Small payroll teams like the A's and Rays have had loads of MLB success over the past several years, often doing so by staying one step ahead of the financial game.

Out of necessity, those teams have traded away established players nearing big paydays for younger, cheap talent years away from cashing in. Then when some of those young players approach their paydays, they start the process all over again. Along they way, they try to identify surpluses and players they really want to build around.

Again, this has worked very well for both organizations. Tampa has made the postseason four of the past seven years; The A's have gone each of the past three years and had a similar run in the early 2000s.

But there are some subtle reminders of just how thin the margin is for both teams, and one of them came to light today with news that the Rays are close to trading outfielder Wil Myers to the Padres. Myers isn't close to cashing in, and the Rays will reportedly get several players in return, so it's not like this is a total loss for Tampa.

That said, Myers was the unquestioned prize for the Rays in a trade after the 2012 season that sent, among others, pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis to the Royals. In 2013, it looked like a great move for both teams. Shields was great in his first year with Kansas City, and Myers was the AL Rookie of the Year with 53 RBI and an .831 OPS in just 335 at bats.

The Rays still had plenty of pitching without Shields, and Myers' offense helped them get to the postseason. Everything was going great …

Until 2014. Myers hit a major second-year slump, batting just .222 with a .614 OPS. The Rays as a team finished last in the AL in runs scored, and despite a pitching staff that was still above-average, they plummeted to a 77-85 record. The Royals, of course, got another great year from Shields while Davis emerged as one of the best relievers in baseball as Kansas City went all the way to the World Series.

Long story short: the Rays gambled on staying ahead of the game, hoping that Myers would be a superstar making a pittance for years. He faltered, and now they're flipping him for more prospects. If those players don't pan out, they will have very little to show for the type of initial trade (Shields/Davis) that A) a larger-market team like the Yankees never has to make and B) a lower-revenue team like the Rays or A's absolutely has to make and can't afford to mess up.