The MLB network, which really is the best network for baseball coverage, did a special on the “40 Most Influential Trades”. Of course the term “influential” is a bit vague. The caveat was that it had to be a trade involving players on both sides, so no Ruth trade (thank god). They also mentioned that they weighed weather the trade lead to a championship or Hall of Fame career.  I am sure arguments could be made for placement on the list, and there are probably trades that were left off, here is the list with my comments. I do want to say that any trades that took place in the first half of the 20th century should be taken with a grain of salt. Scouting was not what it is today, no Keith Law and ESPN.

#40 David Cone Toronto Blue Jays to the New York Yankees for Jason Jarvis (minors), Mike Gordon (minors) and Marty Janzen (7/28/95).  Chalk one up for the bad guys, Cone really had only one great season for the Yankees, they did win 4 World Series in his 5+ seasons with the team. Considering what they gave up, this was a coup for the Yankees.

#39 Delmon Young Traded by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays with Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie to the Minnesota Twins for Eduardo Morlan (minors), Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza (11/28/07). I was surprised to see this trade on the list, but with how well Young has been this year, I can see it’s inclusion. This trade started out great for Tampa with Bartlett and Garza as key contributors in Tampa. However, Bartlett looks to be a guy who just had a good year, and now Young (former #1 pick) has started to blossom. As for now, Tampa has gotten the better end, but Garza is up and down, if Young keeps this up, who knows who wins with this one.

#38 Bill Madlock Traded by the San Francisco Giants with Lenny Randle and Dave Roberts to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Fred Breining, Al Holland and Ed Whitson (6/28/79). Was surprised that this was on the list, as this was the third time Madlock had been traded in his career. Madlock was a good player, I guess he put the Pirates over the top, but this trade seems a bit out of place.

#37 Ron Darling Traded by the Texas Rangers with Walt Terrell to the New York Mets for Lee Mazzilli (4/1/82). This was a ripple effect deal. The Mets turned Terrell into Howard Johnson two years later, and also got back Mazzilli via free agency. Darling was a staple of the Mets rotation and turned into one of the best color guys in baseball, does that add to this trade?

#36 Nellie Fox Traded by the Philadelphia Athletics to the Chicago White Sox for Joe Tipton (10/19/49). Bad stuff for the A’s, future HOFer for a total scrub, straight up. Sadly, this is not the only HOFer for a pile of poop on the list.

#35 Amos Otis Traded by the New York Mets with Bob Johnson to the Kansas City Royals for Joe Foy (12/3/69). Otis went on to be a quality player for the Royals, but he was no HOFer and did not win a championship. So, while this trade was one sided it’s not nearly as bad as…

#34 Joe Morgan Traded by the Houston Astros with Ed Armbrister, Jack Billingham, Cesar Geronimo and Denis Menke to the Cincinnati Reds for Tommy Helms, Lee May and Jimmy Stewart (11/29/71). Judging by the stats, Morgan was a solid 2b for the Astros, but nothing out of this world. Then the season he got traded to the Reds he became one of the best players in baseball. This one has to hurt old Astro fans, but his horrible announcing may take some of the edge off.

#33 Jason Varitek Traded by the Seattle Mariners with Derek Lowe to the Boston Red Sox for Heathcliff Slocumb (7/31/97). Did they just place this at #33 to make Bostonians extra happy? Considering Slocumb went 2-9, with 13 Svs for Seattle, this one has to sting. Varitek was the backbone of the Red Sox for 10 years. Lowe won 20 games in one season, saved 42 in another. He threw a no-hitter, started an all-star game. Oh and how about the ’04 playoffs when he won every deciding game (after a season when Sox fans were counting down the days until he was gone). This trade would have made the list if it was either Lowe or Tek for Slocumb, but both of them? One of the most important seeds of the Red Sox championship years were planted on that fateful final day of July ’97, yet this trade did not garner any headlines because on the same day….

#32 Mark McGwire Traded by the Oakland Athletics to the St. Louis Cardinals for Eric Ludwick, T.J. Mathews and Blake Stein. Considering that none of the guys the A’s got in return did anything, this trade was a big win for the Cardinals. Not only did a juiced up Big Mac hit tons of HR, he also put asses in the seats. Big Mac never lead the Cards to the World Series, but he really put them back on the baseball map.

