VIDEO: A Trade in 2015 Changed the Landscape of Baseball Forever.
- Stros Talk
- Feb 16, 2022
- 3 min read
By: Gordon Liang
2/14/2022
When a baseball fan thinks of “the worst trade in history,” they often turn to the infamous Babe Ruth trade that sent the Great Gambino to the Yankees in exchange for cash considerations. Ruth ended his career with the highest wRC+ in baseball history and giving him up for cash certainly proved to be a horrid error in the Red Sox’s judgement but the worst trade in baseball history came much later. Considering the implications off the field that also came with this trade, one can argue that this was the worst trade in all of sports history. In 2015, the Houston Astros dealt Josh Hader, Adrian Houser, Domingo Santana and Brett Phillips to the Milwaukee Brewers. Their return was Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers: the start of their public downfall.
It doesn’t matter how you look at this trade, it’s just ugly. Even if Fiers didn’t rat out his former team in 2019, the return was measly. Fiers was a liability on the mound and Gomez was a liability at the plate. On the other hand, Hader has established himself as one of baseball’s best relievers and Phillips, who was later traded for Mike Moustakas, had his iconic moment in the 2020 World Series. It’s evident that the trade was the first domino amongst a chain of grandiose events that ruined the Houston Astros. With Hader, the Astros are obviously a better team than they currently are. Without Fiers, the Astros never lose their four draft picks.
As every baseball fan in the world knows, the Astros were caught in 2019 for implementing an electronic sign stealing scheme in their 2017 season. Fiers’ testimony played a crucial role in blowing up the allegations. The testimony, along with Jomboy’s grandiose platform on YouTube, prompted the league to start an investigation. The investigation concluded that the Astros used a camera in centerfield to steal signs from the catcher and relayed them to the hitter through trash can sounds. The Astros in all likelihood were going to get caught anyways but because they were the first team to get caught and also the team that won it all that year, they dealt with most of the punishment.
The Red Sox were also caught electronically sign stealing in their championship season in 2018 but they weren’t handed as severe a punishment.The team lost a second-round pick in the 2020 draft and Alex Cora, who was the Red Sox manager in 2018, was suspended a year for his participation in 2017 as bench coach for the Astros.
Looking at how the Red Sox were disciplined in comparison to the Astros, despite 2018 being their second time caught for electronically sign stealing, it’s evident that the league wanted to pin all the scrutiny on the Astros to cover up the fact that electronic sign stealing was a league-wide issue.
Amidst the whole media outrage against the Astros, MLB writer Jeff Jones tweeted, “Houston is one of three teams I’ve had multiple players identify to me as the most egregious with electronic sign stealing. The others: Milwaukee and Texas.”
Fiers could’ve exposed the Brewers just as easily as he did the Astros. That is, had he still been a Brewer. But he wasn’t. Thanks to the trade that sent Hader to the Brewers, the Astros took the scrutiny that was designated for the Brewers.
There’s no debate as to who won this trade. It’s almost as if the Brewers knew they were sending in a Trojan Horse. They got everything they wanted and gave away everything they didn’t. In every aspect of the trade, the Astros lost. To the Astros credit, a trade this horrific makes it all the more impressive that the Astros were able to do what they’ve been doing. An Astros team that’s been the best offense in baseball for a while now would be significantly scarier with a Ryan Pressly and Hader tandem to finish the job. Then again, their fets despite the trade also makes it all the more disappointing that the Astros were only able to scuffle one ring during their tenure of dominance and really makes you wonder if the Astros would’ve been sitting with three championships with a Pressly-Hader duo. Hader, in all likelihood, would’ve pitched to Howie Kendrick to set up Gerrit Cole in game seven of the 2019 World Series and Pressly likely would’ve pitched to Dansby Swanson and Jorge Soler in game four of the 2021 World Series.
Video will be published on Wednesday February 16th, 2022 6:00 AM PT.
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