Crazy Trade Proposals That Never Came True

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

There is a baseball card site that I check every so often, not because I like cards (I did), but because the guy who writes it has some pretty cool info about players from when I was a kid and I like checking the cards. 
 
Anyway, he was talking about former White Sox pitcher Richard Dotson and he wrote this:
 

Dotson was a figure in trade discussions between the White Sox and Red Sox in 1985. The Red Sox reportedly offered the White Sox Wade Boggs, Bruce Hurst and Mark Clear for Dotson and infielder Luis Salazar. A White Sox official reportedly said, "We wouldn't trade Dotson for Boggs. Dotson for Cal Ripken, that'd be more like it."
 

 
Was Lou Gorman drunk? What a terrible trade for the Sox and I'm not sure if it was Roland Hemond or Ken Harrelson who was the GM at the time, but the White Sox whiffed on this trade as well. 
 
We know about the trade that would have sent Manny and Lester to the Rangers for ARod, but what about some other near misses with disaster for the Red Sox? 

 

[YouDownWithOBP?]

I seem to recall a rumored Sox/Mets trade in 2004-2005 that was essentially Hanley for Lastings Milledge and Aaron Heilman. Anyone else remember that?

 

[H78]

Lester, Jacoby, + for Johan Santana comes to mind.

 

[DavidTai]

Wasn't there something involving Wade Boggs and Tom Glavine?

 

[H78]

There were also a lot of Magglio Ordonez rumors - wasn't one Nomar for Ordonez if the Ramirez/ARod deal went through?
 
Sox would have had ARod and Magglo in 2004 instead of Manny, OCab, and Mientkiewicz. Think they still win it all in '04 with ARod and Magglio?

 

[Van Everyman]

Ted Williams for Joe D?

Manny for Aubrey Huff, Julio Lugo, Mike Cameron and Lastings Milledge?

 

[Corsi]

I'm still waiting for the Sox to acquire Jeremy Reed from the Mariners.

 

[judyb]

There were also a lot of Magglio Ordonez rumors - wasn't one Nomar for Ordonez if the Ramirez/ARod deal went through?
 
Sox would have had ARod and Magglo in 2004 instead of Manny, OCab, and Mientkiewicz. Think they still win it all in '04 with ARod and Magglio?

If I'm remembering right, I think it was Nomar and Scott Williamson for Ordonez and Brandon McCarthy.

 

[YouDownWithOBP?]

I'm still waiting for the Sox to acquire Jeremy Reed from the Mariners.

 
For either Papelbon or Lester, right?

 

[Dummy Hoy]

Ted Williams for Joe D?

 

 
That's the one...Yawkey and Dan Topping get shitfaced at Toot Shors and agree on a deal, Yawkey wakes up with a splitting headache and a host of front office people screaming at him and has to reneg on the deal.
 
Thank god, because this was in 1947. That would have been a near Ruthian shitty move. 
 
Would have been fascinating to see how those guys would have performed in those parks. Williams would likely have 650+ and no one of any major significance lost as many HRs as Dimaggio by playing in the old toilet. He hit 60% of his HR on the road.

 

[grimshaw]

1) Had they found room for him, Willie McGee.  Though I can't remember if he was formally offered in trade or if Lou Gorman wanted to add to his legacy.
 
2) The Red Sox gave Seattle a list of prospects and told the Mariners to pick X amount of them (5?) for Felix Hernandez
 
3) Not crazy, but the botched deal with the Rockies because of paperwork issues.

 

[SaveBooFerriss]

Wasn't there something involving Wade Boggs and Tom Glavine?

 
I distinctly remember Greenwell for Glavine talk around 1989-90.  

 

[MoGator71]

Well these are always fun...
 
There were a lot of Boggs for Joe Carter rumors when Carter was in Cleveland. Come to think of it there were a bunch of Boggs rumors, which suggests that either Lou Gorman was nuts or Wade Boggs was an asshole

 

[SaveBooFerriss]

Well these are always fun...
 
