@@tonymoretti2347 I'll take that as sarcasm. Pappas is only noteworthy for having had the record for most career wins without ever recording a 20-win season.
The Philadelphia Philles had a right hander named Rick Wise who threw a no hitter and during this game helped himself by hitting two home runs. He was traded to the Cardinals for Steve Carlton and although Wise was an above average pitcher, he was in no way the even remotely as good as Carlton who was without question one of the greatest pitchers to play this game.
Carlton was traded because he and Gussie Busch were about $12k apart on a contract. Carlton made a few off the record comments to a local reporter. The reporter told Busch and that facilitated the trade to the Phillies. At the time, the Phillies were pathetic. In Carlton’s 1st year with Philly, he went 27-10 while the team finished 59-97. I believe the trading Carlton cost the Cardinals at least 1 possibly 2 championships in the 70’s.
I'm from Detroit. The John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander trade looks bad in hindsight but it didn't at the time. The Tigers were in a fight with the Blue Jays for the 1987 AL East and Alexander went 9-0 in '87 to help them win it. Smoltz had potential at the time but hadn't had a stellar year in the minors. The Tigers can't be blamed for not having a crystal ball that would tell them how great Smoltz would become.
For a pitcher who had a solid career and won 194 games, Doyle Alexander was on the short end of two very lop-sided trades. In 1976 the Yankees gave up (in a ten-player trade) Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez and Rick Dempsey for Alexander, and four others who didn't do much for them while Baltimore got two two very good pitchers and their starting catcher for the next decade.
@@urbangorilla33 The Orioles also traded pitcher Ken Holtzman along with Alexander, Elrod Hendricks, Jimmy Freeman and Grant Jackson to the Yankees in that lopsided deal, which the O's obviously got the better of.
The Kansas City Royals traded David Cone for Ed Hearn with Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo. Hearn injured his shoulder and had 39 plate appearances and was out of baseball in a year and a half. David Cone went on to a great career winning a couple of world series.
This was the one on the list that bugged me. Alomar and Carter considered a "bad move"? Um, no. I remember Alomar going to the Os and how that sparked things. McGriff not to be belittled. But I'm not sure how this was "bad" for either side. Compare it to Frank Robinson going to the Os...
The Jays trading McGriff wasn’t on the list, he was just showing how he got from Toronto to SD for their trade to get on the list. He actually gave the Jays credit for their trade.
Jr.Martin.. Roberto Almost,Might be the best second Baseman of all time.I loved his game.Seem him play twice in 2002 and 2003,when he was with the Mets .
Let's not forget that Tony Fernandez (All Star, Gold Glover, World Series hero) was packaged with McGriff. It wasn't as lopsided as you're portraying it.
The one everyone forgets is in 1960. The Indians trade Norm Cash to the Tigers for Steve Demeter. Demeter only pitched 8 innings for Cleveland and Cash hit 377 HR and had 1,104 RBI for Detroit. Cash 51.4 WAR, Demeter -0.5 WAR.
The Indians might have enough bad trades to make their own 20 worst list. They used to be like the Yankees farm system and traded them a few GREAT players. The Indians seem to be a team that can find replacement great players in the draft and then trade them away, like the Pirates and marlins do.
No one forgets, you’d have to have that memory to forget and no one, absolutely no one who watches RUclips was alive and/or old enough to remember 1960.
@@altg5708 oh yeah growing up in the 80’s the Indians were garbage and always got railroaded in trades until John Hart took over and brought in guys like Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Carlos Baerga in trades. Now the Guardians front office is one of the best around.
Davis hurt his back from swinging so hard. If he would have been the same player though the Orioles gave up too much. Finley had a few great years, Schilling A++ and Harnich was good. The Frank Robinson trade is the biggest steal of all time in my opinion. Ruth was a buy not a trade. Cuellar was a steal too. Cuellar for Belfry. LOL! Belfry was the worst ROY in history and hovered near the Mendoza line after the trade.
A note on the Jose Bautista trade. John Perrotto, who at the time was the Pirates beat reporter for the Beaver County Times (a suburban daily) and also wrote for Baseball Prospectus had a column in the Times, the subject of which was that when Bausista was traded to the Jays, the Toronto coaching staff uncovered a couple holes in his swing, that the other teams he played for hadn't even detected, but that they corrected. And that was when his bat exploded.
Hitting Coach Dwayne Murphy (and staff) was credited with changing his career into an All-Star. There were a few others as well that worked well with the former All-Star OF for the "Billy Ball Era" Oakland Athletics.
I remember my dad coming home one day and saying, “The Dodgers just made a great trade. They traded Ramon Martinez’s brother for DeLino DeShields. We really need a second basemen. That should really put us over the top. And we already have the good Martinez brother...” Still give him shit for that. Lol.
Pappas for frank Robinson is one you forgot Some others Ken Phelps for jay buhner yes the Seinfeld trade was that bad More symbolic but a rough one...Lenny Dykstra to the Phillies for Juan samuel...basically the symbolic ending by met ownership of the 80s Mets era On the other hand Keith to the Mets for very little was the dawn of that era and very important
The one trade that always comes to my mind when someone talks about lopsided trades is the Royals trading Joe Foy to the NY Mets for 2 players...Bob Johnson, and Amos Otis. After 2 lackluster years, Foy was out of the big leagues. Otis went on to play CF in KC for 14 years, winning 3 Gold Gloves, make 5 All-star Appearances, hit 193 HR's and steal 341 bases.
Foy is a cautionary tale about bringing a guy back to his home town. He was a good player, still young, with speed and power and helped the Red Sox win a pennant in 1967. That's who the Mets thought they were getting. But he was a kid from the South Bronx, and when he came to the Mets, he went back to the "hood" and got mixed up with bad company & drugs. And that was the end of his career. The good part is he eventually straightened himself out. The sad part is he ended up dying young of, I believe, a heart attack.
After the Cardinals traded Steve Carlton to Philadelphia for Rick Wise, Carlton went a career 38-14 against his former team, which was his most against any team.
Yes and phillies fans crucifed the phillies for trading carlton for wise cause wise was a fan favorite pitching a no hitter that and everyone knows what happened steve carlton is in hall of fame and rick wise only played one yr for cardinals but pitched in league a long time but never that of carlton
Cardinals traded JD Drew and Eli Marrero to the Braves for Ray King, Jason Marquis and a young prospect name Adam Wainwright. Both Drew and Marrero only been on the Braves for 1 year. King helped the Cardinals for 2 years, Marquis had 3 subpar years in St Louis and Wainwright became a St Louis hero.
@@jeremyhopwood5822 that's not true anymore. Zac Gallen, Sandy Alacatera or however you spell his name, randy arozarena, adolis Garcia, and several others I'm forgetting. They haven't been great at trades since 2014 and now they're discussing trading Nolan Gorman or Lars Nootbarr. I feel like those might be necessary right now but will bite them later also
Thank you for making this video. As a Yankee fan who grew up in the 1980s, I can safely say that George Steinbrenner was in a class all by himself, and trading away Fred McGriff was just the tip of the iceberg: Rickey Henderson for Louis Polonia, Greg Caderet, and Eric Plunk. Dave Winfield for Mike Witt. Al Leiter for Jesse Barfield. Willie McGee for Bob Sykes. Doug Drabek for Rick Rhoden. Bob Tewksbury for Steve Trout. Don Baylor for mediocre Mike Easler. Jack "the Ripper" Clark for Lance McCullers, Jimmy Jones, and Stan Jefferson. And of course, as Frank Costanza reminded us: Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps.
The Yankees were lucky the stupid Pirates gave them Jay Buhner along with Dale Berra for Steve Kemp and Tim Foli in 1985. The Pirates could have had an early 90’s OF of Bonds, Van Slyke and Buhner and Bobby Bonilla could have stayed at 3B.
The Yankees couldn't keep McGriff because they had another Top Prospect at 1B named Mattingly. McGriff was just learning to hit Lefties and looked like a platoon/DH player but they got NOTHING for him. I really liked Fred and followed him his entire career. Very happy for the Crime Dog.
Back then, the Yankees had a series of GMs that basically kissed Steinbrenner's ring (along with whatever else he told them to) and sat in a corner and shut up about it, which allowed George to make all those idiotic deals. With Phelps he saw a big strong lefty slugger with a stroke tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, but power was all he had. As a righty free-swinger Buhner was hampered by the left-center power alleys at the Stadium No one could see him becoming anywhere near as good as he did.
Crazy that you think the guy missed adding that trade to this list. Nobody is missing anyone you named,they were all subpar players with the occasional average season.probably isn’t even a top 20 lopsided trade for that season,let alone in the history of the MLB.
@@josephbaker9974 even if you base it solely on playing time,it’s not in the top 20 in the history of a league that has been going on for well over 100 years.
What is left out of the Ryne Sandberg trade is that he was a throw in. Bowa was the marquee player in that trade and while DeJesus wasn't a world beater with the Phils he did help them win a pennant while Sandberg never sniffed the World Series. Speaking of my beloved Phils, they also were beneficiaries of a lopsided trade. In 1972 they traded Rick Wise to the Cardinals for Steve Carlton. Wise only played 2 seasons for the Cards including an all star appearance in 1973 but was traded to Boston and helped the Bosox win a pennant. Meanwhile Carlton went on to be one of the most dominant left handers in history winning 241 games, striking out over 4,100(he briefly was the all time strike out king), won 4 Cy Young awards, 2 pennants, and a World Series with the Phillies. Surprised you didn't mention this one.
Cubs fan here. Ryno can't be blamed for the Cubs, a large market team, acting like a small market team during his career. And he did get close to the Series in 1984 when they won the first 2 games of the NLCS only to lose the next 3.
Steve Carlton was great, but he actually had 4,136 career strikeouts, not over 15,000. To get that high a number, he' d have had to strike out an average of over 600 batters per year or around 20 strikeouts per start.
Yeah, the narrator kind of goofed on Johnson's height. He's 6'10 not 6'6. And having met him several times I can definitely say he stands out in the crowd.
Hysterical. I heard the narrator say 6.6 and I thought..."no way. I did a physics paper based on exactly him and why I couldnt throw as hard." by the way, measly 5.11 here.
Honestly surprised the Nolan Arenado trade wasn’t on this list, it’s still pretty early tho so we’ll see, but so far it’s been one of the most lopsided trades I’ve ever seen. Top 3 MVP vote getter, best defensive player in baseball and a huge bat for a package of prospects that weren’t even top-tier, and Colorado paid shipping & Handling for $50M as well.
