Worst trades in sports history

Last night Kobe Bryant became the youngest player ever to join the 30,000 point club - a mark reached by only four other players before him.  He's talked about the possibility of retirement after his current contract ends after next season, but by then he's likely to have passed Wilt Chamberlain (31,419) and Michael Jordan (32,292) on the all-time scoring list.  If he decides to extend his career beyond that, you can probably count on him passing Karl Malone (36,928) and making a run at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's spot at the top of the list (38,387).  Let's not kid ourselves, if Kareem's record is in his sights, there's no way Kobe calls it quits in two years, especially if he's also still chasing that 6th ring.  Either way, when it's all said and done, Kobe is a sure fire Hall of Famer who has established himself as a winner and one of the greatest scorers ever.

An interesting sub-plot of this milestone game is that it came against the team that drafted him.  The Charlotte Hornets drafted Kobe as a high school graduate with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 draft, then immediately shipped him to the Lakers for Vlade Divac.  The veteran center played two solid seasons with the Hornets before moving on to Sacramento, while Kobe developed into one of the game's brightest young stars.  Attendance began to drop drastically, triggering the franchise's eventual move to New Orleans.  Hard to imagine them needing to re-locate if they had Kobe selling out the arena every night.

While trading a productive veteran for an 18 year old rookie comes with plenty of risk, in retrospect it's easy to see that the Lakers committed highway robbery.  This got me thinking about some of the other lopsided deals in sports history. 

In no particular order, here is my list of the other 10 worst trades in sports history.

Golden State Warriors trade Robert Parish and the #3 pick (Kevin McHale) to Boston Celtics for the #1 overall pick (Joe Barry Carroll) and #13 pick (Rickey Brown) 
First of all, credit for this trade goes back even further to the previous year, when Red Auerbach dealt a declining Bob McAdoo for M.L. Carr and a first round pick - which ended up being the first overall pick in the draft.  Boston used that pick, along with their own, to acquire two front court players that went on to have Hall of Fame careers and teamed with Larry Bird to form the original Big Three in Boston that won three NBA titles.  That included starring for the '86 Celtics team that is widely considered to be one of the best teams of all time. 

At the time, Carroll was considered the best sure thing prospect in the draft and valued even higher than McHale.  Parish had become a solid starter for the Warriors, but had developed a reputation as being a lazy pot smoker.  He became expendable to them for the chance to move up to the top spot to draft his replacement in Carroll, but it didn't work out well in the long run.  Carroll played well for them for a couple seasons before taking off for a brief stint in Italy.  He returned to the Warriors for a couple more productive seasons before falling out of favor with the franchise and earning himself the nickname Joe "Barely Cares."  He was shipped to Houston for Ralph Sampson and ended up bouncing around to several other teams after as his production quickly declined.

Boston Red Sox trade Jeff Bagwell to Houston Astros for Larry Anderson

Clearly not every trade goes Boston's way. This deal is often referenced as a warning to teams about trading away young prospects. Anderson gave Boston a grand total of 22 innings of mediocre pitching, while Bagwell went on to become a potential Hall of Famer.

Bagwell won rookie of the year in '91 and the '94 NL MVP. He hit 449 HRs with a battling line of .297/.408/.540 in his career with several All-Star appearances. He's currently on the election ballot for the Hall of Fame and should get in eventually. Larry Anderson? Not so much.

Seattle Mariners trade Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe to Boston Red Sox for Heathcliff Slocumb

The Mariners were in win-now mode at the time and despite Slocumb having a miserable start to the season in Boston, they wanted him to help shore up their bullpen.  He did pitch a little better the rest of the season, helping his new team make the postseason, but quickly fell apart after that.  He posted a 5.32 ERA in '98 before leaving Seattle the following season.

The Red Sox got two prospects in the deal that ended up becoming valuable regulars to their roster.  Each made multiple All-Star appearances, with Varitek earning himself the rare honor of team captain.  They were both key members of the 2004 curse breaking team that delivered the Sox their first championship since 1918.

LA Dodgers trade Pedro Martinez to Montreal Expos for Delino DeShields

After an impressive rookie debut, Pedro was dealt to the Expos.  The Dodgers were too concerned over his small frame and durability to rely on him as an effective starter, using him mostly in the bullpen and therefore making him expendable when the need for a second baseman arose.  DeShields played three mediocre seasons for the Dodgers, never hitting higher than .256.

