10 Worst Trades

[Coach_Chris]

http://www.12up.com/posts/3467720-10...de?a_aid=40030

1. Braves Send Incredible Prospect Haul for Mark Teixeira

San Francisco Giants v Atlanta Braves
​Don't get me wrong, Mark Teixeira was great in his short stint with the Atlanta Braves. In 157 total games, Teixeira hit .295 with 37 home runs and 134 RBI with the Bravos. But the trade backfired on several levels. Atlanta acquired him to help them down the stretch in 2007, but the team didn't make the playoffs. He was still manning first base in 2008 but the Braves weren't in playoff contention so they sent him to the Angels for Casey Kotchman.

What ended up making this deal worse was who the Braves sent to Texas. The Rangers would end up reaching the World Series in back-to-back years in 2010-2011, thanks in large part because of their young core of Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, all of whom came from Atlanta.

To make matters worse, because Teixeira signed with the Yankees after the 2008 season the Angels received New York's first-round pick. Guess who the Angels drafted? Just the best player in baseball, Mike Trout. If Atlanta kept Teixeira for the rest of the season they could hypothetically have Trout roaming center field.

[WaitingFor2017]

I remember being irate when all Atlanta got for Teixeira was Casey freakin Kotchman who was later traded for Adam LaRoche.

So, in essence, Atlanta traded Adam LaRoche to Pittsburgh for Mike Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge leaving a hole at 1B until Teixeira was acquired. Then Atlanta traded the package above for Teixeira who was then flipped for Kotchman who was then traded for LaRoche.

Out of that fiasco, the Braves lost Andrus, Feliz, Harrison, Salty, etc. to gain a year of Tex, a year of Kotch, and to reacquire a 1B that they should've never traded to begin with....

[rico43]

I remember being irate when all Atlanta got for Teixeira was Casey freakin Kotchman who was later traded for Adam LaRoche.

So, in essence, Atlanta traded Adam LaRoche to Pittsburgh for Mike Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge leaving a hole at 1B until Teixeira was acquired. Then Atlanta traded the package above for Teixeira who was then flipped for Kotchman who was then traded for LaRoche.

Out of that fiasco, the Braves lost Andrus, Feliz, Harrison, Salty, etc. to gain a year of Tex, a year of Kotch, and to reacquire a 1B that they should've never traded to begin with....

You in a concise way put it exactly why I placed it ninth in the darkest days in Atlanta Braves history. I was much more of a windbag, however.

[Horsehide Harry]

I remember when the Braves kept saying they HAD to have a ML 1B back as part of any trade. Then they got Kotchman. It was an obvious disaster from the beginning.

[bravesnumberone]

Reading the last sentence of that article....it probably wouldn't have happened that way but it is infuriating to think about.

[Southcack77]

http://www.12up.com/posts/3467720-10...de?a_aid=40030

1. Braves Send Incredible Prospect Haul for Mark Teixeira

San Francisco Giants v Atlanta Braves
​Don't get me wrong, Mark Teixeira was great in his short stint with the Atlanta Braves. In 157 total games, Teixeira hit .295 with 37 home runs and 134 RBI with the Bravos. But the trade backfired on several levels. Atlanta acquired him to help them down the stretch in 2007, but the team didn't make the playoffs. He was still manning first base in 2008 but the Braves weren't in playoff contention so they sent him to the Angels for Casey Kotchman.

What ended up making this deal worse was who the Braves sent to Texas. The Rangers would end up reaching the World Series in back-to-back years in 2010-2011, thanks in large part because of their young core of Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, all of whom came from Atlanta.

To make matters worse, because Teixeira signed with the Yankees after the 2008 season the Angels received New York's first-round pick. Guess who the Angels drafted? Just the best player in baseball, Mike Trout. If Atlanta kept Teixeira for the rest of the season they could hypothetically have Trout roaming center field.

I understand that the Rangers got a lot of players who helped them in this deal.

However, Andrus and Feliz were the biggest contributors of the group and I would not say that they were among the biggest reasons the Rangers were good. Harrison was a good fourth starter the second season.

You might argue the Braves might have gotten more value for the guys they traded aways, though Texeira was one of the best players in baseball and they also picked up a strong left reliever in the deal. It did not work for Atlanta, but that is not the kind of deal that I would really criticize very hard.

Looking at what the Braves fielded at the positions in the years following this trade

SS: Yunel Escobar, Andrelton Simmons
CL: Billy Wagner, Kimbrell (Feliz would have been a valuable set up man)
C: McCann through 2013 and Salty ended up being questionably average.

SP: Harrison would have been an ok fourth or fifth starter.

I don't mind this trade really. Maybe they overpaid, but they traded surplus for a real run at a title. I'm willing to support that risk when the time is right. Whether that was the time to try, I do not know.

I think trading Texeira away for so little was a worse trade. But I don't quite remember the market at the time.

[Southcack77]

I remember being irate when all Atlanta got for Teixeira was Casey freakin Kotchman who was later traded for Adam LaRoche.

So, in essence, Atlanta traded Adam LaRoche to Pittsburgh for Mike Gonzalez and Brent Lillibridge leaving a hole at 1B until Teixeira was acquired. Then Atlanta traded the package above for Teixeira who was then flipped for Kotchman who was then traded for LaRoche.

Out of that fiasco, the Braves lost Andrus, Feliz, Harrison, Salty, etc. to gain a year of Tex, a year of Kotch, and to reacquire a 1B that they should've never traded to begin with....

See, I think the LaRoche and Kotchman trades were arguably worse. I'd throw in Uggla as another one that was worse, particularly when you factor in the ludicrous extension, which was mind numbingly stupid at the moment it was made.

