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Junior Caminero is in Cleveland this week, starring for the Tampa Bay Rays against the Cleveland Guardians.
But once upon a time, he wanted to spend his whole MLB career at Progressive Field playing for Cleveland.
Yep, the Guardians once traded Caminero away. That's not a moment that has aged well.
The Guardians signed Caminero as a teenager out of the Dominican Republic in 2019. After the COVID year altered prospect development, Caminero starred in the Dominican Summer League in 2021 with a .534 slugging percentage.
The Guardians apparently didn't see enough out of him there. They traded him away before giving him any more shots to shine in the Cleveland organization. In November 2021, Cleveland traded Caminero to the Tampa Bay Rays for Tobias Myers.
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Myers at that point had put up a 3.90 ERA across Double-A and Triple-A in 2021 with strong strikeout numbers. He didn't stick around long, either. The Guardians traded Myers to the San Francisco Giants for cash in July 2022, less than a year after the initial deal.
Caminero hit 45 home runs for the Rays in 2025 and remains their best player.
He sure would've looked good in Cleveland, and that's where he wanted to be.
“I remember asking God, help me play soon here,” Caminero said of Progressive Field, via Rays on-field reporter Ryan Bass. “God give me another great opportunity.”
Junior Caminero will say “it’s a business” but he’ll never forget that November 2021 call while at dinner in the Dominican telling him the Guardians had traded him to the #Rays. He dreamt of spending his whole career with Cleveland.
“I remember asking God, help me play soon… pic.twitter.com/xrJiTtXRrD
Jose Ramiez and Caminero back-to-back in one lineup? Man, that would've been something.
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