When trades open doors

Pinch-writing for a traveling Rob Neyer, I wrote this piece for ESPN.

The overall point is that sometimes a trade will open a slot for regular playing time for a guy who's more important to your long-term success, but the main example is Matt LaPorta being "acquired" as part of the Russ Branyan Dump Trade.  It was pointed out in the comments that I missed an obvious case when San Francisco traded Bengie Molina to make room for Buster Posey, but I cite some other examples as well.  Hope you enjoy the piece.