Huge miss here…Brewers received Ted Simmons (HOF), Pete Vukovich (Cy Young) and Rollie Fingers (MVP, Cy Young and HOF…for David Green, Larry Sorensen and Dave LaPoint.
Detroit received Aurelio Rodriguez, Eddie Brinkman, Joe Coleman and Jim Hannan in exchange for the trainwreck known as Denny McLain and a a few underachievers. As a result Detroit acquired to top notch infielders and a very good pitcher. On the other hand, McLain lost 24 games during hi 1st season with the Texas, and it all went downhill from there.
Character matters. With better character, McLain takes better care of himself and has a bunch of 15-to-20-win seasons. I am tempted to make a statement on a politician linked with Bob Gibson's retired number, and that has everything to do with character.
McLain went 10-22 in 1971, which turned out to be the Senators' last season in Washington. He was dealt to Oakland before the team played its first game in Texas.
@@PaulBrower-py7tv aaah...actually...McClain's arm was done, dead, ruined from all those innings he pitched and all those strikeouts he got BEFORE he went to Texas! do you know how many innings McClain logged in the year he won 31!!?! he even came in from the bullpen on close games to try and get the win. did you see him in the first game of the 1968 World Series!!?! McClain was washed up, empty, through! AND HE BLAMED MGR. WILLIAMS, WHEN HE WAS IN TEXAS!
@@samuelmoulds1016 The Tigers had a moron, Mayo Smith, managing the team. He over-used McLain that year in the hope that 30 wins would draw attention to his genius as a manager. Most of the time, teams in a genuine playoff drive are filling in scrubs for veterans at the expense of those veterans achieving statistical freaks like getting the 200th hit, 40 homers, or 20 wins. Just look at the 1984 Tigers: nobody had a statistically-great year, but nobody had a bad one. The latter is the point. Nobody got a single stat that says "I am going to the Hall of Fame". If there will be no post-season, then going for the freak stats is OK.
Maybe I missed it but no Frank Robinson to the Orioles? In his first year he won the AL MVP, hit for the triple crown and was World Series MVP. Went on to play in three more World Series with the Orioles and is in the Hall of Fame as an Oriole. But I guess that's not much in the grand scheme of things. Like I said maybe I missed it. Moving on!!!! It'll always be woulda, coulda, shoulda with the Expos but it would have been crazy to see Pedro and Randy in their prime in the same rotation. Other teams would have been saying sacre bleu!
While I gave this video a like, picking Babe Ruth to the Yankees as the top of the list just isn't right, because he was _sold_ by Boston, not traded, and there obviously is a difference. The Reds dealing Frank Robinson is the true number one lopsided trades, and by a fairly large margin. This trade is so famous--infamous in Cincinnati--that I'll just link for those unfamiliar with how all the "old" Robinson in his first year with the Orioles was win the Triple Crown and be voted AL MVP, while leading the Birds to their first World Series, winning it all in 1966, and going on to many stellar seasons in Baltimore: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Robinson#Baltimore_Orioles_(1966%E2%80%931971)
This video is top heavy with one sided trades that were caused by pending free agency which makes them understandable. The Frank Robinson trade has been trashed as a one sided deal orchestrated by incompetent Reds' management. But it was not. The Reds at the time were loaded with good hitters. They led the NL in hitting by almost 19 points. They had all stars at almost every position. They needed pitching badly. Milt Pappas was a top notch right hander. at the time, he added more to the Reds than Robinson took away. I doubt that Robinson's presence on the team in '66 and beyond would have made any difference to the Reds. People point to the ascendant Orioles in the late '60's as evidence that it was a bad trade. But their success was due to pitching and fielding and not hitting. The trade that brought them glory was Mike Cuellar for Curt Blefary that got them a Cy Young left-hander for an unproductive left fielder who was more than adequately replaced by Don Buford in '69.
@@dennisbedard9850 Does the 1970 World Series ring any bells? The Pappasless Reds lost to the Robinson led Orioles. But yeah, the trade really worked out well for the Reds. I'll also point out the Reds outfield was a weakness during the Series. It actually led to the trade that brought George Foster to the Reds in the early 70's.
How about Nolan Arrendo to cardinals plus 54 mil dollars. Matt Holliday to the cardinals for brett wallace and pospects. Cardinals giving up Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen for Marcel Ozuna. Definitely a roller-coaster ride with St.Louis and trades.
I agree with that one, sort of. I think the Rockies were just doing a salary dump, so it’s hard to evaluate in terms of on-field performance. Of course, I think most trades by the Marlins and Pirates fall into that same category, and I know some of the listed trades were probably known even at the time to be giving up long term potential in hopes of short-term help; Apple-to-Apple comparisons are hard to come by.
@@frankrodriguez984 Not all were. Players like Luis Gonzalez, Jay Bell, etc who had dramatic and otherwise unexplained increases in power production are for more suspect.
@@stephenjohnson9632 Let's not forget Brady Anderson. His homer increase was RIDICULOUS (15-20 HRs average in his career to 50+ for one year on the gas).
Possibly the worst trade ever was the Reds traded Christy Mathewson an unknown pitcher who hadn't made his major league debut for Amos Rusie. Mathewson went on to win 373 games. The Reds did steal Joe Morgan and Cesar Geronimo in one trade and George Foster and Tom Seaver in other trades so the books were balanced!
It would be the worst trade if it were on the level, but it wasn't. The Reds owner was in the process of arranging to buy the Giants - which he did one year later. It was basically self-dealing. If John Brush thought he wasn't getting the Giants, he doesn't make the trade. But he was. He traded his prize prospect to his own team.
I remember watching Pedro M strike out 14 Reds at Riverfront while he was still just Ramon's little brother lol. They also had an impressive right fielder( Wilton's brother) who hit 2 home runs threw a bullet from the warning track to 3rd base to nail Pat Watkins ( whose name I remember only because my brother in law has the same name) trying to go 1st to 3rd on a single. The Expos ALWAYS had and lost some young stars in the old days. Alou, Gallaraga , Johnson, Walker , Vlad, Pedro.
@@johnandmarylouwilde7882 I still feel sorry for the real Expos fans who had to see their team get taken away. Anytime I hear about the possibility of another team joining the league I think it should be Montreal first, before any other city is considered
Cardinals have a great history of making trades especially recently getting goldy and arenado. But the one that will haunt me is giving up sandy alcantarra and zac gallen for Marcell Ozuna
I agree it sucks as Cardinals go but we needed a power bat and an outfielder. Plus Yelich just went to Milwaukee at the same time so it was a panic by Cardinals but at least justifiable.
congrats to Fred McGriff, i was just becoming a baseball fan in 1990-91, and saw him play for the Blue Jays just before he got traded....the funny thing about that trade is that all four players ended up with rings, Alomar and Carter earned 2, while becoming Jays legends, Fernandez came back to the Jays and was an important piece for the 1993 championship and McGriff won 2 years later in Atlanta....give it up for several of my childhood baseball heroes...you never forget your first heroes and your first championship
The day Fred Mc Griff played his first game with the Braves, the press box at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium caught on fire 🔥 and so did the Braves that season
One player that blew me away being so good but was always on numerous teams for some crazy reason as he was one of the best base stealers and hitters I’ve ever watched and that was Kenny Lofton! Cleveland should have made him a Lifetime Franchise player!
Lofton was perhaps my favorite player as a kid. I was a Twins fan, but I barely remembered '91 and so mostly remembered our horrendous years later so didn't have much favorites with the Twins during this time.
I talked to Bill Lajoie who made that trade around 2005. He stated that he would make the trade again. He needed an established high quality starter to win the pennant. Doyle Alexander went something like 7-1 with the Tigers propelling them to the play offs.
yeah, Doyle dunn good. set a record, I believe. but I hate to see good HOMEGROWN Tiger talent leave Detroit! used to be pitchers LOVED Detroit, now, nobody wants to pitch in Detroit. they say it is.....because....of......
I remember HOF broadcaster Jack Buck talking about the Ozzie Smith - Garry Templeton trade. His prediction was that StL was gonna love him- and he was right!
Ted Summons, Rollie Fingers, Pete Vuchovich, (two future cy young awards, one future league MVP) for Six to Lezcano, Larry Sorensen, David Green, Dave LaPoint.
Thank you for the content, but I feel it is skewed more towards the 90’s and earl 2000’s. There were many more bad trades in the 60’s and 70’s that you missed (Frank Robinson, Steve Carlton, etc). 😊
A recent one that comes to mind was Baltimore getting Adam Jones, George Sherill, and Chris Tillman when they sent Erik Bedard to Seattle. Another one was the O’s sending Arrieta to the Cubs.
My all time favorite player Jim Edmonds for Kent Bottenfield. Not sure who all was included in that package but just getting Edmonds made that trade extremely lobsided.
Adam Kennedy was the other player in the trade. I believe he was the ALCS MVP for the angels when they won the WS. Later came back to the cardinals and was not good. Edmonds was later traded for David Freese, 2011 WS hero though.
@@jon-eriksuermann9844You’re correct on Kennedy. Was the ‘02 ALCS MVP and anchored down at 2B for a few years afterward. And he’s still remembered fondly by Angels fans.
Sorry but yeah I've gotta add my voice to the pack here lol.. What Adam Kennedy did in helping the Angels win the WS makes that trade way less lopsided..
Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas should have been number one, instead of the Ruth deal. Ruth wasn't even traded, he was sold to the Red Sox. That shouldn't even qualify for the list.
A.J. Pierzinski actually had a decent 2000+ hit career despite his horrid stint with the Giants, including winning a championship with the 2005 White Sox.
"In Major League Baseball History" not quite. Just take a look at the Phillies...You mentioned Sanberg...what about the Phillies sending Fergie Jenkins (HOF) to the cubs. The opposite with the Phillies, with them receiving Jim Bunning (HOF) for Don Demeter and how about the Phillies receiving Steve Carlton (HOF) for Rick Wise. Bunning and Carlton won close to 600 games with the Phillies. Now those are history changing trades.
yeah, and Bunning pitched a no-hitter against the Red Sox! any Boston fans out there!!?! and Bunning threw a no-hitter against the Mets! (or was it a PERFECT GAME) any Yankee fans out there!!?!
A low key bad trade by Boston was trading two young prospects in 88 to Baltimore for Mike Boddicker. Mike was alright for Boston, but the two young guys dealt were Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling (Yes, he was originally a Red Sox prospect). Also worth pointing out that the Expos had a deal in place to send Pedro to Cleveland for two pitchers named Jaret Wright and Bartolo Colon. But Cleveland got cold feet about moving Wright, who had a great postseason run during his rookie year in 97.
