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

Seattle Mariners
Best trade: Acquired Cliff Lee from Phillies for Phillippe Aumont, Tyson Gillies, and J.C. Ramirez (December 16, 2009)
I already talked about what a mess this was from Philadelphia’s point of view. Why trade Lee for three non-elite prospects? But the Mariners were the lucky beneficiary of Ruben Amaro’s silliness, and they cashed in despite Lee missing the first month of the season because of a strained abdominal muscle. Lee made just 13 starts as a Mariner, and completed five of them, He struck out 89 and walked six. He somehow threw 103 2/3 innings. Before he was traded, he was thoroughly outpitching teammate Felix Hernandez, who would go on to win the AL Cy Young award.

There was just one problem with Cliff Lee, Seattle Mariner – the team stunk. The Mariners sunk to last place in the AL West after Lee had made just two starts. They wouldn’t escape the cellar once they landed there. Jack Zduriencik traded Lee to the division rival Rangers in July before the All-Star Break for a package of four players that would bring anger and frustration to Seattle.

The initial trade for Lee was a master stroke. Everything after that was a mess. Yet, it goes down as a coup for the Mariners…because something like this could happen.

Worst trade: Acquired Erik Bedard from Orioles for Tony Butler, Adam Jones, Kam Mickolio, George Sherrill, and Chris Tillman (February 8, 2008)
We discussed the Erik Bedard trade earlier, but it really needs to be talked about again. Bedard had been inconsistent throughout his entire career in Baltimore, , and finally seemed to break through with a fantastic 2007. It’s the perfect time to sell on a player like that, and the worst time to buy. The Mariners were buying. They finished 14 games above .500 in 2007 despite allowing 19 more runs than they scored. They weren’t one piece away, no matter what anyone said. Yet, that’s not what Bill Bavasi did. He wanted a dominant pitcher to pair with young stud Felix Hernandez, and he’d be damned if Bedard wasn’t his guy.

Well, Bedard wasn’t his guy. Just like in 2010 after the Cliff Lee trade, the Mariners were in the basement for good in early May. Bavasi and manager John McLaren were fired in June. Bedard couldn’t stay on the field. The rotation aside from Hernandez was a horror show. The offense resembled a toxic waste dump at times, with even Ichiro putting together what would then be the worst year of his career.

Seattle would finally escape from the Bedard disaster in 2011, when they traded him to the Red Sox in a three-team deal. In four seasons as a Mariner, including a 2010 that was completely wiped out due to injury, Bedard would throw just 255 1/3 innings. He’d never made more than 16 starts in a season for the Mariners. Meanwhile, Adam Jones became a superstar with the Orioles, and Chris Tillman became arguably their best pitcher. That’s not how you want things to work out.

St. Louis Cardinals
Best trade: Acquired Ray King, Jason Marquis, and Adam Wainwright from Braves for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero (December 13, 2003)
OK, so I lied – the Wainwright/Drew trade *will* be in this piece, just not under Atlanta’s section. J.D. Drew was heading into his walk year, and the Cardinals knew they couldn’t bring him back on a long-term deal. The team was in a state of flux with Albert Pujols heading from left field to first base and the bullpen needed some help, so why not try to upgrade the pitching instead of the offense? Drew and Eli Marrero were sent to the Braves for top pitching prospect Adam Wainwright, less-touted ex-prospect Jason Marquis, and reliever Ray King. A week later, veteran Reggie Sanders was signed to replace Drew in right, and old friend Ray Lankford was signed early in Spring Training to compete for a roster spot in left.

Somehow, the Cardinals’ plan worked out well for both 2004 *and* the future. The team rolled to a 105-57 record in 2004, with both Sanders and Lankford adequately filling in for Drew and the departed Tino Martinez in the lineup. Marquis stepped into the rotation and threw 201 1/3 innings of 3.71 ERA ball. King appeared in 86 games out of the bullpen, and notched 62 innings with a 2.61 ERA. That doesn’t even begin to consider Wainwright’s future impact on the club, which didn’t begin in earnest until 2006.

