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What are the worst sports trades/draft picks that looked bad right from the start, NOT in hindsight!

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  • JoeBanzaiJoeBanzai Posts: 11,711 ✭✭✭✭✭

    The Vikings are talking like Darnold will start the season as #1.

    I have a feeling he might play very well.

    Not sure why you, or anyone else for that matter, is down on McCarthy. We will see soon enough (next year would be fine) if he can win in the pros.

    On Cousins, he did turn down more money from the Jets to come to Minnesota, but you know, the Jets.

    I liked Cousins, but for him to be successful, you have to give him a pocket, for most of his time here, the center and guards were bad pass blockers.

    2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
  • Basebal21Basebal21 Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭✭

    @JoeBanzai said:
    The Vikings are talking like Darnold will start the season as #1.

    I have a feeling he might play very well.

    Not sure why you, or anyone else for that matter, is down on McCarthy. We will see soon enough (next year would be fine) if he can win in the pros.

    On Cousins, he did turn down more money from the Jets to come to Minnesota, but you know, the Jets.

    I liked Cousins, but for him to be successful, you have to give him a pocket, for most of his time here, the center and guards were bad pass blockers.

    The reason why the college fans dont like McCarthy is because hes a game manager. He averages under 200 yards passing a game for his career at Michigan. When Michigan needed something done they put the ball in the hands of Corum or Edwards not McCarthy. Michigan during his time there had at least a top 15 roster every year and usually was more like 7-9. OSU was the only team in the conference with a better roster and PSU had a significant gap for 3. He didnt even throw the ball against PSU because Michigan didnt want him to be able to make mistakes against their two very good corners. Basically every game the majority of his team was better than everyone they lined up against. When a school takes the ball out of your theyre telling you all you need to know about a player. Harbaugh even admitted he was hyping him up hoping someone would trade up for the Chargers pick for him. Even in HS at IMG he was at a top 10 HS in the country thats usually top 5 and is a factory for 4 and 5 star college players.

    If he can be successful which I think he will because of what the Vikings have good for him. Its nothing personal against him its just that he had no business being a first round QB and somehow landed in arguably the best spot. With the Chargers giving away Allen to the Bears to go along with what they had with Moore and the draft I can see the argument for them.

    I do hope Darnold will get a chance though and not have his career defined by being a Jet where no one has been successful

    The NFC North is definitely much more difficult but for sure Cousins certainly isnt going to win any track races lol. It would have been more interesting seeing what he could do if he stayed in a more competitive division

    Missouri 14 OSU 3

  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭✭

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Major_League_Baseball_draft

    This poor guy, Paul Coleman, was drafted sixth right out of HS (I don't know what his HS stats were) and didn't get higher than AA.
    https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=colema002pau

    Geez the Cardinals weren't that desperate for an outfielder, were they? I mean they passed up on the next guy, who I imagine had gobs of experience and potential even at the time...

    WISHLIST
    D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
    Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
    74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
    73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
    95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
  • bgrbgr Posts: 1,450 ✭✭✭✭

    I dont think the falcons see Cousins playing for his whole contract. Only those first two years matter - they could release him in 26 and have $35M in dead cap having paid Cousins $100M. Maybe he does great and they want to keep him but I see Penix or someone new behind center in 26.

  • Basebal21Basebal21 Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭✭

    @Estil said:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Major_League_Baseball_draft

    This poor guy, Paul Coleman, was drafted sixth right out of HS (I don't know what his HS stats were) and didn't get higher than AA.
    https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=colema002pau

    Geez the Cardinals weren't that desperate for an outfielder, were they? I mean they passed up on the next guy, who I imagine had gobs of experience and potential even at the time...

    MLB draft is very unpredictable. The Big Hurt went 7th so 6 teams passed on him and he ended up far better than anyone in the draft. Its really just 20/20 hindsight on that one. Even today a lot of first rounders dont make the MLB and the level of play gap is a lot closer now than it was then.

