Worst Deals Ever?

[barrysloate]

Yesterday the Mets released Jason Bay after three of the least productive years a player ever had. It got me thinking that signing him was one of the worst deals ever. Then I started to think of some of the worst trades of all time. Three that come to mind are:

1) Mets trading Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi
2) Astros trading Joe Morgan for Tommy Helms
3) Yankees trading Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps (so bad it was mentioned on a Seinfeld episode)

And of course selling Babe Ruth to finance a Broadway show wasn't such a hot idea.

What are some of the other worst deals in baseball history?

[Jlighter]

I think the Miggy deal that sent him to the Tigers. I know money was the overlying factor, but considering the best prospect the Marlins got, Maybin, is a nobody makes it even worse.

[novakjr]

Dammit. They let Bay go. Sadly, he's the kind of junk the Inidans love..


No definitive HOFers involve and obviously I'm gonna have some Cleveland bias on this, but I'd still think the Expos giving up Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Brandon Phillips for Bartolo Colon.

I'd also like to take a look at Seattle's AA and AAA teams from 06-08. Asdrubal Cabrera traded away for Eduardo Perez. Shin Soo Choo traded away for Ben Broussard. Adam Jones traded away for Erik Bedard. Mike Morse traded away for Ryan Langerhans. Rafael Soriano traded away for Horacio Ramirez. Brandon Morrow traded away for Brandon League and Johermyn Chavez.

[cubsfan-budman]

Sandberg to Cubs for Ivan DeJesus?

[ibuysportsephemera]

The Mets signing Bobby Bonilla (2x). The Mets will pay him 1.1 mil per year until 2035. Talk about a great annuity.

[Robextend]

Lou Brock, Jack Spring and Paul Toth to St. Louis for Ernie Broglio, Bobby Shantz, and Doug Clemens

[Robextend]

Also Roger Maris, Kent Hadley and Joe DeMaestri to the Yankees for for Marv Throneberry, Norm Siebern, Hank Bauer, and Don Larsen

[CMIZ5290]

how about the braves in 1987 getting John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander?

[Griffins]

Rick Wise for Steve Carlton
Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas
Christy Mathewson for a washed up Amos Rusie

[barrysloate]

I forgot about the Bobby Bonilla deal. That is truly a colossal blunder. Also the Lou Brock and Frank Robinson deals were equally dreadful. It seems like what constitutes a really bad deal is getting a marginal player, and trading a future Hall of Famer to get him. You wonder how teams make such costly mistakes.

[DaveW]

Those of us in the SF area might say that the Giants signing Barry Zito for 7 years and $126million was a pretty bad deal. That tied up a lot of money for a mediocre 5th starter. He did OK this year, but for the first 5 years of the deal, he was awful.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

Until Liriano fizzled, one of the great ones was AJ Pierzynski for Liriano, Nathan, and Bonser.

[Mikehealer]

Not baseball, but the Cowboys trading Herschel Walker for what turned out to be one HOFer(E. Smith) and most likely another(D. Woodson) as well as several other starters/contributors on three Super Bowl teams.

[steve B]

Varitek and Lowe for Heathcliff Slocumb. Lousy deal for the Mariners great for the Red Sox.

Steve B

[bbcarddan]

I`m surprised no one has mentioned the Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell deal or steal depending on your perspective.

[chaddurbin]

the dodgers gave out a few bad deals recently (andruw jones, jason schmidt), but their all-time nomination is getting delino deshields for pedro martinez, prolly the greatest 4-5 year stretch of any pitcher in history when you factor in how juiced up the hitters were and how overwhelmingly dominant he was.

[novakjr]

I know Sosa's a rough name to throw out there because of the PED's, but you can't argue with production...I'll ignore when the Rangers traded him, but instead look at when the White Sox sent him to the Cubs in exchange for George Bell.

Padres sending Ozzie Smith to the Cardinals for Sixto Lezcano and Gary Templeton.

Reds sent Paul Konerko to the White Sox for Mike Cameron.

Dodgers sent Pedro Martinez to the Expos for Delino Deshields.

[EvilKing00]

a few that werent mentioned:

Jeff Kent - for carlos biarga

Lenny Dykstra and Mcdowel - for juan samuel

mark langston for - randy johnson

[scooter729]

Originally Posted by novakjr

Dodgers sent Pedro Martinez to the Expos for Delino Deshields.

Pedro was then sent by the Expos to the Red Sox, in exchange for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr, where Pedro only went on to have seven of the most dominating years. Not bad when a player can twice be involved in extremely lopsided trades!

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

Jeff Kent - for carlos biarga

I'd thought about that one. Both players were somewhat mirror images of each other up 'til that point(aside from Baerga hitting for better avg), and both appeared to be sliding that year. Who'd have predicted one player was completely done, while the other would go on to play another 12 pretty dominant years?

