Earlier this week, we discussed the enormity of the NBA trade that shook the world. In case you somehow missed it, Luka Dončić (and more) was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis (and more).
Genuinely, I cannot remember a trade (nor find it in arduous research) more surprising in the last 25 years. Only time will tell if this deal truly has such profound impact, but I think you can argue this is the most jaw-dropping deal since Wayne Gretzky was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988. That deal was so absurd that it later became known simply as "The Trade".
It's unlikely this Dončić-Davis trade lives up to that luminous standard, but it's hard to understate the pure shock factor that the move generated. Just about every athlete from every sport weighed in on the news when it first broke.
So, I figured it would be a fun exercise to see if we could come up with a few trades ideas in modern Major League Baseball that could even come close to approximating the trade that just changed the NBA landscape.
Rules
First things first: the proposed trades aren't necessarily "realistic" or swaps that you'd expect either side to reasonably consider. We're just trying to match the star power that was in the deal, while also attempting to achieve that "shock value" that sent the whole world into a frenzy when the Doncic trade was announced.
It's also important to note the Lakers-Mavericks trade involved other pieces, including a first-round pick, Max Christie, Maxi Kleber, Markieff Morris, and more. Those players and picks all have value, but for our purposes, we'll just be focusing on a pure star-for-star swap. You can include prospects and role players at your own discretion.
Lastly, contracts don't matter in this case. The NBA has a salary cap, and just about every team exceeds in it a given season. Baseball definitively does not, and I won't wrestle with the headache of a small-market team trying to absorb a $300+ million contract. For these three deals, just assume that every owner is actually willing to spend on their team.