Schilling alone makes that one-sided, because it was too early to tell if he was gonna be that good. Boddicker was good for a couple of years, then I believe Boston dealt him to KC. Brady Anderson's career stats were kinda up-and-down, then he started using steroids and had that one ridiculous year with the 50+ homers. He was a good defensive outfielder, but nothing special offensively without the PEDs.
There's multiple peds on here. Not really a big deal tho. Still going on today. Can't avoid it. Way too much money involved. Good business decision If not caught
Re: The Expos trading Pedro. At the time, there was already serious talk of dissolving or moving the Expos, and Bud Selig, who's Brewers were a way more pathetic team, was firmly and inexplicably in charge of the league. Expos' ownership saw the writing on the wall. And during the strike year of 1994, the Expos were, hands down, the best team in baseball.
That was an insane trade. Was Ted Simmons involved in that trade also? I remember him playing for the Cardinals in the late 70s and was on the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers team.
it actually was good for all parties... Templeton wanted out of STL- Ozzie wasn't happy in SD.... Smith just happened to be the more talented player is why that trade stands out - Templeton was about done within 1 year at SD
@@aboxofbroken8tracks983 yeah... he did .... but was in mail it in mode for about that whole time.... SD didn't see the best of Templeton .... he wasn't THAT bad.
The trade that sent David Cone away from the Royals will definitely be on here. The trade the brought Chris Archer to the Pirates will absolutely be on here. Now I'll watch the video to see if I'm correct.
Orioles traded Erik Bedard to the Mariners for Adam Jones (44 WAR), Chris Tillman (middle of the rotation arm for a better portion of a decade) and George Sherrill (who made an all star game as a closer) and a couple of minor league guys (one of whom was used as a piece in the Mark Reynolds trade). Orioles in the early 2010s don't sniff a playoff appearance without this deal.
Videos like this will not make sense post 2010 as there are so many trades made these days that are little more than salary dumps or "player rentals." Unless a superstar who leaving a weak team is willing to sign a long term contract with the new team, who would a team give up significant value for a three month rental?
Some of these trades as you said, were understandable like the Doyle Alexander Trade which actually got the Tigers to the playoffs that year. If he wasn't on that team the Jays might've won the division in '87. The Expos trade of Randy Johnson was pretty damn egregious especially considering that Langston made it known to EVERYONE he didn't want to go to Montreal and wouldn't even think of re-signing with them at the end of the year. On the other hand the Pedro trade is quite understandable. The Expos were pretty much a feeder team for the rest of MLB after '94. EVERYONE knew their best talents would end up being traded so any offers are going to be depressed. The Expos were probably lucky to get what they did. Anywho, here's another pretty bad trade to add to the list. Michael Young and Darwin Cubillan to the Rangers in exchange for Esteban Loaiza to the Blue Jays.
Couldn't agree more with the context on the Doyle trade, you can't fault them for that it's like when the St. Louis Blues traded for Gretzky when his contract was expiring just for a chance at the Stanley Cup. True it hurt the franchise but it could of paid off... It's like me being a Lions fan someone would offer me trading every young future HOFer for a seasoned vets and the Lions making it to the superbowl the same year... I would take that chance in a heart beat
Alexander was 9-0 with an ERA around 1.80 for the Tigers that year, no question they don't make the playoffs without him. Those are absolutely insane numbers! He was solid the following year at 14-11, they got out of him exactly what they hoped for. Smoltz just found his other gear with Atlanta, something that may not have happened had he stayed with Detroit.
#10. McGriff was traded because the Padres were losing money due to low attendance. They were not trying to get better. They were trying to avoid being relocated due to low interest in the team. They lost Gary Sheffield, Phil Plantier, Benito Santiago. Take this one off.
The worse trade in Mets history honestly is either Amos Otis for Joe Foy or Kevin Mitchell for Kevin McReynolds. Ryan as not going to discover himself with the Mets and really didn’t want to be in NYC. He had to find himself as an ace which he did in California. Loosing Jim Bibby was a bigger loss for the Mets because in my opinion he would’ve immediately clicked with the Mets and made an already good rotation great by 73. Loosing Amos Otis for Joe Foy who was back in NYC around negative elements was a much bigger loss, Otis would’ve become the CF by 71/72 ish and been an Offensive force in a lackluster Mets offense in the 70’s and they might’ve not collapsed down the stretch in 70-72. As for McReynolds for Mitchell, McReynolds was not a scrub as a Met in no way but Mitchell was on a HOF offensive and defensive trajectory in 89 and he would’ve put them over offensively in 88,89 and 90 instead of dog fights in 90 with the Pirates and eventually falling into oblivion in August of 91.
Great video but you missed two that should be in the top 20. February, 1972. St Louis trades Steve Carlton to the Phillies for Rick Wise. The rest is history. And 1961. Giants trade Orlando Cepeda to Cards for Ray Sadecki. The only reason I remember this one is that I had the Ray Sadecki baseball card circa 1966.
The Cardinals came out on the right side of both Orlando Cepeda trades. They traded Sadecki for Cepeda and Cepeda won the MVP for St. Louis. Then they traded Cepeda to Atlanta for Joe Torre and Joe Torre won the MVP for St. Louis, LOL. Speaking of Atlanta and Joe Torre and trades, there was a trade that was, supposedly, all but made, before the 1969 season, that would have sent Nolan Ryan to the Braves for Joe Torre. I don't know why it fell through, but I'm sure the story is out there somewhere. Ryan was actually a pretty key contributor to the Mets championship in 1969, so who knows how that would have worked out if the Ryan-for-Torre deal was made. (Just as a what-if speculation: if they got Torre, they don't trade for Donn Clendenon because Torre is the RH power bat they wanted when they made the Clendenon deal. Going to Montreal for Clendenon was Steve Renko, who was a pretty good pitcher. Not as good as Ryan, but maybe good enough to take Ryan's place on the staff without too much loss in quality. So maybe with Torre & Renko, the Mets are actually better than with Ryan & Clendenon and still win the World Series. Who knows?)
I would have thought Gary Carter being dealt to the Mets for Mike Fitzgerald, Hubie Brooks, and Floyd Youmans was a lopsided deal. Expos did nothing with the players they received and Carter wins a World Series with the 1986 Mets.
Hubie Brooks was a pretty good player for the Expos, so it wasn't that lopsided. I think the Mets' trades for Keith Hernandez and Sid Fernandez were much more lopsided than the Carter deal.
The Padres' McGriff trade was one of several at the time. It wasn't just a bad trade, but was purely to save money. They had a few other trades like that within 2 years.
The Montreal Expos made another lopsided trade long before sending the Big Unit to Seattle, and even longer before Pedro would be traded to Boston: they traded Ken Singleton and Mike Torrez, two very popular players in Montreal, to the Orioles for Dave McNally, Rich Coggins and Bill Kirkpatrick. Torrez won 20 games for the O's before being sent to Oakland as part of the Reggie Jackson deal, but Singleton became a mainstay in Baltimore.
That Singleton-for-McNally trade made absolutely no sense, even at the time. No hindsight involved. It was crazy. McNally was a great pitcher, but everyone knew he was washed up. Makes you wonder what drugs they were taking in Montreal.
The cases of McGriff to the Braves, McGwire to the Cardinals and Pedro to the Sox are examples of small market teams who couldn't afford to keep their stars in their free agent season and having to trade them for pennies on the dollar to avoid having them walk in the off season for nothing. I can't fault them for that. Small market teams have to trade stars for prospects all the time and sometimes they roll snake eyes.
@@CharlesTurk-qv8yy he won 19 in 1975 alone... Wise won far more than 24 after the trade , just not for Philly because they traded him after a couple years,
The Smoltz for Alexander trade should not be on this list. The trade happened in August 1987 and the Tigers were in the pennant race and needed an arm. Down the stretch of that season Alexander went 9-0 with an ERA under 2.00 leading the Tigers to an A.L. East title. He also won 14 games in 1988 and was named an all star. So the trade worked out for both sides.
I agree 100%. The Royals giveaway of David Cone to the Mets for a total bust at catcher, Ed Hearn, is waaaay worse than the Smoltz-Alexander deal. Smoltz was a prospect on the farm and Cone appeared in 11 games in 1986, collecting 21 Ks against 13 walks in 22.2 IP, getting hit pretty good but surrendering only 2 HRs and his FIP was a not-terrible 3.92. We all know what happened next: Cone took off. In his 2nd year with the Mets he won 20 games with 213 Ks and was an All Star. Hearn gave the Royals absolutely nothing. (Interesting side note: Cone is also a hometown guy, born and raised in KC, as Smoltz was for Detroit.)
Long term, it does. 20 years later, the Tigers came out on top of their own lop-sided trade, trading Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin for four players. One of them was MIGUEL CABRERA.
A more recent one. Yordan Alvarez to the Astros, Josh Fields to the Dodgers, in 2016. Not only did Alvarez turn into a superstar slugger who helped win the Astros to several World Series, and a World Series win in 2022, Fields was terrible in the World Series in 2017, helping the Astros take that one, too.
How about the Pirates getting 3 HOFers in Honus Wagner, Rube Waddell and Fred Clarke and a bunch of other players from the Louisville Colonels for four players who were sent right back to the Pirates when the Colonels folded three months later? It turned the Pirates in to a powerhouse team 1900-09 and got them to two World Series, winning 1 of them. That’s right up there with the Babe Ruth trade in terms of lopsidedness. Another one that’s probably in the top 30 all time was the Pirates sending Tony Peña to the Cardinals for Andy Van Slyke, Mike LaValliere and Mike Dunne. Peña was not very good in 1987 and was only there for three years before he went to Boston. Dunne didn’t do much for the Pirates, but LaValliere replaced Peña and was a pretty good defensive catcher for the next 6 seasons. Meanwhile Van Slyke became the best CF in the game with the Pirates and they improved by 16 games in 1987, going from 64 wins to 80. He won multiple gold gloves and was a good hitter, helping the Pirates to win 3 straight division titles 1990-92. Another one off hand was the Pirates getting Brian Giles from the Indians for Ricardo Rincon. Rincon was what he was, a good left handed relief pitcher. With an everyday job, Brian Giles took off and became a great defensive OF and a great hitter, getting 35+ home runs four years in a row with an OPS over 1.000 three times from 1999-2002. In 2003, he only had 16 homeruns at the deadline when the Pirates traded him and got Oliver Perez and Jason Bay, which wasn’t nearly as lopsided but not a good trade for the Padres.
