Sitting here with my Cardinals cap on, surrounded by my Cardinals ceramic mug, Cardinals insulated mug, Cardinals stadium plastic cup, “Mac” the beanie baby and with my IE toolbars skinned with Cardinals (real ones, not people) courtesy of Hotbar.com, I am particularly fond of the Lou Brock-for-Ernie Broglio trade. The fact that it hosed the Cubs just makes it better.
[Brock] came into his own after moving to St. Louis in a six-man trade on June 15, 1964. The deal was essentially Brock for pitcher Ernie Broglio, and is regarded as one of the worst the Cubs ever made. Brock averaged .348 in the 1964 stretch drive and finished the season at .315, with 111 runs scored, 200 hits, 30 doubles, 11 triples, and 43 stolen bases. In fourth place when Brock joined them, the Cardinals overtook the Phillies, Giants, and Reds to claim the pennant in the last week of the season. Brock then batted .300 with a homer as the Cardinals beat the Yankees in the World Series.
There’s the trading away of Mike Piazza, and the honorary mention of the sale of Ruth. I’m also sure the Reds were disappointed with the results of trading Frank Robinson. It was a long time before I ever knew he had even been on the Reds at all.
What are other contenders for the title of “Worst Trade?”
Speaking as a Cubs fan, I take some solace in the fact that Lou Brock never would have become Lou Brock had he stayed on the Cubs.
Well, that, and the fact that that’s far from the dumbest thing they’ve ever done.
Pardon me while I mourn some more for Greg Maddux.
But, anyway…
I’m thinking last year’s Juan Gonzalez to Detroit for, if I recall correctly, the entire AAA team of the Tigers was pretty bad.
And just about any trade of young talent for veteran bullpen help is going to wind up being bad for the team receiving the bullpen help. (Johnny Damon for Roberto Hernandez? Are you freaking kidding me?). See most of the Cleveland Indian trading-deadline deals of the past several years to see a team giving up much more than it got.
As a Mets fan, I’ve seen plenty of bad trades. Most people usually mention Nolan Ryan and four others for Jim Fregosi, but that was not as bad at the time as it seems now. Fregosi was an all-star; Ryan was an unproven pitcher who never seemed to get it together – lots of strikeouts, but also lots of walks. Plus, he never would have been a Hall of Famer if he stayed in New York.
No, their worst trade ever was made about a year later: Amos Otis for Joe Foy. Otis became a long-time all star; Foy played about one season before busting out. The worst part was that the Mets knew Otis would be a first class outfielder – in 1969, they refused to include him in a trade that would have brought Joe Torre to them.
Nolan Ryan from the Houston Astros to the Texas Rangers. Reason: We dont want to pay for an old hack. He went on to his 300th win, 6th and 7th no hitters, and 5K strikeout, and now his Texas Rangers hat and jersey hangs in the hall of fame. sigh
Of course, they didn’t trade him for a player, just for money, but the deal that sent Babe Ruth from Boston to New York was catastrophic for Red Sox fans, with repercussions that are still felt to this day.
On the other hand, it allowed Harry Frazee to finance No, No, Nanette, which is a delightful little bit of musical theater fluff. So it wasn’t a total disaster.
Is anyone else aware of Cleveland’s own curse? It began when Colavito was traded for Harvey Kuenn. Not that Kuenn was a bad player (he wasn’t), but Rocky was an extremely popular player for the Indeens, and Cleveland has been snake-bit since then. A book, (The Curse of Rocky Colavito, IIRC) explains it all. Interesting theory, anyway.
I think the worst trade in baseball history was the Reds trading away a young Christy Mathewson to the Giants for an aging Amos Rusie. If memory serves, Rusie only lasted for one more (mediocre) year, while Mathewson went on to become one of the five greatest pitchers of all time.
The Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields trade may one day reach that status, if Pedro has 5+ more years as a dominant starter.
Oh, and Jeff Bagwell for Larry Anderson is certainly near the top of any list of lopsided trades.
traiding mike piazza has to be the worst trade that the effects are still being felt … whats so bad about it is when i heard tommy lasorda was going to be gm i thought hey maybe well get something good going and then they did this …
Of course the dodgers always seem to get rid of people too early or in a slump amd get bit in the ass when there better ,
I’m not a total junkie but is any one that they got for piazza still wiht the dodgers?
Worst trade the Phillies ever made (which mightily benefitted the Cubs ): Larry Bowa and an unproven infielder for Ivan DeJesús. The unproven infielder was named Ryne Sandberg.
Worst trade the White Sox ever made (which mightily benefitted the Cubs ): some schmuck and Sammy Sosa for some other shmuck.
This may not have been an even trade, but in terms of lopsidedness, it isn’t even close to some of the others, in my personal opinion. Same with the Piazza for Sheffield trade, which wasn’t brilliant, but wasn’t terribly lopsided in terms of talent (it would have been better for the Dodgers if they’d hung onto Charles Johnson, too).
Then again, I’ll grudgingly admit that I didn’t think the Deshields for Pedro deal was so bad at the time. I recall that there were serious (though in retrospect, obviously incorrect) concerns whether Pedro had the stamina to be a regular rotation starter.
I agree that Fregosi for Ryan was defensible at the time.
Rusie for Mathewson, Foy for Otis, Bowa and Sandberg for Dejejus and Andersen for Bagwell were all pretty bad. Also George Foster for Frank Duffy.
The trade was for Eddie Taubensee. But I don’t think Lofton was ever rookie of the year, and I believe that he was still a rookie at the time of the deal.
The 2 worst howlers that come to mind were both by the Reds: Frank Robinson to Baltimore for Milt Pappas, and Tony Perez to the Expos for Woody Fryman. There were a couple of others who didn’t matter involved too. Both trades tore the hearts out of contending teams, all so the GM’s of the day could show who was boss (Dick Wagner Must Die !!!).
I think the Red Sox have received too much grief for the Bagwell trade, frankly. He was a struggling third baseman in AA ball, at a position with Wade Boggs and future All-Star Scott Cooper blocking his advancement. There just wasn’t going to be a way for him to make the Show with Boston, and the big club did need bullpen help for the stretch drive. Most struggling, blocked AA players don’t, in fact, ever amount to much - this time the change of venue worked.
Give the Red Sox credit for getting Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek from Seattle for Heathcliff Slocumb, OK?
The Dodgers traded Pedro when he was a struggling young guy with suspect stamina due to his size (he still needs extra TLC to keep from blowing his arm out). Honestly, who among you critics thought he was going to be dominant, and who didn’t think they needed a good 2B?
While we’re on the subject of Pedro, how about him for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr.? I know both of those guys are starting for the 'Spos, but who cares?
And is there a site that lists all the players Montreal has found, developed into stars, and had to get rid of because they couldn’t afford them anymore? Should they count as “dumb” deals, anyway, if they’re really forced?
): Larry Bowa and an unproven infielder for Ivan DeJesús. The unproven infielder was named Ryne Sandberg.