Guardians' Junior Caminero trade has aged absolutely miserably

This won't go down in good history.

Guardians' Junior Caminero trade has aged absolutely miserably originally appeared on The Sporting News

The Cleveland Guardians have the best third baseman in the American League on their roster, Jose Ramirez.

They could've had the other best third baseman in the American League on their roster, too, if not for one disastrous trade decision. That player? Tampa Bay Rays rising superstar Junior Caminero.

Yep, he used to be in the Cleveland organization.

Now, he's up to 39 home runs on the season for the Rays after hitting two on Monday night against the Guardians as part of a 4-for-5 onslaught.

The Guardians signed Caminero as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 2019.

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After the COVID year stunted prospect development, Caminero starred in the Dominican Summer League in 2021 with a .534 slugging percentage.

The Guardians didn't keep him around too much longer to see how he'd turn out.

In November 2021, Cleveland traded Caminero to the Rays for Tobias Myers.

Myers at that point had put up a 3.90 ERA across Double-A and Triple-A in 2021 with strong strikeout numbers.

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The Guardians sent Myers to the San Francisco Giants for cash in a trade in July of 2022, less than a year after they'd gotten him.

Myers wound up with the Brewers, where he showed some promise at the MLB level in 2024 but has spent almost the entirety of 2025 back in Triple-A.

Caminero is meanwhile on his way to being one of the best players in baseball.

This will go down as one of the worst trades in the history of Cleveland sports.

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Category: Baseball