That Honus Wagner deal is going way back, but there were some shady antics going on there. The same guy (Barney Dreyfuss) owned both teams. Since Pittsburgh was the stronger franchise, he dealt all the good players on Louisville to the Pirates for scraps in return. The same thing happened with the Cleveland Spiders and the St. Louis Cardinals, which is why one guy isn't allowed to own two teams any more. The National League ended up contracting from 12 to 8 teams, and Louisville & Cleveland were dropped. Cleveland ended up with a team in the new American League, but Louisville has been minor league ever since. Another questionable deal around that time was one that sent Christy Mathewson from Cincinnati to the NY Giants for a retiring ex-star (and Hall of Famer) Amos Rusie. This was a deal made to help the Giants circumvent some draft rule in order to cheat a minor league team out of their transfer fee. Something like that. The Reds, for whatever reason, connived with the Giants to pull off this scheme. It would go down as one of the great all time steals, but it wasn't actually a legitimate trade. But it was a swindle.
The BUCS are going to go back to the Barney Dreyfuss Era......somehow they still do find talent, but lose it due to Players Union.The Pirates are merely Triple A talent already in the Show, ripe for the picking
Another lopsided trade that seldom gets mentioned took place early in the 1966 season, with the Phillies trading Ferguson Jenkins, Adolfo Phillips, and John Herrnstein to the Cubs for Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson, both of whom were past their prime.
What about Astros trade Joe Morgan to Reds ...Phillies trade Chilling to D backs ...Cardinals trade Steve Carlton to Phillies....Astros trade Kenny Lofton to Cleveland
I would have added the Mark Teixeira trade for the Braves. They got him for like half a season, but gave away Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, Neftali Felix and Saltallamachia. The first 3 were crucial in their back to back world series runs.
The Cubs traded Ryan Dempster to the Rangers for Kyle Hendricks and Christian Villanueva. The Cubs traded an over the hill pitcher for a future ace who was a key member of a World Series winning team
How is the "Midnight Massacre " not anywhere on your list?? Mets Trade Tom Seaver to the Reds for Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman and Pat Zachry
06-24-2004 Carlos Beltran Traded by Kansas City Royals to Houston Astros as part of 3-team trade in which Houston Astros sent John Buck and cash to Kansas City Royals; Oakland Athletics sent Mike Wood and Mark Teahen to Kansas City Royals; and Houston Astros sent Octavio Dotel to Oakland Athletics (June 24, 2004).
For more context on why Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees, I would recommend reading Glenn Stout's excellent history on the Boston Red Sox called "Red Sox Century." In the book, it mentioned that Frazee and then AL President Ban Johnson didn't get along and there were two camps in the AL at that time, three teams that were anti Ban Johnson (the Red Sox, White Sox and Yankees) and then five teams that were pro Ban Johnson. As a result of that, the only teams that would trade with the Red Sox were the Yankees and the White Sox. The book also mentioned that Babe Ruth was a huge distraction in the clubhouse, and that was what motivated Frazee to sell Ruth to the Yankees. Frazee was also looking to get out of baseball, because of the problems he had with Ban Johnson.
@@csnide6702 That's a myth that's been pushed for 100 years. Frazee didn't need the money for his musical, and "No, No Nannette" was made years after the Ruth sale.
When I was a kid, the worst trade in baseball was usually considered to be the Philadelphia A’s trading future MVP and Hall of Famer Nellie Fox to the White Sox for catcher for Joe Tipton. Tipton played for 3 years for the A’s during which he had 465 AB, 12 HR, 48 RBI, and batted .243. Fox played 16 years for the Sox, was an All-Star 12 times and won three gold groves.
Ah yes.........the Pedro Martinez trade. Pain What's even more painful is what if the Expos were able to keep all that talent they had especially with Randy Johnson there. Wouldn't that have been something. Of course, nothing will ever top the Babe Ruth selling.
The trade that sent Joe Morgan to the Reds was definitely one of the most lopsided. While not a classic lopsided trade, because the Astros got some value and even a star, when all is said and done, the cumulative total was extremely lopsided for the Reds. The Astros got Lee May, a star but *NOT* a HOF, who had 3 great years in Houston, Tommy Helms, who had 3 above average years for the Astros, and Jimmy Stewart, who warmed the bench for a couple of years. In return the Reds got Ed Armbrister, a 4-year utility man, Dennis Menke, a 2-year starter (who was way more valuable to the Reds than Jimmy Stewart was to the Astros, actually so was Armbrister), Jack Billingham, a long time starter, Cesar Geronimo, a gold glove centerfielder (*both* of whom had longer careers with the Reds than Helms had with the Astros - definitely Geronimo, and maybe even Billingham, alone would out value Helms), and Joe Morgan, a legit HOF, who, according to Baseball Reference was the 4th best 2nd baseman of *all time* (which is a no brainer over Lee May). The sum of that trade was a slam dunk and extremely lopsided for the Reds, and definitely contributed to their dominance in the early mid 70s.
What about Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas? That deal CERTAINLY belongs on this list!
Yup ... true that !
No way Milt Pappas was a beast!!!
@@tonymoretti2347 I'll take that as sarcasm. Pappas is only noteworthy for having had the record for most career wins without ever recording a 20-win season.
@@elc1960 you are correct sir
Literally probably 1st.
Nolan Ryan had a talk to Randy Johnson early on after the trade and helped him improve his control. So essentially Ryan created a monster.
To the anguish of low-flying birds everywhere.
@@zennyspent lol. I still see that clip on occasion
@kevinW826 my best buddy and I make a point to watch that and Nolan beating the soul out of Robin Ventura at least once a year.
Don’t forget the Reds trading Frank Robinson to the Orioles for Milt Pappas, Jack Baldschun and Dick Simpson.
Excuse me, but did you say Randy Johnson was 6'6"? If memory serves me right, Randy was 6"10".
That's what I thought
He is 6’10
Yep he is
The Philadelphia Philles had a right hander named Rick Wise who threw a no hitter and during this game helped himself by hitting two home runs. He was traded to the Cardinals for Steve Carlton and although Wise was an above average pitcher, he was in no way the even remotely as good as Carlton who was without question one of the greatest pitchers to play this game.
This is always the first trade that comes to mind when people talk about bad trades.
Rick Wise was the winning pitcher in game six of the '75 WS.
Carlton was traded because he and Gussie Busch were about $12k apart on a contract. Carlton made a few off the record comments to a local reporter. The reporter told Busch and that facilitated the trade to the Phillies. At the time, the Phillies were pathetic. In Carlton’s 1st year with Philly, he went 27-10 while the team finished 59-97. I believe the trading Carlton cost the Cardinals at least 1 possibly 2 championships in the 70’s.
I'm from Detroit. The John Smoltz for Doyle Alexander trade looks bad in hindsight but it didn't at the time. The Tigers were in a fight with the Blue Jays for the 1987 AL East and Alexander went 9-0 in '87 to help them win it. Smoltz had potential at the time but hadn't had a stellar year in the minors. The Tigers can't be blamed for not having a crystal ball that would tell them how great Smoltz would become.
Totally agree. They do not shake the Jays with Doyle.
For a pitcher who had a solid career and won 194 games, Doyle Alexander was on the short end of two very lop-sided trades. In 1976 the Yankees gave up (in a ten-player trade) Scott McGregor, Tippy Martinez and Rick Dempsey for Alexander, and four others who didn't do much for them while Baltimore got two two very good pitchers and their starting catcher for the next decade.
@@urbangorilla33 The Orioles also traded pitcher Ken Holtzman along with Alexander, Elrod Hendricks, Jimmy Freeman and Grant Jackson to the Yankees in that lopsided deal, which the O's obviously got the better of.
The Kansas City Royals traded David Cone for Ed Hearn with Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo. Hearn injured his shoulder and had 39 plate appearances and was out of baseball in a year and a half. David Cone went on to a great career winning a couple of world series.
Mercenary of Death for Brittney Griner.
Yeah Joe Biden isn't a good ,gm .and a worse president
🤣
😂 👍
If he was talking Basketball trades, I would agree, that would be #1
@@O-D-X nah... still doesn't match the Pistons getting reamed on the Bob McAdoo deal.... 😂
The Jays trading McGriff and getting Carter and Alomar was practically a jump scare in this video, with how much value they got back.
That trade arguably gave the jays two world series rings. Alomar was a highlight reel on his own.
This was the one on the list that bugged me. Alomar and Carter considered a "bad move"? Um, no. I remember Alomar going to the Os and how that sparked things. McGriff not to be belittled. But I'm not sure how this was "bad" for either side. Compare it to Frank Robinson going to the Os...
The Jays trading McGriff wasn’t on the list, he was just showing how he got from Toronto to SD for their trade to get on the list. He actually gave the Jays credit for their trade.
Jr.Martin..
Roberto Almost,Might be the best second Baseman of all time.I loved his game.Seem him play twice in 2002 and 2003,when he was with the Mets .
Let's not forget that Tony Fernandez (All Star, Gold Glover, World Series hero) was packaged with McGriff. It wasn't as lopsided as you're portraying it.
The one everyone forgets is in 1960. The Indians trade Norm Cash to the Tigers for Steve Demeter. Demeter only pitched 8 innings for Cleveland and Cash hit 377 HR and had 1,104 RBI for Detroit. Cash 51.4 WAR, Demeter -0.5 WAR.
The Indians might have enough bad trades to make their own 20 worst list. They used to be like the Yankees farm system and traded them a few GREAT players. The Indians seem to be a team that can find replacement great players in the draft and then trade them away, like the Pirates and marlins do.
@@altg5708 The Detroit Cocker Spaniels seem to be taking that role.
No one forgets, you’d have to have that memory to forget and no one, absolutely no one who watches RUclips was alive and/or old enough to remember 1960.
Love for the Tigers, Stormin Normin Cash
@@altg5708 oh yeah growing up in the 80’s the Indians were garbage and always got railroaded in trades until John Hart took over and brought in guys like Kenny Lofton, Sandy Alomar Jr. and Carlos Baerga in trades. Now the Guardians front office is one of the best around.
The Orioles gave up Curt Schilling, Pete Harnisch & Steve Finley for Glenn Davis who only played 185 games spread over 3 seasons.
Houston had a choice between Finley and Brady Anderson to boot. All that disaster because they couldn't keep Eddie Murray happy.
Glenn Anderson was a stud power hitter for the Astros. He really went down the toilet after that trade.
