8 players to be named later who went on to become stars

Sometimes, the best return in a trade is that piece that comes last. For years, the player to be named later (PTBNL) has been a transactional mainstay -- a piece of the trade that both teams agree to decide upon at a later date.

Most of the time, the player involved is a Minor League throw-in who never ends up gracing an MLB field. But in some cases, the PTBNL ends up blossoming into a solid, if not spectacular, MLB player.

With this offseason's Hot Stove heating up, chances are you'll end up seeing some deals that involve a PTBNL in the coming months. With that in mind, these eight players are your reminder to not overlook that part of any upcoming trades.

Trea Turner
PTBNL from SD to WSH in December 2014

The Padres, Nationals and Rays got together for one of the more jam-packed transactions in recent history -- one that also changed an MLB rule. There were 11 players involved (including Wil Myers, Joe Ross and Steven Souza Jr.), plus a PTBNL, which everyone knew would be Turner. But there was only one problem -- he couldn’t be traded. At least not yet.

At the time of the trade, there was a rule in place that prevented a player from being officially traded for a year after he was drafted, which meant that Turner, who was the No. 13 pick in the 2014 Draft, had to wait until June 2015 to be traded to the Nationals. As a result, he spent the first three months of the '15 season playing for a team that had already traded him. MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed to change the rule prior to the next Draft.

While the trade made for an odd situation, Turner has spoken fondly of his time in trade limbo.

“I remember not feeling like I was on the outside, even though I was being traded,” Turner told the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2022. “I appreciated that. That's something I'll never forget."

Once Turner ended up in D.C., it didn’t take long for him to make his mark in The Show, as he made his debut two months after the trade, and ended up playing 27 games with the Nationals in 2015. He went on to hit .300 in seven seasons with the Nationals before spending a year and a half with the Dodgers. He signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies prior to the 2023 season.

Michael Brantley
PTBNL from MIL to CLE in July 2008

A few weeks before the Trade Deadline, Cleveland and Milwaukee agreed to a deal that sent then-prospects Matt LaPorta, Rob Bryson, Zach Jackson and a PTBNL to Cleveland in exchange for CC Sabathia, who was a free agent to be. As per a stipulation in the trade, Cleveland would be allowed to select the PTBNL if the Brewers reached the postseason, while the Brewers would be able to pick the player if they missed out on October baseball.

But Milwaukee was able to qualify for the postseason on the last day of the regular season, with Sabathia fittingly on the mound for the clinching moment.

That December, Cleveland picked Brantley as the PTBNL in the trade, and he made his MLB debut at the end of the season.

That set off an illustrious 10-year Cleveland tenure for Brantley that saw him rack up 1,195 hits, three All-Star Game appearances and a top-three MVP finish. He’s since gone on to tally two more All-Star appearances in his four-plus seasons with the Astros. LaPorta, who was the prized prospect of the trade, hit .238 with 31 home runs and 120 RBIs in 291 career games with Cleveland.

Gio González
PTBNL from CWS to PHI in November 2005

González has the illustrious distinction of being the only player on this list who was traded for a Hall of Famer -- and that’s just one of the many intriguing layers to this trade.

In 2005, a shoulder injury cut Jim Thome's season short, opening up an opportunity for a then-25-year-old Ryan Howard to hit 22 home runs and win NL Rookie of the Year. The next offseason, Thome offered to waive his no-trade clause, so long as the Phillies found a way to get him to the White Sox so he could be closer to his ailing father.

And that they did, as the Phillies traded Thome to the White Sox on Nov. 25 for Daniel Haigwood, Aaron Rowand and a PTBNL who later became González. But González’s stay with the Phillies wasn’t long, as he was traded back to the White Sox 363 days later after spending all of 2006 with Double-A Reading.

González didn’t make his MLB debut until 2008 (when he was with the Oakland Athletics), and went on to play 13 years in MLB, seven of which came with the Washington Nationals. He earned two All-Star nods in his career, along with two top-seven finishes in Cy Young voting. He finally got a chance to play for the White Sox when he made 12 appearances for the club during the 2020 season, his last in the Majors.