#31 Roger Maris Traded by the Kansas City Athletics with Joe DeMaestri and Kent Hadley to the New York Yankees for Hank Bauer, Don Larsen, Norm Siebern and Marv Throneberry (12/11/59). The Yankees got rid of an old Bauer and former World Series hero, Don Larsen, and brought a 24 year old Maris into the fold. Of course Maris blew up playing in Yankee Stadium with Mantle. He won back to back MVPs in his first 2 season with the Yanks, another steal for the bad guys.

#30 Sammy Sosa Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Ken Patterson to the Chicago Cubs for George Bell (3/30/92).  This was the second time Sosa had been traded in his young career, and at the time Bell was an established All-Star out fielder. We know how this one turns out, Bell hit 25 HR for the White Sox, Sosa hit 545 juiced bombs for the Cubs. He also made the Cubs relevant again.

#29 David Justice Traded by the Cleveland Indians to the New York Yankees for Zach Day, Ricky Ledee and Jake Westbrook (6/29/00). Mr. Haley Berry hit 20 HR in 78 games for the Yanks and was the ALCS MVP. At the time Ledee was thought to be a good prospect, but in fact Jake Westbrook was the best thing the Indians got in return. Just another case of the Yankees getting a guy who helped lead them to a World Series.

#28 Johan Santana Traded by the Minnesota Twins to the New York Mets for Deolis Guerra (minors), Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber and Kevin Mulvey (2/2/08). Who can forget the chase for Johan? The Twins thought they were going to get the Red Sox and Yankees to bid against each other. Everyone thought Johan would be dealt at the winter meetings, but nothing came. It didn’t happen until February, and by that time the Sox and Yanks had said “no thanks” to the Twins price tag (Lester, Buchholtz and Ellsbury were the Sox names that were thrown around). They ended up with highly regarded Gomez and two questionable arms, in other words, disaster. Of course the Twins remained good all these years, but you can only wonder if they had asked for a little less for one of the big guys, then maybe they would have been even better.

#27 Brad Lidge Traded by the Houston Astros with Eric Bruntlett to the Philadelphia Phillies for Mike Costanzo (minors), Michael Bourn and Geoff Geary (11/7/07). It seemed as if Lidge would never recover from the bomb Pujols hit off him in the ’05 NLCS, but he sold his soul to the devil for his perfect season in ’08. Lidge wasn’t even the closer for the Astros, so the fact that the got Bourn for a shaky reliever was a good deal for them. That is, until the aforementioned deal with the devil. Lidge sucks now, but Philly fans will always have 2008.

#26 Randy Johnson Traded by the Montreal Expos with Gene Harris and Brian Holman to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later (Mike Campbell) and Mark Langston (5/25/89).  At the time, Langston was an established pitcher, only 3 years older than Johnson, so it wasn’t like the Expos gave up on a “young” Randy. The Unit just ended up blossoming in Seattle, and became on of the greatest pitchers of the era. No one saw this coming, and it really wasn’t until 1999 that the Unit took the next step, and there is no way he would have still been with the Expos at that point.

#25 Frank Howard Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with a player to be named later, Ken McMullen, Phil Ortega and Pete Richert to the Washington Senators for John Kennedy, Claude Osteen and $100,000 (12/4/64). This trade is way before my time, but Howard was an offensive stud who toiled in Washington, while Osteen became a very very solid pitcher for the Dodgers. Bottom line, this is the first time I have ever heard of this trade talked about.

#24 Keith Hernandez Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the New York Mets for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey (6/15/83). As they discussed this trade they talked about Hernandez having a conflict with management, they did not mention that the conflict was Keiths’ love of the white powder. The Cardinals had plenty of fans of Pablo Escobar, and they wanted to clean up. The Mustache went on to be a great Met, and Allen never did anything for the Cards. Obviously this worked out for the Mets, but the biggest winner in this deal was Seinfeld.

#23 Jeff Bagwell Traded by the Boston Red Sox to the Houston Astros for Larry Andersen (8/30/90). Even I knew this was a terrible trade at the time. Bagwell was stuck behind Boggs and Scott Cooper on the 3B depth chart, still no excuse. Sure Anderson helped the Sox get to the playoffs in ’90, but he was gone after the season. Bagwell is arguably the greatest Astro of all time. No way to spin this one, yet it still took the Red Sox three more years to fire GM Lou Gorman.

#22 Larry Bowa Traded by the Philadelphia Phillies with Ryne Sandberg to the Chicago Cubs for Ivan de Jesus (1/27/82). Let’s be clear, Sandberg was a throw in. De Jesus was 8 years younger than Bowa, so the Phillies thought they were getting out with the old, in with the new. However, Sandberg went on to be one of the greatest 2B of all time. Sure seems like a trade the Cubs would make, but reversed (perhaps this was reverse karma for another trade coming on the list).

#21 Fergie Jenkins Traded by the Philadelphia Phillies with John Herrnstein and Adolfo Phillips to the Chicago Cubs for Bob Buhl and Larry Jackson (4/21/66). Another coup for the Cubs, but you know what… it didn’t win them a World Series, just like Sandberg never did. So, great job in getting future HOFers on the cheap from Philly, bad job actually winning a championship. Jenkins never pitched in the post season.

#20 Nolan Ryan Traded by the New York Mets with Frank Estrada, Don Rose and Leroy Stanton to the California Angels for Jim Fregosi (12/10/71). This one was bad, no doubt about it. Mets fans can only wonder, what if?

#19 Mike Piazza Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins for Manuel Barrios, Bobby Bonilla, Jim Eisenreich, Charles Johnson and Gary Sheffield (5/14/98) and then.. Traded by the Florida Marlins to the New York MetsGeoff Goetz (minors), Preston Wilson and Ed Yarnall (5/22/98) for . This is two trades, but they counted it as one. The Dodgers got hosed on this deal. They didn’t want to pay Piazza, but were more than happy to pay Sheffield and Johnson (who at the time, seemed like the best return in the deal). The Marlins were in rebuilding mode, completely dismantling their championship team, thought they has a future star in Wilson… they were wrong. The Mets got a franchise player, but no championship. Still, the Mets were the big winner in the one week trade extravaganza.

#18 Ken Griffey Jr. Traded by the Seattle Mariners to the Cincinnati Reds for Jake Meyer (minors), Mike Cameron, Antonio Perez and Brett Tomko (2/10/00). Griffey was in the discussion for best player in the world, he saved baseball in Seattle. Still, he wanted to move “closer to home”, Seattle would go on to add a guy named Ichiro, Griffey would never be the same. As if the water in Cincinnati caused KGJ’s ligaments to dissolve, KGJ was cursed with injury after injury. It was sad, but you have to say that Seattle was the big winner in the deal.

#17 Josh Beckett Traded by the Florida Marlins with Mike Lowell and Guillermo Mota to the Boston Red Sox for Jesus Delgado, Harvey Garcia, Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez (11/24/05). Really, this is the first trade on the list with no loser. The Marlins got Ramirez, who blossomed into a stud SS (albeit a lazy one). Beckett had one of the greatest post seasons of modern times in ’07, while Lowell won the World Series MVP that same year. Even though they Red Sox have had a black hole at SS, I think everyone would do this deal again.

#16 Greg Nettles Traded by the Cleveland Indians with Jerry Moses to the New York Yankees for John Ellis, Jerry Kenney, Charlie Spikes and Rusty Torres (11/27/72). Another trade that improved the Yankees for little cost.  Nettles won 2 World Series with the Yankees, what more could they have asked for?

#15 Rick Sutcliffe Traded by the Cleveland Indians with George Frazier and Ron Hassey to the Chicago Cubs for Darryl BanksJoe Carter, Mel Hall and Don Schulze (6/13/84) (minors), . Sutcliffe went 16-1 with the Cubs that season, and won the Cy Young. Mel Hall went on to be a child molester, who made out in this one? With all these great trades the Cubs have made, you would think that they would have won at least 1 World Series. Maybe curses are real?