There were a lot of Boggs for Joe Carter rumors when Carter was in Cleveland. Come to think of it there were a bunch of Boggs rumors, which suggests that either Lou Gorman was nuts or Wade Boggs was an asshole

 
I think the answer was both.  During the Boggs' scandal and subsequent trade rumors, I remember the "Don't Trade Wade for getting Laid" sign at Fenway.   

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

I'm trying to remember but didn't Gorman come close to acquiring Dykstra? I also remember as a kid hearing about the DiMaggio for Williams swap as well.

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

1) Had they found room for him, Willie McGee.  Though I can't remember if he was formally offered in trade or if Lou Gorman wanted to add to his legacy.

That was 1990 when the A's got McGee despite having Rickey Henderson, Dave Henderson (an All Star that year, I think) and Canseco in the outfield and the newly acquired Harold Baines as DH.

The Boston media asked why Gorman didn't acquire McGee and Gorman famously said, "Where would we put Willie McGee?" I think the Sox OF at the time was Greenwell, Burks and Brunansky. With Jack Clark as the DH, they could have found room for Willie McGee (who had enough ABs to win the NL Batting Crown that year despite finishing the year in Oakland).

It went down with Gorman's other quote, "The sun will rise, the sun will set and I'll have lunch." I kinda miss Trader Lou.

 

[glennhoffmania]

Lester, Jacoby, + for Johan Santana comes to mind.

I'm pretty sure that was never an option. It was either Ellsbury plus or Lester plus Coco plus.

 

[dylanmarsh]

I vaguely recall a Carlos Beltran for Youkilis and Shoppach deal that fell through. 2004, maybe, when Beltran ended up getting dealt to the Astros from the Royals.

 

[Cumberland Blues]

Wasn't there something involving Wade Boggs and Tom Glavine?

 
I vaguely remember the Glavine thing.  I do recall more clearly Gammo plugging a deal w/ Boggs/Hershiser as the centerpieces at one point.  Had enough legs that there were anecdotes about Boggs singing "I Love LA" in the clubhouse.  I think Tom Niedenfuer was supposed to be in that deal too.

 

[Minneapolis Millers]

I thought the Yankees nixed the Ted-for-Joe deal when we insisted they include that young catcher (whatshisname, Yogi something) to offset the age differences.  Maybe that was only after Yawkey sobered up.

 

[grimshaw]

That was 1990 when the A's got McGee despite having Rickey Henderson, Dave Henderson (an All Star that year, I think) and Canseco in the outfield and the newly acquired Harold Baines as DH.

The Boston media asked why Gorman didn't acquire McGee and Gorman famously said, "Where would we put Willie McGee?" I think the Sox OF at the time was Greenwell, Burks and Brunansky. With Jack Clark as the DH, they could have found room for Willie McGee (who had enough ABs to win the NL Batting Crown that year despite finishing the year in Oakland).

It went down with Gorman's other quote, "The sun will rise, the sun will set and I'll have lunch." I kinda miss Trader Lou.

 
I just went and checked out the 1990 team out of curiosity and nostalgia.
Ellis Burks - 3.3 WAR
Greenwell - 2.5 WAR
Bruno - 1.8 WAR
Dewey - .4
Clark was actually a Padre in 1990 when he had his last good season.
 
McGee had nearly a 5 win season that year so in the short term that looked like a poor decision.  I think his reputation was built completely from his 1985 season when he hit .353 with 56 steals.
 
He signed a deal after the 1990 season with Giants and was mediocre at best and occasionally piss poor the rest of his career.  It was probably a good non move looking back on it, since they got absolutely destroyed in the playoffs anyhow and McGee would not have been much of an upgrade and probably a downgrade if they had signed him as a free agent.

 

[Corsi]

I remember rumors, for what seemed like years, that the Sox would acquire Brad Radke.
 
There were also similar rumors involving Sterling Hitchcock.
 