Meanwhile, Drew and Marrero played well for the Braves. Drew finished sixth in the NL MVP voting in 2004, hitting .305/.436/.569 with 36 homers. He’d sign as a free agent with the Dodgers that winter. Marrero also had a career year with Atlanta in 2004, hitting .320/.374/.520 while playing all three outfield positions. The Braves traded him to the Royals that winter.

King was solid once again with the Cardinals in 2005, pitching to a 3.38 ERA in 40 innings. He was traded to the Rockies after the 2005 season. Marquis hung around St. Louis for two more years, not missing a start in either but struggling. Overall as a Cardinal, he’d end up throwing 602 2/3 innings with a 4.60 ERA.

Then, there’s Wainwright. He made his major league debut in 2005, and worked out of the bullpen for the Cardinals in 2006. He threw 75 innings with a 3.12 ERA, and would strike out 15 while walking two in 9 2/3 playoff innings, helping the Cardinals win the World Series. Wainwright moved into the rotation in 2007, and the rest is history. He’s never had an ERA over 3.94 as a starter, and has finished in the top three of NL Cy Young voting four times. He missed all of the 2011 season following Tommy John surgery, but hasn’t made less than 32 starts in a season since. Overall as a Cardinal, Wainwright has a 3.01 ERA in 1,541 2/3 innings. This trade was both a short-term and a long-term win for the Cardinals, and moves like this help explain why they seemingly always win.

Worst trade: Acquired Mark Mulder from Athletics for Daric Barton, Kiko Calero, and Dan Haren (December 18, 2004)
This could have gone better. Mark Mulder posted a 4.43 ERA in 2004 with the As, and Billy Beane seemed to be selling low on the 27-year old. but that 2004 wasn’t just a blip on the radar – it was a sign of things to come. After the Cardinals acquired Mulder to stabilize their rotation, he threw a total of 311 innings with the team, notching a hideous 5.04 ERA to go along with 166 strikeouts and 114 walks. He made a total of six appearances in 2007 and 2008 because of a torn rotator cuff, and was paid $13 million for those two years by the Cardinals. He was done, just like that.

And unfortunately for the Cardinals, they didn’t just throw money away on Mulder – they threw away young talent when they acquired him from the Athletics. Daric Barton never had much of a career with the A’s, but still managed to play in 551 games and hit .247/.356/.365. Kiko Calero also didn’t really dominate with Oakland, but in 159 relief innings over four seasons, he had a 3.96 ERA, striking out 157 hitters.

Finally, there’s Dan Haren, who would have a brief and fruitful tenure with the A’s. In his three seasons with the club, Haren had a 3.64 ERA over 662 2/3 innings. He was later traded to the Diamondbacks for six prospects, which we already talked about earlier.

The Cardinals would have been in better shape had they simply kept Haren instead of trading him for Mulder. However, hindsight is 20/20 – I don’t think anyone expected Mulder to flame out like he did.

Tampa Bay Rays
Best trade: Acquired Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza, and Eddie Morlan from Twins for Brendan Harris, Jason Pridie, and Delmon Young (November 28, 2007)
This trade was, in a word, ridiculous. We’ll first deal with the return going to the Twins – Harris hit .251/.309/.360 in 1,063 plate appearances over three seasons as a Twin, and was traded (with J.J. Hardy) to the Orioles in 2010. Pridie received just six plate appearances with Minnesota before the Mets plucked him off waivers. Young was the most productive player of the trade that the Twins received, but even then, he hit only .287/.324/.429 with 47 homers and 22 stolen bases in 1,977 plate appearances over four seasons. The Tigers acquired him from the Twins in August of 2011.

Then, there’s the Rays end of the deal. Morlan never reached the majors, and was gone from Tampa Bay’s system in 2010. Bartlett was a 2009 All-Star with the Rays, and hit .288/.349/.403 in three seasons with the club. He was (somehow) traded to the Padres in 2010 for a package of four players, including 2014 bullpen standouts Brandon Gomes and Cesar Ramos. Garza shined brightly like a phoenix during his three years with the Rays, pitching to a 3.86 ERA in 592 1/2 innings. He won the 2008 ALCS MVP award for Tampa Bay, and threw a no-hitter in July of 2010. Before the 2011 season, the Rays traded him to the Cubs for a package of five players that included current Rays rotation stalwart.