    Missouri 14 OSU 3

  • erikthredderikthredd Posts: 8,826 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Here are two times that the Celtics held the first overall pick in the draft and both times it went horribly wrong for the teams that they traded with.

    1. Boston gave up the #1 & #13 picks in the 1980 draft to the Warriors for Robert Parish & the #3 pick. GS picked Joe Barry Carroll (nicknamed Joe Barely Cares) and Ricky Brown with those two picks while Boston chose Kevin McHale at #3. The C’s won the championship within a year while the Warriors were never really that good with their two picks.

    2. Boston owned the 1st pick in the 2017 draft and dealt it to Philly for #3 and a future 1st. The Sixers chose Markelle Fultz at #1 while the C’s chose Jayson Tatum at 3. Fultz ultimately needed time off after having a mental block that affected his jump shot while Tatum tied Kareem for the most 20pt playoff games by a rookie at 10 games, passing by Larry Bird &Lebron.
      Romeo Langford was picked by the C’s with that additional pick from Philly and was eventually the centerpiece in a major trade for SA’s Derrick White who helped play a huge part along with Tatum in the C’s winning the 2024 Finals.

  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 20, 2024 11:22AM

    @Basebal21 said:

    @Estil said:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Major_League_Baseball_draft

    This poor guy, Paul Coleman, was drafted sixth right out of HS (I don't know what his HS stats were) and didn't get higher than AA.
    https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=colema002pau

    Geez the Cardinals weren't that desperate for an outfielder, were they? I mean they passed up on the next guy, who I imagine had gobs of experience and potential even at the time...

    MLB draft is very unpredictable. The Big Hurt went 7th so 6 teams passed on him and he ended up far better than anyone in the draft. Its really just 20/20 hindsight on that one. Even today a lot of first rounders dont make the MLB and the level of play gap is a lot closer now than it was then.

    No way, not that one...Frank had lots of experience and potential at Auburn (same school Bo Jackson went) while Paul was a kid fresh out of HS. I mean Ben McDonald taken first makes perfect sense if indeed Baltimore really needed a solid starting pitcher but as for #2-#6, Paul Coleman is by far the headscratcher of the bunch. I think one of those other guys also didn't make it to MLB, but like I said, I'm sure people at the time thought, there is no way this kid fresh out of HS would make it big over this beast of a hitter at Auburn and sure enough, their gut instinct was smarter than that of a, eh, who's the one that usually makes the draft picks? Seriously the dude didn't even make it past AA, poor guy :(

    WISHLIST
    D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
    Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
    74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
    73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
    95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
  • Basebal21Basebal21 Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭✭

    @Estil said:

    @Basebal21 said:

    @Estil said:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Major_League_Baseball_draft

    This poor guy, Paul Coleman, was drafted sixth right out of HS (I don't know what his HS stats were) and didn't get higher than AA.
    https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=colema002pau

    Geez the Cardinals weren't that desperate for an outfielder, were they? I mean they passed up on the next guy, who I imagine had gobs of experience and potential even at the time...

    MLB draft is very unpredictable. The Big Hurt went 7th so 6 teams passed on him and he ended up far better than anyone in the draft. Its really just 20/20 hindsight on that one. Even today a lot of first rounders dont make the MLB and the level of play gap is a lot closer now than it was then.

    No way, not that one...Frank had lots of experience and potential at Auburn (same school Bo Jackson went) while Paul was a kid fresh out of HS. I mean Ben McDonald taken first makes perfect sense if indeed Baltimore really needed a solid starting pitcher but as for #2-#6, Paul Coleman is by far the headscratcher of the bunch. I think one of those other guys also didn't make it to MLB, but like I said, I'm sure people at the time thought, there is no way this kid fresh out of HS would make it big over this beast of a hitter at Auburn and sure enough, their gut instinct was smarter than that of a, eh, who's the one that usually makes the draft picks? Seriously the dude didn't even make it past AA, poor guy :(

    While Thomas was a beast at Auburn that also gave us Tim Hudson later on its not quite that simple as having experience, especially not back then. Theres plenty of drafts where a HS kid goes first overall like Griffey Jr, Harper, Arod and so on. The Thomas draft 4 teams picked a HS player in front of him.

