MLB Power Rankings: The worst trade deadline deal every team has made
By Tim Boyle
MLB Power Rankings of the worst trade deadline deal every team has made in its history.
The MLB trade deadline should be a holiday. In fact, baseball fans should be allowed to take off from work, household chores, and any other responsibilities leading up to the big summer day. It’s not always on the same exact date but it’s always something to look forward to. In this week’s MLB Power Rankings we’ll look at some not-so-great moments for a couple of ball clubs around the trade deadline.
Nobody bats 1.000 with their trade deadline deals. These 30 trades have a clear winner and loser. It’s the worst trade deadline move every MLB team has ever made.
30) MLB Power Rankings: Minnesota Twins, Scott Erickson to the Orioles
On July 7, 1995, the Minnesota Twins traded Scott Erickson to the Baltimore Orioles for Scott Klingbeck and Kimera Bartee. Erickson had an up-and-down career with the Twins, leading the league with 20 wins in 1991 and 19 losses in 1993. They shipped him out to the Orioles a little too early. His 5.95 ERA arrived in Baltimore and turned into a 3.89 ERA in 16 starts and a relief appearance. He’d actually stay with the Orioles for parts of 7 seasons. While he wasn’t brilliant, Erickson had double-digit winning seasons often while surviving the Steroid Era while eating up a lot of innings. It’s the best of the worst trade deadline deals made by any team. Kudos to the Twins.
29) MLB Power Rankings: Los Angeles Angels, Jean Segura for a Zack Greinke rental
Jean Segura has been traded a bunch of times in his career. The first happened on July 27, 2012 when he was sent by the Los Angeles Angels with two others to the Milwaukee Brewers for Zack Greinke. The mercenary pickup by the Angels wasn’t the most effective move. Greinke made 13 starts and went 6-2 with a 3.53 ERA for them. He’d leave for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the offseason. The big mistake might have been not extending him as Greinke grew into a true ace as soon as he joined the Dodgers. The Angels didn’t even make the postseason in 2012. Segura, meanwhile, was an All-Star in 2013. It’s not a trade to lose sleep over yet the weakest for the Angels mostly because they let the headliner leave.
28) MLB Power Rankings: Colorado Rockies, Not getting more for Troy Tulowitzki
The Colorado Rockies have been pretty good at avoiding bad trade deadline deals. Their worst has to be not getting more for Troy Tulowitzki. It’s a theme for many of the worst Rockies trades. Still very much in the prime of his career at the time, he was sent to the Toronto Blue Jays for Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman, Jose Reyes, and Jesus Tinoco. None of the four players they got from Toronto would do anything close to what Tulowitzki did. This turned out to be an unsatisfying deal for the Blue Jays, too. However, it doesn’t make it any better for the Rockies who should have gotten a lot more.
27) MLB Power Rankings: Arizona Diamondbacks, Matt Mantei for Brad Penny
The Arizona Diamondbacks don’t have enough of a history for a truly brutal trade deadline deal. Their worst was one they were able to benefit from. On July 8, 1999, Matt Mantei was traded to the Florida Marlins for Vladimir Nunez, Abraham Nunez, and Brad Penny. Mantei would go on to have a 4.04 ERA and 74 saves for the Diamondbacks through the 2004 season. Multiple injuries limited him with the worst of it coming in 2001 when he missed out on the World Series run. It’s how Penny performed which makes this more of a win for the Marlins than the Diamondbacks. Penny would win 121 games in his career while most notably taking home a championship with the 2003 Marlins. His World Series against the New York Yankees made the trade completely worth it. He won both of his starts and pitched to a 2.19 ERA.
26) MLB Power Rankings: Los Angeles Dodgers, Paul Konerko to the Reds
It’s not fair for the Los Angeles Dodgers to be this good at trade deadline deals. Looking through many of their worst trades, the one qualified to be a trade deadline deal that was the most awful happened on July 4, 1998. Paul Konerko and Dennys Reyes were traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Jeff Shaw. Shaw was a good closer addition for the Dodgers which is why this isn’t such an unforgivable deal. He never did win a championship for them, though. And considering the 439 career home runs Konerko would hit, one has to wonder if maybe another prospect could’ve gotten the deal done.