Now *that’s* how you win a trade – get the most value out of the players in the deal, and then deal those players for even more value.

Worst trade: Acquired Kevin Stocker from Phillies for Bobby Abreu (November 18, 1997)
This disastrous trade happened before the (Devil) Rays had even played a game. They took Abreu in the Expansion Draft from the Astros, and immediately dealt him to the Phillies for Stocker, a veteran who had parlayed three hot months in 1993 with the Phillies into a starting gig. Naturally, he was terrible for the (Devil) Rays after the trade, hitting just .250/.329/.347 in 231 games before being released.

Abreu, of course, put together a magnificent career that just ended this year. The Phillies were his primary team, and Abreu was a phenomenal player for them. In his nine years with the club, Abreu hit a stellar .303/.416/.513, homering 195 times and stealing 254 bases. He made two All-Star Teams with Philly, received MVP votes in five seasons, won a Gold Glove, and won a Silver Slugger. Yeah, the Phillies didn’t get anything out of the four players they received when they traded him to the Yankees in 2006, but those nine seasons of production were well were dumping Stocker.

Texas Rangers
Best trade: Acquired Josh Hamilton from Reds for Danny Herrera and Edinson Volquez (December 21, 2007)
This was a challenge trade of sorts, and it worked out in spades for the Rangers. I talked about it earlier on in the Reds section, but the value that Hamilton provided to the Rangers is worth discussing again. In his five seasons with the club, Hamilton made five All-Star teams. He won three Silver Sluggers. He was the 2010 AL MVP, finished in the top ten another two times, and also received votes in 2011. He won the AL batting title in 2010. Over those five seasons, he hit a ridiculous .305/.363/.549 with 142 homers. The Rangers won back to back AL pennants with Hamilton as the driving force in their lineup, and made the playoffs for just the fourth, fifth, and six times in the franchise’s 54 year history.

I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable to say that Josh Hamilton is one of the most important players in Rangers history. For a franchise that has had so much negativity surrounding it (Alex Rodriguez’s contract, the pointing of the PED finger at the late-90s clubs, the rampant mediocrity prior to those years), Hamilton was an overwhelming source of positive vibes on the Rangers. And all it took for the Rangers to get him was an expendable reliever and a back-end starter that has turned into a journeyman in recent seasons.

Worst trade: Acquired Adam Eaton, Billy Killian, and Akinori Otsuka from Padres for Adrian Gonzalez, Terrmel Sledge, and Chris Young (January 6, 2006)
Yeesh. When the Rangers traded Adrian Gonzalez to the Padres in this six-player deal, they already had a franchise first baseman in Mark Teixeira. Of course, that didn’t mean a whole lot – Teixeira was traded to the Braves a year and a half after Gonzalez was traded to the Padres. Then Chris Davis took over at the position, but he was traded to the Orioles in 2011. Then it was Mitch Moreland’s job, but the team realized he couldn’t hit and replaced him with Prince Fielder, who couldn’t stay on the field in his first year as Rangers first baseman. All of that could have been avoided if the team simply kept Gonzalez in the fold.

As a Padre, Gonzalez was magnificent. He made three NL All-Star teams, and received MVP votes in four seasons with the club. In his five years in San Diego, Gonzalez mashed NL pitching to the tune of a .288/.374/.514 line, and hit an impressive 161 homers. He was eventually traded to the Red Sox for a quartet of prospects. Terrmel Sledge didn’t have a lot of use for the Padres, hitting .215/.310/.359 in part-time duty over two seasons, but Chris Young definitely did. He was a stalwart in the Padres rotation for five years, and though he threw just 550 2/3 innings over those five seasons, he still pitched to a 3.60 ERA and struck out 489. You can do a lot worse to fill out your rotation.

