Sure, the acquisitions of Joe Nathan, Johan Santana and even Luis Castillo were some of the better trades made over the past 15 years or so but perhaps the one that made the biggest impact was a trade that took place in season.
The year was 2003 and the Minnesota Twins were playing the Oakland Athletics on July 17 and sat 8 ½ games behind the first-place Kansas City Royals.
Things weren’t looking that great for the reigning American League Central champions.
Then the Minnesota Twins pulled off a trade that sent Bobby Kielty to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for lead-off hitter Shannon Stewart.