10 Worst Trades...your opionion???

VMFA115

One person's opinion...have your favorite...worst??

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3785702

Dave C.

rugbymarine

Im still not sure how Steve Finley and Curt Schilling (granted they were young) for Glen Davis seemed like a good idea. We (the Orioles) lose a great future outfielder and a great clutch pitcher, and get Glen Davis ?? Who is Glen Davis ???


next..

dallasactuary

<< <i>Who is Glen Davis ??? >>



Davis was a very fine hitter who had come in 2nd in the NL MVP voting once. Baltimore gambled on signing him coming off a season where he had been injured - and lost. Davis never got healthy again.


I can't believe that the Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson trade didn't make the list. Oh, and the writer is incorrect - the Lou Brock trade was the GREATEST trade ever made.

Mantlefan

Nolan Ryan and 3 other players for Jim Fregosi???

phreakydancin

Not baseball, but one of hockey's worst ever trades was deal that sent Cam Neely along with a 1st round draft pick to the Boston Bruins in exchange for Barry Pedersen. Pedersen only managed to put in 2-1/2 productive years for the Vancouver Canucks before his career fizzled out, while Neely went on to become one of the leagues premier power forwards and was just recently elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Oh yeah, that 1st round draft pick turned out to be Glen Wesley, a solid, dependable blueliner for 18 NHL seasons.

Cubfan

Where is the Steve Carlton for Rick Wise trade?

Or Sammy Sosa for George Bell?

Or Ryne Sandberg for Ivan DeJesus (there were others in this one)?

Or Gaylord Perry for Sam McDowell?

Or Frank Robison for Milt Pappas?

They left off too many trades that involved Hall of Famers.

Boopotts

Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz.

pandrews

<< <i>Who is Glen Davis ??? >>




heh, Glen Davis.. thats a name i havent heard in awhile.. he's from my town, and he's the adopted brother of Storm Davis..

Storm Davis is a coach at my old high school now..

their father was a linebacker coach there, he had a heart attack on the field a couple years ago and died..

Carew29

Bill Buckner from the Dodgers to the Cubs for Rick Monday and Ivan Dejesus. Buckner went on to hit over 300 the next 3 seasons. Was later traded for Eckserley. Rick's only claim to fame is tackling a guy trying to burn the American Flag and being a half decent sportscaster.

pandrews

<< <i>Rick's only claim to fame is tackling a guy trying to burn the American Flag >>




awesome..

jrdolan

If Babe Ruth for $25,000 counted as a trade, I'm sure it would head the list.

Who did the Red Sox trade to rent Mike Boddicker?

NickM

Doyle Alexander almost singlehandedly put the Tigers over the top in the A.L. East that year. The Tigers wer gambling on a shot at the world Series. While that gamble didn't pan out, Smoltz was not going to do anything for them that year.

Where is Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields on the list?

Or my all-time least favorite trade: John Franco (and a minor leaguer) for Rafael Landestoy. The Dodgers gave up on a great young pitching prospect in 1983 for a veteran backup infielder with a weak bat. Landestoy went 21 for 118 with the Dodgers before they released him, with 1 double, 1 triple, 2 HRs, 4 walks and 2 stolen bases (and 3 times caught stealing). He had a whopping 3 RBI.
John Franco is still pitching. He is second all time in saves and games pitched.

Nick

NickM

Rick Monday has another major claim to fame as a Dodger: he hit the game-winning home run in the final game of the 1981 NLCS. Most Dodger fans are OK with the way the trade turned out.

Nick

Boopotts

"Doyle Alexander almost singlehandedly put the Tigers over the top in the A.L. East that year."


This seems to imply that the Tigers did, in fact, get over the top in the AL East in '87-- which as we all know they did not.

I see your point, but when you're talking about worst trades there's always a bit of Monday Morning Quarterbacking. Who would have known that the Hershel Walker deal would end up so lopsided for the Cowboys? Or that Smoltz would go on to have a HOF career? In retrospect, the Alexander -Smoltz trade was terrible-- but that doesn't mean I can fault the Tigers for having made it.

donnnster

How about this one:

Red Sox trade Jeff Bagwell to the Astros for Larry Andersen 8/31/90

oops looks like someone mentioned that already..my bad..

doncherry

<< <i>"Doyle Alexander almost singlehandedly put the Tigers over the top in the A.L. East that year."