And it’s not as if the team got a ton of value for Gonzalez, either. Adam Eaton made just 13 starts in his lone year with the club, pitching to a 5.12 ERA in 65 innings. He signed with the Phillies the next winter. Akinori Otsuka was fine in his two years as a Rangers reliever, pitching to a 2.25 ERA in 92 innings. But then again, he’s a reliever, not exactly an every day player. Billy Killian never made the majors. So for Gonzalez, a roster filler in Sledge, and a useful major league starter in Young, the Rangers got…157 innings over two years. What a disaster.

Toronto Blue Jays
Best trade: Acquired Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera from Angels for Vernon Wells (January 21, 2011)
Ah yes, the ultimate “wait, they did WHAT?!?” trade. At the time of this deal, Wells was still owed $86 million by the Blue Jays, and though he was an All-Star in 2010, several years of inconsistent performances and his advancing age (32 at the time) signified that another decline could be coming. And not only did the Angels give players with actual value to the Blue Jays, they also ate all of Wells’ contract, save $5 million that Toronto sent over.

Wells was worthless after the trade. In two years with the Angels, he hit .222/.258/.409 in 208 games. The Angels traded him to the Yankees before the 2013 season, and ate two-thirds of his remaining contract. Wells was even worse with the Yankees that year, posting a .233/.282/.349 line, and was released before the 2014 season.

That was quite a bullet dodged by the Blue Jays, but even though they were able to unload Wells’ contract for value, they couldn’t take advantage. Mike Napoli was immediately traded to the Rangers for reliever Frank Francisco, who had a 3.55 ERA over 50 2/3 innings in his one season as a Blue Jay. Napoli hit 54 homers in 221 games as a Ranger before heading back to the AL East and signing with the Red Sox. Juan Rivera, the other player received in the deal by the Jays, spent just 70 games in Toronto and hit .243/.305/.360. He went back to California in July when the Dodgers bought him from the Blue Jays.

Toronto didn’t do a lot with the savings from Wells in 2011 because of how late the deal was in the offseason. But they did clear salary for 2012-14, which allowed the team to swing their blockbuster deal with the Marlins after the 2012 season…which in hindsight, maybe they shouldn’t have done. But getting rid of Wells and not having to pay much of anything to do it? That’s a huge coup for Alex Anthopolous and company.

Worst trade: Acquired Homer Bush, Graeme Lloyd, and David Wells from Yankees for Roger Clemens (February 18, 1999)
What a mess. Clemens was coming off of back to back Cy Young seasons with the Blue Jays, and was still under contract for two more years. But the Jays stunk in 1997, and finished four games out of a playoff spot in 1998. Clemens wanted out. Toronto gave in to free up some salary, and after months of the Yankees holding off on trading a significant package to the team. the Blue Jays eventually took a lesser deal. Coming north for Clemens were three players – 26-year old second baseman Homer Bush, veteran reliever Graeme Lloyd, and ex-Blue Jay turned New York hero David Wells.

None of the three players that came back in the deal lasted long in Toronto. Wells stuck around for two years with the Blue Jays this time around, and after pitching to a 4.82 ERA over 231 2/3 innings in 1999, he rebounded to make the 2000 AL All-Star team and finish third in the AL Cy Young voting while notching a 4.11 ERA in 229 2/3 innings. He’d be traded to the White Sox before the 2001 season in what would go down as “the disastrous Mike Sirotka event”, another strong contender for “worst Blue Jays trade in the last 20 years”.

Lloyd had a 3.63 ERA in 72 innings with the Jays in 1999, and signed with the Expos as a free agent after the season. He’d miss all of the 2000 season following shoulder surgery, and his career was over after the 2003 season. Finally, there’s Bush, the lone young player in the deal. He peaked in a 128 game season in 1999, hitting .320/.353/.421. But it would soon spiral for him, and he finished his Blue Jays career with a .283/.321/.360 line over 305 games in four seasons. Injuries to his hamstring and hip hampered him throughout his career, and his 2000 campaign was ended in July after a fractured hand. His career ended in 2004 with – who else? – the Yankees.