    High school players carry more risk but can also have more upside especially back then. Its not as true today because of the NIL where a lot of the top HS guys are going to college now to get paid at great facilities instead of riding on buses getting paid nothing. Really look at that draft though.

    7 first rounders never made the MLB. Of the ones that did only 6 of them played in more than a 1000 games. At the time the draft happened Coleman was considered a 5 tool player with all star potential. The pick looks bad because we know how it all turned out.

    The only time you can really say that about MLB draft picks is when a team goes cheap and drafts someone simply based off money which still happens. If you really want to point to a pick, the 2004 Padres taking Matt Bush instead of Verlander or Weaver or Drew. Weaver and Drew both signed for more money than Bush and ironically Verlander ended up signing for just a couple thousand less

    Missouri 14 OSU 3

  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 20, 2024 9:25PM

    @Basebal21 said:

    While Thomas was a beast at Auburn that also gave us Tim Hudson later on its not quite that simple as having experience, especially not back then. Theres plenty of drafts where a HS kid goes first overall like Griffey Jr, Harper, Arod and so on. The Thomas draft 4 teams picked a HS player in front of him.

    High school players carry more risk but can also have more upside especially back then. Its not as true today because of the NIL where a lot of the top HS guys are going to college now to get paid at great facilities instead of riding on buses getting paid nothing. Really look at that draft though.

    7 first rounders never made the MLB. Of the ones that did only 6 of them played in more than a 1000 games. At the time the draft happened Coleman was considered a 5 tool player with all star potential. _The pick looks bad because we know how it all turned out. _

    The only time you can really say that about MLB draft picks is when a team goes cheap and drafts someone simply based off money which still happens. If you really want to point to a pick, the 2004 Padres taking Matt Bush instead of Verlander or Weaver or Drew. Weaver and Drew both signed for more money than Bush and ironically Verlander ended up signing for just a couple thousand less

    Like I said, I wanted to be real careful about not counting hindsight and admittedly I wasn't sure what Coleman was like as a HSer. But for that individual situation I'm still not convinced the risk looked anywhere near worth it at the time Unless of course they thought 1B was already well covered with Pedro Guerrero and needed an OF...then that would make sense. Remember the NL had no DH!

    And in other news, I went to my local newspaper archive via newspapers.com to see what the media said about the 1984 NBA draft and the main Associated Press article gave all the attention to Hakeem and Bowie (I guess centers were still REALLY popular back then) and only gave Jordan and those other guys a brief mention in the last couple paragraphs. Yes I know he was College Player of the Year and all that but what did the media at the time think of Jordan's potential? And yes Bowie was a risky glass player (injury risk) but where there other qualified centers at the time?

    WISHLIST
    D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
    Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
    74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
    73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
    95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
  • Basebal21Basebal21 Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭✭

    @Estil said:

    @Basebal21 said:

    While Thomas was a beast at Auburn that also gave us Tim Hudson later on its not quite that simple as having experience, especially not back then. Theres plenty of drafts where a HS kid goes first overall like Griffey Jr, Harper, Arod and so on. The Thomas draft 4 teams picked a HS player in front of him.

    High school players carry more risk but can also have more upside especially back then. Its not as true today because of the NIL where a lot of the top HS guys are going to college now to get paid at great facilities instead of riding on buses getting paid nothing. Really look at that draft though.

    7 first rounders never made the MLB. Of the ones that did only 6 of them played in more than a 1000 games. At the time the draft happened Coleman was considered a 5 tool player with all star potential. _The pick looks bad because we know how it all turned out. _

    The only time you can really say that about MLB draft picks is when a team goes cheap and drafts someone simply based off money which still happens. If you really want to point to a pick, the 2004 Padres taking Matt Bush instead of Verlander or Weaver or Drew. Weaver and Drew both signed for more money than Bush and ironically Verlander ended up signing for just a couple thousand less

    Like I said, I wanted to be real careful about not counting hindsight and admittedly I wasn't sure what Coleman was like as a HSer. But for that individual situation I'm still not convinced the risk looked anywhere near worth it at the time Unless of course they thought 1B was already well covered with Pedro Guerrero and needed an OF...then that would make sense. Remember the NL had no DH!

