Trades of the Decade: #5 Getting a Shortstop

Lloyd McClendon was not yet the manager of the Pirates and he would never be confused for a general manager, but in 2000 he provided some insight on a young minor leaguer that General Manager Cam Bonifay was looking to add from the Cardinals. In a trade that seemed minor at the time, it effected the whole decade for the Bucs as it gave them a fixture in the lineup for almost the entire decade.

Near the trading deadline of 2000, Jason Christiansen was starting to wear out his welcome in Pittsburgh. He was becoming a cancer in the clubhouse and was starting to voice some opinions in the media. It was only a matter of time of when Bonifay would be looking to trade the troublesome lefty. Christiansen would surely fetch something, as he is a lefty reliever one would think that he would be able to get something for him.

On July 29, Bonifay pulled the trigger on a trade that probably did not look like all that much then, but it would shape the team for the next decade. Bonifay sent Christiansen to the St. Louis Cardinals for a minor league shortstop, Jack Wilson, who had been coached the year before in the Arizona Fall League by Lloyd McClendon.

I remember Wilson being sent to Altoona, as I saw him play a game up there towards the end of the 2000 season. I can remember thinking that the young kid had quite the range in the field. It was in the offseason, heading into the inaugural year at PNC park, that talk started that the young Wilson could be the opening day shortstop.

He kind of fell into the job by default and was not quite ready, as he was demoted to AAA during the season. He never returned there because of his poor play. Wilson became a fixture on the all the Pirate teams to have played in PNC Park. He had his ups and downs, capitalized by his All-Star and Silver Slugger season in 2004. No matter your opinion at the end of his tenure with the Bucs, he was a solid major league shortstop for 9 seasons with the club.

How did the Cards make out? Well they had Christiansen for about 1 season, before shipping him out to San Francisco. In 51 games for the Cards, he 4.91 ERA and struck out 31. He was dealt to the Giants for Kevin Joseph and cash. Joseph only appeared in one season for the Cards. Christiansen was later dealt to the Angels after a fight with Barry Bonds. His name perhaps last came up in the Mitchell Report.

It is quite easy to see that this is one of the best trades of the past decade. It is not every day that one can pawn off a disgruntled reliever and get a solid shortstop for the next decade. It is not as though the Cards missed having Wilson, they have done plenty fine at shortstop, but the value they gave up doesn't seem to make sense now.