World Series MVPs Who Were Traded Midseason

Donn ClendenonPhoto byUnknown author

By Mark Kolier

The consensus is that this year’s MLB trade deadline was a big dud. Not one Top 100 prospect was traded and only two All-Stars (Tanner Scott and Isaac Parades) were traded. Good teams consider making deadline trades to position themselves for a World Series run. Do deadline-traded players ever win the World Series MVP?

It didn’t happen last year

Last season, the world champion Texas Rangers brought in Max Scherzer from the Mets prior to the trade deadline and subsequently won the World Series. Except Scherzer was mostly a non-factor in the World Series, pitching only three innings.

Being traded around the trade deadline and then being named the World Series MVP is a rare occurrence, especially since the World Series MVP award was only created in 1955 (first won by the Dodgers’ Johnny Podres). It’s happened only three times, and in all cases the players traded were thought to be solid acquisitions but not season-changing players. Let’s look at the earliest and most recent of those incidences, while recognizing that Steve Pearce also won World Series MVP for the Boston Red Sox in 2018 after being traded over from the Toronto Blue Jays midseason.

Donn Clendenon, 1969 New York Mets

By the way, I’ve always wondered, why the two n’s in Donn?

After playing his first eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Clendenon became an original Montreal Expo in 1969. He was 33 years old and a backup first baseman to Bob Bailey. After playing 38 games for Les Expos, Clendenon was sent to the Mets for Minor Leaguers Jay Carden, Terry Dailey and David Colon along with MLB players Kevin Collins and pitcher Steve Renko. It ended up being a five-for-one trade for a late-career right-handed power bat which the Mets needed to complement Ed Kranepool.

Sharing time with Kranepool, Clendenon played in 72 regular-season games for the Mets, batting .252 with 12 home runs and a 114 OPS+. Very solid. Yet Clendenon did not play at all in the National League Championship Series vs. the Atlanta Braves since the Mets did not face a left-handed starter. That changed in the World Series, since the powerful Orioles had lefties Dave McNally and Mike Cuellar to go along with future Hall of Famer Jim Palmer.

Clendenon led all batters with a .357 batting average to go along with three home runs and an OPS of 1.509! He was named World Series MVP and became the first player traded at the deadline to be named World Series MVP. To be noted is that Mets left-hander Jerry Koosman might have deserved the honor even more by going 2-0 in 17 2/3 innings with a ridiculous WHIP of 0.623.

One other interesting thing about Clendenon comes from SABR writer Ed Hoyt:

His big brother in college was Martin Luther King Jr.

Somehow, it’s appropriate to begin with that fact when discussing Donn Clendenon. During his college years at Morehouse College, one of the most pivotal players in Mets history was mentored by the greatest and most pivotal African American of the 20th century. The big brother tradition for “Morehouse men” typically assigned juniors and seniors to incoming freshmen, but the King family knew the Clendenons well, and the future legend Martin Jr. – though he had already graduated from “The ’House,” he continued his studies at Crozer Theological Seminary and received his ordination – volunteered for the duty.

Like Sarah Langs always says – ‘I love baseball’!

Jorge Soler, 2021 Atlanta Braves

The Braves had been working all season to manage the loss of star player Ronald Acuña Jr., who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in July. Soler was a bona fide power hitter coming over at the trade deadline from Kansas City. He was everything the Braves could have hoped for, smashing 14 home runs in just 55 games and an OPS+ of 131.

Soler had a miserable NLDS vs. the Brewers, batting .091 in 13 plate appearances. He only batted twice in the NLCS, doubling once in the series clincher vs. the Dodgers. Then, just like Clendenon 52 years earlier, Soler hit three World Series home runs while posting an OPS of 1.191. Freddie Freeman had a very good World Series, but Soler was better. That formula worked so well in 2021 that this season Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos decided to do it again, trading for Soler at the trade deadline after again having lost Acuña to another early season-ending ACL injury. Trying to get lightning to strike twice will be more difficult for this Braves team.

World Series MVP history

Players traded for or signed the previous offseason who win that season’s World Series MVP are also rare: Scott Brosius (1998 Yankees), Jermaine Dye (2005 White Sox), and Ben Zobrist (2016 Cubs).

Four players, Sandy Koufax (1963 & 1965 Dodgers), Bob Gibson (1964 & 1967 Cardinals), Reggie Jackson (1973 A’s & 1977 Yankees), and Corey Seager (2020 Dodgers & 2023 Rangers) have won two World Series MVPs.

Who might be the recently traded player who wins the WS MVP this season? Zach Eflin? Jack Flaherty? Jazz Chisholm Jr.? Eloy Jiménez? Randy Arozarena? Carlos Estévez? Chances are it won’t happen, since there have been only two in 69 years, but it’s not impossible!

About the Author: Mark Kolier along with his son Gordon co-hosts a baseball podcast called ‘Almost Cooperstown’. He also has written baseball-related articles that can be accessed on Medium.com and Substack.com.