@@Dulcimerist Glenn Davis. Yes he was a beast but baltimore should have never needed him.
Davis hurt his back from swinging so hard. If he would have been the same player though the Orioles gave up too much. Finley had a few great years, Schilling A++ and Harnich was good.
The Frank Robinson trade is the biggest steal of all time in my opinion. Ruth was a buy not a trade.
Cuellar was a steal too. Cuellar for Belfry. LOL! Belfry was the worst ROY in history and hovered near the Mendoza line after the trade.
@@kevhead1525 , that was 2 years later, tho
A note on the Jose Bautista trade. John Perrotto, who at the time was the Pirates beat reporter for the Beaver County Times (a suburban daily) and also wrote for Baseball Prospectus had a column in the Times, the subject of which was that when Bausista was traded to the Jays, the Toronto coaching staff uncovered a couple holes in his swing, that the other teams he played for hadn't even detected, but that they corrected. And that was when his bat exploded.
Hitting Coach Dwayne Murphy (and staff) was credited with changing his career into an All-Star. There were a few others as well that worked well with the former All-Star OF for the "Billy Ball Era" Oakland Athletics.
As soon as Bautista was mentioned, I had to go watch the video of Odor rearranging his face. It slays me every time.
@@zennyspentya it probably makes you feel as good as it makes me feel when I watch jose crush that bat flip homerun against that foul odors team
@@shawnhaines1659 that's absolutely cool. We each have our preferred highlight, nothing wrong with that.
@@zennyspent I agree. Cheers!
I remember my dad coming home one day and saying, “The Dodgers just made a great trade. They traded Ramon Martinez’s brother for DeLino DeShields. We really need a second basemen. That should really put us over the top. And we already have the good Martinez brother...”
Still give him shit for that. Lol.
Pappas for frank Robinson is one you forgot
Some others
Ken Phelps for jay buhner yes the Seinfeld trade was that bad
More symbolic but a rough one...Lenny Dykstra to the Phillies for Juan samuel...basically the symbolic ending by met ownership of the 80s Mets era
On the other hand Keith to the Mets for very little was the dawn of that era and very important
The one trade that always comes to my mind when someone talks about lopsided trades is the Royals trading Joe Foy to the NY Mets for 2 players...Bob Johnson, and Amos Otis. After 2 lackluster years, Foy was out of the big leagues. Otis went on to play CF in KC for 14 years, winning 3 Gold Gloves, make 5 All-star Appearances, hit 193 HR's and steal 341 bases.
remember that rag of a glove Amos used as well..? It had a hole in the pocket !
@@csnide6702 The hole was in the palm of the glove, as I recall. He used that glove his entire career.
Foy is a cautionary tale about bringing a guy back to his home town. He was a good player, still young, with speed and power and helped the Red Sox win a pennant in 1967. That's who the Mets thought they were getting. But he was a kid from the South Bronx, and when he came to the Mets, he went back to the "hood" and got mixed up with bad company & drugs. And that was the end of his career. The good part is he eventually straightened himself out. The sad part is he ended up dying young of, I believe, a heart attack.
How about the following year, when the Mets traded Nolan for Fregosi?
Can you imagine the Mets would have been in the mid 70's if they had Amos in center, instead of Hahn, and Nolan in the pitching rotation?
After the Cardinals traded Steve Carlton to Philadelphia for Rick Wise, Carlton went a career 38-14 against his former team, which was his most against any team.
Yes and phillies fans crucifed the phillies for trading carlton for wise cause wise was a fan favorite pitching a no hitter that and everyone knows what happened steve carlton is in hall of fame and rick wise only played one yr for cardinals but pitched in league a long time but never that of carlton
Cardinals traded JD Drew and Eli Marrero to the Braves for Ray King, Jason Marquis and a young prospect name Adam Wainwright. Both Drew and Marrero only been on the Braves for 1 year. King helped the Cardinals for 2 years, Marquis had 3 subpar years in St Louis and Wainwright became a St Louis hero.
Don't make trades with the Cardinals because the Cardinals always win the trade 🙄
@@jeremyhopwood5822that depends on the team. I’m still pi$$ed about the Arozarena trade.
@@jeremyhopwood5822 I would agree, if not for the returns they got for Kieth Hernandez and Steve Carlton. They aren’t above taking L’s.
@@jeremyhopwood5822 that's not true anymore. Zac Gallen, Sandy Alacatera or however you spell his name, randy arozarena, adolis Garcia, and several others I'm forgetting. They haven't been great at trades since 2014 and now they're discussing trading Nolan Gorman or Lars Nootbarr. I feel like those might be necessary right now but will bite them later also
Oh yeah, Marquis had two pretty good but not great seasons in St Louis before being useless the third season
Thank you for making this video. As a Yankee fan who grew up in the 1980s, I can safely say that George Steinbrenner was in a class all by himself, and trading away Fred McGriff was just the tip of the iceberg: Rickey Henderson for Louis Polonia, Greg Caderet, and Eric Plunk. Dave Winfield for Mike Witt. Al Leiter for Jesse Barfield. Willie McGee for Bob Sykes. Doug Drabek for Rick Rhoden. Bob Tewksbury for Steve Trout. Don Baylor for mediocre Mike Easler. Jack "the Ripper" Clark for Lance McCullers, Jimmy Jones, and Stan Jefferson.
And of course, as Frank Costanza reminded us: Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps.
The Yankees were lucky the stupid Pirates gave them Jay Buhner along with Dale Berra for Steve Kemp and Tim Foli in 1985. The Pirates could have had an early 90’s OF of Bonds, Van Slyke and Buhner and Bobby Bonilla could have stayed at 3B.
The Yankees couldn't keep McGriff because they had another Top Prospect at 1B named Mattingly. McGriff was just learning to hit Lefties and looked like a platoon/DH player but they got NOTHING for him. I really liked Fred and followed him his entire career. Very happy for the Crime Dog.
Yeah that Jay Buhner trade was a nightmare… he was a Yankee killer, and hurt our 95 mattingly team
Lol, I commented but then saw this...Hear, Hear! 👏🏻
and an Amen as well!!!
Back then, the Yankees had a series of GMs that basically kissed Steinbrenner's ring (along with whatever else he told them to) and sat in a corner and shut up about it, which allowed George to make all those idiotic deals. With Phelps he saw a big strong lefty slugger with a stroke tailor-made for Yankee Stadium, but power was all he had. As a righty free-swinger Buhner was hampered by the left-center power alleys at the Stadium No one could see him becoming anywhere near as good as he did.
Crazy that you missed the DBacks trading Dansby Swanson and Ender Inciarte for a pitcher who threw all of 150 inning for them, with an ERA of 6
Crazy that you think the guy missed adding that trade to this list. Nobody is missing anyone you named,they were all subpar players with the occasional average season.probably isn’t even a top 20 lopsided trade for that season,let alone in the history of the MLB.
@@richiepurucker7603 You’re an idi*t…That’s one of the MOST lopsided trades, EVER. Not so hard to understand
@@josephbaker9974 even if you base it solely on playing time,it’s not in the top 20 in the history of a league that has been going on for well over 100 years.
😂😂😂😂 this comment is so incorrect
Uhh the diamondbacks could sure use Swanson
What is left out of the Ryne Sandberg trade is that he was a throw in. Bowa was the marquee player in that trade and while DeJesus wasn't a world beater with the Phils he did help them win a pennant while Sandberg never sniffed the World Series. Speaking of my beloved Phils, they also were beneficiaries of a lopsided trade. In 1972 they traded Rick Wise to the Cardinals for Steve Carlton. Wise only played 2 seasons for the Cards including an all star appearance in 1973 but was traded to Boston and helped the Bosox win a pennant. Meanwhile Carlton went on to be one of the most dominant left handers in history winning 241 games, striking out over 4,100(he briefly was the all time strike out king), won 4 Cy Young awards, 2 pennants, and a World Series with the Phillies. Surprised you didn't mention this one.
Cubs fan here. Ryno can't be blamed for the Cubs, a large market team, acting like a small market team during his career. And he did get close to the Series in 1984 when they won the first 2 games of the NLCS only to lose the next 3.
Steve Carlton was great, but he actually had 4,136 career strikeouts, not over 15,000. To get that high a number, he' d have had to strike out an average of over 600 batters per year or around 20 strikeouts per start.
@@maleake56 LOL, don't know how that got in there. I might have been looking at another stat.
@@DionysusAlS they made the NLCS twice in his career. The first time they choked big time. I mean CHOKED.
The Mariners traded Tino Martinez, and Jeff Nelson for Sterling Hitchcock and Jeff Russell
Gene Michael at his best
As a Mariner’s fan in the mid 90’s (Refuse to Lose), seeing the Big Unit trade at number two warms the heart.
Trying to figure out why the famous Frank Robinson trade didn't make the list...
The merchant of death for Brittany griner has to be worst trade ever.
yeah, remind me not to go to any wnba games!!!
That one’s completely and TOTALLY on President Bribe ‘em!!!!!
Don't really think anyone is going to their games😅@@samuelmoulds1016
If Randy Johnson is 6'6 then Joe Morgan was 4'10
Yeah, the narrator kind of goofed on Johnson's height. He's 6'10 not 6'6. And having met him several times I can definitely say he stands out in the crowd.
Hysterical. I heard the narrator say 6.6 and I thought..."no way. I did a physics paper based on exactly him and why I couldnt throw as hard." by the way, measly 5.11 here.
Honestly surprised the Nolan Arenado trade wasn’t on this list, it’s still pretty early tho so we’ll see, but so far it’s been one of the most lopsided trades I’ve ever seen. Top 3 MVP vote getter, best defensive player in baseball and a huge bat for a package of prospects that weren’t even top-tier, and Colorado paid shipping & Handling for $50M as well.
Huge miss here…Brewers received Ted Simmons (HOF), Pete Vukovich (Cy Young) and Rollie Fingers (MVP, Cy Young and HOF…for David Green, Larry Sorensen and Dave LaPoint.
How in the hell is ted simmons in the hall of fame
@@stevensturgill5375 That was a tremendous trade.
Randy Johnson is 6’10” not 6’6”.
Detroit received Aurelio Rodriguez, Eddie Brinkman, Joe Coleman and Jim Hannan in exchange for the trainwreck known as Denny McLain and a a few underachievers. As a result Detroit acquired to top notch infielders and a very good pitcher. On the other hand, McLain lost 24 games during hi 1st season with the Texas, and it all went downhill from there.
