MLB Insider: Grading executives' Luka Doncic-Anthony Davis MLB trade comparisons

Immediately after the stunning Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis swap, my phone started blowing up with texts from baseball executives and agents.

Never before had they seen anything like it. The sheer magnitude, and shock value, that such a blockbuster trade provided was unheard of. Especially in the day of X (formerly Twitter) when seemingly everything leaks. But not a whisper of the Doncic-for-Davis trade was leaked, not until the deal was done and announced by Shams Charania of ESPN.

So many of those people who reached out to me came up with comparisons of their own. What, they asked, would be the baseball version of the Doncic-for-Davis trade? Let’s take a look at two of them.

Executive 1: Fernando Tatis Jr. for Trevor Story

“Probably not fair to Anthony Davis there, but hey,” the executive said.

I’d agree with the executive's assessment that Story is not a good equivalent to Davis, who is on a Hall of Fame trajectory in basketball.

Story, meanwhile, has built a strong career. In nine career seasons, he’s accumulated a 30.9 bWAR and slashed .265/.332/.501 with 179 home runs and 540 RBI. In Colorado, he blossomed into one of the best young infielders in baseball, and was rewarded with a six-year, $140 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. 

Story, 32, has struggled with injuries since going to Boston, playing in only 163 games in three seasons (69 games the last two seasons). His impact on the diamond is not that of Davis on the basketball court, so this trade could be even more lopsided than the Doncic trade.

Grade: 4/10.

Executive 2: Bobby Witt Jr. for Mike Trout

I really, really like this trade as a comparison to the Doncic-Davis trade.

Witt Jr. is a superstar and on pace to be one of the faces of baseball. He’s arguably the best shortstop in baseball and at 24 years old, is coming off a season in which he hit .332/.389/.588 with 32 home runs and 109 RBI. He’s in the same age bracket as Doncic and there’s only reason to believe that they’ll get better from here.

Trout, meanwhile, is a sure fire Hall of Famer. He was baseball’s best player for years, only for his body to fail him and for his teams to never advance to the postseason. When he’s healthy, he remains a force on the baseball diamond. Just staying healthy has been a problem for him in recent years, as he’s played only 319 games in the last five seasons.

Of all the comps, this is probably the best one for the Doncic-Davis trade.

Grade: 9/10.

A different executive's thoughts:

What is it like being in a position to trade a player like Doncic? Really no one knows. But shopping a star player is complicated. It comes with trying to find equal value. It comes with trying to manage feelings. It comes with trying to manage leaks — or how to get the word out that said player is available — and a lot of other stuff in between.

“In a weird way, I understand that it becomes a complete shitshow if you actually try to make a guy like that available and create more of a market,” the executive said. “But then yeah, you can end up doing something really strange like this. Crazy trade.”