The MLB trade deadline isn't the spectacle that it once was, in part because teams are afraid of making a short-sighted move like the Montreal Expos did in the summer of 2002 when they traded a haul of future All-Stars for Bartolo Colón.
First, though, you need to know the context that the Expos made this deal in.
2002 would turn out to be the Expos third-to-last season in Montreal, but at the time, the franchise had no certainty about their future. While they would eventually relocate to Washington, D.C., an overwhelming majority of teams in the league wanted to contract both the Expos and Minnesota Twins prior to the season.
Essentially playing with house money, general manager Omar Minaya went all-in after the Expos got off to a 41-36 start. Eight years after the 1994 strike-shortened season robbed them of a chance to potentially win a World Series, the Expos saw an opportunity to sneak into the postseason as the National League's Wild Card representative and make a deep playoff run.
Unfortunately for the Expos, who acquired Colón in late June, they came crashing back down to earth before the July 31 trade deadline even came. The squad managed by Hall of Famer Frank Robinson went just 11-16 in July, before posting a 13-15 record in August.
The Expos rebounded to go 17-10 in September, but that only got them to 83-79, 19 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants won the National League's lone Wild Card spot with a 95-66 record, meaning that the Expos didn't even finish within 10 games of the postseason.
Colón went 10-4 with a 3.31 ERA and 3.70 FIP in 17 starts for the Expos, so in many senses, he held up his end of the bargain. The man that would eventually would be dubbed "Big Sexy" proved to be just a rental in Montreal, though, as he was traded to the Chicago White Sox ahead of the 2003 campaign, a contract year.
Tim Drew - a right-handed pitcher acquired with Colón - made 13 appearances with the Expos over two years, part of a relatively forgettable five-year career. There was nothing forgettable about what went back to Cleveland in return, though.
Then-Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro acquired a franchise-altering haul in return for Colón and Drew. Veteran first baseman Lee Stevens went back to Cleveland, in what turned out to be the final season of his career. But the trio of Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee also joined Stevens in Cleveland, and would eventually combine for 10 career All-Star Game appearances.
Phillips, one of the better second basemen of his era, spent parts of four seasons in Cleveland, but didn't really click at the major league level until being traded to the Cincinnati Reds ahead of the 2006 season. Between 2007 and 2013, Phillips won four Gold Glove Awards and homered 143 times.
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Sizemore and Lee did click in Cleveland, and in a big way.
For whatever disappointment there is that injuries prevented Sizemore from being a Hall of Famer, he had a four-year stretch between 2005 and 2008 where he was a legitimate five-tool player. During this period, Sizemore posted a 27.3 fWAR, fourth among all position players in baseball, trailing only Albert Pujols, Chase Utley and Alex Rodriguez.
While Sizemore was part of a Cleveland team that reached the ALCS in 2007, Lee was left off of the postseason roster, having posted a 6.29 ERA in 20 games. After bottoming out in 2007, Lee went 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA and 2.83 FIP in 2008, en route to winning the American League Cy Young Award.
Cleveland would trade Lee to the Philadelphia Phillies in July of 2009, acquiring a trade package that included Carlos Carrasco, a deal that worked out for both sides. Lee was one of the most dominant pitchers of his era, posting a 38.1 fWAR between 2008 and 2013, the highest mark among all pitchers. Lee was something of a mercenary during his peak, pitching for Cleveland, the Phillies, Seattle Mariners and Texas Rangers. Lee helped the Phillies to reach the World Series in 2009, doing the same for the Rangers a year later.
Colón would win the American League Cy Young Award as a member of the Los Angeles Angels in 2004, but he and Drew combined for 29.3 fWAR from 2003 onward, which Lee alone blew past himself. Lee, Sizemore and Phillips were worth 109.8 fWAR together following the 2002 season. fWAR isn't a perfect metric - no statistic is - but it gives you a pretty good idea of how short-sighted this trade was for the Expos, and how much it hurt the franchise's chances of being competitive in their early seasons in Washington.
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