<TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>These deals should have come undone
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=440 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Elliott Kalb / Special to FOXSports
<!-- Meta Tag For Search --><!-- meta name="author" content="Elliott Kalb"--><!-- meta name="source" content="SpecialtoFS"--><!-- meta name="eventId" content=""--><!-- meta name="contentTypeCode" content="1"--><!-- meta name="editorContentCode" content="1"--><!-- meta name="blurb" content="As the MLB trade deadline gets closer and closer, Elliott Kalb looks back at the worst trades in baseball history."--><!-- meta name="modDate" content="July 31, 2005 04:32:29 GMT"--><SCRIPT> // front-end hack to remove postedTime from Rumors page until a better way can be determined if (document.URL.indexOf("/name/FS/rumors") != -1) document.getElementById("postedTime").style.display = 'none'; </SCRIPT>
</TD><TD width=10></TD><TD align=right><!--this is for sponsorships or brandings--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- workingCategoryId: 49--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=10></TD><TD width=440><!-- search:</noindex> -->The worst trades in baseball are also the best trades. One team's misfortune is often another team's ticket to the World Series. Since I'm a natural pessimist, I'll look at the trades from the vantage point of the organizations that got screwed.
1. Christy Mathewson for Amos Rusie, December 15, 1900
In 1900, the Cincinnati Reds thought they were getting a terrific pitcher in Rusie, who had won 241 games for New York before the turn of the century. Mathewson went on to win 373 games, all but one for the New York Giants. Rusie, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977, never won a game for the Reds. The good news is that there was no sports talk radio, and no one got fired for pulling the trigger on this one-sided trade.
2. Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio and Bobby Shantz, June 15, 1964
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>Lou Brock turned out to be quite a steal for the Cardinals. (Louis Requena / Getty Images)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
One could actually see what the Cubs were thinking. Brock was a 25-year-old outfielder for the Cubs, who were fine offensively with Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and Ernie Banks. Chicago needed pitching, and Broglio was 18-8 in 1963, and had won 21 games as recently as 1960. Who knew that he would be 7-19 with the Cubs? Shantz was washed up, and never won a game for the Cubs (although he saved one). Brock, on the other hand, who came to the Cards with 310 hits and 50 stolen bases, had 2,713 hits and 888 stolen bases for St. Louis. Brock was sensational in his three World Series appearances, as well.
3. Nellie Fox for Joe Tipton, October 9, 1949
Joe Tipton was a backup catcher who was waived two years later by the Athletics. Fox blossomed into a Hall of Fame second baseman for the White Sox. He made 12 All Star teams, and was the 1959 MVP. He was listed at 150 pounds, and probably didn't weigh that for much of his career, but he was one of the greatest White Sox players of all time.
4. John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander, August 12, 1987
When the Atlanta Braves traded for 20-year-old minor-league John Smoltz in 1987, they had been to the playoffs just once in 23 seasons in Atlanta. Since the trade, they have made 13 playoff appearances and won a World Series. Smoltz is 14-4 in the postseason. The Tigers got Doyle Alexander, who immediately went 9-0 and led Detroit to first place in the A.L. East and a spot in the ALCS against the Twins. Alexander lost two games in the playoffs, and the Twins defeated the Tigers. Alexander lasted two more seasons, and went 20-29. Smoltz has won 174 games and counting for Atlanta, and saved another 154.
5. Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi, December 10, 1971
We're beginning to see a pattern here. The Reds gave up on Mathewson too early. The Tigers gave up Smoltz too early (although they needed an immediate return on their money). The Mets gave up Nolan Ryan too early. Let's recap. Fregosi was a 30-year old infielder who had made six All Star teams. He was one year removed from a 22-home run, 82-RBI season. The Mets had a gaping hole at third base. New York had plenty of good pitchers, so 24-year-old Nolan Ryan was expendable. Ryan had gone 29-38 in his Mets career, and was coming off a season in which he walked 116 men in 152 innings. Fregosi batted .232 and .234 in a Mets uniform. Ryan's ERA went from 3.97 to 2.28. He would seemingly pitch forever on his way to becoming baseball's all-time strikeout leader and a Hall of Famer.