#14 Jimmy Foxx Traded by the Philadelphia Athletics with Johnny Marcum to the Boston Red Sox for George Savino (minors), Gordon Rhodes and $150,000 (12/10/35). This trade was motivated by money, Foxx was one of the elite players in the game, and the Sox got 6 great to good years out of him. However, this trade did not bring a championship to either team, and Foxx was already on his way to the HOF, so the lasting impact was minimal. Seems like this trade is a bit high on the list especially when the money was the most important thing the A’s got in return.

#13 Alex Rodriguez Traded by the Texas Rangers with cash to the New York Yankees for a player to be named later (Joaquin Arias) and Alfonso Soriano (2/16/04). Not sure how this trade wasn’t top 5? Lets go back in time, the Rangers wanted to get out from Arods mammoth contract. He also wanted to go to a contending team, the Yankees had Jeter at SS, so the Red Sox were the prime destination. The trade was something like Lester and Manny (plus others) for Arod, then the Sox were going to flip Nomar to the White Sox for Magglio Ordonez. Everything was pretty much set, but the Red Sox wanted to defer too much money on Arods deal and the union balked. Aron Boone then blew out his knee playing hoops and the Yankees needed a 3B, next thing anyone knew, he was a Yankee. Obviously there was a lot more to it then just that, but you get the gist. Had the Red Sox made this deal, would they have won the World Series in ’04? Who knows. What I do know is I was devastated when Arod went to the Yankees, only when he started to choke after game 3 of the ALCS was I happy that the deal did not happen. Still, the “what ifs” about this trade are boundless. Magglio would suffer a server back injury that could have really hurt the Sox,. Arod got his ring last season, but it was only after the Yankees made it clear that he didn’t need to be the star. Arods post season failures from 04-07 are epic, there is just no way of knowing what would have happened if he had been traded to the Red Sox. I do know that if this trade did happen, I would have lost out on rooting for my favorite player in baseball, Jon Lester. As it turned out for the Rangers, they improved once they got rid of Arod. This trade is like Transformers, it’s more than meets the eye.

#12 Roberto Alomar Traded by the San Diego Padres with Joe Carter to the Toronto Blue Jays for Tony Fernandez and Fred McGriff (12/5/90). Another trade that should probably be a lot higher on the list. Alomar became the best 2B in baseball, Joe Carter his the single most important HR in the history of the Blue Jays. They would go on to win back to back World Series in 92-93, so they are the clear winners in this deal. Still, McGriff was an elite 1B and Fernandez was a solid SS, but that doesn’t make up for the trading of two players who became dominant forces north of the border. Without a doubt the greatest trade in Blue Jays history.

#11 Gaylord Perry Traded by the San Francisco Giants with Frank Duffy to the Cleveland Indians for Sam McDowell (11/29/71). This one is a head-scratch-er this high on the list. Sure McDowell went on to be a fine pitcher for the Indians, and sure Perrry won a Cy Young with the Indians, but there ramifications of this deal were not earth shattering.

#10 Willlie McGee Traded by the New York Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for Bob Sykes (10/21/81). Finally the Yankees are on the bad end of a trade. McGee may have been snorting coke up his asshole, but the guy could play. Sykes never even played for the Yankees.

#9 Tom Seaver Traded by the New York Mets to the Cincinnati Reds for Doug Flynn, Steve Henderson, Dan Norman and Pat Zachry (6/15/77). Another trade that is overrated by history. Seaver was one of the best pitchers in baseball, but he never won 20 games, a Cy Young or a World Series after being traded. The travesty is the fact that none of the guys the Mets got back in return did anything.

#8 Curt Schilling Traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Boston Red Sox for Michael Goss (minors), Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon and Jorge de la Rosa (11/28/03). This was the 5th time Schilling got traded, yet this is the only deal that makes the list.  One could argue that the D-Backs trade for him was worthy of inclusion, he did go on to for the most fearsome 1-2 punch in modern baseball and win a World Series. Still, this trade had more gusto. Schilling was brought to the Red Sox with one goal, a championship (he even had an escalator clause in his contract) and he provided. In 2004 he was by far the Sox best pitcher, Pedro faded during the season (but did pitch quite well in the World Series). Had his ankle injury ended his career, this trade would have been worth it, but the fact that he was a key contributor in ’07, really pushes it up the list. Only Brandon Lyon did anything for Arizona, and it wasn’t that much. Schilling cemented his baseball legacy in Boston. Of course it should also be mentioned how Schilling suckered the Sox into a contract in ’08 and never pitched. Love him or hate him (or both) you can not discount what he brought to the Red Sox.

