Few things in baseball evoke as much thought, scrutiny, discussion, argument, and visceral reaction than trades. As deals the Kansas City Royals have made demonstrate, some trades are good, some bad, and some turn out to have no real impact. No one knows immediately how a trade will turn out: healthy players may suffer injuries, hot players may slump, others may simply fail after being traded and trade “throw-ins” may suddenly catch fire and become stars.
The Kansas City Royals have completed hundreds of trades since acquiring Buck Martinez, Mickey Sinnerud and Tommy Smith from Houston in exchange for John Jones in 1968.