On this date in Tampa Bay Rays history, the Rays traded RHP Edwin Jackson to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for OF Matt Joyce.

Jackson had originally came to the Rays in a trade during the 2005-2006 off-season from the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. He had been at one time, one of the top prospect in all baseball and even drew comparisons to Pedro Martinez. During his time with the Rays, he struggled for the most part, but showed signs of tremendous potential.

Nonetheless, the Rays had an over abundance of starting pitchers heading into the 2009 season, making Jackson expendable. So, on December 10th, 2008, the Rays made the trade for the Tigers young outfield prospect.

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How’d it work out?

Edwin Jackson’s tenure with the Tigers was short lived, like most of his tenures would be in the future, despite having considerable success on the mound. He would be traded three more time in the span of a year from 2010 to 2011. He would return to Tropicana Field and no-hit the Rays during the 2010 season.

Jackson hit a wall in 2014 and began a downward spiral of his career, leading him to journey around from whatever organization would give him opportunity. His latest stop was with the Washington Nationals this past season.

Matt Joyce meanwhile, excelled for the Rays when used as part of a platoon. In 2011, he broke out early and was named an All-Star for the first (and thus far only time in his career). He would enjoy several solid years with the Rays before being traded during the 2014-2015 off-season to the Los Angeles Angles. He has since moved on from L.A. and been with the Pittsbugh Pirates and he spent this previous season with the Oakland Athletics where he had his best year since 2011, setting a new career high in home runs.