Marco Scutaro
PTBNL from CLE to MIL in July 2000

Eight years before Milwaukee and Cleveland linked up for the Sabathia-Brantley deal, they had another trade that featured a notable PTBNL. At the time of this trade, Cleveland was 51-48, 10 games out of first place in the American League Central, and had already used a near-record 27 pitchers. The front office elected to fill that void via trade, sending Richie Sexson, Paul Rigdon, Kane Davis and a PTBNL (Scutaro) to the Brewers in exchange for pitchers Jason Bere, Steve Woodard and Bob Wickman.

That trade sent Scutaro on a long, winding career that spanned 1,391 games across six franchises. He spent most of that time with Oakland (2004-07), but the highlight of his career came in 2012, when he etched his name into San Francisco Giants lore with the go-ahead hit in Game 4 of the 2012 World Series. He was named an All-Star the next season, when he hit .297 with 145 hits and 23 doubles.

David Ortiz
PTBNL from SEA to MIN in August 1996

Before Ortiz turned into Big Papi, he was a first base prospect who could never seem to get his career off the ground. At the Trade Deadline in 2000, the Mariners tried to solidify their roster for a postseason push by acquiring Dave Hollins from the Twins in exchange for a PTBNL, Ortiz.

Ortiz ended up spending parts of six years with the Twins, for whom he hit .266 across 455 games while bringing his infectious personality to an already dynamic clubhouse. After the Twins released him following the 2002 season, Ortiz signed a Minor League contract with the Red Sox (thanks to a little help from Pedro Martinez), and the rest was history. With Boston, Ortiz delivered some of the biggest home runs in postseason history, helping the Sox break the Curse of the Bambino on his way to Cooperstown.

Jason Schmidt
PTBNL from ATL to PIT in August 1996

With the Braves looking to squeeze one more World Series title out of their rotation triumvirate of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, they dealt away Corey Pointer, Ron Wright and a PTBNL (who ended up being Schmidt) to the Pirates in exchange for Denny Neagle.

Schmidt, who was one of Atlanta’s top prospects at the time of the trade, posted a 4.39 ERA in six seasons with the Pirates before being dealt to the Giants at the Trade Deadline in 2001, in a move that changed the trajectory of his career. In Schmidt’s six years with the Giants, he tallied three All-Star appearances, a World Series berth (he started Games 1 and 5 in the 2002 World Series) and an ERA title in 2003, when he finished second in NL Cy Young Award voting to Eric Gagne.

Moises Alou
PTBNL from PIT to MON in August 1990

The No. 2 pick in the 1986 Draft, Alou tore through the Pirates’ Minor League system but ended up being included in a trade with the Expos when the Pirates decided to add some reinforcements around Barry Bonds. (Alou played only two games for the Pirates before being traded.)

After missing all of the 1991 season due to shoulder surgery, Alou suffered a costly knee injury in 1993 that would sap him of his speed, in turn limiting him to the outfield corners. The injury didn’t keep Alou from mashing at the plate, however, as he blossomed into an All-Star in 1994, when he hit .339 with 22 home runs and 78 RBIs in 107 games.

Alou went on to play in parts of 19 seasons. He finished with a slash line of .303/.369/.516 and earned MVP votes in seven seasons.

"Shoeless" Joe Jackson
PTBNL from PHI to CLE in July 1910

Ten years prior to the 1919 Black Sox scandal that would lead to his banishment from baseball, Shoeless Joe’s career got off to an inauspicious start with the Philadelphia Athletics. After Jackson signed with the Athletics for $500 in 1908, he made his first appearance with the big league club on Aug. 25 and singled in his first at-bat.

Three days later, however, a homesick Jackson was back on a train to his hometown of Greenville, S.C. After shuttling between Philadelphia and the Minor Leagues for one more season, Jackson was traded to the Naps in 1910 and reported to Cleveland in September after his Minor League season ended.

Jackson made an immediate impact in his first full season in Cleveland in 1911, hitting .408 with 45 doubles and 19 triples while recording 32 outfield assists. Jackson ended up playing six years in Cleveland, then joined the White Sox for six seasons before his career came to an end following the 1920 season.