Fansided

The absolute worst trade in the history of every MLB team

By Tim Boyle

COOPERSTOWN, NY - JULY 26: Inductees John Smoltz and Randy Johnson enjoy the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2015 in Cooperstown, New York. Johnson was inducted with Pedro Martinez,Craig Biggio and John Smoltz (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
COOPERSTOWN, NY - JULY 26: Inductees John Smoltz and Randy Johnson enjoy the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at National Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, 2015 in Cooperstown, New York. Johnson was inducted with Pedro Martinez,Craig Biggio and John Smoltz (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Worst trade in New York Yankees history
TORONTO, ON – CIRCA 1988: Fred McGriff #19 of the Toronto Blue Jays bats against the Oakland Athletics during an Major League Baseball game circa 1988 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario. McGriff played for the Blue Jays from 1986-90. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Worst trade in New York Yankees history: Trading Fred McGriff to the Toronto Blue Jays

Although Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps was bad, I think the 1982 trade involving Fred McGriff was worse. McGriff is about as borderline of a Hall of Fame player as you can get and probably should have a place in Cooperstown.

The New York Yankees decided to trade him, Dave Collins, Mike Morgan, and cash to the American League East rival Blue Jays for Tom Dodd and Dale Murray. Please take a moment and try to remember any of those great Dodd and Murray highlights in the Bronx.

McGriff would go on to have a long and storied career, smashing 493 home runs in parts of 19 seasons. None of those round-trippers would take place as a member of the Yankees.

Worst trade in Oakland Athletics history: Mark McGwire to the St. Louis Cardinals

Please allow me to be somewhat biased here. As someone who grew up with a dog named McGwire, I have to admire him a little more than the average athlete. Mark McGwire was my childhood hero. Looking back all of these years later, I’m amazed at how little the Oakland Athletics got in return for him from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Already one of the league’s top sluggers, McGwire was dealt in the middle of the 1997 season from Oakland to St. Louis in the worst trade the former ever made. The very next season, McGwire would hit 70 home runs and make even my mother and sisters fans for a summer.

As falsified as many of those dingers may have been, it doesn’t take away from how epically bad this trade was for the Athletics. All they got back was Erick Ludwick, T.J. Mathews, and Blake Stein. Ludwick and Stein barely had major league careers. Mathews stuck with Oakland for a while but was a 4.78 ERA reliever—hardly the impact player Big Mac was.

Worst trade in Philadelphia Phillies history: Ryne Sandberg to the Chicago Cubs

Ryne Sandberg and Larry Bowa to the Chicago Cubs for Ivan de Jesus. Philadelphia Phillies fans know exactly what this means.

This was the worst trade the franchise ever made. While moving on from Bowa may have brought about some sentimental anger, it was what Sandberg would become that makes this a horrific trade. Sandberg ended up winning the 1984 National League MVP and piecing together a Hall of Fame career—all but his first 13 big league games as a member of the Cubs.

In Philadelphia, de Jesus hit .249/.319/.319 in parts of three seasons. How a player could manage to have an OBP match his slugging percentage over this period of time is frightening. What makes this trade even worse is that de Jesus was fresh off of hitting .194 in 1981 when the trade was made. The Phillies should have known better than to give up anything promising for him.

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