If they had another chance, the Tigers would trade Isaac Paredes for Austin Meadows again. But on this day, Rays won the trade.
And Paredes sure seemed to enjoy it.
Making his first start for the Rays since being recalled from Triple-A earlier this week, Paredes walloped two home runs against his former team in Tampa's 6-1 win. They were the two hardest-hit balls and the two longest-hit balls of the game.
The first one came off Rony Garcia in the third, left the bat at 104.6 mph and travelled 411 feet to left, clearing the bleachers. Paredes admired its arc for several seconds, puffing out his chest and fixing his bling, then twirled his bat in his hands before rounding the bases.
The second one came of Wily Peralta in the eighth, left the bat again at 104.6 mph and travelled a mere 404 feet to left center.
"He got into leverage counts, got good pitches, didn’t miss them, hit the ball out of the ballpark," said A.J. Hinch. "He’s a good player, we knew that. We got a good player in return. But that X-team (factor) is real at this level. He certainly had a good day."
The Tigers originally acquired Paredes from the Cubs in 2017 as part of the trade return (along with Jeimer Candelario) for Justin Wilson and Alex Avila. He was once the highest-ranked hitter in their farm system, but never found his footing in Detroit.
After hitting .215 with limited power in parts of two seasons with the Tigers, Paredes was dealt to the Rays for Meadows shortly before Opening Day this year to help Detroit cover for the loss of outfielder Riley Greene. Paredes was not slated to make the Tigers' Opening Day roster.
Looks like he's doing just fine in Tampa.
Meadows, meanwhile, landed on the 10-day injured list Monday after a week of dealing with vertigo-like symptoms. He was Detroit's best hitter in April before going cold in May.
But to reiterate: the Tigers dealt an unproven prospect for a proven, cost-controlled hitter in his prime. It's a trade they would make again. One retort by Paredes, no matter how much he may have enjoyed it, doesn't change that.