This seems to imply that the Tigers did, in fact, get over the top in the AL East in '87-- which as we all know they did not. >>




Boopotts


The tigers did win the east in 87 then lost to Twins in the AL championship

Bosox1976

In hindsight the Bagwell deal was heinous. At the time, though, the Sox had Wade Boggs firmly entrenched at 3rd base (HOF) and Scott Cooper firmly entrenched at 3rd in AAA Pawtucket. Cooper went on to replace Boggs and became a two-time All Star.

Bagwell "somehow" gained significant strength and weight quickly and blossomed into a power threat for houston. In the heat of a pennant race, your third best 3rd baseman for a proven arm (sox were a little depleted) seems fine. Espescially when you think you can end an age old WS drought. "Bird in the Hand is worth two in the Bush" does not always play out though.

Sosa also "somehow" gained weight and strength quickly too. Can't blame too many GM's for not knowing who would "somehow" get big & strong quickly. Bags had only 4 HR's in his last full season in the Red Sox organization - MVP and 400 or 500 HR club were impossible to foresee - unlike Brock's speed or any other pre-steroid era traits.

Boopotts

"Boopotts


The tigers did win the east in 87 then lost to Twins in the AL championship."

Arrrgh! You're totally right. For some reason I was thinking they lost the play-in game to the Jays, although if I would have thought about it for five more seconds I would have remembered that the Twins beat my two favorite teams-- the Tigers and Cards-- on their way to the WS title.

And so began my hatred for the Twins!

DCICEMAN

If I remember correctly, the Phillies traded Sandberg and Bowa to the Cubs for DeJesus.
How about when the Phils gave away Fergie Jenkins to the Cubs for a washed up Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson?

gosteelers

<< <i>Nolan Ryan and 3 other players for Jim Fregosi??? >>



I'm always amazed that Ryan was traded so many times in his career...Can anyone shed any light on this one?

Mark

gosteelers

'How can you trade Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps?!?!'-Frank Costanza (Jerry Stiller) from the sitcom classic, 'Seinfeld'...

Buccaneer

It saddens me to continue to see so-called journalists at espn and fox not realizing that there were sports before 1980.

NickM

Ryan was traded once. He left the Angels as a free agent, and then left the Astros as a free agent.

Nick

WinPitcher

How about Babe Ruth traded for 100k?

SD

WinPitcher

I'm always amazed that Ryan was traded so many times in his career...Can anyone shed any light on this one?

Ryan was traded just that one time I think. The other times he was a free agent. as for the second part of your question

"can anyone shed any light..."

yeah the Mets blew it.

SD

interchanges

speaking of espn not realizing pre-1980, look at my last post.

Since Ruth doesn't really count, I will stick with my Amos Russie for Christy Mathewson deal.

DCICEMAN

Early on in his career, Ryan had a lot of problems with blisters on his hands, and missed lots of starts with the Mets. Obviously, he overcame that early problem later in his career, with the help of pickle brine, I believe.

Maybe the Mets figured they didn't really need Ryan, with Seaver, Koosman, Matlack and Gentry. They were four pretty good arms.

VMFA115

My personal favorite was in the NFL; growing up in Philadelphia we had an Eagles quarterback no one liked, could do no right, and was just horrible. Washington was in the same position with theirs so QB's were traded QB's. The Redskins QB continued with the Eagles to do nothing...the Eagles quarterback all of a sudden found an arm and led the Skins to a superbowl...Sonny J. We was robbed!!!

DCICEMAN

I was just a young boy when the Birds made that trade, and I spent my early years watching "Stormin Norman" Snead lead the Eagles to a losing record every year.

