What were the best or worse trades or transactions (depending on the teams point of view) in baseball history?

Question

Give me your top 5. Best list gets the points.

Answer 1

OK. We're all in agreement that the Babe Ruth sale was the worst in history. So here's my list minus that.

1. The Cubs trade Lou Brock to St. Louis for Ernie Broglio .
2. St. Louis trades Steve Carlton to the Phillies for Rick Wise.
3. The Baltimore Orioles trade pitchers Curt Schilling, Pete Harnisch and outfielder Steve Finley to the Houston Astros for First Baseman Glenn Davis.
4. The New York Mets trade pitcher Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for pitcher Pat Zachry, infielders Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, and prospect Dan Norman.
5. The Chicago Cubs trade Ivan DeJesus to the Philadelphia Phillies for Larry Bowa and second baseman Ryne Sandberg.

Honorable Mention
The Cincinnati Reds trade infielders Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Jimmy Stewart to the Houston Astros for pitcher Jack Billingham, outfielders Ed Armbrister and Cesar Geronimo, infielder Denis Menke, and second baseman Joe Morgan.
With this trade the Reds got a soon to be 2 time MVP, and the Astros got a few average players.

I wouldn't be me if I didn't mention the Pirates. In 1979, they stole Bill Madlock from the Giants for Ed Whitson and Al Holland.

In response to DeJesus, this might put his contributions in perscective.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dejesiv01.shtml

Answer 2

There's a great way to find trades at this web site: http://www.baseballhistorian.com/trade_details.cfm. You can do a search to look up who was traded for whom. They mention the Sandberg trade which for the Cubs no doubtedly was a GREAT trade.

The DeJesus for Bowa and Sandberg trade was an interesting one, because at first glance you think, the Cubs got the better of the trade long term. I mean Sandberg's a hall of famer, and underrated even at that. Bowa and DeJesus didn't play much longer than a few years after the trade. However, both teams reached the playoffs within two years (Phillies lost in the World Series in '83 & Cubs finally made the playoffs for the first time since '45, albeit choking to the Padres), so if the Phillies were going for broke, they came up just a bit short.

Answer 3

The Babe Ruth trade is the most famous one, of course. The Glenn Davis trade belongs in this list, as does the Pedro trade. Let's not forget the Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio trade in the 60's. What could the Cubs have done if they kept Brock to play with Santo, Banks and Williams? Another one is one of the Expos many regrets, trading Randy Johnson to the Mariners near the beginning of his career.

Answer 4

1.The Boston Red Sox trade Pitcher/Outfielder George Herman Ruth to the New York Yankees for Cash.
2.Dodgers trade Pedro Martinez to Expos for Delino DeShields.
3.The Baltimore Orioles trade pitchers Curt Schilling, Pete Harnisch and outfielder Steve Finley to the Houston Astros for First Baseman Glenn Davis.
4.The Boston Red Sox trade first baseman Jeff Bagwell to the Houston Astros for pitcher Larry Andersen.
5.The Seattle Mariners trade pitcher Derek Lowe and catcher Jason Varitek to the Boston Red Sox for closer Heathcliff Slocumb.

Answer 5

OKAY so we can all agree the babe ruth boston to new york trade is by far the worst ever... but I think I'm gonna take a chance to point out a couple trades that were basically before they blew up trades...

1)Boston Red Sox trade Jeff Bagwell to Houston Astros for pitcher Larry Andersen

2)I live in Seattle so this one gets too me...Mariners traded Derek Lowe & Jason Varitek to the Red Sox for pitcher Heathcliff Slocumb

3)The Texas Rangers trade pitcher Wilson Alvarez, outfielder Sammy Sosa and infielder Scott Fletcher to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Harold Baines and infielder Fred Manrique.

4)I loved this trade of course...The Montreal Expos trade pitchers Randy Johnson, Gene Harris, and Brian Holman to the Seattle Mariners for pitchers Mark Langston and Mike Campbell.

5)This guy wasn't amasing but he basically was loved by everyone in Seattle...The New York Yankees trade outfielder Jay Buhner and prospects Rich Balabon and Troy Evers to the Seattle Mariners for first baseman Ken Phelps.

Answer 6

5 one-sided trades: Christy Mathewson for Amos Rusie (Mathewson gained 3 hundred+ video games after the commerce, Rusie went 0-a million and retired after 3 video games) Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe for Heathcliff Slocumb Frank Robinson for Jack Baldschun, Milt Pappas and Dick Simpson. Honorable mentions: Pedro Martinez for Delino Deshields Babe Ruth for money

Answer 7

Every one has named five dndies but the all time worst trade sent infielder Milt Pappas from Batlimore to Cincinnati for "washed-up" outfielder Frank Robinson in Dec. of 1961 I believe. All Robinson did was win the MVP in 1966 with a Triple Crown season and played in four WS with the O's.

I hate being a Reds' fan (although I ws not born at this time.)

Answer 8

1) Twins send catcher A.J Pierzynski to the Giants for three minor league prospects: Joe Nathan, Boof Bonzer and Francisco Liriano.

2) Mets send Scott Kazmir to Tampa Bay for Victor Zambrano.

3) Dodgers trade pitcher Pedro Martinez to Montreal for Delino Deshields

4) Tigers send John Smoltz to Atlanta for Doyle Alexander

5) The Boston Red Sox trade first baseman Jeff Bagwell to the Houston Astros for pitcher Larry Andersen

Answer 9

Dodgers trade Pedro Martinez to Expos for Delino DeShields

Answer 10

Of course the worst trade of history was Babe Ruth to the Yankees for cash. But you're all forgetting one very important, how about Sammy from Chicago White Sox to Chicago Cubs for prospects and cash?