Character matters. With better character, McLain takes better care of himself and has a bunch of 15-to-20-win seasons.
I am tempted to make a statement on a politician linked with Bob Gibson's retired number, and that has everything to do with character.
McLain went 10-22 in 1971, which turned out to be the Senators' last season in Washington. He was dealt to Oakland before the team played its first game in Texas.
yeah, it was fun listening to Tiger baseball games again, after that trade!
@@PaulBrower-py7tv aaah...actually...McClain's arm was done, dead, ruined from all those innings he pitched and all those strikeouts he got BEFORE he went to Texas! do you know how many innings McClain logged in the year he won 31!!?! he even came in from the bullpen on close games to try and get the win. did you see him in the first game of the 1968 World Series!!?! McClain was washed up, empty, through! AND HE BLAMED MGR. WILLIAMS, WHEN HE WAS IN TEXAS!
@@samuelmoulds1016 The Tigers had a moron, Mayo Smith, managing the team. He over-used McLain that year in the hope that 30 wins would draw attention to his genius as a manager.
Most of the time, teams in a genuine playoff drive are filling in scrubs for veterans at the expense of those veterans achieving statistical freaks like getting the 200th hit, 40 homers, or 20 wins. Just look at the 1984 Tigers: nobody had a statistically-great year, but nobody had a bad one. The latter is the point. Nobody got a single stat that says "I am going to the Hall of Fame".
If there will be no post-season, then going for the freak stats is OK.
Maybe I missed it but no Frank Robinson to the Orioles? In his first year he won the AL MVP, hit for the triple crown and was World Series MVP. Went on to play in three more World Series with the Orioles and is in the Hall of Fame as an Oriole. But I guess that's not much in the grand scheme of things. Like I said maybe I missed it. Moving on!!!! It'll always be woulda, coulda, shoulda with the Expos but it would have been crazy to see Pedro and Randy in their prime in the same rotation. Other teams would have been saying sacre bleu!
c'est damage.......
How do you miss Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas, Dick Simpson & Jack Baldschun?
Thanks for catching that one. When I read the title of this video, I immediately heard Susan Sarandon's voiceover from "Bull Durham"! 😜
While I gave this video a like, picking Babe Ruth to the Yankees as the top of the list just isn't right, because he was _sold_ by Boston, not traded, and there obviously is a difference.
The Reds dealing Frank Robinson is the true number one lopsided trades, and by a fairly large margin. This trade is so famous--infamous in Cincinnati--that I'll just link for those unfamiliar with how all the "old" Robinson in his first year with the Orioles was win the Triple Crown and be voted AL MVP, while leading the Birds to their first World Series, winning it all in 1966, and going on to many stellar seasons in Baltimore: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Robinson#Baltimore_Orioles_(1966%E2%80%931971)
This video is top heavy with one sided trades that were caused by pending free agency which makes them understandable. The Frank Robinson trade has been trashed as a one sided deal orchestrated by incompetent Reds' management. But it was not. The Reds at the time were loaded with good hitters. They led the NL in hitting by almost 19 points. They had all stars at almost every position. They needed pitching badly. Milt Pappas was a top notch right hander. at the time, he added more to the Reds than Robinson took away. I doubt that Robinson's presence on the team in '66 and beyond would have made any difference to the Reds. People point to the ascendant Orioles in the late '60's as evidence that it was a bad trade. But their success was due to pitching and fielding and not hitting. The trade that brought them glory was Mike Cuellar for Curt Blefary that got them a Cy Young left-hander for an unproductive left fielder who was more than adequately replaced by Don Buford in '69.
@@dennisbedard9850 Does the 1970 World Series ring any bells? The Pappasless Reds lost to the Robinson led Orioles. But yeah, the trade really worked out well for the Reds. I'll also point out the Reds outfield was a weakness during the Series. It actually led to the trade that brought George Foster to the Reds in the early 70's.
@@ghill628 Nicely played!
How about Nolan Arrendo to cardinals plus 54 mil dollars. Matt Holliday to the cardinals for brett wallace and pospects. Cardinals giving up Sandy Alcantara and Zac Gallen for Marcel Ozuna. Definitely a roller-coaster ride with St.Louis and trades.
I agree with that one, sort of. I think the Rockies were just doing a salary dump, so it’s hard to evaluate in terms of on-field performance. Of course, I think most trades by the Marlins and Pirates fall into that same category, and I know some of the listed trades were probably known even at the time to be giving up long term potential in hopes of short-term help; Apple-to-Apple comparisons are hard to come by.
Let’s not pretend Gonzalez wasn’t on ped’s.
My thoughts exactly. Really solid hitter, but had one of those “magical” late career power surges.
Let’s not act like they ALL weren’t on PED’s
@@frankrodriguez984 Not all were. Players like Luis Gonzalez, Jay Bell, etc who had dramatic and otherwise unexplained increases in power production are for more suspect.
Same goes for Jeff Bagwell.
@@stephenjohnson9632 Let's not forget Brady Anderson. His homer increase was RIDICULOUS (15-20 HRs average in his career to 50+ for one year on the gas).
I only had 2 thoughts. 1) Randy Johnson is 6’10. 2) the Mariners giving up Lowe & Varitek. Plus Ortiz who ended up in Boston hurts
Possibly the worst trade ever was the Reds traded Christy Mathewson an unknown pitcher who hadn't made his major league debut for Amos Rusie. Mathewson went on to win 373 games. The Reds did steal Joe Morgan and Cesar Geronimo in one trade and George Foster and Tom Seaver in other trades so the books were balanced!
Yes, that Matthewson for Rusie trade turned out the worst. Rusie was a monster arm in the 1890s but would never win another game.
The final bit of irony is Mathewson returned to the Reds in 1916 pitching three games and winning one. Which is still more than Rusie won for them.
It would be the worst trade if it were on the level, but it wasn't. The Reds owner was in the process of arranging to buy the Giants - which he did one year later. It was basically self-dealing. If John Brush thought he wasn't getting the Giants, he doesn't make the trade. But he was. He traded his prize prospect to his own team.
I remember watching Pedro M strike out 14 Reds at Riverfront while he was still just Ramon's little brother lol. They also had an impressive right fielder( Wilton's brother) who hit 2 home runs threw a bullet from the warning track to 3rd base to nail Pat Watkins ( whose name I remember only because my brother in law has the same name) trying to go 1st to 3rd on a single. The Expos ALWAYS had and lost some young stars in the old days. Alou, Gallaraga , Johnson, Walker , Vlad, Pedro.
What MLB did to the Expos proves that the universe is evil.
@@johnandmarylouwilde7882 I still feel sorry for the real Expos fans who had to see their team get taken away. Anytime I hear about the possibility of another team joining the league I think it should be Montreal first, before any other city is considered
Cardinals have a great history of making trades especially recently getting goldy and arenado. But the one that will haunt me is giving up sandy alcantarra and zac gallen for Marcell Ozuna
I agree it sucks as Cardinals go but we needed a power bat and an outfielder. Plus Yelich just went to Milwaukee at the same time so it was a panic by Cardinals but at least justifiable.
Imagine if Gallen wins a Cy Young lol
Arozarena
Or Adolis Garcia for cash considerations.
@@JacHatesSportseight months and gallen is having a great year but didn't do well last night against the Dodgers.
congrats to Fred McGriff, i was just becoming a baseball fan in 1990-91, and saw him play for the Blue Jays just before he got traded....the funny thing about that trade is that all four players ended up with rings, Alomar and Carter earned 2, while becoming Jays legends, Fernandez came back to the Jays and was an important piece for the 1993 championship and McGriff won 2 years later in Atlanta....give it up for several of my childhood baseball heroes...you never forget your first heroes and your first championship
The day Fred Mc Griff played his first game with the Braves, the press box at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium caught on fire 🔥 and so did the Braves that season
One player that blew me away being so good but was always on numerous teams for some crazy reason as he was one of the best base stealers and hitters I’ve ever watched and that was Kenny Lofton! Cleveland should have made him a Lifetime Franchise player!
Lofton was perhaps my favorite player as a kid. I was a Twins fan, but I barely remembered '91 and so mostly remembered our horrendous years later so didn't have much favorites with the Twins during this time.
I talked to Bill Lajoie who made that trade around 2005. He stated that he would make the trade again. He needed an established high quality starter to win the pennant. Doyle Alexander went something like 7-1 with the Tigers propelling them to the play offs.
9-0, actually.
@@orbyfan Yep, and Smoltz would have never been the picther he became if he stayed with the Tigers.
yeah, Doyle dunn good. set a record, I believe. but I hate to see good HOMEGROWN Tiger talent leave Detroit! used to be pitchers LOVED Detroit, now, nobody wants to pitch in Detroit. they say it is.....because....of......
Lajoie saying that shows why he wasn't a GM for much longer .
@@gregm766 pitcher* -- he isn't a photograph......
I remember HOF broadcaster Jack Buck talking about the Ozzie Smith - Garry Templeton trade. His prediction was that StL was gonna love him- and he was right!
Ted Summons, Rollie Fingers, Pete Vuchovich, (two future cy young awards, one future league MVP) for Six to Lezcano, Larry Sorensen, David Green, Dave LaPoint.
Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek still hurts me and Dave Ortiz too they send to Minnesota and then went on to be a legend in Boston
yeah, Ortiz was grossly underrated in Minnesota! but he did marry a 'cheesehead' from Wisconsin.
Thank you for the content, but I feel it is skewed more towards the 90’s and earl 2000’s. There were many more bad trades in the 60’s and 70’s that you missed (Frank Robinson, Steve Carlton, etc). 😊
A recent one that comes to mind was Baltimore getting Adam Jones, George Sherill, and Chris Tillman when they sent Erik Bedard to Seattle. Another one was the O’s sending Arrieta to the Cubs.
You gotta add Yordon Alverez to this list.
My all time favorite player Jim Edmonds for Kent Bottenfield. Not sure who all was included in that package but just getting Edmonds made that trade extremely lobsided.
Adam Kennedy was the other player in the trade. I believe he was the ALCS MVP for the angels when they won the WS. Later came back to the cardinals and was not good. Edmonds was later traded for David Freese, 2011 WS hero though.
@@jon-eriksuermann9844You’re correct on Kennedy. Was the ‘02 ALCS MVP and anchored down at 2B for a few years afterward. And he’s still remembered fondly by Angels fans.
Sorry but yeah I've gotta add my voice to the pack here lol.. What Adam Kennedy did in helping the Angels win the WS makes that trade way less lopsided..
