The astoundingly unnecessary live look-in to an inconsequential Bonds at-bat earlier today on FOX was interesting to me because I love watching Danny Haren pitch, and it got me thinking. What are some of the most lopsided trades ever? The three recent, obvious ones are Mark Mulder for Dan Haren, Kiko Calero, and Daric Barton (great hitter, probably the A's top prospect now); A.J. Pierzynski for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser, and Francisco Liriano (How Brian Sabean has a job is beyond me, the guy is an clown); and Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato for Scott Kazmir and Joselo Diaz, which, even if Kazmir doesn't became an "ace" type, is still an awful deal. So, post your favorite terrible trades.
Will Met fans stop crying over Scot Kazmir. What is he 4-3 this year with a 3.82 era? The guy has NEVER won over 10 games in one year in the minors or majors. His body type, 5'10 inches 180 lbs, cannot withstand a full season of pitching with his pitching mechanics, whick Rick Peterson predicted 5 or so years ago.
But wheres Victor Zambrano now? I would at least take a guy that is 24 years old and has had some success in the Majors. Plus he finished last year with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. May not be the prospect many were predicting but he's still not hit his "prime" years yet...
It was a terrible deal. There's nothing more to say...this would be like trading Pelfrey for Steve Trachsel and Kris Benson. Anyway, I thin the Liriano/Nathan trade is the worse one. I'll never get over that. But Haren for Mulder is up there.
Bell never did anything for the Mets and was up and down so many times they should have renamed I-95 between Norfolk and Queens Heath Bell Memorial Hwy. And Ring was an old, unproductive prospect. Getting Johnson (a 4th OF type player) and another, younger reliever (his name escapes me at the moment) for two older, low ceiling guys doesn't seem so bad to me. What about the Nolan Ryan trade if we're going to stay with the Mets?
Bell and Ring are both better then guys the Mets currently have pitching out of the pen for them. Ben Johnson is garbage and more like a 7th or 8th outfielder. Anyway this wasn't a serious answer, just prompted by Johnson making an ass out of himself at the plate once again during the game today.
It's all about value. If they were set on trading Kazmir, they should've gotten a guy in the Tim Hudson range. Inexcusable trade.
For me the Joe Foy - Amos Otis trade was the worst. The Mets had given Ryan plenty of chances, and at the age of 25 he had a lifetime record of 29-37, a WHIP of 1.4, a K/BB ratio of only 1.43, and a problem with blisters. Given the very quick successes of people like Seaver, Koosman, and even Gary Gentry (who at the time was far more durable and had a better record, lower ERA, lower WHIP, and higher K/BB ratio for his career), the Mets had reason to believe that Ryan wasn't ever going to get any better. They should, however, have gotten better than Jim Fregosi, of course. On the other hand, Otis was only 22 years old, was fast, was an excellent outfielder, and was traded for a guy five years older whose best season had been his rookie year four years earlier. Hell, they were both lousy trades.
Delino DeShields for Pedro Martinez. Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb. Josh Bard and Cla Meredith for Doug Mirabelli. Casey Fossum and Brandon Lyon for Curt Schilling. Sammy Sosa for George Bell.
what essentially turned out to be Maine & Duque for Benson is looking pretty darn good for the Mets. Same can be said for the Nady for Perez deal..
The McGwire trade was terrible for the A's. The Kazmir trade and the Nathan trade are the two I think of first. I still call the day we traded for Benson and Zambrano "Black Friday." We traded away many of our top prospects and got back a guy who would be a FA in a few months (meaning we'd have to overpay anyway to keep him) and a guy with bad control and a bad elbow. My worst day as a Met fan ever, and there have been so many bad days.
Rick Peterson was the guy who wanted Zambrano. I never want to hear anyone praise Peterson ever again. Rick you f-ing jackass, where's Zambrano now? I thought you could fix him?
couldn't say it any better. I was dead set against trading Kazmir, but if they were going to do it, it had to be for a top-shelf player, not trash like Zambrano.
Considering that Peterson helped fix 4/5's of our rotation, I'll forgive him on Zambrano, and plus looking at the mess in Baltimore and looking at Phillips making an ass of himself on a daily basis, I see the "Black Friday" as a final straw for the much needed change in the Mets FO
Which leads me back on who to blame, the GM should have been smart enough to know the proper value since we could have gotten Zambrano for a lot less
Another "great" Mets trade was Jeff Kent and Jose Vizcaino for Carlos Baerga and Alvaro Espinosa in 1996. According to this article, from 1961-2002 the Mets were by far the worst team in baseball in trading players. Before I sink further into depression, I can at least recall a few winners: -- Gary Gentry and Danny Frisella for Felix Millan and George Stone in 1972 -- Lee Mazzilli for Ron Darling and Walt Terrell in 1982 -- Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey for Keith Hernandez in 1983 -- Carlos Diaz and Bob Bailor for Sid Fernandez and Ross Jones in 1983 -- Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham, and Floyd Youmans for Gary Carter in 1984 -- Preston Wilson, Ed Yarnall, and Geoff Goetz for Mike Piazza in 1998 The Hernandez, Carter, Darling/Terrell, and Piazza trades certainly qualify as heists, I would say.
