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MLB Trade Deadline: 5 best players to be named later

By Phil Watson

The Cleveland Indians were the latest team to commit a player to be named later after acquiring Nick Maronde from the Los Angeles Angels earlier this month. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Indians were the latest team to commit a player to be named later after acquiring Nick Maronde from the Los Angeles Angels earlier this month. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Before he became a three-time World Series winner in Boston, David Ortiz was a player to be named later in a minor deal between the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Before he became a three-time World Series winner in Boston, David Ortiz was a player to be named later in a minor deal between the Seattle Mariners and Minnesota Twins. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

Honorable Mention

Perhaps the best player ever to be dealt as a player to be named later is Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz.

Ortiz was toiling away in the minor leagues for the Seattle Mariners when, in September 1996, he was sent to the Minnesota Twins to complete a trade the Mariners had made a couple of weeks earlier in which they acquired third baseman Dave Hollins.

Ortiz spent parts of six seasons in Minnesota, hitting .266/.348/.461 with 58 home runs and 238 RBI in 455 games.

The Twins released him in December 2002 and he signed as a free agent with the Red Sox and the rest, as they say, is history. Since going to Boston, Ortiz has hit .290/.387/.567 with 397 home runs and 1,264 RBI in 1,615 games and has been selected to nine All-Star Games.

He’s also been a key part of three World Series winners in Boston and was runner-up to Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees in balloting for the American League Most Valuable Player award in 2005.

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