Cruelest first-to-worst midseason trade?

[realmofotalk]

What were some of MLB's equivalents to Zydrunas Ilgauskas going from the Cavs to the Bullets, i.e. a veteran player suddenly going from a championship caliber contender to a team going nowhere fast? I'm excluding prospects and rookies who had limited playing time, because those players are traded all the time.

Off the top of my head, Ray Lankford going from the Cards to the Padres in the swap for Woody Williams. Also, Mike Fetters from the Dodgers to the Pirates for Terry Mulholland.

[Slyder]

Nomah!!! Anytime you go TO the Cubs you know you're screwed.

[HollywoodLeo]

Ray Lankford was a big fail.

[missionhockey21]

Ferry called Ilgauskas on Wednesday night to tell him the news."It was not a fun conversation," Ferry said.

I wonder how often in situations like this, a GM tries to avoid telling the player directly.

[realmofotalk]

I wonder how often in situations like this, a GM tries to avoid telling the player directly.

Remember in Moneyball, where Billy Beane, who was looking for someone to break the news to Mike Magnante that he'd just been released, looks at Paul DePodesta, who's like "Do I have to?" then they just made Art Howe do it? I think that pretty much summarizes DePo's people skills.

[ATLien]

pretty sure Z is going to have his contract bought out and will find his way to a playoff roster. bad example

[DirtyKash]

These kinds of deals don't happen as often in baseball right? You don't need to even out the salaries to make the trades work. If you have a proven veteran who can contribute, you keep him for the playoff run. Sucks for Z.

[realmofotalk]

No, they don't happen often in baseball, thankfully. I never understood the purpose of that stupid rule in the NBA.

[realmofotalk]

RealGM • View topic - Matching Salaries in Trades...what's the point?

The reason that salaries have to match *FOR TEAMS OVER THE CAP* is that, being over cap, they're not allowed to take on extra salary. Keep in mind that if a team is under the cap, they can take on whatever ridiculous contracts they want (up to the cap). If Miami wanted, they could trade Bustley for T-mac (let's pretend they have that much cap room; I can't be assed to check right now).

So the question becomes - why should a team over the cap be allowed to take on more salary (other than the exceptions, which is another issue entirely) when they're already at their ceiling? Answer: they shouldn't.

That's the answer to my question, although it can be argued that matching salaries have the same cons as a salary floor in that they force bad teams to pay players they don't want.

[DirtyKash]

Bustley