I know that Sonny did some objectionable things while in Philly that made the trade necessary, but it still was a lousy trade,

IJustLoveCards

wait the worst trade ever, Malone to Washington (bullets back then) for Jeff Ruland...

ouch!!

gameusedhoop

Warriors trade Robert Parish and a 1980 1st round pick to the Celtics for 2 1980 1st round picks. Warriors take Joe Barry Carroll and Rickey Brown, Celtics take Kevin McHale.

Boils down to McHale and Parish for Carroll and Brown.

Of course there was always the Heathcliffe Sloucomb for Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe trade.

BTW, both of these were listed without looking at the website, if they were mentioned please excuse me. STEVE.

fab4

how about the future of the minnesota vikings to the cowboys for herschel walker

HoofHearted

Boopotts wrote, "And so began my hatred for the Twins!"

What?! Someone actually hates the loveable Kirby Puckett-led Twins?? Cool!!

I think most of the infamous trades have been covered. On a lesser scale, I couldn't believe those same '87 Twins traded Tom Brunansky, one of the beloved "Bruise Brothers" with Kent Hrbek, for Tommy Herr during the '88 season. He didn't like it in MN and didn't stick around long at all...

hh

Carew29

Man, how could i leave this one out?!! Rod Carew traded to the angels from the Twins for Ken Landreaux and Dave Engle

Boopotts

Hi Hoof-

My hatred for the Twins evolved like this.

First, the beat the Tigers in '87. Then they beat the Cards in '87. Then, to add to my growing ire, they beat the Braves in '91 (in what was truly an underrated WS). So they went on and dashed the post-season hopes of the only three teams I care about in a five year period. And I hated Brunansky, Hrbek, Gagne and that insufferable bible-thumper Gaetti.

Now, however, my loathing for the Twins has abated. Anymore I root for any small market team, no matter who they're playing.

zef204

How about this one...

In 1989 a freind traded me nearly his entire collection for my Billy Ripken F*c* Face card. I made out well but I thought that was a horrible trade.

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Or Ryne Sandberg for Ivan DeJesus (there were others in this one)? >>



January 27, 1982: Traded by the Philadelphia Phillies with Larry Bowa to the Chicago Cubs for Ivan DeJesus.

Tabe

<< <i>Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz. >>


9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 starts for the Tigers in '87 for Doyle. That alone made the trade worthwhile. In fact, the Tigers never trailed in any of his starts. They got him for the stretch run and it worked.

That said, it sure would have been nice to have had Smoltz for the last 18+ years

Tabe

Boopotts

<< <i>

<< <i>Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz. >>


9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 starts for the Tigers in '87 for Doyle. That alone made the trade worthwhile. In fact, the Tigers never trailed in any of his starts. They got him for the stretch run and it worked.

That said, it sure would have been nice to have had Smoltz for the last 18+ years

Tabe >>



No, that didn't make the trade worthwhile. It may indeed have been worthwhile, but you can't point to those stats as the reason.

So Alexander won 9 games. The question is: How many of those games would the Tigers have won anyway? In other words, how many games was Alexander 'worth'? It's highly unlikely that the Tigers would have lost all nine-- and also unlikely that they would have won all nine. So the true number lies in the middle; maybe, say, somewhere around six.

Is trading a blue chip pitching prospect (and I believe Smoltz was that, although I'd be willing to believe you if you said otherwise) worth six wins? Also, I think it's probably true that the trade is not worth it unless the Tigers win the WS. If the Tigers had a 10% of winning it all before the trade, is the 'bump' they got from getting Alexander worth what they gave away?

gregm13

While not a trade, but how about the Pittsburgh Steelers drafting Johnny Unitas, cutting him before the regular season and the Colts signing him while he played in a sandlot league for something like $10 a game. I wonder who the Steelers kept at QB that they felt Unitas was expendable!!

Regards,

Greg M.

ABBAdad

George Foster for Frank Duffy in 1971

Southerncards

Not really a trade, but Ruth for cash......show me a worse one (for Sox fans anyway, hehehe)

Cubfan

To jump sports, this is how a winning franchise is built:

Trade Jerry Chambers, Archie Clark and Darrall Imhoff for Wilt Chamberlain.

