MLB Power Rankings: The worst trade deadline deal every team has made
By Tim Boyle
25) MLB Power Rankings: Kansas City Royals, Stan Belinda for Jon Lieber and Dan Miceli
Finding the worst trade deadline deal in Kansas City Royals history was the most difficult for this list. Some were fairly obvious. This one wasn’t. There were a few players the Royals traded away for a less than desirable haul. One instance cost them two young pitchers who would have productive careers. It was on July 31, 1993, when Stan Belinda was traded to the Royals from the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jon Lieber and Dan Miceli. They’d both end up being decent major leaguers for a long time. What made this deal bad for Kansas City was Belinda’s performance. He had a 4.28 ERA in a non-closer role from the one he had in Pittsburgh. Returning in 1994, his ERA inflated up to 5.14. By the time he left, the Royals would enter a dark time in franchise history when trade deadline selling was much more the norm.
24) MLB Power Rankings: Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Cueto to the Royals
From the worst trade deadline deal for the Kansas City Royals to one of their best, the Cincinnati Reds didn’t get nearly enough when they sent starting pitcher Johnny Cueto to the American League in 2015. The Royals were on their way to winning a World Series with Cueto being a major factor, at least in the postseason. Cueto was a pure rental for the Royals. It cost them Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed. None did much of anything in Cincinnati making this one of those deals where the buy was the biggest victor. Cueto came out pretty nicely in free agency, too.
23) MLB Power Rankings: San Diego Padres, Selling Corey Kluber too soon
Corey Kluber was sent from the San Diego Padres to the Cleveland Indians on July 31, 2010, as part of a three-team deal with the St. Louis Cardinals also involved. The Padres picked up Ryan Ludwick in the move. It cost them much more than they realized. Kluber would go on to win two Cy Young awards for Cleveland in the coming years while helping to reshape their franchise. They even managed to trade him years later for Emmanuel Clase. In parts of two seasons with the Padres, Ludwick batted only .228/.301/.358.
22) MLB Power Rankings: Pittsburgh Pirates, Aramis Ramirez to the Cubs
Any trade between division rivals has a lot more riding on it. On July 23, 2003, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs agreed to a deal that would come back to haunt the former. Aramis Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, and cash were all sent to the Cubs for a weak haul of Matt Bruback, Jose Hernandez, and Bobby Hill. Ramirez was a growing power threat in Pittsburgh. He became an absolute beast in Chicago. He’d play a total of 1124 games for the Cubs while clobbering 239 home runs. Hernandez was already nearing the end of his career while Bruback never made the majors and Hill barely played much at all.
21) MLB Power Rankings: Baltimore Orioles, Jake Arrieta to the Cubs
We have another trade deadline steal by the Chicago Cubs. This time their victim happened to be the Baltimore Orioles. On July 2, 2013, Jake Arrieta, Pedro Strop, and cash were all sent to the Cubs for Steve Clevenger and Scott Feldman. It almost sounds like a ridiculous trade in retrospect. Who knew Arrieta would suddenly become a star and win the 2015 National League Cy Young while also helping the Cubs to win the 2016 World Series? Feldman, the big “get” for the Orioles in this move made 15 starts for them and pitched to a 4.27 ERA in 2013. He’d leave for the Houston Astros in free agency several months later.