Frank Robinson for Milt Pappas should have been number one, instead of the Ruth deal. Ruth wasn't even traded, he was sold to the Red Sox. That shouldn't even qualify for the list.
How can the Reds trading Frank Robinson not make this list?!?!
A.J. Pierzinski actually had a decent 2000+ hit career despite his horrid stint with the Giants, including winning a championship with the 2005 White Sox.
Verlander got traded way for a career minor leaguer and 2 minus WARer.
"In Major League Baseball History" not quite. Just take a look at the Phillies...You mentioned Sanberg...what about the Phillies sending Fergie Jenkins (HOF) to the cubs. The opposite with the Phillies, with them receiving Jim Bunning (HOF) for Don Demeter and how about the Phillies receiving Steve Carlton (HOF) for Rick Wise. Bunning and Carlton won close to 600 games with the Phillies. Now those are history changing trades.
yeah, and Bunning pitched a no-hitter against the Red Sox! any Boston fans out there!!?! and Bunning threw a no-hitter against the Mets! (or was it a PERFECT GAME) any Yankee fans out there!!?!
Steve Carlton traded to Phillies from the Cardinals for Rick Wise. Winter 1972 - Carlton went on to win 27 games in 1972.
A low key bad trade by Boston was trading two young prospects in 88 to Baltimore for Mike Boddicker. Mike was alright for Boston, but the two young guys dealt were Brady Anderson and Curt Schilling (Yes, he was originally a Red Sox prospect).
Also worth pointing out that the Expos had a deal in place to send Pedro to Cleveland for two pitchers named Jaret Wright and Bartolo Colon. But Cleveland got cold feet about moving Wright, who had a great postseason run during his rookie year in 97.
Schilling alone makes that one-sided, because it was too early to tell if he was gonna be that good. Boddicker was good for a couple of years, then I believe Boston dealt him to KC. Brady Anderson's career stats were kinda up-and-down, then he started using steroids and had that one ridiculous year with the 50+ homers. He was a good defensive outfielder, but nothing special offensively without the PEDs.
Let's not pretend Luis Gonzalez wasn't on da juice
There's multiple peds on here. Not really a big deal tho. Still going on today. Can't avoid it. Way too much money involved. Good business decision If not caught
Milt Pappas and two other guys named Joe for future HOF and all time great Frank Robinson has to be in there.
Re: The Expos trading Pedro. At the time, there was already serious talk of dissolving or moving the Expos, and Bud Selig, who's Brewers were a way more pathetic team, was firmly and inexplicably in charge of the league. Expos' ownership saw the writing on the wall. And during the strike year of 1994, the Expos were, hands down, the best team in baseball.
I remember when the Ozzie Smith for Gary Templeton trade happened. We all thought it looked like an even trade at the time.
That was an insane trade. Was Ted Simmons involved in that trade also? I remember him playing for the Cardinals in the late 70s and was on the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers team.
it actually was good for all parties... Templeton wanted out of STL- Ozzie wasn't happy in SD.... Smith just happened to be the more talented player is why that trade stands out - Templeton was about done within 1 year at SD
Templeton always thought he was better than he was.
@@csnide6702 Um....Templeton played 10 years with the Padres.
@@aboxofbroken8tracks983 yeah... he did .... but was in mail it in mode for about that whole time.... SD didn't see the best of Templeton .... he wasn't THAT bad.
The trade that sent David Cone away from the Royals will definitely be on here.
The trade the brought Chris Archer to the Pirates will absolutely be on here.
Now I'll watch the video to see if I'm correct.
The Archer trade should absolutely have been in the video. What an absolute catastrophe.
@@jemiller226 Yeah, that pretty much destroyed the Pirates, and they still seem to be suffering from its aftereffects.
Ed Hearn rules!
Randy Johnson was 6'9" according to his scouting report, not 6'6"
What about the Dodgers trading Roberto Clemente to the Pirates for $1,000
Great video. I like that you included bad trades from earlier decades (like the Lou Brock deal) as well as the contemporary era.
Lou Brock is definitely a great inclusion. I research and write about baseball, and I had no idea. Keeping 150 years in your head isn't easy.
Orioles traded Erik Bedard to the Mariners for Adam Jones (44 WAR), Chris Tillman (middle of the rotation arm for a better portion of a decade) and George Sherrill (who made an all star game as a closer) and a couple of minor league guys (one of whom was used as a piece in the Mark Reynolds trade). Orioles in the early 2010s don't sniff a playoff appearance without this deal.
21:37 - Randy Johnson is 6'10" tall.
I was gonna say. Beat me to it.
Videos like this will not make sense post 2010 as there are so many trades made these days that are little more than salary dumps or "player rentals." Unless a superstar who leaving a weak team is willing to sign a long term contract with the new team, who would a team give up significant value for a three month rental?
Some of these trades as you said, were understandable like the Doyle Alexander Trade which actually got the Tigers to the playoffs that year. If he wasn't on that team the Jays might've won the division in '87.
The Expos trade of Randy Johnson was pretty damn egregious especially considering that Langston made it known to EVERYONE he didn't want to go to Montreal and wouldn't even think of re-signing with them at the end of the year. On the other hand the Pedro trade is quite understandable. The Expos were pretty much a feeder team for the rest of MLB after '94. EVERYONE knew their best talents would end up being traded so any offers are going to be depressed. The Expos were probably lucky to get what they did.
Anywho, here's another pretty bad trade to add to the list. Michael Young and Darwin Cubillan to the Rangers in exchange for Esteban Loaiza to the Blue Jays.
Couldn't agree more with the context on the Doyle trade, you can't fault them for that it's like when the St. Louis Blues traded for Gretzky when his contract was expiring just for a chance at the Stanley Cup. True it hurt the franchise but it could of paid off...
It's like me being a Lions fan someone would offer me trading every young future HOFer for a seasoned vets and the Lions making it to the superbowl the same year... I would take that chance in a heart beat
Alexander was 9-0 with an ERA around 1.80 for the Tigers that year, no question they don't make the playoffs without him. Those are absolutely insane numbers! He was solid the following year at 14-11, they got out of him exactly what they hoped for. Smoltz just found his other gear with Atlanta, something that may not have happened had he stayed with Detroit.
note: if the cardinals want one of your players, don't trade him. he's a future hall of famer
100%
They have also sent away a few HOF players- Carlton and. OST recently Alacantra
Also traded Reggie Smith to the Dodgers. Great trade for L.A.
Bobby Schantz is still with us. 97 years old.
Frank Robinson trade should be included.
#10. McGriff was traded because the Padres were losing money due to low attendance. They were not trying to get better. They were trying to avoid being relocated due to low interest in the team. They lost Gary Sheffield, Phil Plantier, Benito Santiago. Take this one off.
Phillies trade for Steve Carlton was a steal , Carlton for Rick Wise 🤣
Wise didn't suck --- but he was no Carlton
Rick Wise was no Carlton but was not a bad pitcher, better then good.
How about Griner for the Angel of death?
😭😭😭😭 damn I swear I broke a few ribs from all the laughing!!!!
Good one!
The worse trade in Mets history honestly is either Amos Otis for Joe Foy or Kevin Mitchell for Kevin McReynolds. Ryan as not going to discover himself with the Mets and really didn’t want to be in NYC. He had to find himself as an ace which he did in California. Loosing Jim Bibby was a bigger loss for the Mets because in my opinion he would’ve immediately clicked with the Mets and made an already good rotation great by 73. Loosing Amos Otis for Joe Foy who was back in NYC around negative elements was a much bigger loss, Otis would’ve become the CF by 71/72 ish and been an Offensive force in a lackluster Mets offense in the 70’s and they might’ve not collapsed down the stretch in 70-72.
As for McReynolds for Mitchell, McReynolds was not a scrub as a Met in no way but Mitchell was on a HOF offensive and defensive trajectory in 89 and he would’ve put them over offensively in 88,89 and 90 instead of dog fights in 90 with the Pirates and eventually falling into oblivion in August of 91.
I'd say the dykstra, McDowell for Samuel was worse. They trade a cf for a 2nd baseman then move the 2nd baseman to cf lmao. Never made sense.
Missed a few big Yankees deals: Buhner for Phelps (Mariners), Willie McGee for Bob Sykes (Cardinals), and Graig Nettles for 4 nobodies (Indians)...
What about Nolan Arenado for Austin Gomber?
Great video but you missed two that should be in the top 20. February, 1972. St Louis trades Steve Carlton to the Phillies for Rick Wise. The rest is history. And 1961. Giants trade Orlando Cepeda to Cards for Ray Sadecki. The only reason I remember this one is that I had the Ray Sadecki baseball card circa 1966.
The Cardinals came out on the right side of both Orlando Cepeda trades. They traded Sadecki for Cepeda and Cepeda won the MVP for St. Louis. Then they traded Cepeda to Atlanta for Joe Torre and Joe Torre won the MVP for St. Louis, LOL. Speaking of Atlanta and Joe Torre and trades, there was a trade that was, supposedly, all but made, before the 1969 season, that would have sent Nolan Ryan to the Braves for Joe Torre. I don't know why it fell through, but I'm sure the story is out there somewhere. Ryan was actually a pretty key contributor to the Mets championship in 1969, so who knows how that would have worked out if the Ryan-for-Torre deal was made.
(Just as a what-if speculation: if they got Torre, they don't trade for Donn Clendenon because Torre is the RH power bat they wanted when they made the Clendenon deal. Going to Montreal for Clendenon was Steve Renko, who was a pretty good pitcher. Not as good as Ryan, but maybe good enough to take Ryan's place on the staff without too much loss in quality. So maybe with Torre & Renko, the Mets are actually better than with Ryan & Clendenon and still win the World Series. Who knows?)
I would have thought Gary Carter being dealt to the Mets for Mike Fitzgerald, Hubie Brooks, and Floyd Youmans was a lopsided deal. Expos did nothing with the players they received and Carter wins a World Series with the 1986 Mets.
Not to mention being one of the top 10 offensive AND defensive catchers in the history of the baseball . He was also a fan favorite in Montreal
Hubie Brooks was a pretty good player for the Expos, so it wasn't that lopsided. I think the Mets' trades for Keith Hernandez and Sid Fernandez were much more lopsided than the Carter deal.
Glenn Davis traded to the Orioles for Curt Schilling, Steve Finley & Pete Harnisch
The Padres' McGriff trade was one of several at the time. It wasn't just a bad trade, but was purely to save money. They had a few other trades like that within 2 years.