Clemens wasn’t as good with the Yankees as he was with the Blue Jays, but he was still pretty solid over his first five seasons with the team after the trade. He tossed 1,004 innings, notched a 3.99 ERA, struck out 946, won a Cy Young award, and was a part of two World Championship teams. You’d think Toronto could have done a lot better than Bush, Lloyd, and Wells for Clemens, and let this be a lesson to GMs out there – don’t bring your demands down when you set your sights for the stars.

Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos
Best trade: Acquired Doug Fister from Tigers for Ian Krol, Steve Lombardozzi, and Robbie Ray (December 2, 2013)
Yup, I’m calling it after just one season. Why? Well, there are a few reasons. First of all, people immediately questioned the return that the Tigers got – there wasn’t much of a “wait and see” crowd with this one. We knew that the Tigers were getting a super utility player, a potential back-end starter, and a left-handed specialist for Fister, one of the most underrated pitchers in baseball.

Secondly, Fister was excellent in his first year with the Nationals. Over 164 innings, Fister dazzled the National League with a 2.41 ERA, striking out 98, walking 24, and not missing a beat when compared to more highly-touted rotation-mates Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann.

Finally, there’s the return for Detroit, which somehow ended up worse than expected. Ian Krol had a 4.96 ERA in 32 2/3 innings with the Tigers a year ago, striking out 28 and walking 13. Steve Lombardozzi didn’t even get a regular season plate appearance with the club because he was dealt to the Orioles in March for veteran shortstop Alex Gonzalez. The Tigers released Gonzalez in April after nine games and 32 plate appearances. Finally, Robbie Ray, the player of the deal with upside, flashed an 8.16 ERA in the majors in 2014 with the Tigers. In 28 2/3 innings, he struck out 19 and walked 11. He was traded to the Diamondbacks last month in a three-team deal that netted the Tigers Shane Greene from the Yankees.

Needless to say, I don’t think the Nationals are sweating this deal anymore.

Worst trade: Acquired Tony Armas Jr. and Carl Pavano from Red Sox for Pedro Martinez (November 18, 1997)
We close with an appropriate trade, given Martinez’s recent election into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Martinez was the reigning NY Cy Young winner, wrestling the award away from the Glavine/Maddux/Smoltz trio for the first time since 1990. Needless to say, he was about to get expensive, and the Montreal Expos didn’t think they could afford him, so off Pedro went. The return from the Red Sox was minimal – just a pair of young pitchers, Tony Armas Jr. and Carl Pavano.

The pair was highly-touted at the time of the deal. In fact, Pavano was a top ten prospect in baseball in 1998. Naturally, the hype couldn’t match the results Armas pitched well in the minor leagues, pitching to ERAs of 2.88 and 2.89 in his first two years in Montreal’s minor league system, but faltered in the majors. Over eight seasons with the Montreal/Washington franchise, he only threw as many as 100 innings four times, totaling 820 1/3 frames over those eight seasons. In his only two seasons with an ERA under 4.00, he combined to throw 37 innings. His career was over at 31, following three years of bouncing around between organizations. He couldn’t stay on the mound, and when he was on the mound, the results were underwhelming.

Pavano had more success in his career, and stuck around in the majors until 2012. However, he wasn’t too hot with the Expos – in 452 2/3 innings over five years, he had a 4.83 ERA, 304 strikeouts, and 159 innings. In those five seasons, he never qualified for an ERA title, and never even cracked 135 innings with the club. He was traded to the Marlins in 2002 as part of an eight-player trade, and won a World Series with the club in 2003.

Pedro’s accolades don’t need to be dredged up again, but here are the Cliff’s Notes – he was the AL Cy Young runner-up in 1998, and won the award in both 1999 and 2000. He helped the Red Sox win their first World Series since 1918 in 2004. He’ll more than likely be heading to the Hall with a B on his cap. Yeah, the trade needed to happen, but that doesn’t mean that the return shouldn’t be rightfully trashed. Montreal got hosed when they traded Pedro, and the franchise eventually was forced to move to Washington.