20 years ago the Cleveland Guardians proved they knew how to win a trade

20 years ago the Cleveland Guardians traded Bartolo Colon to the Montreal Expos for a franchise-changing haul.

The Cleveland Guardians are known for their big trades that reshape their franchise. Unlike so many others in the world of baseball, the Guardians don’t lose in trades. Just about every trade they ever make, somehow, makes them better.

This process works for the Guardians, who unlike major market clubs like the Chicago teams and the Los Angeles teams, are prone to long bouts of non-playoff caliber baseball, the Guardians are always right there ready to compete.

The first major trade of the Dolan ownership era happened nearly 20 years ago to the day when on June 27, 2002, the Guardians (then known as the Indians) traded Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew to the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals). Colon would spend just months in an Expos uniform before getting traded to the Chicago White Sox.

The Guardians got back Lee Stevens as the “name” of the package but also received future All-Stars Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore. Lee and Sizemore were key pieces to the Guardians’ 90+ wins in 2005 and 2007, while Phillips was then traded to Cincinnati.

Phillips was still playing pro-ball for the team he co-owns, the Lexington Legends, and is currently married to AEW wrestling star Jade Cargill.

This trade was a huge win for the Cleveland Guardians

Despite what Anthony Castrovince wants to insinuate, Bartolo Colon’s post-Guardians days weren’t great. Yes, Colon lasted longer than any of them in the Major Leagues, but he only did so due to steroids. While he only popped once in 2012, the fact that he had some of his worst, injury-plagued seasons prior to popping, and then went on to have two of the best seasons in his 40s is clearly a reason to be suspicious.

Colon was a great pitcher when he was young, in shape, and healthy, but when he got older it was clear he was barely hanging on. It’s impossible to say that Colon’s two All-Star nods at the ages of 40 and 43 were chemically enhanced but there’s doubt, as Colon is a known user.

Still, can’t say we don’t love Colon in Cleveland, he was a great piece for those late-90s Guardians squads.

As for the pieces that the Guards got back in that trade, Lee was a Cy Young winner (and probably should’ve won it two other times) and Sizemore was the best all-around center fielder at the time before injuries derailed him.

Even in hindsight, the trade was great for the Guardians. Colon wasn’t going to get them to 90 wins in 2005 and 2007 and had injuries not been so prevalent on those squads, you were probably looking at 90-win seasons for years to come.

The Colon trade proved the Guardians could in fact reload and rebuild at the same time, and not take years, even a decade or so, to get back to winning.