6. Curt Schilling for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee, and Vicente Padilla, July 26, 2000
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>The Mets didn't get much in return for Tom Terrific. ( Louis Requena / Getty Images)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The Diamondbacks were buyers in the middle of the 2000 season. They struck gold with Schilling. All it cost was Omar Daal (in the middle of a 4-19 season), Figueroa (who won exactly four games for the Phils), Travis Lee (a fine fielding first baseman, who struggles to bat .250), and Vicente Padilla (who has won 45 games for Philadelphia, and lost as many). Schilling went 22-6 for the D-Backs in 2001. He went 23-7 in 2002. He made six postseason starts for Arizona, and went 4-0 with a 1.12 ERA. He led the D-Backs to their first, and only, World Series championship.
7. Curt Schilling for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, and Jorge de la Rosa, November 28, 2003
Following the 2003 season, the Diamondbacks were sellers. They acquired Casey Fossum (4-15 in his one D-Backs season). Jorge de la Rosa was moved to Milwaukee. Lyon actually has 13 saves in 14 save opportunities this season. The Red Sox, however, received Schilling, his magical red sock, and their first World Series championship in generations.
8. Rogers Hornsby for Shanty Hogan and Jimmy Welsh, January 10, 1928
Hornsby was brash and outspoken, and it got him into trouble. He played on five different teams, and managed five different franchises. Following the 1926 season, he was traded by St. Louis' Branch Rickey to the Giants for another great second baseman, Frankie Frisch. Hornsby batted .361 with 125 RBI in his one season with the Giants, but he couldn't get along with Giants owner Horace Stoneham. So the Giants traded him after the season to the Boston Braves for catcher Shanty Hogan and outfielder Jimmy Welsh. Hornsby would bat .387 and lead the league in batting, on-base average, and slugging. Hogan and Welsh resumed their life in anonymity. The Rajah would be moved to the Cubs just one year later for five players and $200,000 cash. The Giants essentially turned Frisch, a Hall of Famer, into Hogan and Welsh. The Braves, meanwhile, were able to showcase Hornsby when he had real talent, and before he lost $100,000 in the stock market crash of '29.
9. Joe Morgan, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo, Ed Armbrister, and Denis Menke for Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Jimmy Stewart, November 29, 1971
Joe Morgan was a promising young player for the Astros in the late 1960s, but injuries cost him 40 games in 1966, and all but 10 games in 1968. He did not get along with Houston manager Harry Walker, and was traded following the 1971 season in a blockbuster deal. Morgan would become a different player under Sparky Anderson. He led the league in on-base average each of his first four seasons with the Reds. He started winning Gold Gloves. He stole an average of 62 bases in his first five seasons with the Reds, as opposed to 40. He became a home run hitter, and a perennial MVP candidate. Lee May, coming off three seasons of 38, 34, and 39 home runs, went to Houston, and never again hit as many as 30 homers in a season. Tommy Helms did improve his .258 Cincinnati average to .259 with Houston.
10. Tom Seaver for Steve Henderson, Dan Norman, Pat Zachry, and Doug Flynn, June 15, 1977
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD class=caption>The Diamondbacks were both buyers and sellers of pitcher Curt Schilling. ( / Getty Images)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Tom Seaver was the best pitcher in the game, but the advent of free agency meant far more lucrative contracts were being given out. Seaver had two years left on his deal, and asked to renegotiate. M. Donald Grant refused. Seaver asked to be traded. Grant obliged, and the Mets traded "The Franchise" in the middle of the 1977 season. Had he waited, Seaver would have been a free agent following the 1978 season. Seaver was still at the top of his game in 1977. The Mets didn't get a lot in return, but they made the best deal they could. Zachry and Seaver both lost 46 games over the next 5½ seasons with their new clubs. Zachry won 41 games in that span for the Mets. Seaver won 75 for the Reds. Henderson never hit more than 12 home runs in a season with the Mets, and he was the best player the Mets received for Tom Terrific.
Honorable Mention
<LI>The Seattle Mariners traded Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek to the Red Sox for reliever Heathcliff Slocumb in 1997. Slocumb saved 13 games for the Mariners. Varitek and Lowe were key figures in the Red Sox winning their first World Series in 86 years.
<LI>The New York Yankees traded Willie McGee for a left-handed pitcher named Bob Sykes. Sykes never pitched again (shades of Broglio and Shantz), while McGee was a lower-case Brock, getting more than 2,000 hits and 352 stolen bases for the Cardinals.
<LI>The Oakland A's traded Mark McGwire to St. Louis at the trade deadline in 1997 for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews, and Blake Stein. The three players did nothing for Oakland, who would have lost McGwire to free agency following the season, anyway. Still, McGwire was in the middle of a 58-home run season, one of the highest of all time.
