Tracing the many deals of MLB's most-traded active player

Edwin Jackson has two claims to fame. First, his no-hitter on June 25, 2010, in which he walked eight batters and threw 149 pitches, the most in a no-no in the last century.

Second, he has been traded six times -- the most among active Major Leaguers. Since he debuted with the Dodgers on Sept. 9, 2003, Jackson has played for eight MLB teams: The Dodgers, Rays, Tigers, D-backs, White Sox, Cardinals, Nationals and Cubs. And he came to more than half of them through trades. After his release from the Cubs on Monday, there's likely a ninth club in Jackson's future (though one that won't come via trade).

So with the Trade Deadline rapidly approaching, as players get acquainted with new environments and shake off the jet lag, Jackson had been there, done that.

Just remember to take a deep breath before reading Jackson's trade history aloud:

After three years with the Dodgers, Jackson was traded along with a Minor Leaguer to the Rays for relievers Danys Baez and Lance Carter, both of whom were done in L.A. by the end of the season. Jackson stayed in Tampa Bay for three seasons with a cumulative 5.08 ERA and 1.644 WHIP, and was there to pitch two innings of relief in the 2008 World Series that the Rays dropped 4-1 to the Phillies.

After the 2008 season, Jackson was shipped to the Tigers for Matt Joyce. Of all the teams that traded for him, the Tigers seem to have gotten the best season from Jackson: In 2009, he won 13 games while throwing the highest workload of his career (214 innings) and posting a 3.62 ERA and 1.26 WHIP as the second starter (behind Justin Verlander) for a team that lost a Game 163 to the Twins. That season also brought Jackson's only All-Star appearance, in which he pitched one inning for the American League and set down Yadier Molina, Ryan Zimmerman and Hanley Ramirez on four pitches.

Jackson was only in Detroit for a year, however, as he was part of the three-team blockbuster deal that sent Max Scherzer, Phil Coke, Austin Jackson and reliever Daniel Schlereth to the Tigers, Curtis Granderson to the Yankees and Ian Kennedy and Jackson to the D-backs. It worked out pretty well for all involved: Scherzer won a Cy Young Award with the Tigers, Granderson was a two-time All-Star for the Yanks and though Jackson was only in Arizona for half a season, he did throw his aforementioned no-hitter, the second in D-backs history.

A month after throwing the no-hitter for Arizona against his former team, Jackson was traded at the Deadline to the White Sox for Daniel Hudson (who remains with the D-backs) and a Minor Leaguer. Jackson went 11-9 in two half-seasons for the Sox, with a 3.66 ERA and 1.342 WHIP.

On July 27, 2011, a year after Arizona sent him to Chicago, Jackson was traded twice. First, from Chicago to the Blue Jays, who then sent him along with fellow six-time tradee Octavio Dotel, Corey Patterson and Marc Rzepczynski to the Cardinals for Colby Rasmus and three pitchers. It worked out pretty well for the Cards -- they bolstered their bullpen, Jackson went 5-2 with a 3.58 ERA during the rest of the regular season and started four postseason games as St. Louis went on to win the World Series.

Phew.

So yeah, Jackson has seen a lot of the country. If he drove from every ballpark to the other, he'd have covered more than 7,800 miles (and even more if he bothered to drive up to Toronto in between Chicago and St. Louis, but he probably didn't).

Honorable mentions for active players traded the most goes to White Sox outfielder Emilio Bonifacio and Nationals infielder Yunel Escobar, who've been traded five times apiece and were once exchanged in the same deal. Escobar, who has only changed teams through trades, was part of the seven-player package that brought Mark Buehrle, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, John Buck and Bonifacio to the Blue Jays.