I know that they were two completely different scenarios. One took place during the offseason and involved a player in his prime. While the other was centered around a player on the decline in the middle of summer. However it's the similarities that stir up negative feelings.
Both of these guys were two of my favorite players at the time of the trade and both were being shipped off to the most successful franchise in the history of sports.
Getting traded is one thing. Getting traded to The Evil Empire totally sucks.
Thankfully... Rickey eventually made his way home to Oakland and helped the Athletics win a World Series title.
He's officially back where he belongs.
2000 Upper Deck Ovation Japanese #41
Perfect timing too. I've been wanting a copy of this particular pre-MLB Ichiro of a very, very, very long time and I happened to buy one on eBay a few days before the signing.
It's not his Japanese rookie card. Nor is it his American rookie card. But it's one of the first Japanese trading cards produced by an American trading card company. And if you've ever held a 2000 UD Ovation baseball card, then I'm sure you can appreciate the rock solid design.
Okay... enough of my rambling. It's time to hear from you.
What are some of your least favorite trades of all-time?
Anyone else excited that Ichiro is back in Seattle?
Happy Friday and sayonara!
18 comments:
Look for a tremendous article on Ichiro in ESPN/mag this week. Still no direct interview, but the author spent some time tracking him in Japan this winter when he was without a contract...amazing reporting!
Glad to see Ichiro back with the Mariners.
And I didn't care to see Jim Edmonds to the Cardinals for Kent Bottenfield and Adam Kennedy. Although, Kennedy later proved vital for the Angels 2002 World Series win.
I'm glad. Certain players should spned their entire careers with the same team. This is ancient history but my least favorite trade is the Cubs sending Ron Santo to the south side for Steve Stone and friends. Nothing against Steve Stone. Like Ichiro in Seattle (coincidentally Santo's home town) Ron should have ended his career as a Cub.
It wasn't a trade but Torrens going to San Diego still hurts.
I'm cautiously excited about Ichiro's return to Seattle because while it's cool, what happens when the injured players come back...?
Mike Piazza to the Marlins still sounds ridiculous.
As Angels fan, Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera to the Toronto Blue Jays for Vernon Wells and cash - Wells was a kind of a favorite of mine as a young star, but when the Angels got him, he was toast; I didn't care about Napoli one way or the other but he still had some big power years ahead of him after being traded away.
I like Ichiro like everyone else seems to like him - but I just hope he is still playing well enough for a reserve / semi-regular where he can stick with the team through the end of the season and not in May or something.
A couple of trades that bummed me out:
Griffey to the Reds
Randy Johnson to the Astros
Ichiro to the Yankees
Michael Bennett to the Eagles
Mike Piazza being traded by the Dodgers
Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields
Carlos Santana for Casey Blake
you can sense a theme....
Padres getting rid of Bip.
I'm hoping Ichiro's double dip in Seattle goes better than Griffey's did. Would love to see him reach his dream of playing till at least 50.
Maddux going to the Barves made 7 year old me quit being a Cubs fan for awhile (it took about a season & a half to fully return). The Bears letting Alshon go hurt, but he ended up getting superstar money AND a ring with the Eagles, so grownup me is happy for him.
Ichiro to the Yankees was wild, especially because the Yankees were IN Seattle and he played that night.
Fitting for him to return to the Emerald City. Wish I could see him play before he leaves us
I love that Ovation card and that is in a great grade too! I am so glad he is back with Seattle. I hope he can finish his career there too!
At the time, I sure didn't like when the Brewers traded Scott Podsednik to the White Sox. Podsednik was one of my favorites then, and I didn't much care for the Sox at that point. But these days I'm a Sox fan, and I can pretty much trace that back to the moment Podsednik came to Chicago.
And heck yes I'm excited to see Ichiro in Seattle again!
mr haverkamp - i started the article a few days ago... but just finished it this morning. wow. very deep. kinda sad. however it's not surprising. ichiro reminds me of my father. dedicated. hard working. and everything revolves around a routine. i hope he's able to find something to focus his energy on after baseball.
the angels in order - i wonder if cardinals fans feel the same way about edmonds being traded to the padres.
hackenbush - i agree. i wish more fan favorites and legends were given the opportunity to spend their entire careers with one team.
zippy - i hope he finds a lot of success. so much that it doesn't matter about the injured players, because after reading that espn article... i worry about ichiro when baseball is finished
night owl - the piazza trade was a tough trade to swallow for baseball fans in general. however... i'm surprised you didn't mention the dodger/cubs trade involving cey.
laurens - i liked vernon wells back in the day too. yeah... after reading that espn article, i'm really pulling for ichiro to find success in 2018.
corky - nailed it. 4 for 4. agree 100%
greg zakwin - i understand piazza and martinez, but not really santana. i mean... he crushes the ball, but he's he's no piazza
defgav - nice call on bip. if he plays to 50, it'll sadly be in japan
twitch - if maddux never played in atlanta, i probably wouldn't be such a huge fan. i loved watching him play on tbs. the maddux trade that bummed me out was the padres trading him to the dodgers.
the lost collector - that standing ovation by the mariners crowd was awesome.
brady - the san francisco giants home opener is against the mariners... plus he'll play in oakland (hopefully) at least a few times
sumomenkoman - glad to see another collector appreciate that ovation card. i love, love, love it.
nick - you're a sox fan? all these years and i though you only liked dime boxes.
Two bad NBA trades come to mind for me. Just this past off-season, the Nets traded Brook Lopez to the Lakers mostly because the media kept saying they should because he might leave as a free agent after this season. He never even hinted he would leave and if he had played this season he would have taken the lead in most all time franchise statistical categories.
The second was Hakeem Olajuwon to the Raptors in 2001. An all time great, the best player in Rockets history, and they ship him away for his final season? Even though the Raptors were a better team that year it just felt wrong for him to not be a Rocket.
I never liked Mark Teixeira (however you spell that) going to the Yankees for the money rather than to his hometown O's for sentimental reasons.
I hope I don't hate the Alex Smith trade. I will probably become a fan of wherever Kirk Cousins goes.
Billy - I remember the Olajuwon trade. Although I would have loved for him to play his entire career in Houston, I can see why they traded him to Toronto. Pretty sure they received a first round pick in return.
GCA - I always think it's so cool when players leave money on the table to play with a hometown team. I don't remember the Teixeira situation... but I can't stand that he signed with the New York Yankees ;)
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