Elliott Kalb is the author of the new book, "Who's Better, Who's Best in
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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=440 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD>Elliott Kalb / Special to FOXSports
<!-- Meta Tag For Search --><!-- meta name="author" content="Elliott Kalb"--><!-- meta name="source" content="SpecialtoFS"--><!-- meta name="eventId" content=""--><!-- meta name="contentTypeCode" content="1"--><!-- meta name="editorContentCode" content="1"--><!-- meta name="blurb" content="As the MLB trade deadline gets closer and closer, Elliott Kalb looks back at the worst trades in baseball history."--><!-- meta name="modDate" content="July 31, 2005 04:32:29 GMT"--><SCRIPT> // front-end hack to remove postedTime from Rumors page until a better way can be determined if (document.URL.indexOf("/name/FS/rumors") != -1) document.getElementById("postedTime").style.display = 'none'; </SCRIPT>
</TD><TD width=10></TD><TD align=right><!--this is for sponsorships or brandings--><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><!-- workingCategoryId: 49--></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD height=5></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=bdy cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=770 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=10></TD><TD width=440><!-- search:</noindex> -->The worst trades in baseball are also the best trades. One team's misfortune is often another team's ticket to the World Series. Since I'm a natural pessimist, I'll look at the trades from the vantage point of the organizations that got screwed.
1. Christy Mathewson for Amos Rusie, December 15, 1900
In 1900, the Cincinnati Reds thought they were getting a terrific pitcher in Rusie, who had won 241 games for New York before the turn of the century. Mathewson went on to win 373 games, all but one for the New York Giants. Rusie, elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977, never won a game for the Reds. The good news is that there was no sports talk radio, and no one got fired for pulling the trigger on this one-sided trade.
2. Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio and Bobby Shantz, June 15, 1964
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
One could actually see what the Cubs were thinking. Brock was a 25-year-old outfielder for the Cubs, who were fine offensively with Billy Williams, Ron Santo, and Ernie Banks. Chicago needed pitching, and Broglio was 18-8 in 1963, and had won 21 games as recently as 1960. Who knew that he would be 7-19 with the Cubs? Shantz was washed up, and never won a game for the Cubs (although he saved one). Brock, on the other hand, who came to the Cards with 310 hits and 50 stolen bases, had 2,713 hits and 888 stolen bases for St. Louis. Brock was sensational in his three World Series appearances, as well.
3. Nellie Fox for Joe Tipton, October 9, 1949
Joe Tipton was a backup catcher who was waived two years later by the Athletics. Fox blossomed into a Hall of Fame second baseman for the White Sox. He made 12 All Star teams, and was the 1959 MVP. He was listed at 150 pounds, and probably didn't weigh that for much of his career, but he was one of the greatest White Sox players of all time.
4. John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander, August 12, 1987
When the Atlanta Braves traded for 20-year-old minor-league John Smoltz in 1987, they had been to the playoffs just once in 23 seasons in Atlanta. Since the trade, they have made 13 playoff appearances and won a World Series. Smoltz is 14-4 in the postseason. The Tigers got Doyle Alexander, who immediately went 9-0 and led Detroit to first place in the A.L. East and a spot in the ALCS against the Twins. Alexander lost two games in the playoffs, and the Twins defeated the Tigers. Alexander lasted two more seasons, and went 20-29. Smoltz has won 174 games and counting for Atlanta, and saved another 154.
5. Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi, December 10, 1971
We're beginning to see a pattern here. The Reds gave up on Mathewson too early. The Tigers gave up Smoltz too early (although they needed an immediate return on their money). The Mets gave up Nolan Ryan too early. Let's recap. Fregosi was a 30-year old infielder who had made six All Star teams. He was one year removed from a 22-home run, 82-RBI season. The Mets had a gaping hole at third base. New York had plenty of good pitchers, so 24-year-old Nolan Ryan was expendable. Ryan had gone 29-38 in his Mets career, and was coming off a season in which he walked 116 men in 152 innings. Fregosi batted .232 and .234 in a Mets uniform. Ryan's ERA went from 3.97 to 2.28. He would seemingly pitch forever on his way to becoming baseball's all-time strikeout leader and a Hall of Famer.