Combined with the Roberto Alomar trade. I think it'll be a while before the Mets trade for a 2B from the Indians..

Let's not forget that the Indians also got Vizcaino in that deal.. And a few months later the Indians traded both players plus Julian Tavarez to the Giants for Matt Williams. I could've lived with the equivalent of getting Matt Williams for Carlos Baerga and Tavarez through a series of trades. But then Williams was traded to the Dbacks for Travis Fryman.. Keeping Kent would've clearly been better.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by scooter729

Pedro was then sent by the Expos to the Red Sox, in exchange for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr, where Pedro only went on to have seven of the most dominating years. Not bad when a player can twice be involved in extremely lopsided trades!

Oh, if the Indians had just been willing to part with Jaret Wright..

[Robextend]

Cubs traded Rafael Palmeiro & Jamie Moyer to Texas for Mitch Williams

Yanks traded Fred McGriff/Mike Morgan/Dave Collins to Toronto for Dale Murray/Tom Dodd

Toronto traded David Cone to Yanks for Marty Janzen

[D. Bergin]

Football one I just ran across I had no idea about.

Chargers trading the rights to Mike Vick for picks that turned into LaDanian Tomlinson and Drew Brees, and valuable special teams player Tim Dwight.


If we're talking about bad contracts. Obviously the most recent contract the Yanks gave to A-Rod has to be up there. Maybe Cashmans most bone-headed move ever. It was all emotion based on his 2009 playoff performance.

How about the Mets paying Mo Vaughn around $60 Million to play 166 sub-par injury plagued games for them?

Seems the Mets have a list of players a mile long, similar to this.

[EvilKing00]

lmao yes the mets do.

[sox1903wschamp]

Trading a soon to be in his prime Sparkey Lyle for a washed up Danny Cater.

[David W]

Originally Posted by DaveW

Those of us in the SF area might say that the Giants signing Barry Zito for 7 years and $126million was a pretty bad deal. That tied up a lot of money for a mediocre 5th starter. He did OK this year, but for the first 5 years of the deal, he was awful.

As a Cardinal fan I was ecstatic when Zito was set to start game 5. Cards up 3 to 1 and one of the all time worst free agent signings ever in Zito having to pitch for San Fran...... We should have lit him up but somehow he turned the clock back 6 years.

The first big time free agent bomb was Wayne Garland way back in the 70's, 10 year deal for $2/3 million after a 20 win season with Baltimore. Led league in losses his first year, and that was his best year before injuries ended his career early in the contract.

And Mike Hampton never lived up to his contract due to injuries.

I think the Pujols deal will rival the A Rod mistake soon.

[bwbc917]

Brandon Phillips is stolen by the Reds for P Dave Stevens.

[barrysloate]

It seems like the list of really bad deals is a long one. It would be an interesting topic of discussion to figure out why people who are paid to make trades beneficial for the team so often get it wrong. For every GM who makes a good deal there is another GM who was taken to the cleaners.

[EvilKing00]

Also, I know someone mentioned Babe Ruth getting sold from Boston to the Yankees BUT

What about when he was Sold from Baltimore to Boston! and what about Philadelphia Athletics and Cincinnati Reds who passed on the deal first to get ruth! lol

[cardsfan44]

Ozzie and Lou already have been mentioned. If you don't worry about steroids how about the McGwire trade:
Eric Ludwick, Blake Stein, and TJ Mathews- I'd say the cardinals did alright on that one

Jim Edmonds for Adam Kennedy and Kent Bottenfield(won 18 games then after traded was terrible)

David Freese for an old Jim Edmonds- any cardinal fan remember 2011?

[brob28]

Time will tell on this one but he looks pretty good right now: the White Sox traded Gio Gonzalez twice - didn't get anyone still with the team.

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by brob28

Time will tell on this one but he looks pretty good right now: the White Sox traded Gio Gonzalez twice - didn't get anyone still with the team.

It's not really fair to make that statement without mentioning that they had gotten Jim Thome and Nick Swisher in those respective deals..

[T206BrownHindu]

Curt Schilling and Brady Anderson from Boston (Schilling's first time with Boston) for a washed up Mike Boddicker from Baltimore.
Schilling then traded (along with Pete Harnisch and Steve Finley) by Baltimore to the Houston Astros for Glenn Davis
Then he was traded by Houston to Philadelphia for Jason Grimsley
2 more yet:
Schilling traded by the Phillies to Arizona for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee and Vicente Padilla
Schilling traded by Arizona to Boston for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon and Jorge De La Rosa

Josh Hamilton from Cincinnati to Texas for Edinson Volquez

The Sandberg deal for Ivan DeJesus also included Larry Bowa going to Chicago

[brob28]

Originally Posted by novakjr

It's not really fair to make that statement without mentioning that they had gotten Jim Thome and Nick Swisher in those respective deals..

