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Enjoyed the article, but was pulled back in time to Omar Minaya's horrendous trade while he was the Expos' GM for Bartoli Colon. For Big Sexy and Tim Drew, Montreal sent Lee Stevens,Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore to Cleveland. Ugh.

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One he'd definitely like to have back even though you could make a pretty good argument Colon had the best career of anybody in that deal. It just wasn't with Montreal. People forget how good Grady Sizemore was for a while.

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Yes, I think Colon did have the best career. The trade was incredibly lopsided though. Lee's WAR is about the same as Colon alone over a 12-year career. Phillips and Sizemore (always underrated, as you noted) double the career WAR again. As with the Langston deal a decade earlier, Montreal implemented the proverbial "try to win now" strategy. Both Colon and Langston were one-year guys for the Expos and both trades were epic losers in the long run. It is the desperation brought on by tight windows of opportunity such as the Angels initiated in 2023 (and the Marlins milieu, as well).

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