Dave Cameron posts about how the Mariners fleeced the Reds when they traded Ken Griffey, Jr. for Mike Cameron (no relation, I presume).

Cameron was, by all rights, one of the most valuable contracts in the game at that point. Four years of team control of a +3 WAR player headed into his prime? A rough equivalent of that in current form would be something like Desmond Jennings. Can you even imagine the Rays (or even a franchise with more money than the Rays) giving up Jennings for a rent-a-player today, even if that rent-a-player was a guy as good as Cano?

Even the much maligned Wil Myers/James Shields trade didn’t involve a player coming off a +5 WAR season, and Shields had two years of team control remaining, not just one. And the Royals got killed for making that trade. The Reds decision to include Cameron in a trade for Griffey was orders of magnitude worse than the Royals decision to include Myers in the Shields trade, especially given that the Reds were acquiring Griffey to bolster their short term chances to win.

And here’s the kicker; this was the trade the Reds made after Griffey had invoked his no-trade clause to block a deal to the Mets, and had publicly declared that he would only agree to go to Cincinnati. The Reds didn’t have to win a bidding war for Griffey; they were the only team allowed to bid.

The 2001 Mariners went on to win 90+ games four years in a row, including the 116 win 2001 season. They did not make it to the World Series, however, and have been at best okay since then.