This day in 2007, the Padres acquired center fielder Jim Edmonds from the Cardinals in exchange for a relatively unknown minor league third baseman by the name of David Freese. The trade blew up in San Diego's face nearly immediately when Edmonds fell flat on his face in every aspect of the game, and Freese did his part to ensure that Padres fans had insult added to their injury for years to come.
Edmonds started the season with a six-game hitting streak, collecting eight hits in his first 26 at-bats for a .308 average. It took him the next 20 games to match those eight hits, and his batting average was down to .178 when he was released on May 9. In his 90 at-bats with the Padres, Edmonds managed just two doubles and a lone homer for an absolutely atrocious .233 slugging percentage.
Since the Cardinals included $2 million to offset a quarter of Edmonds' 2008 salary, the Padres "only" had to pay $6 million for those 26 disappointing games. He then signed with the Cubs and instantly began playing like his younger self; he slashed .256/ .369/ .568 with 17 doubles and 19 home runs in 250 at-bats spread over 85 games.
Freese was coming off a good season at High-A Lake Elsinore, but was old for the league as well as buried below Chase Headley and others on the organizational ladder, with Kevin Kouzmanoff still entrenched at the hot corner for the big club. The Cardinals sent him directly to AAA Memphis and he had an even better year. He was called up for the first time in 2009, and then for good in 2010. He hit well, but never as well as he did in the 2011 postseason. With the world watching, Freese took home MVP honors in both the NLCS and the World Series. He rode that wave of fame and acclaim into the next year's All-Star Game, with talking heads bringing up this trade every step of the way.