I think that was Dale Murphy for Crime Dog. Now McGriff is with the Devil Rays, along with Gerald Williams, and Ozzie Guillen. Seems that the D-Rays are the final stop for aging Braves.
As a Braves fan, I’m still trying to recover from the Ryan Klesko/Bret Boone deal with the Padres a few years back. I miss my Thumper!!!
Sparky Lyle to the Yankees for Danny Cater has my vote for the worst Red Sox deal of my lifetime.
They were never traded for each other. The Blue Jays got McGriff from the Yankees for a relief pitcher named Dale Murray. That was back when the Yankees had no interest in keeping their prospects and, Orioles-like, would trade them away for anyone older than 30.
I think you can blame Steinbrenner for trading those prospects. I recall a joke which involved Steinbrenner not being around in the '20s to trade Ruth.
Well, you are right. He was not ROY. That honor was undeservedly awarded to Eric Karros. Whereas Karros had a mediocre batting average and decent power numbers–about 20 four-baggers and 80 RBI–Lofton hit 285, scored 96 runs and had a league leading 66 stolen bases.
Man, I had totally forgot about that fraud. Guess I was so sure Lofton would win that the idea just stuck in my mind. :rolleyes: Thanks for the correction.
Actually, the trade was after his 1992 rookie season.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned Steve Carlton for Rick Wise. (Cardinals/Phillies).
Zev Steinhardt
as a die hard Cubs fan (are there any other kind?) I’d have to second the Greg Maddux trade…who did we get in return again?
Maybe we can keep a hold of Wood now…
It wasn’t a bad move at the time. Now it’s bad. If you remember closely enough, Piazza wanted to get traded and wasn’t going to get signed unless the Dodgers coughed up a $100 milion contract. Piazza was not, at that point in time, worth $100,000,000! Piazza chose to leave, what would you have done in the dodgers’ place?
I was a little kid and had just decided that Rocky Colavito was my favorite Indian . . . and then they traded him away. I cried that day. Ask my dad. He carried me around on his shoulder while I cried, chuckling at my youthful devotion.
Little did either of us dream that years later a book would pintpoint that day as the pivotal moment for the Indians. See, Dad, I was right!
He wasn’t traded; he left the Cubs as a free agent.
This is true, and one of the best things that happened to the Braves.
MadDog is a Master!
Yeah…but the Cubs got to draft Jon Ratliff with the compensation pick they got. So 
(Yes, I’m bitter about it, dammit.)
Dave Swaney - I take it you might be a Cards fan? As a Cards fan myself, that’s the first trade that popped to mind - Brock for Broglio, but at the time Brock had speed, but not much else and Broglio was a 20 game winning pitcher the year before. At the time, it looked like the Cards who got shafted. It was Johnny Keane’s managing that turned Lou Brock into Lou Brock.
How about the Cardinal-Padres trade of Garry Templeton for Ozzie Smith?
Templeton would never hit .300 (granted Smith only did it once in '87), but Templeton had an on base percentages of .300 only twice after the trade, while Smith’s OBP dropped under .300 only once.
Templeton stole 101 bases in the 10 years following the trade for the Padres, while Smith would go on to steal 433 bases after the trade.
Oh yeah, plus there’s Smith’s 11 Gold Gloves as a Cardinal and in 1991 had only 8 errors in 150 games.
…was when they got reliever Bob Sykes from the Cardinals in exchange for some minor leaguer named Willie McGee. Sykes never ended up pitching in the majors again. McGee went on to a fine career.
Zev Steinhardt
Some of those are not trades, they are free agent signings.
The worst trade has got to be Bagwell to Houston from Boston for nothing.
Also, the Rangers traded Sammy Sosa for nothing.
You have completely misremembered what happened. 
The reason Lofton did not win the award Karros won is because Karros won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Since Lofton did not play in the National League in 1992, it would have been very strange indeed for the voters to choose him.
Lofton’s first season was 1991, with Houston; he played a total of 20 games, so obviously he wasn’t going to win the Rookie of the Year Award. The 1991 Rookie of the Year was Jeff Bagwell, a pretty darned good choice. Lofton was THEN traded to Cleveland before the 1992 season; so when Karros won his ROY in 1992, Lofton wasn’t even in the same league, so Karros didn’t beat him out for anything.