Boy did Sterling Hitchcock suck.

 

[Buster Olney the Lonely]

I remember in the mid-80s, a rumor about Boggs to the Angels for Jack Howell and a pitcher. Might have been Kirk McCaskill.

 

[Al Zarilla]

I thought the Yankees nixed the Ted-for-Joe deal when we insisted they include that young catcher (whatshisname, Yogi something) to offset the age differences.  Maybe that was only after Yawkey sobered up.

That's what author Ben Bradlee Jr. reported in his book "The Kid". The bartalk was Ted for Joe straight up while Topping and Yawkey were throwing them down, but Yawkey supposedly talked to "his people" in Boston in the morning and they didn't like the deal. So, Yawkey said you have to throw in "your little left fielder" (Yogi came up as an outfielder/catcher and played all OF in his first full year with the team in 1947). Topping said no to Yogi being in the deal. This convo supposedly took place in April of 1947. In 1946, The Tigers had offered pitcher Hal Newhouser (2X AL MVP but both in war years) and outfielder Dick Wakefield. Excellent no trade there too. Newhouser had 4 more good to very good years only and Wakefield flamed out fast. 
 
Apparently, the Sox were kind of shopping Ted because they were tired of his petulance. But, they liked his hitting more, thankfully. 

 

[cannonball 1729]

Well these are always fun...
 
There were a lot of Boggs for Joe Carter rumors when Carter was in Cleveland. Come to think of it there were a bunch of Boggs rumors, which suggests that either Lou Gorman was nuts or Wade Boggs was an asshole

 
Found this in a 1989 New York Times article at the winter meetings, where Carter was being shopped around:
 

 Boston would trade Wade Boggs for Carter and might consider giving the Indians Mike Greenwell. The Red Sox know that the right-handed Carter could be an awesome hitter at Fenway Park, producing the sort of seasons Jim Rice gave them once upon a time.

 

[curly2]

I'm still waiting for the Sox to acquire Jeremy Reed from the Mariners.

 
Yes, I remember someone on the board saying the Sox HAD to pull the trigger on Jeremy Reed for Jon Lester.

 

[plucy]

Gammons alluded several times in the past to trades with the Mets involving Manny. At the Winter Meetings post 2004 Minaya supposedly emerged from an early morning meeting with Theo dancing down the hallway and chanting "I got Manny!!. Gammons described the deal as Manny for the Mets farm system. It was during that time when Theo was trying to get Beltre and Drew so might have been a contingency deal.
Then there was the alleged Manny to Mets at the deadline in 2005 when Manny was in a "phase" where he wanted out. Theo gave him one last chance and Manny begged back in. M had been benched that day but delivered a game-winning PH single.

 

[RedOctober3829]

At the time Manny was being shopped in 2005, a rumored destination was to the Florida Marlins for a young prospect named Mike Stanton.

 

[pokey_reese]

I'm pretty sure that was never an option. It was either Ellsbury plus or Lester plus Coco plus.

I actually just found a journal entry I wrote during this time and Lowrie was the other player I was making my peace with losing.  However, based on what I wrote at the time it looks like Lester and Ellsbury were at least at one point both being talked about in the same deal.

 

[NoLastCall125]

I remember something about Trot Nixon for Sammy Sosa and how the Red Sox fans thought it was too much to give up.

 

[plucy]

At the time Manny was being shopped in 2005, a rumored destination was to the Florida Marlins for a young prospect named Mike Stanton.

I remember the 2008 rumor. Didn't know that train started that early.

 

[bosockboy]

At the time Manny was being shopped in 2005, a rumored destination was to the Florida Marlins for a young prospect named Mike Stanton.

Yeah think that was 2008. I don't think Stanton was even drafted by 2005.

 

[E5 Yaz]

The book "Red Sox Century" recounts the story of how Billy Herman arranged to trade for Tom Tresh and Phil Linz from the Yankees ... for Carl Yastrzemski.
 
