I love trade trees. Finding out who someone was traded for, and for who they were traded for, ad nauseam, is fascinating to me. It’s a butterfly-effect sort of thing. For example, a 1907 trade in which the Red Sox (then the Boston Americans) acquired outfielder Jack Thoney from the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Eastern League, can directly be tied to the Indians having Corey Kluber, the Dodgers having Andre Ethier, and the A’s having Eric Sogard (if you’re interested, I can show how later — suffice it to say, the explanation is too long for the point of this post).

Anyway, the Padres traded pitchers Andrew Cashner, Colin Rea, and Tayron Guerrero to the Marlins today. In return, they received pitcher Jarred Cosart, injured reliever Carter Capps, pitching prospect Luis Castillo, and first-base prospect Josh Naylor in return. This trade makes sense for both teams, as the Marlins are in contention and the Padres aren’t.




I’m going to focus on Cashner because he’s the centerpiece of this trade. Also, the Padres had the good fortune of making a solid pick in the tenth round of the 1985 draft that led to today’s acquisition of arguably the Marlins’ top two prospects (as well as Jarred Cosart and a pitcher who has the funkiest delivery in baseball history).

Seriously, how did he need Tommy John surgery and not reconstructive ankle surgery?


Back in that draft, the Padres picked pitcher Greg W. Harris in that round — the 258th pick overall. Harris, also known as the other Greg Harris (which happens when you never switch-pitch), had a solid but unspectacular career — not bad for a tenth-round pick. Not as good as Brady Anderson, who went immediately before him, but still, an above-average career for having been picked 258th.

Harris pitched for the Padres from 1988 to the middle of 1993, when the front office decided to go younger. Among those traded that year were Gary Sheffield (receiving young reliever Trevor Hoffman and two prospects), Fred McGriff, and Harris.




The butterfly who flapped its wings, so to speak.

The Padres traded Harris, along with Bruce Hurst (who had signed with the Padres as a free agent prior to 1989, so he’s not as pertinent here) to the Rockies for Andy Ashby, Brad Ausmus, and Doug Bochtler — a decent haul, given Harris was out of baseball three years later (by the way, did they just agree on the first three names on their minor-league depth chart? The alphabetical final name is Bochtler!).




Ashby’s the key player here, in that the Padres used him in their rotation until after the 1999 season (including a World Series appearance in 1998), when he was traded to the Phillies for Carlton Loewer, Steve Montgomery, and most importantly, Adam Eaton (the pitcher from back then, not the outfielder today).

Eaton also spent six largely nondescript years as a starting pitcher in San Diego until, in a deal the Padres very clearly won, he was packaged with reliever Akinori Otsuka and minor-leaguer Billy Killian to the Rangers, receiving Adrian Gonzalez, Terrmel Sledge, and Chris Young (the pitcher — apparently we’re just full of same-name types here).


In this picture: Noted speedster Billy Hamilton.

Gonzalez absolutely raked for five years in San Diego, who sent him to the Red Sox after the 2010 season for five youngsters, including Anthony Rizzo.


Rizzo, of course, went to the Cubs, along with minor-leaguer Zach Cates, receiving Cashner and minor-leaguer Kyung-Min Na. Cashner then was traded today.

So to simplify it (or, admittedly, oversimplify it):

Greg Harris -> Andy Ashby -> Adam Eaton -> Adrian Gonzalez -> Anthony Rizzo -> Andrew Cashner -> The prospect haul the Padres got today.


Obviously it’s not this cut-and-dried, especially considering the other names the Padres traded in the process (Hurst, Otsuka). That said, if the Padres never drafted Harris, none of this may have ever necessarily happened. Today, the Padres used what they have received overtime to acquire a potential future first-baseman, closer, and starting pitcher.

Not bad for a tenth-round pick in 1985.

Questions? Comments? Please respond!



Josh Murphy loves the butterfly effect. It’s probably not based in any rationale, but the idea that a butterfly can fart in Australia, leading to a chain of events that culminates in a dramatic cold front going through Norway on an election day a month later and lowering voter turnout enough to influence an election, just fascinates him. It’s just like the alternate-universe hypothesis, and Josh insists he’s the closer for the Yankees in at least one alternate universe.