8. December 14, 1998: St. Louis Cardinals land young stud Renteria.
Cardinals Receive: Edgar Renteria
Marlins Receive: Armando Almanza, Braden Looper, and Pablo Ozuna
Edgar Renteria spent the prime of his career in St. Louis, and he ended up becoming one of the best Cardinals of the time. In six seasons, Renteria was a 3-time Silver Slugger and 2-time Gold Glove winner, and made 3 All-Star teams in his 6 years with the Cardinals, batting .290/.347/.420 and racking up 148 steals.
His best season was 2003, where he hit .330/.394/.480 with 100 RBIs, 96 runs scored, and 34 stolen bases.
Almanza lasted 6 years in the Majors and struggled as a whole, and Ozuna hit .285 over 7 years, but had just 3 homers and 45 RBI’s.
Looper actually stuck, playing in the league for 11 years after the Cardinals traded him, headlined by a solid 2004 season with the Mets in which he had a 2.70 ERA and 1.22 WHIP over 83.1 innings as a reliever. However, he ended his career with a mediocre 4.15 ERA.
All together, what the Cardinals gave up pales in comparison to Renteria’s contributions.