The Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays are both still alive in the American League playoffs, although the Guardians are clinging to their season in the ALDS.
Things could look different if two former members of the Cleveland organization weren’t now two of the best players for the Rays: Junior Caminero and Yandy Diaz.
The pair spent different lengths of time with the Guardians before moving on, but both are now clearly stars for Tampa Bay.
As they feature heavily in the postseason, it’s worth a quick look back in time.
The Guardians have spent $84M *total* on Free Agents hitters the last 7 years while trading away Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz, Yainer Diaz and DFA’ing Jake Bauers, who combined for 324-R/104-HR/317-RBI and a 131 OPS+ this year
Being a fan of this team is a prison sentence lmao
— Fuzzy (@fuzzyfromyt) October 6, 2026
Guardians’ Junior Caminero Trade
The Guardians signed Caminero as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 2019.
After the COVID year altered prospect development, Caminero starred in the Dominican Summer League in 2021 with a .534 slugging percentage.
The Guardians apparently didn’t see enough out of him there. They traded him away before giving him any more shots to shine in the Cleveland organization.
In November 2021, Cleveland traded Caminero to the Tampa Bay Rays for Tobias Myers.
Myers at that point had put up a 3.90 ERA across Double-A and Triple-A in 2021 with strong strikeout numbers.
He didn’t stick around long, either. The Guardians traded Myers to the San Francisco Giants for cash in July 2022, less than a year after the initial deal.
Myers wound up with the Brewers, where he showed some promise at the MLB level in 2024 but spent almost the entirety of 2025 back in Triple-A. He was sent to the Mets in the offseason before 2026.
Caminero has now hit more than 40 home runs in back-to-back seasons.
The Guardians sure would appreciate having that power. Obviously, it was hard to know how a teenager would pan out, but the trade sure didn’t age well.
Guardians’ Yandy Diaz Trade
The Guardians also traded Yandy Diaz away, way back in December 2018.
Diaz was involved in a three-team deal with Cleveland and Seattle.
Cleveland got Jake Bauers from Tampa Bay and Carlos Santana from Seattle — really cornering the market on first basemen young and old.
The Mariners got Edwin Encarnacion from Cleveland.
Tampa Bay got Diaz and minor league pitcher Cole Sulser.
Ironically, the Guardians later gave up on Bauers, who is now starring in the playoffs for the Brewers.
Cleveland has generally struggled in recent years to develop hitters, and it may be a chicken or the egg thing here — would these hitters have developed the same way with the Guardians?
There’s no way to know. It’s just clear Caminero and Diaz are stars with the Rays.
Guardians Gave Junior Caminero, Yandy Diaz to Rays