March 31st, 2005
Tampa Bay Devil Rays trade RHP Jorge Sosa to the Atlanta Braves for 2B Nick Green
As the end of spring training approached in 2005, the Devil Rays and Atlanta Braves found themselves with a surplus of players. The Rays had too many pitchers and the Braves had too many guys up the middle, so they made a deal to send utility infielder Nick Green to Tampa Bay for right-handed pitcher, Jorge Sosa. It was a minor swap, involving small role players.
It was such a minor move that it is near impossible to find more than a paragraph on the move, and thus far has been impossible to find any semblance of a quote from either side.
In the years leading up the trade, Jorge Sosa presented an interesting story to the baseball world. A 1995 international signee out of the Dominican Republic at the age of 18, Sosa was originally an infielder who amazed with a rocket arm. He spent the first six years of his career trying to catch on as a position player, even switching to the outfield. He just could not hit.
So, in 2001, after being selected by the Seattle Mariners in the minor league portion of the 2000 Rule 5 draft, he was converted to a pitcher. He enjoyed instant success and would be taken by the Milwaukee Brewers in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft the following winter and became one of their top 20 prospects.
Sosa threw 95-96 mph on a consistent basis and had little trouble throwing strikes. He still needs work on his secondary pitches and wasn’t considered close to being ready for the major leagues, so Seattle gambled and left him off its 40-man roster this winter. The Brewers swooped in and claimed Sosa in the major league Rule 5 draft in December, which means they’ll have to keep him on their 25-man roster throughout 2002, or expose him to waivers before offering him back to the Mariners for half his $50,000 purchase price. It may be difficult to hold onto Sosa, but his arm makes it worth taking the chance.
However, Sosa failed to make the Brewer big league squad in the spring and the Devil Rays would take him off waivers and thrust him onto their Opening Day roster at the age of 23, just one season after becoming a pitcher. He’d spend the next three years, up and down with Tampa Bay, showing signs of tremendous promise splitting time as a starter and reliever, but he never fully flourished.
Nick Green meanwhile, was a 32nd round draft pick in 1998 for Atlanta. Never a top prospect, but always a solid player, he performed decently at each level along the way to the majors. He made his debut in 2004, but the Braves had a logjam of players up the middle, so they made the decision to trade him to Tampa Bay.
Aftermath
Nick Green was perfect for the role the Devil Rays acquired him for, backing up the middle infielders. He didn’t hit all that well, but he provided decent enough value to be above replacement level. After struggling early on in 2006, the Devil Rays placed Green on the waiver wire and the Yankees picked him up. Green would journey around the majors for the next decade before calling it quits after the 2013 season.
Jorge Sosa meanwhile, excelled for the Atlanta Braves in 2005 and was one of the key factors in helping them win their 14th straight division title. In a rotation that featured Tim Hudson and John Smoltz, Sosa led them with a 2.62 ERA over 20 starts and opponents hit just .239 off him, tied with Smoltz for the lowest of any Braves starter.
The following year, Sosa’s success evaporated, and he was traded to the St Louis Cardinals at the trade deadline. Sosa’s struggled continued the rest of the year, but he regained his footing after signing with the New York Mets in the off-season and put up the best season of his career in 2007. However, he returned back to obscurity and pitched his last major league game in 2010, before departing to play an international leagues, retiring after 2014.
*Author’s Note - The Rays did make one deal prior to this with the Braves when they purchased the contract of Fred McGriff in 1997, but that technically is not a trade.