Hardly knew ye: 5 players who never played where they were traded

Mallex Smith had a very busy Wednesday afternoon, through no fault of his own.

First, the speedy outfielder was dealt by Atlanta to the Seattle Mariners in a four-player deal. "Smith adds to our growing inventory of multi-skilled, athletic outfielders," general manager Jerry Dipoto proclaimed in a statement that quickly went out of date - because an hour later Dipoto flipped Smith to the Rays for Drew Smyly.

Thank goodness they didn't actually make Smith fly cross-country as part of all that.

Though it must have hurt to be traded twice in one day, Smith can take heart in knowing he's not the first player to go through this. Unlike some other notable cases of players who were flipped, Smith's saga was quick and painless by comparison. Here's five other cases of players who never played where they were traded.

Mike Napoli, Blue Jays

Year: 2011
Path: Angels → Blue Jays → Rangers
Time between trades: 4 days

In 2011, Napoli was still an injury-prone catcher with pop in his bat and poor defensive skills.

That was enough for the Angels to send him to Toronto in a blockbuster trade for Vernon Wells on Jan. 21, 2011. But Napoli knew almost instantly that he wasn't heading north of the border. "I went to (Toronto's spring training facility) for a physical, but I didn't talk to the Blue Jays' GM at all," he said the following October. "I told my agent, 'I think I'm getting dealt again.'"

And he was right: Four days later, the Blue Jays deprived Canada of having a party at Napoli's by flipping him to Texas for reliever Frank Francisco. Those "crazy couple of days" - as Napoli characterized his odyssey to the Associated Press - must have lit a fire in his belly, because Napoli broke out as a hitter in Texas, while Francisco and Wells were both busts in their new homes.

Jose Bautista, Mets

Year: 2004
Path: Royals → Mets → Pirates
Time between trades: Less than 24 hours

In 2004, Bautista was just an unknown youngster racking up those frequent flier miles in a bizarre series of transactions - with one pit stop in Queens.

First, Bautista was plucked from the Pirates' system by the Orioles in the Rule 5 Draft; then Baltimore waived him to Tampa Bay on June 3; then the Devil Rays sold him to Kansas City on June 28. It all came to a head on July 30 when the Royals dealt Bautista to the Mets for Justin Huber; within 24 hours, the Mets flipped Bautista back to Pittsburgh in a package for Kris Benson. Including his brief and uneventful Mets tenure, Bautista is the only player to ever be on the active roster of five different teams in a single season.

Not bad for a guy who'd go on to make six All-Star appearances and win a pair of home-run titles.

Yunel Escobar, Marlins and Athletics

Year: 2012
Path: Blue Jays → Marlins → Rays
Time between trades: 15 days

Year: 2015
Path: Rays → Athletics → Nationals
Time between trades: 4 days

Escobar's weird journey began in 2012 as part of the infamous Blue Jays-Marlins blockbuster.

When the Marlins acquired him, Escobar told them he wouldn't move from shortstop to third base; that, combined with his $5-million salary that the payroll-purging Marlins couldn't have liked, ensured he'd be flipped quickly. After 15 days in Miami the Marlins shipped him up the I-75 to Tampa Bay for Derek Dietrich. Incredibly, Escobar had to go through all of this again three years later: The Rays moved him to Oakland along with Ben Zobrist on Jan. 10, 2015; four days later the A's flipped him to Washington for Tyler Clippard.

Let's just hope Escobar had the sense to invest in some solid luggage the second time around.

Edwin Jackson, Blue Jays

Year: 2011
Path: White Sox → Blue Jays → Cardinals
Time between trades: 2.5 hours

Jackson's played for 11 different teams in his career, the third-most in baseball history - and he was actually property of a 12th franchise.

On July 27, 2011, Jackson joined the Blue Jays via a trade from the White Sox, but he never even had time to go find his passport. Within moments of the deal, rumblings of another trade began to surface; two hours later, Jackson found himself a member of the Cardinals in another multi-player deal centered around Colby Rasmus. E-Jax should be glad the Blue Jays flipped him, as he won a World Series in St. Louis that October - but more importantly, that second deal probably cost a lot less in moving expenses. That's huge when you're a guy like Jackson and you keep getting traded.

Rollie Fingers, Cardinals

Year: 1980
Path: Padres → Cardinals → Brewers
Time between trades: 4 days

Even Hall of Famers can be reduced to pawns in transactions, as Fingers discovered in 1980. On Dec. 8 of that year, the Padres and Cardinals shook up the winter meetings with a blockbuster 11-player trade that sent Fingers and three others to St. Louis.

But the Cardinals already had a future Hall of Fame closer in Bruce Sutter, so Fingers wasn't long for the Gateway City. By the end of the meetings Fingers was a member of the Brewers, who acquired him from the Cardinals in a controversial seven-player blockbuster. Though Fingers never wore Cardinal red, his four-day tenure in St. Louis indirectly changed their franchise, as one of the pieces acquired for Fingers - outfielder Sixto Lezcano - was used in the 1981 deal that brought Ozzie Smith to St. Louis.

As a postscript to it all, the Cardinals met Fingers and the Brewers in the 1982 World Series; St. Louis won the title in seven games.