Hinckley burst onto the scene in 2008, but I remember him most for being one of the top prospects in the organization during the last year that the team was in Montreal. Drafted in the 3rd round of the 2001 Draft, four spots after Ryan Theriot and two spots ahead of Jeremy Guthrie. The 3rd round that year also included Jack Hannahan and Scott Hairston. It wasn’t a round for the ages, shall we say.

Hinckley, since he was drafted was one of the top-100 prospects in baseball, according to Baseball America. He was 96th in 2003, 60th in 2004 and 29th in 2005 when he was the top prospect in the organization. He was a left-handed pitcher who many saw as being the best control pitcher in the organization. His minor league numbers plateaued, however and he never lived up to his potential.

He finally made it to the Majors in September, 2008 as a 25 year old and pitched in 14 games and looked to be well on his way. He allowed eight hits and three walks while striking out nine over 13.2 innings and allowed only one unearned run meaning that his ERA in his first season was 0.00. He opened the 2009 season with the Nationals and pitched in 14 more games. He pitched 9.2 innings but his control failed him. He walked 11 batters compared to three strikeouts and allowed five runs for a 4.66 ERA. His last game was on May 6. He allowed a walk and a hit, allowing two of the three runners he inherited to score and both runners he let on base also scored. He never pitched in the major leagues again.

On May 15th, he became a free agent and signed with the Texas Rangers the next day. He signed with the Baltimore Orioles following the 2009 season and with Toronto after the 2010 season. He reached Triple A with Toronto in 2011 but did not pitch professionally in 2012. A sad story of a once-promising prospect who never lived up to the potential.

Sep 20, 2012; Cleveland, OH, USA; Minnesota Twins left fielder Josh Willingham (16) bats during a game against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Cleveland won 4-3. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE

Olsen was a top prospect (as high as 36th top prospect in baseball in 2006) for the Marlins who never lived up to his promise and was no better in Washington and after sitting out the 2011 season spent 2012 in the Chicago White Sox organization and hasn’t been back in the majors since 2010. In parts of two seasons with the Nationals he was 6-12 with a 5.76 ERA and was about 22% below league average.

Willingham played two seasons in Washington before being traded to Oakland in December 2010 for Corey Brown and Henry Rodriguez. His time in Washington was much more successful than Olsen’s. In 797 at bats over two seasons, he had a line of .263/.377/.479 with 40 HR and 117 RBI. After his one season in Oakland, he signed with Minnesota where he was one of the biggest surprises of the season. He is a free-agent again this offseason.

Bonifacio is the only player to make the major leagues on Florida’s side of the trade. In four years with the Marlins he has been more of a utility guy, playing infield and outfield. He has a line of .271/.332/.345 with the Marlins in 416 games and struggled with injuries in 2012. His best season came in 2011 when he hit .296/.360/.393 with 5 HR and 36 RBI. Injuries prevented him from repeating that this season.

The two minor leaguers traded by the Nationals were P.J. Dean and Jake Smolinski. Dean, a pitcher, never played one game in the Miami organization. His last professional action was in 2008 with Vermont in the Nationals organization. Smolinski is still with the Marlins and is an outfielder. In 2012 he played his second full season in Double A, the highest level he has reached. The 23 year old hit .257/.388/.382 in 500 plate appearances in Jacksonville.

On this day in 1987, Dennis Martinez became a free agent. Martinez spent the 1986 season between the Baltimore Orioles and Montreal Expos after a trade in June. Martinez who had personal demons in Baltimore went 3-6 with a 4.59 ERA in Montreal and the Expos decided to re-sign him for another one year deal. In 1987, Martinez’s comeback was on. He was 11-4 and a 3.30 ERA. It was the best full season in his career up to that point by ERA+ and in December of 1987, he re-signed with Montreal where he stayed until 1993 when he signed with Cleveland.

Feb 27, 2011; Jupiter, FL, USA; St. Louis Cardinals minor league pitching coach and former Major League pitcher Dennis Martinez works with St. Louis Cardinals catcher Audry Perez (82) during Spring Training workouts at Roger Dean Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE

Martinez was the best pitcher the Expos had in the time he was with the team and was part of a trio of reclamation projects with Pascual Perez and Oil Can Boyd in that time period. In 11 years with Baltimore, he went 108-93 with a 4.16 ERA but with Montreal he was 100-72 with a 3.30 ERA and had a second wind career at age 31.

Of course, the highlight for Martinez was in June 1991 when he pitched the only perfect game in franchise history. He shut down the Dodgers for nine innings ending the game with a pop out to center fielder Marquis Grissom and allowed Dave Van Horne to exclaim “El Presidente, El Perfecto!” at Dodgers Stadium, a sound clip as memorable as any other in the team’s history.

After leaving in 1993, the Expos traded Delino DeShields for Pedro Martinez. At the time, the media was so fed up with fire sales and against the trade that the only good thing they saw in Pedro was that he could save the Expos money by wearing Dennis’s jersey. That never happened and in the end, the Expos were proven right by the move.

Dennis signed in Cleveland and returned to the playoffs in 1995 for the first time since 1979 with Baltimore. He was 1-2 in five starts as the Indians lost to the Atlanta Braves in the World Series. He played a year in Seattle and a year in Atlanta before retiring after the 1998 season at age 43. He was just added to Bo Porter‘s coaching staff with the Houston Astros. It is hard to imagine what his career would look like if he had not come to Montreal in 1986.