Back in the early 2000s, one of the greatest baseball players in the world was Alex Rodriguez. Having been a first-round pick, A-Rod quickly rocketed to the majors and was carving out quite the name for himself. After establishing himself in Seattle, A-Rod signed an MLB record contract, $252 million for 10 years, to join the last place Texas Rangers. Despite three monster seasons from A-Rod, the Rangers continued to struggle, and under the leadership of a new GM made the decision to trade their star.
In 2003, with A-Rod looking to join a playoff caliber roster, in came Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox.