Each team’s best and worst offseason trade of the last 20 years

Arizona – Atlanta – Baltimore – Boston – Chicago Cubs
Chicago White Sox – Cincinnati – Cleveland – Colorado – Detroit
Houston – Kansas City – LA Angels – LA Dodgers – Miami
Milwaukee – Minnesota – New York Mets – New York Yankees – Oakland
Philadelphia – Pittsburgh – St. Louis – San Diego – San Francisco
Seattle – Tampa Bay – Texas – Toronto – Washington

Milwaukee Brewers
Best trade: Acquired Carlos Gomez from Twins for J.J. Hardy (November 6, 2009)
Milwaukee did something interesting with starting shortstop J.J. Hardy, trading him to the Twins after the first of his four arbitration seasons. That’s not too out of sorts until you consider that Hardy was coming off of a 2009 season where he was terrible. In 115 games, he hit just .229/.305/.357 with 11 homers following a pair of excellent seasons in 2007 and 2008. He was expected to be a cornerstone for the Brewers, but was sent packing months after he turned 27. In return, they acquired young outfielder Carlos Gomez, who was the centerpiece of the Twins’ trade with the Mets for Johan Santana. Gomez had struggled in two major league seasons with Minnesota, but turned just 24 a month after the deal. After struggling to get regular playing time in 2010 and 2011, Gomez grabbed a full-time role in 2012 and hasn’t let go. Over the past three seasons with the Brewers, he’s been a two-time All-Star, a Gold Glove winner, has received NL MVP votes in two seasons, and has hit .277/.336/.483 with 66 homers and 111 stolen bases. He’s arguably the team’s best player as Ryan Braun has fallen victim to injuries.

And what about Hardy? Well, he’s been pretty great over the past four seasons with the Orioles, but was a disaster during his one year in Minnesota. In 2010, Hardy played in just 101 games and hit six homers to go along with a .268/.320/.394 line. The Twins traded him to Baltimore after the season for minor leaguer Brett Jacobson and pitcher Jim Hoey, who had a 5.47 ERA in 24 2/3 innings with the Twins. Both players were gone from the organization by 2012.

Worst trade: Acquired Zack Greinke from Royals for Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, and Jake Odorizzi (December 19, 2010)
I struggled with this one, because the Brewers haven’t really made that many disastrous offseason trades in their recent history. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that the Greinke trade had to be the one. Sure, Greinke was great with the Brewers – he had a 3.67 ERA over 294 2/3 innings, struck out 323, and walked just 73. And while the club did win the NL Central in 2011 and came within two wins of the World Series that year, they slipped to third and an 83-79 record in 2012, and haven’t gotten any closer to the promised land in the short period of time since. Furthermore, Cain, Escobar, and Odorizzi either played key roles on Kansas City’s 2014 AL championship team or were used to acquire key pieces for that pennant run.

To top off the Greinke disappointment, the Brewers weren’t able to cash in like the Royals did when they traded him to the Angels before the 2012 trade deadline. Coming back from Anaheim were a trio of players, Johnny Hellweg, Ariel Pena, and Jean Segura. Segura has effectively replaced the departed Escobar as the team’s franchise shortstop, but struggled to a .246/.289/.326 line after an All-Star year in 2013. Hellweg threw 30 2/3 innings in the majors in 2013, but walked 26 while striking out just nine before blowing his elbow out in April of 2014. Pena hasn’t made his major league debut yet and could still be a gem, but he’s walked 154 hitters over 270 1/3 innings in his last two seasons with the Brewers. Given that he’s struck out 271 and spent 2014 in the hitter-friendly PCL, it’s not exactly panic time quite yet. However, he hasn’t exactly been the prospect that the Brewers expected when they acquired him.

Minnesota Twins
Best trade: Acquired Boof Bonser, Francisco Liriano, and Joe Nathan from Giants for A.J. Pierzynski (November 14, 2003)
Let’s call this trade what it was – a heist. A.J. Pierzynski was a solid enough catcher, coming off a 2003 season that saw him hit .312/.360/.464 with 11 homers at age 26. A year earlier, he was an AL All-Star. He was just about to enter arbitration for the first of three times.

It didn’t work out for A.J. and the Giants. In his one disastrous season in the Bay Area, Pierzynski hit a pithy .272/.319/.410. Sure, he matched his homer output from a year earlier, but he also grounded into a league high 27 double plays and managed to piss off nearly the entire Giants clubhouse (which still featured Barry Bonds, mind you). San Francisco released Pierzynski after the year, and he signed as a free agent with the White Sox…and helped the team win the 2005 World Series. Whoops.

Of the three players sent to the Twins in the deal, Boof Bonser was the one who made the least impact – he had a 5.12 ERA in 391 2/3 innings with the club before he was eventually traded to the Red Sox. Francisco Liriano had an erratic, dynamic career with the Twins, throwing 783 1/3 innings of 4.33 ERA baseball, striking out 788 hitters along the way. He was an AL All-Star in 2006, finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting that season, and blew out his elbow soon thereafter. He was traded to the White Sox in 2012 for useful infielder Eduardo Escobar. Finally, there’s Joe Nathan, who would establish himself as one of the best closers in baseball with the Twins. Over his seven years with the Twinkies, Nathan saved 260 games, striking out 561 hitters in 463 1/3 innings while notching a 2.16 ERA. He’d blow out his arm and miss all of the 2010 season before returning for a year and then catching on with the Rangers and later, the Tigers. Nathan made four All-Star teams and finished in the top five of the AL Cy Young voting twice during his tenure with the club.

Hey, not bad for a malcontent.

BONUS: I just talked about the Johan Santana trade/Rule 5 acquisition in Miami’s section, and I don’t think it would necessarily be fair to label it a straight up trade – but man, what a master stroke by Terry Ryan.

Worst trade: Acquired Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Philip Humber, and Kevin Mulvey from Mets for Johan Santana (February 2, 2008)
It just didn’t work out well, and quite frankly, the Mets didn’t exactly make out like bandits in the deal either. Johan Santana was the best pitcher in baseball, and wanted a long-term, nine figure deal. The Twins weren’t going to do it, and were going to have to trade him. They just kept kicking the can down the road before moving him to the Mets just weeks before pitchers and catchers reported in 2008.  Santana would only pitch four years with the Mets because of injuries, and crossed the 200 inning mark once in his tenure with the team. New York paid him $137.5 million for a 3.18 ERA over 717 innings.

But the four players that came back to the Twins weren’t factors. Gomez was a blue chip outfielder that was shipped to the Brewers in the disastrous J.J. Hardy trade after 290 games of .248/.293/.352 baseball. Deolis Guerra was the lottery ticket that flopped – he incredibly spent 2014 still with the Twins, but couldn’t make it over the hump. In 134 1/3 innings with AAA Rochester, Guerra had a 5.02 ERA, working mainly out of the bullpen. Phil Humber was supposed to be the sure thing, but he wasn’t. Over just 20 2/3 innings with the Twins, Humber had a 6.10 ERA and signed as a free agent with the Royals before the 2010 season. He improbably threw a perfect game for the White Sox in 2012, and spent 2014 in the bullpen of Oakland’s AAA affiliate in Sacramento. Finally, there was Kevin Mulvey, the projectable back-end starter. He recorded four outs and allowed four runs in 2009 with the Twins, and was traded to the Diamondbacks for Jon Rauch in an August waiver deal.

So, to summarize – four players in exchange for the best pitcher in baseball. One never reached the majors. Two combined to throw 22 innings with the team. One was traded after 290 games. What a disaster.

New York Mets
Best trade: Acquired John Olerud from Blue Jays for Robert Person (December 20, 1996)
This is an overlooked trade, and I really don’t know why. John Olerud had an MVP caliber 1993 with the Toronto Blue Jays, but had been on a slide in the three years since. Toronto sold low on a 27-year old Olerud after the 1996 season, sending him (along with $5 million!) to the Mets for pitcher Robert Person. Person was awful with the Jays, pitching to a 6.18 ERA over 177 2/3 innings before he was traded to the Phillies in 1999 for reliever Paul Spoljaric.

But Olerud rediscovered his skills in Flushing. In three years with the team, he became John Effing Olerud again, hitting .315/.425/.501 and missing a total of ten games. In 1998, he finished 12th in NL MVP voting and hit a ridiculous .354/.447/.551. The first two of those slash stats ranked second in the league, behind Larry Walker and Mark McGwire respectively. Olerud left the Mets after the 1999 season, signing with the Mariners and continuing to perform quite well until his career began to wind down in 2004. New York wouldn’t have a regular first baseman for three straight seasons until Carlos Delgado in 2006-08.

Worst trade: Acquired Sean Green, J.J. Putz, and Jeremy Reed from Mariners in a three-team trade for Mike Carp, Ezequiel Carrera, Endy Chavez, Maikel Cleto, Aaron Heilman, and Jason Vargas. Mets also traded Joe Smith to Indians, Indians traded Franklin Gutierrez to Mariners, and Mariners traded Luis Valbuena to Indians (December 11, 2008)
Huh. This was interesting. 12 players were moved in this deal, and three were coming back to the Mets. The main problem is that they got rid of seven players in the trade, and all each of the seven had more value left in their careers than any of the players received.

-Mike Carp (to Mariners): .255/.327/.413 with 18 homers in 608 plate appearances over four seasons.
-Ezequiel Carrera (to Mariners): never made the majors with Seattle, traded to Indians in 2010 for Russell Branyan.
-Endy Chavez (to Mariners): .272/309/.346 with 15 stolen bases in 719 plate appearances over three seasons with Seattle.
-Maikel Cleto (to Mariners): never made the majors with Seattle, traded to Cardinals in 2010 for Brendan Ryan.
-Aaron Heilman (to Mariners): traded to Cubs the following month for Ronny Cedeno and Garrett Olson.
-Joe Smith (to Indians): 2.76 ERA over 271 innings and five seasons with Cleveland.
-Jason Vargas (to Mariners): 4.09 ERA over 702 2/3 innings and four seasons with Seattle.

The players received by the Mets were non-factors with the team, and all left as free agents with no compensation coming back to the club.

-Sean Green: 4.44 ERA, 66 strikeouts, 44 walks in 79 innings over two seasons.
-J.J. Putz: 5.22 ERA, two saves, 19 strikeouts, 19 walks in 29 1/3 innings over one season.
-Jeremy Reed: .242/.301/.304 with zero homers in 178 plate appearances over one season.

Flush it.

New York Yankees
Best trade: Acquired Tino Martinez, Jim Mecir, and Jeff Nelson from Mariners for Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock (December 7, 1995)
Two of the key pieces of the Yankees’ dynasty acquired in one fell swoop. Tino Martinez would be one of the anchors to New York’s offense, hitting .276/.347/.484 over his seven years with the team. He made just one All-Star Game as a Yankees, and received MVP votes only twice, but was the perfect man to replace Don Mattingly at first base for New York. They’d end up replacing Martinez with Jason Giambi, which worked out pretty well until Giambi’s body stopped cooperating with him.

And while Jim Mecir struggled as a Yankee (5.47 ERA over 74 innings) before establishing himself in the bullpens of other teams, Jeff Nelson’s tenure with the team was brilliant. From 1996-2000, Nelson threw 293 1/3 innings with New York, pitching to a 3.41 ERA while striking out 313. Nelson was pure death towards right-handed hitters, and shut many of them down while bridging the gap to John Wetteland and Mariano Rivera.

The Yankees didn’t exactly give up some flotsam for Martinez and Nelson either. Russ Davis was a three-time top 100 prospect at third base for New York, and looked like he could be a long-term answer for the team. After the trade, his 1996 season was cut short because of a broken ankle, but he did manage to launch 20 homers with the Mariners in each year from 1997-99. However, his career ended with a whimper with the Giants in 2001 at the age of 31. Sterling Hitchcock also carved out a niche as a back-end starter for several teams. he had a 5.35 ERA in 196 2/3 innings as a Mariner in 2996, but enjoyed a pretty solid run with the Padres before eventually moving back to the Yankees for a season and a half.

Worst trade: Acquired Jonathan Albaladejo from Nationals for Tyler Clippard (December 4, 2007)
The Yankees should have just kept the big, right-handed reliever they had instead of trading him for a different big, right-handed reliever. Jonathan Albaladejo had a nice 14 game stint with the Nationals in 2007, and the Yankees bought high on him, sending Tyler Clippard to DC in exchange. Albaladejo would never really match that form, and in 59 1/3 innings as a Yankee over three seasons, he struck out 42 and walked 30 while posting a 4.70 ERA.

Clippard had been a dominant starter in the Yankees organization, but struggled in a six start trial in the majors in 2007. He made just two starts with Washington in the majors in 2008, and the Nationals converted him to a reliever after that season. He took to the new role like a fish to water, and proceeded to pitch six straight 60 inning seasons for the Nationals, crossing 70 innings in five of those six years. In those 453 2/3 innings out of the pen, he’s struck out 522, walked 175, notched a 2.64 ERA, and made a pair of All-Star teams, establishing himself as one of the best relievers in baseball.

