The 2 Most Lopsided Trades in Recent MLB History

     Trades are a common occurrence in the business of baseball. Organizations are always looking to improve their rosters, and trades allow each team to fill the different holes of the team. During the season, MLB organizations can be classified into two categories: buyers and sellers.  Buyers trade their minor league prospects for experienced players to boost their lineups and give them the best chance of winning the World Series in the following years, while sellers trade their veterans to stock up on prospects if they doing poorly to focus on the organization's future. As a result of the high risk-high reward characteristic in prospects, trades that swap MLB players for prospects often end up as a big steal for one, and a bust for the other.  Listed are trades that at the time seemed reasonable, but turned out to be lopsided months after the acquisitions for both teams.

1. Josh Donaldson to the Toronto Blue Jays

In the 2014 offseason, the Oakland Athletics traded young superstar Josh Donaldson to the Blue Jays for Canadian third baseman Brett Lawrie and prospects Sean Nolin, Franklin Barreto and Kendall Graveman.  In the following season, Donaldson had a breakout season and slugged 41 home runs while hitting .297 en route to the AL MVP.  Lawrie and Nolin both undeperformed in the major league level, though Barreto and Graveman did well in their minor league teams.  After the 2015, it became clear that the Blue Jays were able to acquire one of the best sluggers in the game for a group of once-promising busts.

2.  Anthony Rizzo to the Cubs

Months before the start of the 2010 Spring Training, the Cubs sent elite but aging pitcher Andrew Cashner to the Padres for young prospect Anthony Rizzo. After a year in the Cubs minor league system, Rizzo showed pop in his bat while flashing the leather at first base to earn a spot in the Cubs lineup.  Ever since his call-up, Rizzo has been selected to three All Star Games while winning the Gold Glove and Platinum Glove in 2016 for his stellar defense and a Silver Slugger Award in the same year for being voted the best offensive first baseman.  He has also lead the Cubs to a World Series Ring in 2016 to end their 106 year drought, the longest in all professional sports.  Cashner, however, pitched decently, under achieving from his previous track record with the Cubs, until he was traded in the 2016 to the Miami Marlins.