Fansided

Each MLB team’s best trade ever

By Joshua Sadlock

SEATTLE, WA - JUNE 19: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers takes a swing during an at-bat in a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on June 19, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won the game 6-2. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - JUNE 19: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers takes a swing during an at-bat in a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on June 19, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won the game 6-2. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CA – CIRCA 1993: Pitcher Randy Johnson #51 of the Seattle Mariners pitches against the Oakland Athletics during a Major League Baseball game circa 1993 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. Johnson played for the Mariners from 1989-98. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA – CIRCA 1993: Pitcher Randy Johnson #51 of the Seattle Mariners pitches against the Oakland Athletics during a Major League Baseball game circa 1993 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. Johnson played for the Mariners from 1989-98. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Seattle Mariners: Randy Johnson from the Expos, 1989

  • Mariners get: Randy Johnson, Gene Harris, Brian Holman
  • Expos get: Mark Langston, Mike Campbell

At the time of this trade in May 1989, Randy Johnson was a long-limbed starter for the Expos who had yet to figure out where the ball was going when it left his long arms. Johnson had flashed dominance in the Expos minor-league system, but in 11 games with them, he was 3-4 with a 4.69 ERA and 5.3 walks per nine.

With the Mariners, Johnson’s control slowly improved, even as he led MLB in walks for each of his first three seasons with Seattle. In 1993, Johnson finally fully flipped the switch and emerged as one of the most dominant pitchers in MLB history. He went 19-8 with a 3.24 ERA and topped 300 strikeouts for the first time in his career. From 1992 to 1993, Johnson dropped his walk rate from 6.2 per nine to 3.5 per nine.

Johnson’s five full seasons with the Mariners from 1993 to 1997 rival any stretch any pitcher in MLB history has put together. He went 75-20 with a 2.86 ERA and 11.6 strikeouts per nine. The Big Unit won his first AL Cy Young in 1995 while going 18-2 with a 2.48 ERA and 12.3 strikeouts per nine.

In Johnson’s lone trip to the playoffs with the Mariners in 1995, he won two of the three games in the ALDS to defeat the heavily-favored Yankees. Seattle was forced to trade him in 1998. The Mariners pitching coaches helped unleash Johnson’s true potential. He would win 303 MLB games, five Cy Young, a World Series MVP and is still the league’s all-time leader in strikeouts per nine.

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