Watching the Reds-Marlins game, and researching where some of the players began their careers, revealed a couple of awful trades:
1. The Expos traded all-star Grady Sizemore, pitcher Cliff Lee (who looks like Cy Young) and Brandon Phillips of the Reds, for Bartolo Colon and Tim Drew.
Colon pitched well for Montreal in the second half. He was then traded with Jorge Nunez to the ChiSox, for Rocky Biddle, El Duque, Jeff Liefer and cash.
Okay, so that means: Sizemore + Lee + Phillips = Drew + Biddle + Liefer + El Duque + cash. Yeah, that MLB-Montreal thing worked great!
2. The Rangers traded Aaron Harang with Ryan Cullen to the A's for Randy Velarde. Uh, I'd say they didn't think much of Harang as a prospect, since at the time of the trade, Velarde was a 38-year-old utilityman.
Oakland turned Harang into Jeff Bruksch and Joe Valentine three years later. Safe to say Harang was not developing like they thought?
So at 25-years old, some genius in Cincinnati said "I think Harang is worth more than Velarde + Bruksch + Valentine." And for once, I'm not using "genius" in a facetious manner.
BTW, did you realize Harang is 6'7" and 245 pounds. Wow. To put that in perspective, Jason Taylor, the defensive end for the Miami Dolphins, goes 6'6" 255!