#7 Early Wynn Traded by the Washington Senators with Mickey Vernon to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Haynes, Ed KliemanEddie Robinson (12/14/48) and . I would ask my father about this trade, but he was 6 when it happened.

#6 Frank Robinson Traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the Baltimore Orioles for Jack Baldschun, Milt Pappas and Dick Simpson (12/9/65). This was a case of a great player getting traded, he was great before the trade, great after it. He helped the O’s win a World Series in his first season with the team, and another in ’70. The Reds may not have gotten equal value, but the ’70s were pretty good to them, so I am sure they haven’t lost too much sleep over this one.

#5 Ozzie Smith Traded by the San Diego Padres with a player to be named later and Steve Mura to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later, Sixto Lezcano and Garry Templeton. The San Diego Padres sent Al Olmsted (February 19, 1982) to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the trade. The St. Louis Cardinals sent Luis DeLeon (February 19, 1982) to the San Diego Padres to complete the trade. (12/10/81). 9 years after trading one of the greatest SS in history, they traded one of the greatest 2B in history (see trade #12). Maybe the Padres should hold on to their MIFs. This one is just plain bad, even though San Diego go Sixto Lezcano in the deal (greatest baseball name of ALL TIME).

#4 Christy Mathewson Traded by the Cincinnati Reds to the New York Giants for Amos Rusie (12/15/1900). I am going to go out on a limb and say that the Reds didn’t know much about their own player in this deal. Why didn’t they check out Baseball America’s ’00 Prospect Handbook? Right… you get my point. Obviously, this is the most 1 sided trade in the history of the sport, at least the Red Sox got some money for Ruth (who also won the world series with the Sox). The Reds just didn’t know what they had.

#3 John Smoltz Traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander (8/12/87). A real classic trade, Alexander pushed the Tigers into the playoffs (but no World Series) going 9-0 down the stretch, Smoltz turned into one of the best pitchers of his era. The Tigers wanted to make the playoffs and did so, Smoltz wasn’t a sure thing, he just panned out. The only difference between this deal and deal #23 is that Alexander did more to help his team make the playoffs. The big difference, Smoltz helped Atlanta win a World Series.

#2 Rogers Hornsby Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmy Ring (12/20/26).  People fell off their dinosaurs when they heard the news. What can I say about this trade? Long time ago, both teams made out well.

#1 Lou Brock Traded by the Chicago Cubs with Jack Spring and Paul Toth to the St. Louis Cardinals for Ernie Broglio, Doug Clemens and Bobby Shantz (6/15/64). This is the trade that always gets talked about when discussing one sided deals. Brock was having a good season when he was traded, and turned into a HOFer. After the Cubs got the better end of some historic deals, this one they didn’t.

So there is the list. The ambiguity of the criteria really hurts the list. Sometimes it was just if a HOFer got traded, other trades were just very one sided. I really think the most influential trades should result in championships, and not all of these did. So what trades are left off the list? Here a just a couple I thought of.

I hate to add another trade that was beneficial to the Yankees, but…

Tino Martinez Traded by the Seattle Mariners with Jim Mecir and Jeff Nelson to the New York Yankees for Russ Davis and Sterling Hitchcock (12/7/95). Tino and Nelson were both key contributors to the 96-00 championship run. Tino thrived in Yankee stadium and Nelson was a vital cog in the bullpen. Davis and Hitchcock never amounted to much.

Steve Carlton Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Philadelphia Phillies for Rick Wise (2/25/72). Carlton was an All-Star for the Cards, but become a HOFer with the Phillies. He won 4 Cy Young awards and helped the Phillies win the ’80 World Series. In 15 years with the club he won 241 games, not to shabby.

Any trades I am missing, please let me know.