Bloody Gamebreak, my muse these days, wants us to talk about the worst trades in sports. Since we've exhausted the free agent category (we came up with great ones, good work team!), lets move on to this one...
NHL: The worst trade in this sport is a tough call, especially since I hate hockey and know very little about it. I'd have to say the Flyers-Nordiques/Avs trade involving Eric Lindros is right up there. Lindros insisted that he wouldn't sign in Quebec for the money being offered, forced a trade to Philly where the Flyers got his draft rights in exchange for what became the core of the Avs' Stanley Cup teams of 1996 and 2001. The Flyers got a petulant bitch who could never stay on the ice when it mattered most and never caught a whiff of glory with Lindros on the team.
NFL: The NFL doesn't do much trading so this one really stands out. The Vikings traded 6 players and 12 draft picks to Dallas for Herschel Walker. Yes, that's right, 18 players for 1. The Cowboys got at least 2 Hall of Famers out of those draft picks (Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson) and the Vikings cut Herschel 2 years later. As the Guinness guys say, "BRILLIANT!"
MLB: Since the MLB has so many trades each year, it's hard to pick just one. Certainly, the Pink Sox trading that Babe guy to the Yanks has to be on the short list. In fact, that's my vote, since it changed the course of baseball and American history for 86 years, only to be unraveled by Bloody Gamebreak's vote (Kevin Brown).
NBA: I feel very strongly about this one. The worst trade in NBA history is actually a 2-parter. Part 1 is the Knicks trading Patrick Ewing to the Sonics in a 3-way trade and getting Glen Rice. Ewing had 1 year/$16M left on his deal and the incoming Rice had just signed a 4 year/$48M contract. The Knicks added to that nonsensical mistake by then doing Part 2 the following year -- trading Rice for Shandon Anderson and Howard Eisley, each of whom had outrageous contracts. In the span of 18 months, the Knicks parlayed $16M of expiring contract into $75M of long-term obligation. The Knicks are in the shithouse today thanks to that brilliant strategy by Scott Layden, the former GM.
NBA Honorable Mention: In 1993, that fat, bloated dipshit Don Nelson traded the draft rights to Anfernee Hardaway and 3 first round picks ('96, '98, '00) to the Orlando Magic for Chris Webber. Within 1 season, that fat, bloated dipshit traded Webber away to the Washington Bullets/Wizards for Tom Gugliotta. If you're going to trade a #1 overall draft pick and 3 future 1st rounders after 1 season and all you get back is Googs, man, you should never work in this league again. It should be noted that the Golden State Warriors have not made the playoffs since that trade. Again, how is that fat, bloated dipshit still working in the NBA?
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4 comments:
From a native Ohioan...
For MLB I would have to say that the worst teams in terms of impact on the team was Cincinnati's wonderful decision to bring Ken Griffey Jr. to his native home. The trade wasn't that bad in terms of players but with the addition of him, it has made the love of baseball in Cincinnati far from existent and disallowed them to use that money to pick up any other players. The home of the first ever professional baseball team is now a speed bump for the Cubs and the Cardinals. I blame it all on Ken Griffey Jr. Here is an excerpt from his website...
In January 1988, in a state of depression, Junior swallowed an entire bottle of asprin. He had to have his stomach pumped at Providence Hospital in Mount Airy, Ohio. He revealed the incident four years later, hoping his admission would help troubled teens.
I wish he would have swallowed a bottle of Percocet and not have become the boil that he is on the ass of Cincinnati.
Well put, Colonel Sanders. I like the image of Griffey as a boil on the ass of the city.
The truth is, Griffey is one of the most joyless and unlovable players in the game. He never smiles, he seems to really hate playing and he behaved like an asshole when he forced his way out of Seattle.
NFL – I can’t top Herschel Walker. The closest thing I can recall is Ernest Byner for Mike Oliphant. Byner was shipped out since he was responsible for “The Fumble” against the Broncos. Byner went on to win a Super Bowl as well as being an All-Pro a number of years. Oliphant almost turned the corner. Almost.
NBA – Charles Barkley of the Sixers to the Suns in exchange for Jeff Hornacek, Tim Perry, and some guy named Krang who I think was one of the bad guys on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Suns made the Finals the next year, Barkley won an MVP, and Phoenix sold out every game for the next 2 years. Meanwhile, the Sixers missed the playoffs, and quickly became a last-place team. The bright side of the trade was that after 3 or 4 years of losing they got the #1 pick and got Allen Iverson.
Cavs Honorable Mention: There are so many to choose from. But here’s one not many people remember - trading a 1st round pick for Michael Doleac (the pick became Brendan Haywood), then not re-signing Doleac and letting him go after 1 year. IF I was an NBA GM, I wouldn’t trade a 1st round pick for Doleac even if he had a multi-year contract. Apparently Paxson, thought it was worth a 1-year rental.
NHL – Patrick Roy AND Mike Keane of Montreal to Colorado for G Thibault (pronounced T-BO). Roy won another 2 cups for the Avalanche, while Montreal tried to promote their goalie as T-Bone. It didn’t work out so well for Montreal.
Us Cubs fans have two baseball trades that qualify for this category - one good and one bad:
The bad: In the 60s, my Cubbies received starting pitcher Ernie Broglio from St. Louis for a young speedy outfielder named Lou Brock. Brock became Brock, and Broglio became, well, Broglio.
The good: 1982: Cubs send shortstop Ivan DeJesus to Philadelphia for aging shortstop Larry Bowa and an up-and-coming third baseman named Ryne Dee Sandberg...
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