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10 Worst MLB Trades in Recent Years

Found July 08, 2008 on Sports Muffin:
PLAYERS: Rich Harden,  Chad Gaudin,  Felix Pie
TEAMS: Oakland Athletics,  Chicago Cubs,  Tampa Bay Rays,  Los Angeles Angels

Today, the Oakland A's traded ace Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to the Chicago Cubs for four minor leaguers. At first glance, I thought Oakland and Billy Beane got fleeced - c'mon, Billy, you couldn't land Felix Pie? No Josh Vitters? You couldn't hold out until the Rays were forced to overpay to keep the magic going? I mean, as an Angels fan, I think this is great...but still, what gives? But then reason set in - it might seem like Oakland got the short end of the stick, but Beane rarely disappoints. So I guess we need to wait and see how this one pans out. But this got us thinking - what were some of the worst MLB trades in recent years? We've given (most of) these ones time to pan out, and they were flat out awful..........
Original Story: http://www.thesportsmuffin.com/2008/0...
12 Comments:
  • Liriano got injured so that trade should not be #1. And Nolan Ryan is not the best pitcher ever. But a pretty good list.
    by simplyhiredguy   July 10, 2008   Reply   Options   +1 Likes
  • I still put that as #1. While Liriano is injured this year, he put up a spectacular year last year, and at 24, he still has a full career in front of him. Unless he goes Mark Prior on us.

    As far as Nolan - I said he's "arguably" the best pitcher ever because he has to be in the discussion, right?
    by oflarity   July 10, 2008   Reply   Options   +1 Likes
  • Since June 1st Liriano is 6-0 with a 3.37 ERA and 45:9 K:BB ratio in triple A. I'd say it's pretty reasonable to assume he's well on his way back from that injury and ready to be a solid pitcher in the majors again. Probably will be called up soon after the all-star break.
    by HairyGuate   July 11, 2008   Reply   Options   +1 Likes
  • Doyle Alexander for John Smoltz

    Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell

    Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. for an about to enter his ridiculous prime Pedro.
    by Harvey_Bars   July 10, 2008   Reply   Options   +3 Likes
  • I think I just got the douche chills thinking about those ones.
    by oflarity   July 10, 2008   Reply   Options  
  • The Zambrano-Kazmir trade might end up being one of the worst of all time. The best pitching prospect to come through the Mets system since the walking injury that was Paul Wilson and we gave him away. There was no logic to the trade whatsoever
    by GoesDownLookin   July 10, 2008   Reply   Options   +2 Likes
  • Yeah, there is an argument for that being #1 right now the more I think about it. At least the Giants got one solid year out of Pierzynski. The Mets really got nothing out of that deal. Must suck for Mets fans to think you could have had Johan Santana-Pedro-Kazmir-Maine-Oliver Perez in your rotation, even if Pedro isn't Pedro anymore and Oliver Perez is a headcase.
    by oflarity   July 10, 2008   Reply   Options  
  • David Cone has been involved in two terrible trades. First, the Mets acquire him and Chris Jelic for Ed Hearn, Mauro Gozzo and Rick Anderson. 8 years later, the Blue Jays traded Cone to the Yankees for Marty Janzen, Jason Jarvis and Mike Gordon.
    by ShakespeareD   July 10, 2008   Reply   Options  
  • All-Star second baseman Alfonso Soriano was traded by the Texas Rangers to the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge and a minor league pitcher.
    by nbhatia33   July 11, 2008   Reply   Options   +1 Likes
  • Nice one - the Rangers didn't see a whole lot of returns there. That minor league pitcher was Armando Galarraga, who has actually had a pretty nice season so far (7-2, 3.27 ERA) - unfortunately for the Rangers, he's doing it for Detroit.

    Just further evidence that the Rangers are pretty good at spotting young pitching talent (Galarraga, Chris Young, John Danks, Edinson Volquez), but they're even better at giving it away.
    by oflarity   July 11, 2008   Reply   Options  
  • Dude, they basically dealt AROD (not in a contract year) for Wilkerson. Thank you Jon Daniels for starting to wake up.
    by nbhatia33   July 11, 2008   Reply   Options  
  • All bad trades and it seems that the Rangers lead the charge in the horrible trade department. Liriano trade is one that only time will tell but i think that that and the Kazmir trade will go down as HORRIBLE trades. Also i think that even though i am an A's fan and in Billy We Trust this trade is weak for what they should have been able to get.
    by deadred988   July 25, 2008   Reply   Options  
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