Top 5 Worst Trades In Atlanta Braves History<\/p>\n
For every blockbuster that helps define a dynasty, there are trades a franchise would rather forget. The Atlanta Braves<\/a> have built their legacy on smart front office moves \u2014 but not every gamble has paid off.<\/p>\n From prospects who became stars elsewhere to short-lived rentals that cost too much, these are the five worst trades in Atlanta Braves history.<\/p>\n 1. The Mark Teixeira Deal (2007) In July 2007, the Braves went all-in for power hitter Mark Teixeira<\/a>, sending a massive package to the Texas Rangers: Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.<\/p>\n Teixeira hit well in Atlanta \u2014 .295 with 37 homers in 157 games \u2014 but the window was short. By mid-2008, he was gone to the Angels.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Texas got multiple All-Stars. Andrus became a franchise shortstop, Feliz closed out a World Series, and Harrison was an All-Star starter. For the Braves, it was an expensive one-year push that never paid off.<\/p>\n 2. Adam Wainwright To The Cardinals (2003) The Braves acquired outfielder J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero from St. Louis in exchange for Adam Wainwright, Jason Marquis, and Ray King.<\/p>\n Drew was excellent in 2004, hitting .305 with 31 home runs. But he left after just one season.<\/p>\n Wainwright blossomed into a Cardinals ace, racking up over 200 career wins<\/a> and anchoring their rotation for two decades. This one still hurts Braves fans who watched him dominate October in another uniform.<\/p>\n 3. Jermaine Dye For Michael Tucker (1997) At just 23, Jermaine Dye looked like a rising star in Atlanta. But the Braves dealt him to the Kansas City Royals for Michael Tucker and Keith Lockhart.<\/p>\n While Tucker and Lockhart became useful role players, Dye went on to enjoy a 14-year career<\/a> with 325 home runs and a World Series MVP award with the Chicago White Sox in 2005.<\/p>\n The Braves gave up on a potential long-term slugger far too early.<\/p>\n 4. The Craig Kimbrel Trade (2015) On the eve of the 2015 season, Atlanta shocked the league by packaging Craig Kimbrel<\/a>and Melvin Upton Jr. to San Diego for Carlos Quentin, Cameron Maybin, and prospects.<\/p>\n The deal was framed as part of a rebuild, but it never sat well with fans. Kimbrel remained one of the best closers in baseball, while the return produced little long-term value.<\/p>\n It symbolized a transition period for the Braves \u2014 but one that cost them a franchise cornerstone.<\/p>\n 5. Len Barker For Brett Butler & Brook Jacoby (1983) Fresh off a perfect game with Cleveland, pitcher Len Barker was seen as a frontline ace. The Braves traded Brett Butler, Brook Jacoby, and Rick Behenna to get him.<\/p>\n Barker never found consistency in Atlanta, posting a 4.34 ERA<\/a> in four seasons. Butler, meanwhile, became one of baseball\u2019s best leadoff hitters, tallying over 2,000 hits and nearly 600 stolen bases. Jacoby added two All-Star seasons in Cleveland.<\/p>\n Atlanta paid dearly for a name, not the production.<\/p>\n What Braves Country Should Remember<\/p>\n Even the best-run franchises have their misses. The Braves\u2019 history is defined by smart trades that built dynasties, but these five deals show the other side of the ledger.<\/p>\n From losing Adam Wainwright to mortgaging the farm for Mark Teixeira, these trades stand as reminders of how costly one move can be.<\/p>\n The post Top 5 Worst Trades In Atlanta Braves History<\/a> first appeared on ATL Braves Country<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Top 5 Worst Trades In Atlanta Braves History For every blockbuster that helps define a dynasty, there are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2394],"tags":[40204,191,46,4166,5,192,5965,1358,4,5839,51726],"class_list":{"0":"post-359537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-braves","8":"tag-atl-braves-country","9":"tag-atlanta","10":"tag-atlanta-braves","11":"tag-atlantabraves","12":"tag-baseball","13":"tag-braves","14":"tag-breaking-news","15":"tag-local-news","16":"tag-mlb","17":"tag-newsbreak","18":"tag-top-5-worst-trades-in-atlanta-braves-history"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/115311017098222095","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u00a9 Gary A. 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