The Milwaukee Brewers tried to trade for Mookie Betts long before he became a star.

Then Milwaukee's general manager, Doug Melvin attempted to pry Betts away from the Boston Red Sox in 2013. Betts was just 20 at the time and in the middle of a breakout season in Class A ball.

Melvin offered up reliever Francisco Rodriguez in the deal.

"Doug Melvin was the first to ask, so I always give Doug credit," said Ben Cherington, the Pittsburgh Pirates' general manager who held the same role in Boston from 2011-15. "He was the first one to ask for him."

By the end of that deal, Betts was a bona fide prospect -- and rival executives never stopped asking for him.

"In every deal," Cherington said. "Every deal, his name was the first one. It was a non-starter for us."