Dick O'Connell vetoed the idea

 

[bosockboy]

 
Yes, I remember someone on the board saying the Sox HAD to pull the trigger on Jeremy Reed for Jon Lester.

That was in the month of post-Damon hysteria before we made the Coco trade.

 

[Mike F]

I thought the Yankees nixed the Ted-for-Joe deal when we insisted they include that young catcher (whatshisname, Yogi something) to offset the age differences.  Maybe that was only after Yawkey sobered up.

Absolutely ! TAY after sobering up demanded "that little left fielder, what's his name."
Interesting to contemplate but I for one was glad it didn't happen

 

[mBiferi]

Wasn't there a trade proposal involving Ellsbury to the Marlins for Miggy? If I remember correctly, it was practically the same package we were willing to give up for Santana.
 
Cabrera in Fenway...  wow.

 

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

Didn't Manny almost get traded to Pawtucket after he stated he wanted out of town?

 

[ifmanis5]

Those 1985 Topps cards were great.
 
Pretty sure Ellis Burks for Dykstra & Sid Fernandez was very close. I think Burks may have been almost traded many times.
 
I can't find the 'What Would We Do With Willie McGee?' song on YouTube but it was a Sports Huddle staple for many years.

 

[The_Powa_of_Seiji_Ozawa]

I'm still waiting for the Sox to acquire Jeremy Reed from the Mariners.

 
he is supposed to hit .400 someday

 

[John Marzano Olympic Hero]

I remember something about Trot Nixon for Sammy Sosa and how the Red Sox fans thought it was too much to give up.

Right after the strike in 1994, the Sox signed Sosa, Kevin Appier and John Wetteland.

BTW, the Boggs trade rumors were an every day thing. He was literally going everywhere for awhile. In 1990 the Herald gathered all of the Boggs rumors and it was astounding to see where he was off to (I saved this piece for awhile and it's gone now) but the best deal was Boggs and Greenwell to Atlanta for Gant and Glavine.

 

[Corsi]

Gammons alluded several times in the past to trades with the Mets involving Manny. At the Winter Meetings post 2004 Minaya supposedly emerged from an early morning meeting with Theo dancing down the hallway and chanting "I got Manny!!. Gammons described the deal as Manny for the Mets farm system. 

 
Yep, I think at the time, the hot names coming back were Lastings Milledge and Yusmeiro Petit.

 

[ifmanis5]

Before he shuffles this mortal coil, can Gammons do a massive brain dump of all the weird Red Sox shit he's heard over the years? Even if it's Gilgamesh length, I'd read it.

 

[RedOctober3829]

Yeah think that was 2008. I don't think Stanton was even drafted by 2005.

My apologies. That would have made Stanton somewhere around 15 years old.  Although, I would have traded for him at 15 too.

 

[Bernie Carbohydrate]

 

[SoxScout]

March 1975, the Indians offered the Red Sox Gaylor Perry (36) for Bill Lee (28) and Roger Moret.
 

 
March 2009, Theo turns down Michael Bowden for Miguel Montero.
 
September 2009, Epstein claimed and worked out a trade for Jose Bautista but ownership says no because it would have put the Red Sox in the luxury tax.

 

[sackamano]

Jim Thome's likely still sitting on a plane at Logan.

 

[Curt S Loew]

Didn't Manny almost get traded to Pawtucket after he stated he wanted out of town?

I remember Manny asking if he could get traded to Pawtucket.  He loved it so much there.

 

[E5 Yaz]

The Herald report on Boggs from 1988 speculated it was Boggs for Carter and Brook Jacoby. /googlesearch

 

[YTF]

If I remember correctly every year during his first stint with the Sox The Mets were sporting a big woody for Ellis Burkes. Seems as though there was always some sort proposed deal that never happened.

 

[E5 Yaz]

2006: Rob Bradford on WEEI reports Atlanta offered Andruw Jones to the Red Sox for Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, and Craig Hansen last night. It was turned down, but "was a lot closer than you'd expect."