
Manny Sanguillen – Oakland Athletics
Manny Sanguillen is a three-time All-Star for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s second in all-time Pirate catcher fWAR at 27.3 while consistently providing solid production at the plate and phenomenal fielding behind it. However, for one season in 1977, Sanguillen was an Oakland Athletic.
As a Pirate, Sanguillen was a .299/.329/.403 batter with a .325 wOBA and 102 wRC+. He also averaged over 1.5 defensive WAR a season from 1967 through 1976. After the 1976 season, the Pirates traded the then-33-year-old backstop for manager Chuck Tanner. It’s one of the rare occasions that a player is dealt for a coach.
That ended up being a phenomenal trade. Tanner won the 1979 World Series and is one of the best managers in Pirate history. Sanguillen only spent one season in Oakland, where he posted an extremely poor .275/.302/.354 line and 81 wRC+. But what made it even better is that after the season, the Pirates re-acquired Sanguillen.
The Bucs then sent Mike Edwards to the A’s in exchange for the veteran backstop, along with Miguel Dilone and Elias Sosa. Although Sanguillen would only go on to play 188 more games in his next three seasons with a .622 OPS, the Pittsburgh Pirates would trade him yet again.
This time, they traded Sanguillen with Hall Of Fame right-hander Bert Blyleven to the Cleveland Indians for Gary Alexander, Victor Cruz, Bob Owchinko, and Rafael Vasquez. But Sanguillen would never suit up for the Indians as he was released in February and retired shortly after.