Given how mush easier it is to find slugging first basemen, I'd rank the Ryne Sandberg for Ivan Dejesus trade worse than the Bagwell one, especially considering the Red Sox already had a HOF blocking Bagwell at third (where he played in the minors).

But Bagwell for Andersen is second after the Ryno deal ...

Jeff Bagwell is amazing. That's an ugly stance, but he makes it work. His "annual" broken hand in the mid-90's prevented him from reaching this milestone sooner, but he became an iron man, and I'm sure he's an inspiration to his teammates. You're right, Craig, about him doing whatever it takes to win. Even when he was stealing 30 bases a year, they were at meaningful times, and he's as memorable for great defensive plays as for homers.

Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek for Heathcliff Slocumb was a horrible swap. The Cubbies getting burnt-out Ernie Broglio for the emerging Lou Brock back in 1964 could be the worst trade ever -- or best, from the perspective of a lifelong Cards fan; it brought a World Series win that year, and a repeat in '67. But the Bagwell deal, for a reliever in the twilight of his career, was almost as dumb for Boston as selling the Babe.

Why isn't Sandberg (and Lou Whitaker, a personal fave even if he spells his last name with one 'T' too few) receiving short shrift from Hall of Fame voters? It's like shooting fish in a barrel these days with that institution: they have a moronic president who injects his own personal political views when his mandate entails an apolitical stance; they have a reformed Veterans ballot that has little hope of enshrining worthy candidates who have been passed over because their true level of accomplishment has been overlooked; and the BBWA continues to make subjective choices that have little rhyme nor reason to them. Any passing fan with a smidgin of sense can recognize a no-doubt Hall of Fame candidate. It takes special 'talent' to leave Gary Carter on the ballot for over a decade, or pass over two of the top fifteen second basemen of all time, or elect very marginal candidates such as Tony Perez instead.

Rant over.

Does anyone remember who the Giants received when they traded George Foster to the Reds? Foster was no Bagwell, of course, but he turned out OK ...

And who did the Jays trade to the Yanks for McGriff, who was blocked by Mattingly?

http://economics.about.com
McGriff was traded for Dale Murray and Tom Dodd.

That'd be bad enough, but the Jays also got Dave Collins and Mike Morgan.

Yes, I *did* have to look that up. I thought McGriff was traded **for** Collins.

MP

Gitz, the Jays got McGriff as a throw-in; the "real" deal was Dave Collins for the legendary Dale Murray. Not that Gillick was sharp, or anything...

Here's a good article on another great player approaching a milestone of his own.

OK, Mike, you won that one.

http://economics.about.com
I actually had to look it up.. and I imagine that you knew. So I'll give you that one.

MP

God, I hate to say it, but looking at that Palmeiro article makes it all the more clear. We are living in a golden age. With three of the greatest pitchers ever (Clemens, Johnson, Maddux) still going strong, and a fourth cementing his claim to the all-time greats (Pedro) along with a bevy of hitting talent unprecedented in history (of the great contemporary hitters, most... McGwire and Belle excepted, are still going strong) and you have an age of absolutely glittering stars.

We are privileged to be able to watch this collection of talent 162+ times a year.

Does anyone remember who the Giants received when they traded George Foster to the Reds?

I love Retrosheet's new transaction logs, which are sorted by player.

The logs show that George Foster, who was indeed a terrific player (a terrifying force around the time I first became a fan), was traded for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert. Nice one, Giants. This was during an era in the Giants history that Steve Treder describes very well in an essay he once wrote... essentially, this was a time when the Giants would bring up a younger outfielder, and if he wasn't Willie Mays, they would trade him.

Duffy did become a good player, a starting shortstop for several years, well known for his defense. But not for the Giants; exactly six months after the Foster trade, he was thrown in with Gaylord Perry in a trade with the Indians for the washed-up Sudden Sam McDowell (washed up, but first place in the nickname sweepstakes). Perry would go on to win 70 games over four years with Cleveland (including 24 and 21 in '72 and '74) and would later net Jim Bibby amongst other treasures in a 1976 trade.

Geishert was a nothing, a warm body who would never appear in the major leagues again.

Essentially, the Giants got 11 wins' worth of Sam McDowell for Gaylord Perry and George Foster. Ouch.

By the way, Retrosheet's transactions are also archived by date, so you can look up transactions for any day. On my birthday (November 30, 1972) it must have been the Winter Meetings, because there was tons of business:

Oakland Athletics traded Brant Alyea to Texas Rangers completing trade in which Oakland Athletics traded Bill McNulty and a player to be named later to Texas Rangers in exchange for Paul Lindblad (October 30, 1972).

Chicago Cubs traded Bill Hands, Joe Decker and Bob Maneely to Minnesota Twins in exchange for Dave LaRoche.

Philadelphia Phillies traded Ken Sanders, Ken Reynolds and Joe Lis to Minnesota Twins in exchange for Cesar Tovar.

Texas Rangers traded Horacio Pina to Oakland Athletics in exchange for Mike Epstein.

Cincinnati Reds traded Wayne Simpson and Hal McRae to Kansas City Royals in exchange for Roger Nelson and Richie Scheinblum.

San Diego Padres traded Al Severinsen to New York Mets in exchange for Dave Marshall.

Texas Rangers traded Tom Ragland to Cleveland Indians in exchange for Vince Colbert.

Cleveland Indians traded Del Unser and Terry Wedgewood to Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for Oscar Gamble and Roger Freed.

Detroit Tigers traded Jim Foor and Norm McRae to Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Dick Sharon.

Atlanta Braves traded Earl Williams and Taylor Duncan to Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Davey Johnson, Pat Dobson, Roric Harrison and Johnny Oates.

Minnesota Twins sold Rich Reese to Detroit Tigers.

San Diego Padres sold Larry Stahl to Cincinnati Reds.

http://economics.about.com
Here's what happened on my birthday:

New York Yankees traded Terry Whitfield to San Francisco Giants in exchange for Marty Perez.

That's it.. one transaction. If there was ever a more meaningless trade, I'd like to see it.

MP

Well, all that happened the day I was born was the release of Mike Tyson by the Cubs. No, not that Mike Tyson, though it's an interesting image. I suppose that could be said of any March birthday, really. Not much happens in March in terms of blockbuster trades.

I think I can match M.P. in the meaningless-trade-on-my-birthdate-department :

Chicago Cubs traded Randy Bobb to New York Mets in exchange for J.C. Martin.

The name Randy Bobb remnds me of the names Yossarian used to play around with in Catch-22 (Have you seen Milton, John?/ Are you in the John, Milton?). I can almost hear Austin Powers wondering if Bobb is randy. Perhaps after attending a party at Martin J(unior) C(ollege)

It's nice to see Bags get some recognition, especially as a fellow Xavier High School alum. I had the honor of seeing him speak at my HS as a part of Jeff Bagwell Day, where he had his number retired. Of course he also happened to have made a sizable donation to the school too, but he's still the most famous alum the school's ever had. Interesting to note that he was a pretty good player while in HS, but nobody who was around at the time foresaw an All-star caliber player.