Still qualifying as a rookie in 1992, Lofton was beaten out for Rookie of the Year by the immortal Pat Listach, a shortstop for Milwaukee who hit .290 with 54 stolen bases and great defense. Given that Listach was a shortstop, it wasn’t a bad choice; either player would have been a decent pick. Of course, Listach got hurt and his career ended early, so you never hear about him anymore.
Bagwell was traded for pitcher Larry Anderson (Andersen?). At the time I thought it was a good deal, as the Sox finally tried a pennant run pickup and Bagwell was in AA ball with two third basemen (Boggs and Cooper) ahead of him in the organization. Then Anderson went 0-7 to finish the season and Bagwell turned into Bagwell.
The Giants got bit a couple of times in the mid-60’s, as any long-suffering fan (is there any other kind?) can tell you:
Orlando Cepeda for Ray (who?) Sadecki. Orlando went on to an MVP year with St Louis.
Gaylord Perry for “Sudden” Sam McDowell. Perry only had another 200 or so wins left in him after the trade. McDowell flamed out in a year.
Thanks, RickJay. I didn’t recall the exact details re Lofton, except that it didn’t seem to ring right that Karros beat him out despite Lofton having a better rookie year (though frequently, the guy who wins Rookie of the Year isn’t the best long term player–the immortal Bob Hamelin, IIRC, won the ROY award in Manny Ramirez’s rookie year).
I was going to look up the Lofton circumstance but hadn’t yet gotten 'round to it.
Before hanging myself, I feel compelled to reply, not only to retract from all that horseshit I expelled, but also to apologize and bow to your superior baseball expertise.
That being said, WHAT A HUGE MORON I AM. I can not believe that I shuffled, twisted and denigrated the facts like that. I feel like such an ass.
:: puts on DUNCE hat for the remainder of this post ::
Indeed it would have. Once again, words fail me to convey my shame. May the baseball Gods have pity on my irreverent soul.
Dude, I said I was sorry. Stop sticking it into my face. Jeez! One little mistake and the Spanish Inquisition preys on me with all its might and fury.
Actually–and I am afraid to trust my memory with this–I seem to recall that he didn’t have enough at bats in '91 to qualify for the ROY award. If I am not mistaken (possibly wishful thinking at this point, but what the heck), any player with less than 130 major league at-bats is still considered a rookie, and therefore is eligible for the award.
::dusts off baseball card collection, gets nostalgic and goes to thank his mom for not throwing them away::
According to my '92 Kenny Lofton Upperdeck, he had only 74 at-bats in '91, so he should have qualified.
[Hi-Jack]
Speaking of baseball cards, I haven’t had a chance to check their worth since my last visit to the US, some 3 years ago. Does anyone know an online site that quotes the Beckett prices? I understand Beckett charges for their services–or at lest they used to. As you might imagine, I am a cheap bastard in search of a non-pay site. Any recommendations?
If you can’t refer me to the URL and have your Beckett copy handy, how about checking the HI price of Manny Ramírez’ 1992 Bowman RC. How 'bout Kobe Bryant’s 1996-1997 Upper Deck RC. Thanks!
[Bye-Jack]
Back to your regularly scheduled programming:
Speaking of him, I still have a Pat Listach glass I got at Milwaukee County Stadium, back in…1993. Yep, 8 years ago. Actually, tomorrow, May 20, is the 8th year anniversary of me attending that game–the only one at which I’ve been physically present. Ironically, that glass has lasted more than his career. Funny how life works.
Well, I still think that Lofton should have won. His offensive numbers were better, IMHO, and his elegance and swiftness on defense are nonpareil. Besides, and even more important, he was the sixth man for Arizona’s 1989 Final Four team. For all we know, Listach might be a worst free throw shooter than Shaq Daddy himself. C’mon voters, what’s wrong with you?
You don’t pay attention to the closing credits at the ends of movies, do you? He is now Bruce Willis’ ass double. 
6 billion breasts and counting…Who ever said overpopulation was not a good thing?