On this day in the history of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Delino DeShields was traded to the Montreal Expos for Pedro Martinez, who would go on to become a Hall of Famer.

Though Martinez and DeShields were both young players with a lot of promise at the time of the trade, which was finalised on November 19, 1993, it has since been considered one of the worst transactions in Dodgers team history.

Although there was some risk involved in executing the trade, then-Dodgers general manager Fred Claire said it “made all the sense in the world.”

In June 1988, Martinez, an international free agent from the Dominican Republic, was signed by the Dodgers. Ramon, his older brother, joined the team in 1984 and debuted in Major League Baseball in the 1988 campaign.

Part of the 1992 and 1993 seasons were spent as Dodgers teammates by the Martinez brothers.

That translated to Pedro Martinez playing in 67 games (three starts) over that time. In those outings, he had a 2.58 ERA and a record of 10-6.

In 1993, Martinez tied for first place with 113 strikeouts, placed second with a.187 batting average against, and led National League relief pitchers with 10 wins.

DeShields batted in the meantime. 295/.389/.372 in 1993, his fourth season with the Montreal Expos, with 17 doubles, seven triples, two home runs, 29 rBI, and 43 stolen bases.

After Jody Reed became a free agent, the Dodgers needed to fill a hole at second base, so they traded for DeShields. In what turned out to be his final season with the franchise, Reed hit.276 with two home runs, 31 RBI, and one stolen base while playing every day at the position for Los Angeles.

Martinez’s career took off when the Expos made him a starting pitcher and DeShields took over at second base for the Dodgers.

With the Expos, Martinez won 53 games and the Cy Young Award. With the Boston Red Sox, he won two more Cy Young Awards, a World Series, and was eventually elected into the Hall of Fame. Martinez is regarded as one of the greatest pitchers in Major League Baseball history, yet strangely, that has little to do with the Dodgers organization’s wealth in that department.

Dodgers player Delino DeShields’ statisticsIn his meagre three seasons with the Dodgers, DeShields appeared in just 370 games and hit.241/.326/.327 with 41 doubles, 14 triples, 15 home runs, 111 RBI, and 114 stolen bases.