvious gem of this trade given he’s a two-time All-Star on an incredibly affordable contract, Myers could still be an intriguing piece for the Mets to use despite the fact he’s a bit of a throw-in.

He put together a solid rookie season with the Brewers in 2024 when he had a 3.00 ERA in 138 innings, and even had a 3.55 ERA in 50 2/3 innings last week despite dealing with an oblique strain. 

While he only struck out 17.3% of the batters he’s faced last season, he has above-average command and is largely good about keeping the ball off the barrel of the bat.

It'll be interesting to see if he'll be able to keep that up away from the Bewers' pitching factory, which tends to held in the same regard as the Guardians' illustrious pitching development pipeline.

He likely won’t get a chance to crack into the Mets’ rotation considering they already had six MLB-ready starters before getting Peralta, but he’s a solid swingman option who has experience pitching in a variety of roles.

But regardless of how he does in New York, the Guardians’ short-sighted trade of Caminero is already a loss considering Myers did nothing in Cleveland and Caminero’s a rising star in Tampa Bay. 

The Guardians don’t outright lose many trades, but this one stands out as an obvious choice.