The Braves acquiring Michael Bourn from the Astros ranks as CBSSports.com Rumor blog’s fourth-best trade-deadline deal involving a premier player since 2007.

Year: 2011

Trade: Atlanta acquires Michael Bourn from Houston for Jordan Schafer, Juan Abreu, Brett Oberholtzer, and Paul Clemens.

The reason behind the deal: After Andruw Jones's 2007 departure, center field was a wasteland for the Braves. First they tried Gregor Blanco, and he hit just .252 with a .309 slugging percentage. They tried Jordan Schafer; he put up just a .613 OPS. They traded for Nate McLouth, and he put up a .229/.335/.364 line. Failures all around.

So the Braves decided to stop messing around and get themselves an All-Star. The Astros' had been out of it since the second week of April and the Braves pounced, acquiring Michael Bourn just two days after the Phillies grabbed Hunter Pence in Houston's fire sale.

Aftermath: Bourn hit .278 and stole 22 bases down the stretch for the Braves, but his .674 OPS with the club would be his second lowest for a full-season. Although the Red Sox's collapse to allow the Rays to sneak into the postseason last year received more press because of the Boston angle and the incredible drama of Game 162, the Braves' collapse was on the same level. Bourn's lack of power and on-base ability down the stretch didn't help anything.

How it shaped today's team: The Braves' acquisition of Bourn was not only centered around the 2011 season. Bourn was also under team control for the 2012 season, his third and final arbitration year.

This year, Bourn has been the player the Braves expected and more. He has a .301/.356/.440 line, good for a career best .796 OPS. He continues to steal bases, racking up 28 in his first 95 games. And, as usual, he's putting his speed to work in the outfield, helping out the Braves' pitching staff on a nightly basis. His reward was a second All-Star bid.

The Braves currently sit a half-game back of the Dodgers for the second Wild Card. Without Bourn, the Braves would likely be sitting around .500, looking up not only at the Nationals and Dodgers but teams like the Pirates and Cardinals as well.

Houston has yet to realize much value from the deal, as Schafer continues to struggle at the plate, hitting just .229/.312/.312 this season in 321 plate appearances. Abreu has a 7.07 ERA at Triple-A as a 27-year-old. Oberholtzer has a 6.94 ERA at Triple-A, but at least he's only 23. Clemens, a 24-year-old, completes the trifecta, putting up a 6.73 ERA for Houston's Triple-A squad himself.

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the latest rumors from bloggers Chris Cwik, Jack Moore and Navin Vaswani, follow @MLBRumorsCBS.