Worst baseball trades thread, or, why did the Cubs trade Lou Brock?

I agree. At the time it was a even-steven deal. Brock couldn't do much right in Chi-town but once he went to St. Louis, he was able to relax and enjoy an outstanding career.

 

We know now -- actually, smart people like Branch Rickey knew a long time ago -- that almost all players have their best seasons between ages 25-28, and begin to decline thereafter.

We also know now -- and again, smart people knew it long before -- that park effects have a major role in player productivity, and Brock was the type of player whose talents were not maximized in Wrigley Field.

Still with all that, nobody could have foreseen that from that moment on, Brock was gonna be an All-Star while Broglio flamed out of the league.

 

Another 'win now' disaster would be the Montreal/Seattle trade of Randy Johnson for Mark Langston.

 

One thing Brock did do as a Cub - on June 17, 1962, the day before his 23rd birthday, he became only the third man to ever hit a home run into the centre field bleachers at the Polo Grounds.

Surprisingly, this feat was never accomplished by anyone who played his home games at the Polo Grounds. Luke Easter of the Homestead Grays did it in 1948, Joe Adcock of Milwaukee did it in 1953 and Hank Aaron of Milwaukee also did it in 1962. Matter of fact, Hank's homer was hit one day after Brock's.

 

Another bad deal was the Cardinals trading Steve Carlton to the Phillies for Rick Wise.

 

I also think Brock's defense — which made Vince Coleman look like Jim Edmonds — had something to do with it. The Cubs already had Billy Williams in left field and thus had to play Brock in center. When he got to St. Louis, he could play left because the Cards had Curt Flood.

Here's a few more from my favorite team (and involving the same opposing team):

1983 — Braves trade Brook Jacoby, Rick Behenna AND Brett Butler to Indians for Len Barker. No explanation needed, really.

1997 — Braves trade David Justice and Marquis Grissom to Indians for Kenny Lofton and Alan Embree. Not so bad on the surface, but Lofton was an impending free agent and went right back to Cleveland the next season. Beginning of the end for Atlanta, which has been to one World Series since (and got swept).

And here's five lop-sided ones all involving the same guy:

July 29, 1988: Traded by the Boston Red Sox with Brady Anderson to the Baltimore Orioles for Mike Boddicker.

January 10, 1991: Traded by the Baltimore Orioles with Steve Finley and Pete Harnisch to the Houston Astros for Glenn Davis.

April 2, 1992: Traded by the Houston Astros to the Philadelphia Phillies for Jason Grimsley.

July 26, 2000: Traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Omar Daal, Nelson Figueroa, Travis Lee, and Vicente Padilla.

November 28, 2003: Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Boston Red Sox for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, Jorge de la Rosa, and Michael Goss (minors).

Any guesses?

 

Curt Schilling.

 

Mr. Bloody sock

 

Yeah, I know that one was easy, but I figured it was still worth pointing out.

 

Not that easy. Had to use the gray matter for a few seconds.

 

texas rangers must qualify for a lifetime achievement award in bad trades

 

Four of those are defensible on some level, but not straight-up for Jason Freakin' Grimsley. Can you imagine the numbers Schilling would have put up in the Astrodome? (though he wouldn't have hooked up with Johnny Podres, I guess)

They might come out ahead in the Teixeira, deal, however. And getting Palmeiro and Jamie Moyer for Mitch Williams and spare parts wasn't bad, either.