    And in other news, I went to my local newspaper archive via newspapers.com to see what the media said about the 1984 NBA draft and the main Associated Press article gave all the attention to Hakeem and Bowie (I guess centers were still REALLY popular back then) and only gave Jordan and those other guys a brief mention in the last couple paragraphs. Yes I know he was College Player of the Year and all that but what did the media at the time think of Jordan's potential? And yes Bowie was a risky glass player (injury risk) but where there other qualified centers at the time?

    MLB drafts really have to be looked at in a vacuum over other sports. NBA and NFL expect players to play right away and will draft to fill holes. MLB even the generational players will be held down for a year to manipulate their service time. None of the teams draft to fill holes. Some teams and GMs prefer to draft high ceiling HS players with their first pick. They have a much higher miss rate but when they hit its usually something pretty special.

    I only casually know the NBA especially back then. I'm sure they definitely regretted not taking Jordan though lol

    Missouri 14 OSU 3

  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭✭

    @Basebal21 said:

    I only casually know the NBA especially back then. I'm sure they definitely regretted not taking Jordan though lol

    Well remember they were already well covered at guard with Clyde Drexler (a HOFer in his own right) and when did people first realize/speculate that Jordan was likely to be among the GOATs (the new kind, not the old kind like Chris Webber's infamous no timeouts blunder; I don't suppose the NBA has an iconic blunder like that?)? Maybe when he had that 37.1 ppg season? Remember it has to be a source from that time period like a newspaper/magazine article at the time...claiming it after the fact doesn't count!! You know Charles Barkley was in that draft, I think(?) he was technically a forward so couldn't they have taken him (I don't know what his potential was like at the time) because I honestly don't see any really qualified centers they could've picked from.

    WISHLIST
    D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
    Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
    74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
    73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
    95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭✭

    @Basebal21 said:

    MLB drafts really have to be looked at in a vacuum over other sports. NBA and NFL expect players to play right away and will draft to fill holes. MLB even the generational players will be held down for a year to manipulate their service time. None of the teams draft to fill holes. Some teams and GMs prefer to draft high ceiling HS players with their first pick. They have a much higher miss rate but when they hit its usually something pretty special.

    I don't suppose the NFL still has that rule (at least unwritten) that college players can't be taken earlier than their junior/3rd year?

    WISHLIST
    D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
    Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
    74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
    73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
    95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
  • Basebal21Basebal21 Posts: 3,152 ✭✭✭✭

    @Estil said:

    @Basebal21 said:

    MLB drafts really have to be looked at in a vacuum over other sports. NBA and NFL expect players to play right away and will draft to fill holes. MLB even the generational players will be held down for a year to manipulate their service time. None of the teams draft to fill holes. Some teams and GMs prefer to draft high ceiling HS players with their first pick. They have a much higher miss rate but when they hit its usually something pretty special.

    I don't suppose the NFL still has that rule (at least unwritten) that college players can't be taken earlier than their junior/3rd year?

    Its still 3 years out of high school as a hard rule. MLB its 3 years or turn 21 if you go to a 4 year school, its different for JUCO schools.

    The NFL one makes since to give guys more time to put on muscle with the college strength programs. The MLB one makes no sense other than MLB and the NCAA basically have an agreement that MLB will keep the rule if the NCAA will agree to test out some rule changes for them. The pitch clock was in college years before the MLB.

    Interestingly enough though we may be seeing the first teen drafted in the modern NFL in a couple years. Alabama has a stud starting WR that is only 17. He skipped his senior year of HS to go play for them. Hell be draft eligible as a 19 year old.

