It might not be easy to see on the day after, but Justin Smoak is a perfect, shining example of why it's wise to trade prospects.
Take yourself back to 2010, back when Smoak was one of the top prospects in the game and was seen as the Rangers' first baseman of the future.
There was a pitcher by the name of Cliff Lee on the market at the trade deadline, and it seemed like a near certainty he'd be traded from Seattle to the Yankees. But the Rangers threw Smoak into the discussion, and they landed the ace lefty on their way to not only their first postseason series win but their first World Series appearance. In a lot of ways, that season was thanks to Justin Smoak.
On Tuesday night in Toronto, Smoak stuck it to his former club that he played 70 games with in 2010 before being dealt to the Mariners. Smoak hit the game-tying home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and then came back to hit the game-winner homer in the 10th.
If Jon Daniels had never made that trade, they wouldn't have lost Tuesday's game. But then again, a lot of really cool moments would've never happened either.
