So on we roll...

Carl Everett (OF)

Teams: Florida Marlins (1993-1994), New York Mets (1995-1997), Houston Astros (1998-1999), Boston Red Sox (2000-2001), Texas Rangers (2002-2003), Chicago White Sox (2003, 2004-2005), Montreal Expos (2004), Seattle Mariners (2006)
Best Season: 1999 (.325/.398/.571, 25 HR, 108 RBI, 27 SB, 17th in NL MVP balloting)
All-Star Appearences: 2 (2000 [starter], 2003)
Claim To Fame: Not a big fan of dinosaurs, homosexuals, umpires, managers, the Apollo Moon Landing, etc.

"Jurassic Carl", as Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy called him, was a highly-touted prospect who didn't really hit his groove until he was 27, then put together a nice little six year run that earned him a 14-year career in the bigs (OK, 12 with two cups of coffee.) Despite his talent and potential, Carl seemed to rub people the wrong way, as evidenced by his frequent team movement. The Yankees, despite Everett being one of the top prospects in their system, left him unprotected in the 1992 MLB Expansion Draft. The Marlins selected him, then traded him three years later to the Mets, who then traded him two years later to the Astros. Despite two breakthrough seasons with Houston, he was dealt to the Red Sox, who held onto him for - you guessed it - two more seasons, then sent him to Texas. Everett would keep bouncing around for the rest his career - even winning a World Series with the 2005 White Sox (the only team to have him back) - before finding himself out of MLB midway through the 2006 season.

Yet Carl will likely be forever remembered for his controversial comments towards the media, mainly during his tenure with the Red Sox. Everett was quoted as saying he didn't believe that dinosaurs ever existed, that dinosaur fossils were man-made and fake, and that he questioned the validity of the Apollo Moon Landing.

Jeff Fassero (P)

Teams: Montreal Expos (1991–1996), Seattle Mariners (1997–1999), Texas Rangers (1999), Boston Red Sox (2000), Chicago Cubs (2001–2002), St. Louis Cardinals (2002–2003), Colorado Rockies (2004), Arizona Diamondbacks (2004), San Francisco Giants (2005–2006)
Best Season: 1996 (15-11, 3.30 ERA, 222 K, 9th in NL Cy Young balloting)
All-Star Appearences: 0
Claim To Fame: Once dealt in a "blockbuster" offseason deal involving Chris Widger.

Fassero's career path is an odd one. Not really an overpowering pitcher, Fassero bounced around the St. Louis, Chicago, and Cleveland systems before signing a minor league deal with Montreal, fixing something, and finding himself with the big league club as part of their closer committee. Fassero would later move into the rotation, where he'd continue to find success with the Expos, posting a 3.20 ERA in six seasons with the team. A trade to the Mariners after the 1996 season yielded two more good (but not great) seasons with Seattle, but after saw his career start to decline. Seattle dumped him off to Texas, then the Red Sox gave him his last shot as a regular starter in 2000 to mixed results. Back in a reliever role, he managed to hang on six more seasons, all in the NL, generally as a long relief/spot starter/innings eater role. One could say that the late start to his major league career counted against him, but Fassero's minor league numbers never impressed anyone enough to believe he was more than an organizational roster filler until he went to Montreal.

Why should Cubs fans care? Well, now that the Marlins are actually called "Miami", the pieces of the Cubs World Series victory - as foreshadowed in Back To The Future II - are all starting to fall into place.

"But the Cubs and the Marlins are both National League teams!", you say. Of course they are. But realignment has already been mentioned (with Houston being pressured to move to the American League), so why not move the Marlins to the AL? Surely Jeffrey Loria would jump at the opportunity to cause some controversy.

"But you don't seriously think that Back To The Future II could accurately predict the future, do you?"

Look - Nike made the Nike Mag, didn't they?

The Cubs, for pulling the trigger at the last possible minute of prospect value, still manage to get serviceable players. Olson was a first round sandwich pick in 2005 out of Cal Poly who has put up strong strikeout numbers through his minor league career, but hasn't been able to make the transition from minor league ace to major league starter. After putting up great numbers at AAA Norfolk in 2007 (3.16 ERA, 8.4 k/9, 1.05 WHIP in 22 starts) and not so great in a cup of coffee that same year, Olson spent most of the 2008 season with the Orioles, and stuck with not so great. The talent seems to be there (as his minor league career shows), and he's only 25 - around the same age John Maine was when the O's shipped him off to the Mets for Anna Benson's husband. Add in Williamson, who has a live arm (11.0 k/9 in 90 career innings) and who could potentially have upside, although it's pretty early to tell.

Overall this is one of those "change of scenery" trades that can work out for both teams. Both main guys are prospects who can't be called that much longer who have nothing left to prove at the AAA level, but haven't been able to show that they deserve to stick at the major league level. Of the two, the Orioles are most likely to see returns on the trade, since Olson making the Cubs major league roster isn't a given, but the Orioles are content with putting a player into the lineup and dealing with the lumps (as they did with Adam Jones last season). Figure Pie will get a shot at being the everyday center fielder or left fielder (depending on where he and Jones end up). That, and Pie is probably out of options - I figure he would have used two the last two seasons, and if 2005 was his third "real" season in the Cubs organization, then he would have burned an option in 2006 as well (surely the Cubs would have protected him from Rule 5 given his prospect level.)? So figure the Cubs have Johnson, Alfonso Soriano, Fukudome, Milton Bradley, and Joey Gathwright (!) all under contract for next season, and with it being unlikely that the Cubs could move Fukudome, then Pie would end up getting sent down and having to clear waivers, which wouldn't happen.

I don't think Pie ever got a fair shot in Chicago, and that's not necessarily Chicago's fault. It's one thing when you're the Orioles (or the Rays in past seasons) and can afford to put a developing player out onto the field and deal with 0-5 nights, but the Cubs are in a tough division where a few games here and there could mean the difference between the playoffs and another season without a World Series. Pie was given opportunities, but when he failed in those two that he was given, the Cubs had no other choice than to look elsewhere. Pie could turn into another Brandon Phillips, but in this case, the Cubs are actually getting something for Pie, where Cleveland just tried to get Phillips through waivers and ended up having to deal him to Cincinnati for pennies on the dollar.

WINNER: Orioles, but for the wrong reasons.