Pedro of course would go on to be a star.  He had four great seasons in Montreal, including a Cy Young award in '97 when he went 17-8 with an insanely low 1.90 ERA.  However, unlike the wealthy Dodgers, the Expos weren't able to afford to keep their ace as he approached the end of his contract.  The fact that they would have lost him to free agency anyway is the only reason the Expos trading Pedro to Boston for Carl Pavano and Tony Armas Jr. doesn't make the list as well.

Pedro ended up winning two more Cy Young awards in Boston, along with a World Series title, while becoming one of the top pitchers of all time.

Baltimore Colts trade John Elway to Denver Broncos for Mark Herrmann, Chris Hinton and a first round pick
This one can't completely be blamed on the Colts because Elway essentially refused to play for them.  With the threat of him passing on the NFL to play baseball instead, they really had no choice but to trade him.

Considering Elway was as hyped a prospect as there had ever been, with just about every team in the league salivating for the chance to draft him, you'd think they'd get a better haul in return.  Herrmann was an average QB at best, while the other assets they acquired never amounted to much either.  Hardly close to fair value for Elway, who became an MVP, two time Super Bowl winner and one of the best QBs ever.

Honorable mention goes to Eli Manning, who forced his way out of being drafted by San Diego (thanks in large part to the influence of the Manning family) by getting them to trade him to the New York Giants for the rights to draft Philip Rivers instead.  At least Rivers went on to have a few very good seasons in San Diego, but he hasn't won anything with them and his production has dropped off a cliff the past couple seasons.  Eli, on the other hand, has established himself as an elite QB and won two Super Bowl titles.  He still gets a lot of criticism to this day for the way he paved his way to New York, but people tend to forget that it was Elway that perfected that move long before Eli came along.

Dallas Cowboys trade Herschel Walker to Minnesota Vikings for 5 players and a boat load of draft picks
When a team discusses the possibility of trading a star player, they often say they will only consider if they are offered a "Herschel Walker" deal.  Walker was coming off two Pro-Bowl seasons at the time, but was an aging player at a position that doesn't age well.  He failed to rush for 1,000 yards in any season with the Vikings.

Dallas used a couple of those picks to draft Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson.  The large haul they acquired in the deal helped them reload a roster that ended up dominating the 90's, winning 3 Super Bowls in that decade.

New York Nets sell Julius Erving to Philadelphia 76ers

Dr. J dominated the ABA with the Nets, but when the league merged with the NBA, the New York Knicks demanded the Nets pay them for invading their territory. When the Knicks refused to take Erving instead of making the Nets pay the fee (a terrible decision by the Knicks, as it turned out), the Nets were forced to sell him to help cover the costs of their territory dispute.

Doc went on to make 11 All-Star appearances, 4 Finals appearances and won an NBA title with the Sixers. He was considered one of the most exciting stars of his generation and proved to be well worth the cost to acquire him from the desperate Nets.

Still struggling financially after angry season ticket holders sued the team for their money back following the trade, the Nets were forced to move out of Long Island and ended up in New Jersey.

St. Louis Hawks trade Bill Russell to Boston Celtics for Ed Macauley and Cliff Hagan
Back in 1956, defensive minded centers weren't thought of as much as those that dominated on offense, which may have left Russell undervalued.  The unorthodox Red Auerbach didn't think that way.  The Hawks had been asking for St. Louis native Macauley (a 6 time All-Star), so the Celtics worked out a deal to send him there in exchange for Russell.  All Russell did after that was win a record 11 titles and establish himself as the greatest center of all time.

Does anyone even remember the two guys Boston gave up for him, outside of the context of this trade?

Boston Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $100,000

The deal also came with a $300,000 loan that helped finance a musical, which apparently was more important to the team's owners at the time than their baseball team was.  Of course there was also the issue that Ruth demanded a raise, threatening to retire if his demands weren't met.  Sox owner Harry Frazee (worst owner ever?) refused, deciding to trade him for cash instead.

Ruth converted from a pitcher to the outfield and went on to become one of the greatest hitters of all time, while winning multiple World Series titles.  He was part of the infamous "Murderer's Row" on the 1927 Yankees team considered to be the best of all time.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox unraveled without their best player and spiraled into an 86 year draught without winning a championship.  During that era, Red Sox Nation suffered from what was known as "The Curse of the Bambino."

Honorable Mentions

• Expos trade Cliff Lee, Brandon Philips and Grady Sizemore to the Indians for Bartolo Colon.
• Bucks trade Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers for Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, Brian Winters and Dave Meyers.
• Colts trade Marshall Faulk to the Rams for 2nd and 5th round picks.
• Mets trade Nolan Ryan to the Angels for Jim Fregosi.
• Sonics trade Scottie Pippen to the Bulls for Olden Polynice.