Worst baseball roster decision (40-man, waive, release) ever (no trades, please)

I really do not have an answer. I will leave that up to Buckweaver and some of the other baseball savants on this board.

But when looking at Toronto dropping Chris Carpenter from their 40-man roster, this has to be close, right?

I know Roberto Clemente was a Rule 5 draftee by the Pirates from the Dodgers, so I am thinking that was an alltimer, also.

 

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Does this include trades?

 

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Some team putting in a waiver claim on Aaron Heilman [/crossthreading]

 

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Two notable ones by the Astros:

1. They left Johan Santana off their 40-man roster after the 1999 season, exposing him to the Rule 5 draft. Of course, the Twins claimed him.

2. They left Bobby Abreu unprotected in the 1998 expansion draft, and the D-Rays took him. Tampa then traded him to the Phillies for KEVIN STOCKER! Of course, Houston had Richard Hidalgo and Lance Berkman (then an outfielder) coming up, so maybe they thought Abreu was expendable.

 

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That is, when they give him a fat contract in the offseason.

 

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And two other ones from early in the history of the MLB draft:

1966 --- The Atlanta Braves select Tom Seaver No. 1, but signed him BEFORE the start of his junior season (the draft was held twice a year, in January and June, back then). MLB ruled Seaver ineligible, but after his father threatened a lawsuit, commissioner William Eckert ruled that other teams could match the Braves' offer. After a lottery drawing between the Braves, Indians, Phillies and Mets, the Mets were awarded Seaver's rights.


1967 --- The New York Mets draft high school catcher Steve Chilcott with the No. 1 overall pick. The No. 2 pick? Reggie Jackson

 

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He also qualifies as the BEST roster decision ever, when the Braves dumped him for a legitimate major-leaguer, rather than non-tendering him in the offseason.

Another one I just thought of ... in the 2002-03 offseason, the Braves offer Greg Maddux arbitration, thinking he'll turn it down and they can get the compensatory draft pick. Well, Maddux accepted arbitration, forcing the Braves to trade nominal staff ace Kevin Millwood to the Phillies for Johnny Estrada in order to get under budget.

 

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It's a major upset that the Royals haven't been mentioned yet.

 

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There was this Babe Ruth guy that the Red Sox sold to the Yankees for $100,000 in 1920. That didn't work out so well for Boston.

 

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The Tigers trade John Smoltz to the Braves for Alexander Doyle.

 

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Who the hell is Alexander Doyle?

It's been discussed many times, in many places, but that wasn't a terrible trade for the Tigers. Doyle Alexander went 9-0 for the Tigers in 1987 and helped them win the AL East. That was what they got him for. He also went 14-11 in 1988, when the Tigers finished a game behind the Red Sox.
Smoltz, meanwhile, didn't have a major impact for the Braves until 1989. He was a prospect who wasn't going to help them while their window to win was open. Would he have helped them in the early 90s? Maybe. But he sure wasn't helping them win then. I'd say it was a trade that worked out for both sides, really.

Now a bad trade was the Mets sending Nolan Ryan and a few no-names to the Angels for Jim Fregosi. Fregosi was out of New York by 1973. Ryan came into his own in California and was a stud for them for the better part of a decade.
Bud Black getting $10 million (a lot of money in 1991) for four mediocre to bad seasons with the Giants was also terrible. Back then it was often pointed to as one of the signs that salaries were spiraling out of control, and may have indirectly led to the 1994 strike.

 

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Since the trade:
Francoeur: .305, 6 HR, 25 RBI in 42 games

Church: .271, 2 HR, 16 RBI in 31 games


Francouer is 5 years younger, better defensively and doesn't need a month to recover from a hangnail (in fact, is playing now with torn ligament in his thumb, an injury that would keep Ryan Church out for the season.)

You guys can hate Francoeur all you want because you looked at a year or two and decided he was a Hall of Famer. He's still far better than Ryan freaking Church.