Once hailed by Royals for his ‘upside,’ pitcher is now most-traded player in MLB history
Ahead of the MLB trade deadline in 2010, the Royals swung a five-player deal with the Atlanta Braves.
The Royals sent outfielder Rick Ankiel and pitcher Kyle Farnsworth to Atlanta for outfielder Gregor Blanco and pitchers Tim Collins and Jesse Chavez.
“Statistically, he’s had some rough outings this year,” Dayton Moore, then the Royals general manager, told The Star about Chavez, “but we like his arm, and we like his upside.”
For Chavez, who was 26 at the time, it was his the fourth time he was sent to a new team.
The Rangers, who drafted Chavez in 2002, traded him four years later to the Pirates. In 2009, he was sent to the Rays, who a month later traded him to the Braves. Then it was on to the Royals.
Little did Chavez know, but it was just the start of his nomadic baseball career.
After appearing in 27 games with the Royals he was released after the 2011 season. The Blue Jays selected Chavez off waivers but he was traded to the A’s during the 2012 season.
Chavez stuck with the A’s until the 2016 trade deadline when he was sent back to the Blue Jays. After signing as a free agent with the Angels (for the 2017 season) and then the Rangers (2018), he was traded to the Cubs in July 2018.
Free agent stints followed, as he signed with the Rangers (playing there in 2019-20), then the Braves (2021) and the Cubs (2022). In April he was traded back to Atlanta, which then sent him to the Angels ahead of the trade deadline.
Got all that?
That’s two trades this season and 10 in his 15-year career, which earned him the moniker of “most traded player” by MLB.com.
Chavez, who turns 39 on Sunday, told The Athletic’s Sam Blum the frequent trades are hardest on his kids who are 7, 12 and 18 years old.
As he said in a 2018 interview with ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, it’s one reason why he has two must-have items for any move to a new city with his wife, Crystal and the children.
“I would say the Xbox and PlayStation,” Chavez said with a laugh. “Good for me and the kids. Mainly me.”
Chavez realizes all the trades are part of the business of baseball. Although he’s struggled with the Angels, Chavez has a 2.66 ERA this season. He’s kept a good attitude about being part of so many deals.
“I don’t know. It all depends on how people want to look at it,” Chavez told The Athletic. “I’m just a good guy or a bad guy. It all depends. I feel like I’ve been on the good side.”