[PurpleBrave]

I understand that the Rangers got a lot of players who helped them in this deal.

However, Andrus and Feliz were the biggest contributors of the group and I would not say that they were among the biggest reasons the Rangers were good. Harrison was a good fourth starter the second season.

You might argue the Braves might have gotten more value for the guys they traded aways, though Texeira was one of the best players in baseball and they also picked up a strong left reliever in the deal. It did not work for Atlanta, but that is not the kind of deal that I would really criticize very hard.

Looking at what the Braves fielded at the positions in the years following this trade

SS: Yunel Escobar, Andrelton Simmons
CL: Billy Wagner, Kimbrell (Feliz would have been a valuable set up man)
C: McCann through 2013 and Salty ended up being questionably average.

SP: Harrison would have been an ok fourth or fifth starter.

I don't mind this trade really. Maybe they overpaid, but they traded surplus for a real run at a title. I'm willing to support that risk when the time is right. Whether that was the time to try, I do not know.

I think trading Texeira away for so little was a worse trade. But I don't quite remember the market at the time.

Please don't cloud the thread of your sunny forecast and logic when people want to complain about how bad things are

[gilesfan]

I understand that the Rangers got a lot of players who helped them in this deal.

However, Andrus and Feliz were the biggest contributors of the group and I would not say that they were among the biggest reasons the Rangers were good. Harrison was a good fourth starter the second season.

You might argue the Braves might have gotten more value for the guys they traded aways, though Texeira was one of the best players in baseball and they also picked up a strong left reliever in the deal. It did not work for Atlanta, but that is not the kind of deal that I would really criticize very hard.

Looking at what the Braves fielded at the positions in the years following this trade

SS: Yunel Escobar, Andrelton Simmons
CL: Billy Wagner, Kimbrell (Feliz would have been a valuable set up man)
C: McCann through 2013 and Salty ended up being questionably average.

SP: Harrison would have been an ok fourth or fifth starter.

I don't mind this trade really. Maybe they overpaid, but they traded surplus for a real run at a title. I'm willing to support that risk when the time is right. Whether that was the time to try, I do not know.

I think trading Texeira away for so little was a worse trade. But I don't quite remember the market at the time.

Harrison was their 2nd best starter in 2011 and put up 185 innings with a 3.39 ERA. Andrus put up a 4 WAR hitting .279/.347/.361 at SS. Feliz was their closer and had 32 saves. If you don't think that is significant, I'm not sure how to argue with you.

You point about other prospects that Braves had is completely irrelevant.

There was no title run to be had. Any reasonable Braves fan knew it at the time. How are you going to make a run at the title, when you probably are not favored to win 60% of your games because you have 3 trash starters and a below average bullpen?

[striker42]

A very myopic view of this trade in that article. We gave up a haul and got a year and a half of control of Tex and two first round draft picks. Yes we overpaid but it's nowhere near one of the worst trades of the past decade. It just looked so much worse after trading trading Tex for Kotchman. I might actually put that down as one of the worst trades of the last decade. We traded half a year of Tex and two first round picks for Kotchman and Marek. That was just stupid. The draft picks had far, far more value than Kotchman and Marek ever would.

[50PoundHead]

A very myopic view of this trade in that article. We gave up a haul and got a year and a half of control of Tex and two first round draft picks. Yes we overpaid but it's nowhere near one of the worst trades of the past decade. It just looked so much worse after trading trading Tex for Kotchman. I might actually put that down as one of the worst trades of the last decade. We traded half a year of Tex and two first round picks for Kotchman and Marek. That was just stupid. The draft picks had far, far more value than Kotchman and Marek ever would.

I thought the first trade was bad, but the second one was far worse for the points you state.

[gilesfan]

The second trade was probably worse, but had less of an impact than the first one; if that makes sense.

[Knucksie]

I understand that the Rangers got a lot of players who helped them in this deal.

However, Andrus and Feliz were the biggest contributors of the group and I would not say that they were among the biggest reasons the Rangers were good. Harrison was a good fourth starter the second season.

You might argue the Braves might have gotten more value for the guys they traded aways, though Texeira was one of the best players in baseball and they also picked up a strong left reliever in the deal. It did not work for Atlanta, but that is not the kind of deal that I would really criticize very hard.

Looking at what the Braves fielded at the positions in the years following this trade

SS: Yunel Escobar, Andrelton Simmons
CL: Billy Wagner, Kimbrell (Feliz would have been a valuable set up man)
C: McCann through 2013 and Salty ended up being questionably average.

SP: Harrison would have been an ok fourth or fifth starter.

I don't mind this trade really. Maybe they overpaid, but they traded surplus for a real run at a title. I'm willing to support that risk when the time is right. Whether that was the time to try, I do not know.

I think trading Texeira away for so little was a worse trade. But I don't quite remember the market at the time.

They were aware of the risks involved, particularly Tex not staying. However, the motivation for the trade has to also, at least, be considered within the context of the return. JS was thinking of having 2 high average, power hitting switch hitters in the 3rd & 4th spots of the lineup. That meant that opposing pitchers had little choice in pitching around Chipper.

Salty was kind of the centerpiece at the time, but his career didn't turn out as spectaculary as planned. McCann was likely viewed as a potential lifetime Brave. Obviously, as you pointed out Escobar had Andrus blocked at short, and closers weren't exactly in short supply then either. So, at least, it's understood within this context.

As for the writer adding on the part about Trout, then conceivably every team that passed on drafting him should receive the same criticism. Evaluating that aspect, through the lens of this trade, doesn't really add any new insight or necessarily make it "worse." Never was there much indication that the Braves were heavily scouting him.