Just what are the best trades in baseball? For far too many fans the best means you have “won” the deal when your player(s) acquired outperform those that you traded or have been instrumental in positioning your team for a strong playoff run or the ultimate – a World Series championship. Unfortunately, that is an incorrect approach.
The best trades are the ones that prove successful for both teams. That may take several years to analyze, but that is the goal of any transaction. Both parties walk away with what they want and the players exchanged eventually reach their expected promise.