Trade Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers and Elmore Smith for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Let Gail Goodrich sign with the Jazz in exchange for 3 draft picks. One of the draft picks turns out to be Magic Johnson.

Trade Don Ford and Chad Kinch to the Cavaliers for Butch Lee and a 1st round draft pick that turns out to be James Worthy.

Those are the key reasons the Lakers had such a great 20-year or so run.

JrMacdaddy

<< <i> No, that didn't make the trade worthwhile. It may indeed have been worthwhile, but you can't point to those stats as the reason.

So Alexander won 9 games. The question is: How many of those games would the Tigers have won anyway? In other words, how many games was Alexander 'worth'? It's highly unlikely that the Tigers would have lost all nine-- and also unlikely that they would have won all nine. So the true number lies in the middle; maybe, say, somewhere around six.

Is trading a blue chip pitching prospect (and I believe Smoltz was that, although I'd be willing to believe you if you said otherwise) worth six wins? Also, I think it's probably true that the trade is not worth it unless the Tigers win the WS. If the Tigers had a 10% of winning it all before the trade, is the 'bump' they got from getting Alexander worth what they gave away? >>



I'd say it was worthwhile and they needed every one of his starts as they beat the Toronto Blue Jays on the last day of the season to secure 1st place. Without Doyle Alexander there's no way they win the East.

You could say the same thing about Rick Sutcliffe in 1984. The Cubs traded Mell Hall, Joe Carter and Don Schulze for Rick Sutcliffe, George Frazier and Ron Hassey. Sutcliffe goes 16-1 for the Cubs and they win the division (of course its not his fault than Leon can't gobble up a ground ball).

Tabe

<< <i>Is trading a blue chip pitching prospect (and I believe Smoltz was that, although I'd be willing to believe you if you said otherwise) worth six wins? Also, I think it's probably true that the trade is not worth it unless the Tigers win the WS. If the Tigers had a 10% of winning it all before the trade, is the 'bump' they got from getting Alexander worth what they gave away? >>


Given that they had to beat Toronto something like 7 straight at the end of the season to win the division - by 2 games, thanks to a last day win that prevented a playoff - I would say the 6 wins they got from Doyle was worth it.

Tabe

baseballfanatic

<< <i>If Babe Ruth for $25,000 counted as a trade, I'm sure it would head the list.

Who did the Red Sox trade to rent Mike Boddicker? >>



Not a bad trade giving up Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling to rent Boddicker.......

tkd7

Fred McGriff..........

Traded by the New York Yankees with Dave Collins, Mike Morgan, and cash to the Toronto Blue Jays for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd.

McGriff went on to hit 493 home runs, not all with Toronto, but none with N.Y.

baseballfanatic

Any early Yankee trade was a doozy. How about Willie McGee for Bob Sykes?

brianwintersfan

<< <i>Trade Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters, Dave Meyers and Elmore Smith for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. >>



Well the Bucks had no choice here. Jabbar wanted out of Milwaukee and was not going to sign so instead of lose him and get nothing they got some good young talent. I just finished reading Wayne Embry's book and he had some interesting insights about this trade since he was the Bucks GM at the time. On the advice of Al McGuire he made sure Brian Winters was part of the deal. The Lakers didn't want to part with him and offered the Bucks Gail Goodrich instead. But Embry stood firm and said Winters or no deal. Even though it's hard to match the talent of a player like Kareem, the Bucks got some great young players in Winters and Bridgeman. I think Dave Meyers would have been a bigger impact as well but a bad back ended his career early.

Cubfan

BWF - I thought I might hear from you . I agree with everything you said. I was pointing out bad trades as much as I was pointing out how 4 or 5 great trades can make a franchise successful for a long time. But thats the story of trades, some turn out better than your wildest dreams, some are duds.

It was a good thing the Lakers didnt trade Goodrich instead of Winters as he turned into Magic Johnson.

mohiba

Ernie Broglio for Lou Brock
As mentioned before, Steve Carlton for Rick Wise
Mark McGwire for TJ Mathews, a couple of other minor leaguers, and most likely, an endless supply of ster....uh.......sterno