There’s an old saying that goes “every great reliever is a failed starter”, and that’s definitely the case for Clippard. Had the Yankees just stuck with him and converted him to relief, like they did to great success last season with Dellin Betances, they wouldn’t have had to acquire Albaladejo in the first place. But here we are, and the Nationals are thrilled with how this trade worked out.

Oakland Athletics
Best trade: Acquired Brett Anderson, Chris Carter, Aaron Cunningham, Dana Eveland, Carlos Gonzalez, and Greg Smith from Diamondbacks for Dan Haren and Connor Robertson (December 14, 2007)
This is the prime example of Billy Beane extracting an absurd amount of talent from a team for a pretty good, though not great, player. And that’s what Dan Haren was – he was damn good, but he wasn’t *great*. In three seasons with the A’s, Haren had thrown 662 2/3 innings and pitchrd to a 3.64 ERA. He was an AL All-Star in 2007, and was showing signs of turning into a superstar. The Diamondbacks struck while the iron was hot and put together a package for Haren they’d come to regret, despite Haren giving them three pretty good years. Over those three seasons, Haren continued to chug right along, upping his strikeout rate, making two more All-Star teams, and tallying two more 200 inning seasons. But the Diamondbacks struggled in 2010, and Haren was traded at the deadline to the Angels for a package of players that would include Patrick Corbin and Tyler Skaggs. Skaggs was later traded back to the Angels in the Mark Trumbo deal, but Corbin thrived in the club’s rotation in 2013 before blowing his elbow out last spring.

But let’s rewind our clock back to the initial trade that sent Haren (and Connor Robertson, who threw just seven major league innings after the deal) to the desert. Josh Byrnes went for broke in this trade, giving up six prospects of varying qualities for Haren. All of them had some sort of major league impact for Oakland.

-Brett Anderson had a 3.81 ERA in 450 2/3 innings over five seasons with the A’s. He was traded to the Rockies last winter for Drew Pomeranz.
-Chris Carter only hit .214/.310/.425 in 384 plate appearances over three seasons for Oakland. He was traded to the Astros as part of the Jed Lowrie deal.
-Aaron Cunningham spent 45 games in the majors with the A’s, and hit .211/.271/.338. He and Scott Hairston were traded to the Padres for Kevin Kouzmanoff and Eric Sogard.
-Dana Eveland had a 4.92 ERA over 212 innings with the A’s. He was sold to the Blue Jays in 2010.
-Carlos Gonzalez hit .242/.273/.361 in 85 games with the A’s. He was part of the Matt Holliday trade with the Rockies, along with…
-Greg Smith, who had a 4.16 ERA in 190 1/3 innings with Oakland.

Six players, all of whom provided some sort of current or future value for the A’s. Imagine if the Diamondbacks had those six assets while they toiled in mediocrity during Haren’s tenure with the team.

Worst trade: Acquired Juan Cruz, Dan Meyer, and Charles Thomas from Braves for Tim Hudson (December 16, 2004)
Beane has more hits than misses on his ledger of trades. This isn’t one of those hits. Tim Hudson was arguably the most consistent durable member of Oakland’s big three, and that skillset would get him paid on the open market. It should have gotten Beane a king’s random in return, like when he traded Mark Mulder to the Cardinals for Dan Haren and Daric Barton. Of course, it didn’t work out that way. John Schuerholz sent three players to Oakland for Hudson, and none had much of a lasting impact on the club. Charles Thomas was had a breakout rookie season with the Braves in 2004. He hit a paltry .109/.255/.109 over 30 games with the A’s in 2005, and never reached the majors again. Juan Cruz also had a breakout year for the Braves in 2004, pitching to a 2.75 ERA in 72 innings out of the club’s bullpen. As an Athletic, Cruz notched an unsightly 7.44 ERA in 32 2/3 innings, striking out 34 and walking 22. He was traded to the Diamondbacks at the end of Spring Training 2006. Finally, Dan Meyer was a promising young pitcher, and was supposed to be the next Braves ace. He struggled in the minors in the first two years after the trade before getting called up, and finished his A’s career with a 7.98 ERA over 44 innings before Oakland lost him to the Marlins on waivers.

Three players for Hudson, and Oakland got a total of 75 games out of that trio. What a catastrophe.

As for Hudson, he spent nine glorious years in Atlanta, tallying 1,573 innings and a 3.56 ERA with the team. Everything else is gravy – when you get nine seasons and over 1,500 innings out of a pitcher, you’re just happy to be there. Throw in the fact that the Braves gave up the equivalent of lint stuck in the couch cushions for Hudson, and his acquisition looks even more masterful.

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