The Montreal Expos made another lopsided trade long before sending the Big Unit to Seattle, and even longer before Pedro would be traded to Boston: they traded Ken Singleton and Mike Torrez, two very popular players in Montreal, to the Orioles for Dave McNally, Rich Coggins and Bill Kirkpatrick. Torrez won 20 games for the O's before being sent to Oakland as part of the Reggie Jackson deal, but Singleton became a mainstay in Baltimore.
That Singleton-for-McNally trade made absolutely no sense, even at the time. No hindsight involved. It was crazy. McNally was a great pitcher, but everyone knew he was washed up. Makes you wonder what drugs they were taking in Montreal.
The cases of McGriff to the Braves, McGwire to the Cardinals and Pedro to the Sox are examples of small market teams who couldn't afford to keep their stars in their free agent season and having to trade them for pennies on the dollar to avoid having them walk in the off season for nothing. I can't fault them for that. Small market teams have to trade stars for prospects all the time and sometimes they roll snake eyes.
Steve Carlton for Rick Wise. Carlton was the only pitcher to be traded after winning 20 games the previous season.
Rick Wise was good too though. Not in Carlton's neighborhood but a good major league pitcher for a long time
I believe Wise only won 24 more games after the trade. Carlton won over 250 games for the Phillies
@@CharlesTurk-qv8yy he won 19 in 1975 alone...
Wise won far more than 24 after the trade , just not for Philly because they traded him after a couple years,
It's the Cardinals would have kept Carlton the might have won couple of World Series in the 70s
Carlton won 237 games for the Phillies. Wise on 32 games for the cardinals. I say that is a great trade for the Phillies.
The Smoltz for Alexander trade should not be on this list. The trade happened in August 1987 and the Tigers were in the pennant race and needed an arm. Down the stretch of that season Alexander went 9-0 with an ERA under 2.00 leading the Tigers to an A.L. East title. He also won 14 games in 1988 and was named an all star. So the trade worked out for both sides.
I agree 100%. The Royals giveaway of David Cone to the Mets for a total bust at catcher, Ed Hearn, is waaaay worse than the Smoltz-Alexander deal. Smoltz was a prospect on the farm and Cone appeared in 11 games in 1986, collecting 21 Ks against 13 walks in 22.2 IP, getting hit pretty good but surrendering only 2 HRs and his FIP was a not-terrible 3.92. We all know what happened next: Cone took off. In his 2nd year with the Mets he won 20 games with 213 Ks and was an All Star. Hearn gave the Royals absolutely nothing. (Interesting side note: Cone is also a hometown guy, born and raised in KC, as Smoltz was for Detroit.)
Long term, it does.
20 years later, the Tigers came out on top of their own lop-sided trade, trading Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin for four players.
One of them was MIGUEL CABRERA.
A more recent one. Yordan Alvarez to the Astros, Josh Fields to the Dodgers, in 2016. Not only did Alvarez turn into a superstar slugger who helped win the Astros to several World Series, and a World Series win in 2022, Fields was terrible in the World Series in 2017, helping the Astros take that one, too.
We love our Yordon in Houston! We thank the Dodgers daily.
How about the Pirates getting 3 HOFers in Honus Wagner, Rube Waddell and Fred Clarke and a bunch of other players from the Louisville Colonels for four players who were sent right back to the Pirates when the Colonels folded three months later? It turned the Pirates in to a powerhouse team 1900-09 and got them to two World Series, winning 1 of them. That’s right up there with the Babe Ruth trade in terms of lopsidedness.
Another one that’s probably in the top 30 all time was the Pirates sending Tony Peña to the Cardinals for Andy Van Slyke, Mike LaValliere and Mike Dunne. Peña was not very good in 1987 and was only there for three years before he went to Boston. Dunne didn’t do much for the Pirates, but LaValliere replaced Peña and was a pretty good defensive catcher for the next 6 seasons. Meanwhile Van Slyke became the best CF in the game with the Pirates and they improved by 16 games in 1987, going from 64 wins to 80. He won multiple gold gloves and was a good hitter, helping the Pirates to win 3 straight division titles 1990-92.
Another one off hand was the Pirates getting Brian Giles from the Indians for Ricardo Rincon. Rincon was what he was, a good left handed relief pitcher. With an everyday job, Brian Giles took off and became a great defensive OF and a great hitter, getting 35+ home runs four years in a row with an OPS over 1.000 three times from 1999-2002. In 2003, he only had 16 homeruns at the deadline when the Pirates traded him and got Oliver Perez and Jason Bay, which wasn’t nearly as lopsided but not a good trade for the Padres.
That Honus Wagner deal is going way back, but there were some shady antics going on there. The same guy (Barney Dreyfuss) owned both teams. Since Pittsburgh was the stronger franchise, he dealt all the good players on Louisville to the Pirates for scraps in return. The same thing happened with the Cleveland Spiders and the St. Louis Cardinals, which is why one guy isn't allowed to own two teams any more. The National League ended up contracting from 12 to 8 teams, and Louisville & Cleveland were dropped. Cleveland ended up with a team in the new American League, but Louisville has been minor league ever since.
Another questionable deal around that time was one that sent Christy Mathewson from Cincinnati to the NY Giants for a retiring ex-star (and Hall of Famer) Amos Rusie. This was a deal made to help the Giants circumvent some draft rule in order to cheat a minor league team out of their transfer fee. Something like that. The Reds, for whatever reason, connived with the Giants to pull off this scheme. It would go down as one of the great all time steals, but it wasn't actually a legitimate trade. But it was a swindle.
The BUCS are going to go back to the Barney Dreyfuss Era......somehow they still do find talent, but lose it due to Players Union.The Pirates are merely Triple A talent already in the Show, ripe for the picking
@@RRaquello
Thank you for that all-important additional info. Wow, before it, that absolutely would have been the steal of all time.
For the record, John Smoltz did not grow up in Detroit. Although a loyal Tiger, he grew up in Lansing, attending Wavely High School.
Another lopsided trade that seldom gets mentioned took place early in the 1966 season, with the Phillies trading Ferguson Jenkins, Adolfo Phillips, and John Herrnstein to the Cubs for Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson, both of whom were past their prime.
Good point. I forgot about this one
What about Astros trade Joe Morgan to Reds ...Phillies trade Chilling to D backs ...Cardinals trade Steve Carlton to Phillies....Astros trade Kenny Lofton to Cleveland
I would have added the Mark Teixeira trade for the Braves. They got him for like half a season, but gave away Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, Neftali Felix and Saltallamachia. The first 3 were crucial in their back to back world series runs.
Totally agree. Virtually everyone within the state of Georgia knew that the Teixeira wasn't staying...
The Cubs traded Ryan Dempster to the Rangers for Kyle Hendricks and Christian Villanueva. The Cubs traded an over the hill pitcher for a future ace who was a key member of a World Series winning team
And shortly after we blew the team up because most of it was managed by Boras...
Thank you for doing these videos and doing stuff not many RUclipsrs do. Doing it on a larger scale is much appreciated! Great work!
How is the "Midnight Massacre " not anywhere on your list?? Mets Trade Tom Seaver to the Reds for Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman and Pat Zachry
yeah, looked good on paper!
06-24-2004 Carlos Beltran Traded by Kansas City Royals to Houston Astros as part of 3-team trade in which Houston Astros sent John Buck and cash to Kansas City Royals; Oakland Athletics sent Mike Wood and Mark Teahen to Kansas City Royals; and Houston Astros sent Octavio Dotel to Oakland Athletics (June 24, 2004).
But Carlos Beltran left Houston immediately
Expos (yes again) Traded 90+ WAR of future production Cliff Lee, Brandon Phillips, Grady Sizemore for 17 starts of Bartolo Colon.
For more context on why Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees, I would recommend reading Glenn Stout's excellent history on the Boston Red Sox called "Red Sox Century." In the book, it mentioned that Frazee and then AL President Ban Johnson didn't get along and there were two camps in the AL at that time, three teams that were anti Ban Johnson (the Red Sox, White Sox and Yankees) and then five teams that were pro Ban Johnson. As a result of that, the only teams that would trade with the Red Sox were the Yankees and the White Sox. The book also mentioned that Babe Ruth was a huge distraction in the clubhouse, and that was what motivated Frazee to sell Ruth to the Yankees. Frazee was also looking to get out of baseball, because of the problems he had with Ban Johnson.
Lol, doesn’t make it true
Frazee funded the Broadway show " No, No Nannette" with the Ruth money. He was more into stage shows than he was baseball.
@@csnide6702 That's a myth that's been pushed for 100 years. Frazee didn't need the money for his musical, and "No, No Nannette" was made years after the Ruth sale.
When I was a kid, the worst trade in baseball was usually considered to be the Philadelphia A’s trading future MVP and Hall of Famer Nellie Fox to the White Sox for catcher for Joe Tipton. Tipton played for 3 years for the A’s during which he had 465 AB, 12 HR, 48 RBI, and batted .243. Fox played 16 years for the Sox, was an All-Star 12 times and won three gold groves.
Ah yes.........the Pedro Martinez trade. Pain
What's even more painful is what if the Expos were able to keep all that talent they had especially with Randy Johnson there. Wouldn't that have been something.
Of course, nothing will ever top the Babe Ruth selling.
The trade that sent Joe Morgan to the Reds was definitely one of the most lopsided. While not a classic lopsided trade, because the Astros got some value and even a star, when all is said and done, the cumulative total was extremely lopsided for the Reds. The Astros got Lee May, a star but *NOT* a HOF, who had 3 great years in Houston, Tommy Helms, who had 3 above average years for the Astros, and Jimmy Stewart, who warmed the bench for a couple of years. In return the Reds got Ed Armbrister, a 4-year utility man, Dennis Menke, a 2-year starter (who was way more valuable to the Reds than Jimmy Stewart was to the Astros, actually so was Armbrister), Jack Billingham, a long time starter, Cesar Geronimo, a gold glove centerfielder (*both* of whom had longer careers with the Reds than Helms had with the Astros - definitely Geronimo, and maybe even Billingham, alone would out value Helms), and Joe Morgan, a legit HOF, who, according to Baseball Reference was the 4th best 2nd baseman of *all time* (which is a no brainer over Lee May).
The sum of that trade was a slam dunk and extremely lopsided for the Reds, and definitely contributed to their dominance in the early mid 70s.
Nolan ryan to the angels.
Also Joy Foy for Amos Otis
5714,strikeouts will never be broken
The Baltimore Orioles trade Curt Schilling, Pete Harnish , and Steve Finley for Glenn Davis.