Fansided

Each MLB team’s best trade ever

By Joshua Sadlock

SEATTLE, WA - JUNE 19: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers takes a swing during an at-bat in a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on June 19, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won the game 6-2. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA - JUNE 19: Miguel Cabrera #24 of the Detroit Tigers takes a swing during an at-bat in a game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on June 19, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. The Mariners won the game 6-2. (Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz delivers a pitch during the game against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field in Atlanta, GA on May 12, 2006. The Braves beat the Nationals 6-2. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz delivers a pitch during the game against the Washington Nationals at Turner Field in Atlanta, GA on May 12, 2006. The Braves beat the Nationals 6-2. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

Atlanta Braves: John Smoltz from the Tigers, 1987

  • Braves get: John Smoltz
  • Detroit Tigers get: Doyle Alexander

This trade is often cited as one of the worst in MLB history, and there’s good reason to lump it in with all of the one-sided deals that have been consummated over the years. Smoltz is a Hall of Famer who won 213 games in a 21-year career, saved 154 games during a three-year stretch as one of the most dominant relievers in the league, took home the 1996 NL Cy Young and made eight All-Star teams.

Doyle Alexander was a very solid MLB pitcher in his own right and had a 19-year career where he won 194 games and made an All-Star Game. The Tigers actually got what they needed out of him in 1987. After the Smoltz trade, Alexander went 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 starts while throwing 88.1 innings. The magic did not carry over to the ALCS, where Alexander went 0-2 while allowing 10 runs in nine innings.

Smoltz’s career did not take off until the 1989 season, which is the same year Alexander’s ended with a thud and 18 losses in 24 decisions. It’s unfair to Alexander that he is lumped into one of the worst trade outcomes in MLB history. He fulfilled a role as a rental pitcher in 1987 perhaps better than anyone else in the history of the league. No one would have predicted that Smoltz, a 22nd-round pick who had barely been above Double-A at the time, would have blossomed into a Hall of Famer. More than a bad trade by the Tigers, this was a great find by the Braves scouts.

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