Today we go back to 2011 for the 9th most impactful trade. Of the hints so far I thought this one might have been the easiest. This deal did indeed "crown the king" as in King Felix becoming a Royal.
Coming off an 83-79 season in 2011, the Kansas City Royals were looking to make a splash to rise in the rankings. They found a partner in the 69-93 Seattle Mariners. First though, let's talk about what Kansas City was pre-trade. Offensively their best player was Grady Sizemore who posted a 29 HR, 94 RBI, 22 SB season in 2011. He was supported by Carlos Pena, Jason Kubel, Rick Ankiel, and Chris Getz. The offense was mediocre....matched only by the equally mediocre pitching. However the staff did sport three elite arms - closer Joakim Soria and starters Zack Grienke and Aaron Crow. Crow was 18-6 with a 3.73 ERA in 2011 while Grienke was 11-8 with a 3.17 ERA. What GM Mike planned to do with the team was build one of the AL's most dominant pitching staffs - and the guy he targeted to do that was none other than King Felix.
King Felix was already an all-star and gold glove winner after 2011. His season that year was 16-10 with a 3.21 ERA on a dreadful Seattle team. So bad were the Mariners that no one else on the team other than 3-2 Brandon League had a better than .500 record. It was clear the team was on the road to nowhere and needed to maximize the value of Hernandez as soon as possible.
In the offseason following 2011 the Royals were able to land Hernandez for the following package: SP Wandy Rodriguez, C Salvador Perez, 3B Ed Lummis, and 2B Tim Perrin. FCM regulars should recognize one of those names right away, but before we get to him, let's talk about the rest of the deal:
Wandy Rodriguez was an established starter at the time, but his career basically ended the moment he landed in Seattle. He manged 11 very effective starts in 2012, but injuries quickly destroyed his career. He managed only 16 total starts for the Mariners and was less than impactful.
Ed Lummis would've been happy to have had Wandy's impact - he got only 36 at-bats in the big leagues and was a complete flame-out for the Mariners. Salavador Perez faired better, managing an 11 year career and over 1,000 games. In that time he played 7 seasons for Seattle with 35 homeruns with 281 RBI. Salvador managed to make the all-star game in 2017 and twice hit over .300 over the course of a season. It's clear this was a valuable piece and a good component to add in this trade.
The crown jewel was Tim Perrin - one of FCM's greatest middle infielders. Tim was drafted first overall in the 2011 draft. Tim was an amazing high school and collegiate athlete and it was clear at the time of the trade that he was a superstar in the making. Tim developed slowly for the Mariners, not able to make is full debut until 2016 at the age of 25. At one point, the Mariners even had contemplated trading Perrin for the corpse of Alex Rodriguez. Luckily for the Mariners they were saved from what likely would have been the dumbest move in FCM's history. Instead, Perrin blossomed as a Mariner. In 2017 he hit 22 homeruns and drove in 99 runs. He followed that by hitting 30 home runs and driving in 132 RBI along with playing electrically in the field. In 2019, after a down season, Perrin was dealt to Houston for a giant pile of crap. Unfortunately the good done by acquiring this player as the centerpiece was eventually almost squandered, only to be eventually squandered anyway. Perrin, of course, went on to great success in Houston and New York.
Let's flip to Kansas City - the arrival of King Felix transformed the Royals. They went on to win 99 games the next year and make the playoffs. They had 6 straight seasons with 90 wins and took home 5 division titles. They were able to advance to the World Series in 2016 as well. King Felix played a huge role in this. In his time in KC he had 7 all-star appearances and 2 Cy Youngs. He won 105 games against 66 losses. Never in his career with KC was his ERA over 3.77 with four seasons of sub-3 ERA. His career 2.89 postseason ERA was crucial for the Royals over the years including a dominant run in 2016 leading the Royal charge to the World Series. It would be fair to argue that Felix-Crow-Sample-Grienke-Walcott are one of the best collections of starting pitching in league history.
This deal catapulted the Royals from being a mediocre team to one of FCM's best for nearly a decade. King Felix headlined a dominant pitching staff that tortured the AL and dominated the central. For Seattle - they got one of FCM's best back in the deal but do to mismanagement weren't able to capitalize on the haul and instead lost a great deal of value that may have helped them in their run in subsequent years. There is little doubt that if Perrin had been handled better and a second true star had been in the deal, that they may have won the World Series in 2018. Instead, KC walked away with a great player at a good price and helped assert themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
Next Up: FCM's 8th Most Impactful Trade: "A Current Juggernaut....for a Future Juggernaut"
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