#49: The Ultimate Trade
Professional athletes get traded between teams all the time. It’s become an expected part of any team-focused sport. But how many athletes can say that they’ve been traded for themselves? Well, not many. So far, only four baseball players have ever been traded for themselves. Harry Chiti was the first. As we all know, there always has to be a first.
Harry Chiti was traded for himself through a strange technicality. It all started when Harry Chiti was traded from the Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians) to the New York Mets for a player to be named later. The Mets needed a backup pitcher, and Chiti was their guy. A few months later, the Mets traded Chiti back to Cleveland under that same trade contract. They named Chiti as the player “to be named later.” It isn’t very easy, but it makes sense in a way.