MLB trade deadline disasters
July 21, 1988
Buhner hit 307 home runs with the Mariners. He averaged 29 home runs and 90 RBI from 1990-97, and played a solid right field, winning a gold glove in 1996. The trade is often considered one of the worst made by the Yankees and their fans. Even Frank Costanza yelled at George Steinbrenner, "What the hell did you trade Jay Buhner for?!" Phelps hit .240 with 17 home runs for the Bronx Bombers before being shipped in August of 1989 to the A's for Scott Holcomb.
August 12, 1987
Yes Alexander provided instant dividends for the Tigers going 9-0 down the stretch but he was 0-2 in ALCS against the Twins. In two-plus seasons with the Tigers, Alexander went 29-19 before hanging up his cleats in 1989. The future Hall of Famer Smoltz won a Cy Young Award, 210 games and saved 154 games in 20 seasons with the Braves. Smoltz was selected to the All-Star Game eight times and was the MVP in the 1992 NLCS.
July 28, 1995
Cone was a two-time All-Star and 20-game winner in 1998 with the Yankees. Cone also pitched a perfect game in 1999 against the Montreal Expos. His gutsy performance in Game 3 of the 1996 World Series against the Braves helped turn the series around. Janzen was 6-7 in 27 appearances for the Jays in two seasons.
August 30, 1990
Bagwell was one of the most feared hitters in baseball, blasting 449 home runs in his 15 seasons with Astros. BagPipes was the NL Rookie of Year in 1991 and the leagues MVP in 1994. Andersen appeared in 15 games for the Red Sox down the stretch with an ERA of 1.23. But in the playoffs he was clobbered in the A
July 30, 2004
Zambrano went 10-14 in three injury-plagued seasons with the Mets and he never won another game in majors. Kazmir dealt with arm injuries in his career but managed to become an All-Star, win more games (66) than Zambrano and lead the AL in strikeouts in 2007.
June 27, 2002
Bartolo Colon produced for the Expos going 10-4 down the stretch as Montreal finished just over .500 but the cash-strapped Expos shipped Colon after the season to the White Sox. Three-time All-Star Sizemore won two gold gloves and the Silver Slugger award in 2008. Phillips became an All-Star power hitting gold glove second baseman. Lee became an All-Star and won a Cy Young with the Tribe.
July 28, 2000
When the Mets gold glove shortstop Rey Ordonez went down with injury in May, New York tried Mora and Kurt Abbott at short. Finally the Mets needed to beef up their defense with All-Star Bordick, who homered in his first game as a Met. It was downhill after that as Bordick made crucial errors and was compared to Ordonez time after time because of his lack of range to get ground balls.
July 31, 1999
Seeking help in the bullpen down the stretch, the Mets traded the once-promising Isringhausen for Taylor who was 0-1, 8.10 ERA with no saves for the Mets. Izzy became the A's closer and saved 75 games in 2 1/2 seasons. He then went on to St. Louis for seven seasons and picked up 217 more career saves.
July 26, 2000
Schilling led the NL in wins with 22 games in 2001 and won 23 games in 2002. He would share the 2001 World Series MVP with Randy Johnson as the Diamondbacks beat the New York Yankees. Meanwhile, Daal was out baseball by 2004, Figueroa has a lifetime 20-35 record, and Lee bounced around before being released by the Devil Rays after the 2006 season. Padilla has had a respectable career, winning more than 100 games.
July 29, 1988
Schilling was involved in several bad trades - this was the first one. Boddicker revived his career in Boston going 7-3 down the stretch, but was ineffective in his only start in the ALCS as the A