6. Curt Schilling for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee, and Vicente Padilla, July 26, 2000
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
The Diamondbacks were buyers in the middle of the 2000 season. They struck gold with Schilling. All it cost was Omar Daal (in the middle of a 4-19 season), Figueroa (who won exactly four games for the Phils), Travis Lee (a fine fielding first baseman, who struggles to bat .250), and Vicente Padilla (who has won 45 games for Philadelphia, and lost as many). Schilling went 22-6 for the D-Backs in 2001. He went 23-7 in 2002. He made six postseason starts for Arizona, and went 4-0 with a 1.12 ERA. He led the D-Backs to their first, and only, World Series championship.
7. Curt Schilling for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, and Jorge de la Rosa, November 28, 2003
Following the 2003 season, the Diamondbacks were sellers. They acquired Casey Fossum (4-15 in his one D-Backs season). Jorge de la Rosa was moved to Milwaukee. Lyon actually has 13 saves in 14 save opportunities this season. The Red Sox, however, received Schilling, his magical red sock, and their first World Series championship in generations.
8. Rogers Hornsby for Shanty Hogan and Jimmy Welsh, January 10, 1928
Hornsby was brash and outspoken, and it got him into trouble. He played on five different teams, and managed five different franchises. Following the 1926 season, he was traded by St. Louis' Branch Rickey to the Giants for another great second baseman, Frankie Frisch. Hornsby batted .361 with 125 RBI in his one season with the Giants, but he couldn't get along with Giants owner Horace Stoneham. So the Giants traded him after the season to the Boston Braves for catcher Shanty Hogan and outfielder Jimmy Welsh. Hornsby would bat .387 and lead the league in batting, on-base average, and slugging. Hogan and Welsh resumed their life in anonymity. The Rajah would be moved to the Cubs just one year later for five players and $200,000 cash. The Giants essentially turned Frisch, a Hall of Famer, into Hogan and Welsh. The Braves, meanwhile, were able to showcase Hornsby when he had real talent, and before he lost $100,000 in the stock market crash of '29.
9. Joe Morgan, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo, Ed Armbrister, and Denis Menke for Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Jimmy Stewart, November 29, 1971
Joe Morgan was a promising young player for the Astros in the late 1960s, but injuries cost him 40 games in 1966, and all but 10 games in 1968. He did not get along with Houston manager Harry Walker, and was traded following the 1971 season in a blockbuster deal. Morgan would become a different player under Sparky Anderson. He led the league in on-base average each of his first four seasons with the Reds. He started winning Gold Gloves. He stole an average of 62 bases in his first five seasons with the Reds, as opposed to 40. He became a home run hitter, and a perennial MVP candidate. Lee May, coming off three seasons of 38, 34, and 39 home runs, went to Houston, and never again hit as many as 30 homers in a season. Tommy Helms did improve his .258 Cincinnati average to .259 with Houston.
10. Tom Seaver for Steve Henderson, Dan Norman, Pat Zachry, and Doug Flynn, June 15, 1977
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
Tom Seaver was the best pitcher in the game, but the advent of free agency meant far more lucrative contracts were being given out. Seaver had two years left on his deal, and asked to renegotiate. M. Donald Grant refused. Seaver asked to be traded. Grant obliged, and the Mets traded "The Franchise" in the middle of the 1977 season. Had he waited, Seaver would have been a free agent following the 1978 season. Seaver was still at the top of his game in 1977. The Mets didn't get a lot in return, but they made the best deal they could. Zachry and Seaver both lost 46 games over the next 5½ seasons with their new clubs. Zachry won 41 games in that span for the Mets. Seaver won 75 for the Reds. Henderson never hit more than 12 home runs in a season with the Mets, and he was the best player the Mets received for Tom Terrific.
Honorable Mention
<LI>The Seattle Mariners traded Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek to the Red Sox for reliever Heathcliff Slocumb in 1997. Slocumb saved 13 games for the Mariners. Varitek and Lowe were key figures in the Red Sox winning their first World Series in 86 years.
<LI>The New York Yankees traded Willie McGee for a left-handed pitcher named Bob Sykes. Sykes never pitched again (shades of Broglio and Shantz), while McGee was a lower-case Brock, getting more than 2,000 hits and 352 stolen bases for the Cardinals.
<LI>The Oakland A's traded Mark McGwire to St. Louis at the trade deadline in 1997 for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews, and Blake Stein. The three players did nothing for Oakland, who would have lost McGwire to free agency following the season, anyway. Still, McGwire was in the middle of a 58-home run season, one of the highest of all time.
Elliott Kalb is the author of the new book, "Who's Better, Who's Best in
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