New info about Guardians trading Junior Caminero to Rays twists the knife even more

Although Junior Caminero hasn’t recorded a signature moment against the Guardians in this year’s American League Championship Series, the mere fact that he’s playing for the Rays is enough to make a Guardians fan sick. 

Nearly six years ago, the Guardians traded Caminero to the Rays as a prospect in exchange for pitcher Tobias Myers in what’s become one of the worst trades in MLB history. You know the story by now; Caminero’s turned into one of the best hitters in baseball while Myers didn’t make it to the big leagues in Cleveland before being designated for assignment. 

But some new reporting from The Athletic’s Will Sammon and Zack Mesiel added an even more frustrating layer to the trade, as the duo reported earlier today that the Rays asked for some other Guardians minor leaguers before settling on a trade for the then-minor leaguer. 

One name mentioned by the duo was former Guardians pitcher Xzavion Curry, who was pitching in Double-A at the time. While it’s not a guarantee that Curry wouldn’t have blossomed into a star with the Rays (they have a great pitching factory as well), his career has gone in a much different path than Caminero’s. 

Guardians trade of Junior Caminero looks even worse thanks to new insight into 2021 trade with Rays

Curry ended up making his big league debut with the Guardians in 2022 and spent two big league seasons with Cleveland before being designated for assignment. He pitched in two seasons with the Marlins before seeing some big league action with the Mets earlier this year. Meanwhile Caminero became the No. 1 prospect in baseball and has racked up two straight 40+ homer seasons.

Sammon and Mesiel also reported the Guardians were the only team that was in on Myers, while attributing his sluggish time in Cleveland to his inability to adapt to a new team and new instruction. So not only were the Guardians competing against themselves for Myers, but they traded for a player who didn’t seem ready to take in what the Guardians were offering. 

Although there are probably countless other trades the Guardians almost pulled off, any new details involving Caminero are always going to carry extra weight in Cleveland due to how much he’s blossomed in Tampa (and he’s still just 23). 

The Rays deserve credit for their scouts identifying Caminero as a lottery ticket prospect worth investing in, but Sammon and Mesiel’s reporting shows the kind of butterfly effect that can come with trading (or not trading) prospects. 

The Guardians’ trade for Myers would always have stung due to his lack of big league production, but it would’ve been a mild annoyance more than the generation-defining misstep that their trade for Caminero has become.

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