I'll give you Thome (I thought they traded Rowand for Thome), but the Swisher trade was followed up by trading him to the Yankees for Betemit and Marquez. The worst "bookend" trades involving a single player I can think of. Either way Gio's got a few years to go before this one really starts smelling.

[novakjr]

Man, I though Kenny Lofton had a lengthy transaction history. If you wanna see some mayhem, check out Bobo Newsom's transactions.

Matt Stairs' is pretty interesting as well. Most FA moves, with a few trades. He was even sold to Japan in the middle of the '93 season.. He came full circle, as he began his career being signed as an amateur FA by the Expos in '89, and ended it being released from the Nationals 22 years later. Ultimately playing for 12 teams(not counting the Chunichi Dragons or Expos/Nationals as 2)

Russel Branyan was pretty active as well..

[Robextend]

Octavio Dotel has played for 13 teams in 14 seasons.

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by Robextend

Octavio Dotel has played for 13 teams in 14 seasons.

yep and i believe he came up with my poor mets, lol.

[Robextend]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

yep and i believe he came up with my poor mets, lol.

LOL, you are correct sir! But at least he was used to get Mike Hampton!

[39special]

Originally Posted by cubsfan-budman

Sandberg to Cubs for Ivan DeJesus?

Sandberg was a throw in player.Bowa was the bigger name in that deal.

[alanu]

The Marlins trade today might rank up there... getting rid of Reyes, Josh Johnson and Reyes to the Jays

[alanu]

If this isn't limited to baseball... can you say Hershel Walker for 4,000 draft picks

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by alanu

The Marlins trade today might rank up there... getting rid of Reyes, Josh Johnson and Reyes to the Jays

yea i dont even know what to say about todays deal.....

[novakjr]

Originally Posted by alanu

If this isn't limited to baseball... can you say Hershel Walker for 4,000 draft picks

How 'bout the Saints giving up their entire '99 draft(and I believe their 1st and 3rd in 2000) to get Ricky Williams?

[Jlighter]

How about the Dolphins not signing Drew Brees.

[barrysloate]

Maybe the worst draft pick ever was the Knicks choosing Frederic Weis, a seven foot center from France. Not only did he never play for them, but after awhile the team couldn't even find him. He kind of disappeared off the map. How can you lose a guy seven feet tall?

And wasn't Dan Marino chosen with the 28th pick? That means every team in the league passed on him.

[Jlighter]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

And wasn't Dan Marino chosen with the 28th pick? That means every team in the league passed on him.

Well John Elway and Jim Kelley were picked before him, so it's not like teams that needed QBs made a bad choice. Marino also had some problems at Pitt both health and character. Plus he scored a 15 on the Wonderlic.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Jlighter

Well John Elway and Jim Kelley were picked before him, so it's not like teams that needed QBs made a bad choice. Marino also had some problems at Pitt both health and character. Plus he scored a 15 on the Wonderlic.

True. Marino played behind a poor offensive line at Pitt and took quite a beating in college. He looked like a hobbled old man already, coming into the draft.

He really turned it around once he hit the NFL, perfected his quick release, which ironically was probably a product of his poor offensive line at Pitt.

If you're looking at teams passing on players in the draft or otherwise, other more extreme examples are Tom Brady and Johnny Unitas.

[bigred1]

For me, a Braves fan, it was what they gave up for renting Texiera.

[Jayworld]

As a longtime Rangers fan, we've had more than our share of awful trades, including the following:

April 1, 1982: Texas trades right-handers Ron Darling and Walt Terrell to the New York Mets for outfielder Lee Mazzilli.

December 8, 1983: Jim Sundberg was traded by the Rangers to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ned Yost and Dan Scarpetta (this trade almost killed my grandfather...he hated Doug Rader for the rest of his tenure as manager)

July 29, 1989 – The Texas Rangers trade pitcher Wilson Alvarez, outfielder Sammy Sosa and infielder Scott Fletcher to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Harold Baines and infielder Fred Manrique.

[paul]

As a Red Sox fan, I'll never get over the signing of Matt Young in 1991. Going into the '91 season, he had the worst won loss percentage of any pitcher in history with as many decisions as he had. Every team that had previously signed him paid him a few hundred thousand a year. The Red Sox decided to pay him $2.3 Million per year for I don't remember how many years. They may still be paying him. He rewarded them with a typical performance -- 3 wins and 11 losses and an era of about 5 over two years. The guy sucked before they signed him, they gave him a huge raise, and he sucked just as bad after they signed him. Just a horrible, horrible move.