Bartolo Colon could very well outlast all the players he was traded for in 2002
On Sunday, the reigning American League champion Cleveland Indians became one of the first teams to open spring training. Between going to Game 7 of the 2016 World Series and the early 2017 report date, the Indians had baseball's shortest offseason this year.
Tuesday morning, Cleveland announced a hire that I wouldn't blame you for overlooking. The team added former center fielder Grady Sizemore to the front office:
Grady Sizemore has joined us as a player development advisor!
Will assist majors/minors staff this spring & be special asst. during season. pic.twitter.com/84tm2YiJeA — Cleveland Indians (@Indians) February 14, 2017
The Sizemore hire comes two days after the Braves acquired second baseman Brandon Phillips from the Reds for two minor-league pitchers. Phillips joins the ageless Bartolo Colon in Atlanta. Why is this notable? Because once upon a time, Colon was traded for Sizemore and Phillips. I'm sure you knew that.
Here, as a reminder, is the full trade, which took place on June 27, 2002:
Expos received: Bartolo Colon, Tim Drew
Indians received: Grady Sizemore, Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, Lee Stevens
That is truly one of the most remarkable trades in recent memory. Included in that trade are two Cy Young Award winners, one of the best second basemen of his generation, one of the most exciting players of the mid-2000s, and a player from the first set of the brothers to be drafted in the first round in the same year. There's a lot to unpack there.
Colon was 29 at the time of the trade and is still pitching. He spent a half-season with the Expos, was traded to the White Sox in the offseason, then signed with the Angels as a free agent a year later. Colon won the 2005 AL Cy Young Award and it looked like his career was over in 2010 following several arm injuries. Instead, he resurfaced with the Yankees in 2011 and is still going. Incredible.
Bartolo Colon could outlast everyone he was traded for in 2002. USATSI
Lee won the 2008 AL Cy Young Award with the Indians and was one of the best pitchers in baseball from 2008-13, before arm trouble effectively forced him into retirement. Sizemore was on the short list of the game's best and most exciting players from 2005-08, though injuries later sabotaged his career. Peak Sizemore was unbelievable. What an incredibly fun and productive player.
Unlike Lee and Sizemore, Phillips never did find success with the Indians. They eventually traded him to the Reds, where things clicked. Phillips played with Cincinnati from 2006-16. Tim Drew and his brother J.D. Drew were both first-round picks in 1997. J.D. was the second overall pick (Phillies) and Tim was the 28th overall pick (Indians). (J.D. refused to sign with Philadelphia and re-entered the draft in 1998.)
Stephen Drew, the younger brother of J.D. and Tim, was a first-round pick as well. The Diamondbacks selected him with the 15th pick in 2004. Anyway, Tim did not have nearly as much MLB success as his brothers. He threw 84 2/3 big league innings with a 7.02 ERA from 2000-04.
Stevens is kind of an afterthought in this trade. He didn't perform all that well with the Indians following the deal and didn't play in the big leagues at all after that 2002 season. Despite that, the Indians came out way ahead in this deal given how great Sizemore and Lee were in Cleveland. Colon's stint in Montreal was short-lived.
It's entirely possible Colon, who turns 44 in May, will outlast everyone he was traded for in 2002. That's pretty remarkable considering Sizemore, Phillips and Lee were all prospects at the time of the trade, and each of them went on to have very productive big-league careers.
Phillips will be a free agent after the 2017 season, and given his age (35) and declining skills, he might have a hard time finding a job next winter. Colon, on the other hand, will keep getting one-year deals as long as he's healthy. Teams always need pitching.
It's pretty remarkable that, 15 years after being involved in a blockbuster trade, Phillips becomes Colon's teammate with the Braves and Sizemore joins the Indians' front office with the span of 48 hours or so. Baseball is a flat circle.