    Missouri 14 OSU 3

  • JoeBanzaiJoeBanzai Posts: 11,711 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 23, 2024 8:43PM

    Vikings passing on Kyle Hamilton to pick Lewis Cine.

    Vikings originally had pick #12. Some publications had Hamilton rated as not only the best safety in the draft, but the best "football player".

    I was shocked when the Vikings took a safety, they needed more help at cornerback. They got Booth later, but he never played for them either.

    Overall, I think trading down is a foolish move.

    Former GM Rick Spielmann used to trade down for extra 7th rounders. Hardly any even made the roster. He was hailed as a brilliant draft day guru.

    Then with no decent back ups, he let 7 defensive starters go prior to the 2020 season because of salary cap problems.

    That's the year Mike Zimmer forgot how to coach defense and was soon fired.

    Spielman went too. I would have kept Zimmer and gotten rid of Spielman. Zimmer also didn't want to spend all the money on Kirk Cousins, partially so he could spend it on defense.

    I thought Cousins was good, but in the end, the team would have probably been as successful with Keenum.

    2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
  • bgrbgr Posts: 1,450 ✭✭✭✭

    In looking bad right from the start I imagine the Packers have some regrets about that ‘89 draft and those 3 guys following that Bust. He was a bust before he was a bust because we all despised him for holding out. All for the best when Braatz was fired paving the way for Wolf who righted that ship.

  • JoeBanzaiJoeBanzai Posts: 11,711 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @bgr said:
    In looking bad right from the start I imagine the Packers have some regrets about that ‘89 draft and those 3 guys following that Bust. He was a bust before he was a bust because we all despised him for holding out. All for the best when Braatz was fired paving the way for Wolf who righted that ship.

    Who would they be? Was that Mandarich?

    2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
  • bgrbgr Posts: 1,450 ✭✭✭✭

    @JoeBanzai said:

    @bgr said:
    In looking bad right from the start I imagine the Packers have some regrets about that ‘89 draft and those 3 guys following that Bust. He was a bust before he was a bust because we all despised him for holding out. All for the best when Braatz was fired paving the way for Wolf who righted that ship.

    Who would they be? Was that Mandarich?

    He was super hyped but when he finally signed and went to camp he was already a joke. It certainly didn’t help him that he immediately dissed GB but the word got out fast. GB was a city then where you would run into packers players at the blockbuster after a game and have a conversation. The word was out fast that Mandarich was nothing but the hype. The whole idea of drafting an offensive lineman that high in the draft was completely foreign to most of us as well.

  • EstilEstil Posts: 7,055 ✭✭✭✭

    @JoeBanzai said:

    Who would they be? Was that Mandarich?

    Boy are these two guys easy to get mixed up!

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Marinovich
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Mandarich

    WISHLIST
    D's: 54S,53P,50P,49S,45D+S,44S,43D,41S,40D+S,39D+S,38D+S,37D+S,36S,35D+S,all 16-34's
    Q's: 52S,47S,46S,40S,39S,38S,37D+S,36D+S,35D,34D,32D+S
    74T: 37,38,47,151,193,241,435,570,610,654,655 97 Finest silver: 115,135,139,145,310
    73T:31,55,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,80,152,165,189,213,235,237,257,341,344,377,379,390,422,433,453,480,497,545,554,563,580,606,613,630
    95 Ultra GM Sets: Golden Prospects,HR Kings,On-Base Leaders,Power Plus,RBI Kings,Rising Stars
  • BillJonesBillJones Posts: 33,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited September 29, 2024 7:41AM

    It goes back to the 1960’s, but the Phillies traded future Hall of Famer, Ferguson Jenkins, for two washed up pitchers, Bob Buel and Larry Jackson. In the the ‘50s they traded Jack Sanford for Rubin Gómez and Vallumy Thomas, an almost never was pitcher and a third string catcher. Gomez had had a 20 game winning season a couple of years before the trade, but nothing after that. Sanford would the solid #2 pitcher, behind Juan Marichal for money years.

    Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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