There’s a rule that some in baseball follow, and it goes like this: Don’t trade with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Why? Because it seems like the Rays always win the deal. The Cleveland Guardians were painfully aware of that on Monday night in ALCS Game 6.
Because Cleveland wasn’t just knocked out by a talented Rays team that won 100 games during the regular season, a defeat that doesn’t come with shame based on the caliber of opponent.
But the Guardians were also eliminated specifically by three players who began their professional careers in the Cleveland organization: Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz and Richie Palacios.
The Rays won the game 7-3, and they had three hits in the contest that drove in two runs apiece. Those hits were provided by Palacios, then Caminero, then Diaz.
Former Guardians
Palacios was the first Rays player to deliver on Monday night, and he’s the only one that Cleveland didn’t trade directly to Tampa Bay.
The young speedster was designated for assignment four years ago by Cleveland, and that led to his eventual trade to the St. Louis Cardinals for $100,000. The Cardinals later traded Palacios to the Rays for reliever Andrew Kittredge.
And while Palacios hasn’t played a ton in this postseason, he was in the starting lineup on Monday and delivered a two-run double for a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
It took a while before Caminero made the next huge contribution, taking the Rays from a 3-1 lead to a 5-1 lead in the seventh with a two-run homer off the left field foul pole.
Caminero never made the majors with Cleveland, who had signed him as an international free agent as a teenager. They traded him to the Rays for a minor league pitcher, Tobias Myers, after Caminero had just completed his debut season in the Dominican Summer League. Cleveland was betting on a pitching acquisition, but they traded Myers away less than a year later, and it’s clear that they gave up Caminero much too early.
And then in the eighth, Yandy Diaz delivered the death knell with a two-run homer of his own.
Diaz had showed some promise for Cleveland, but it wasn’t clear he’d ever tap into his power, and so they sent him away as part of a three-team trade in 2018. It brought Carlos Santana and Jake Bauers to Cleveland — ironically, Bauers is now going to the World Series with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Tough Luck
None of the Guardians’ trades seemed indefensible at the time. They just all aged poorly.
There’s something to be said for the Rays knowing how to maximize talent. Maybe Caminero would’ve reached his ceiling anywhere, but Diaz and Palacios were both guys who hadn’t quite panned out early as big league players and then found their footing with the Rays.
It’s not just that the Rays identify hidden talents in other organizations. They also know how to develop them best once they arrive.
And that, in large part, is why the Guardians will watch the World Series from home.
3 Players Guardians Traded Knock Cleveland Out of ALCS for Rays