Soccer, NFL, NHL, MLB, and NBA have one thing in common, that there are always strange deals that turn out bad. From high priced transfers or contracts in soccer and the NBA to some very poor trades in the NFL and MLB.
The NBA is known for huge contracts to players who at times play for less than two years for those teams. Below is a review of some of the worst deals in the world of sports.
We have mixed it up with soccer, NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, and even wrestling and boxing, as we count down 25 of the worst sports deals.
25. Jim Fregosi to New York Mets
The Mets gave up on a guy named Nolan Ryan in order to bring in shortstop Jim Fregosi in 1972. Fregosi was horrible with the Mets playing only a half a season. Ryan? He just became one of the most iconic pitchers in all of Baseball.
24. Sebastián Abreu to Deportivo La Coruña
Vagabond Uruguayan forward Sebastián “El Loco” Abreu was considered a top prospect coming out of San Lorenzo in Argentina back in 1998. El Loco signed with Deportivo La Coruña and rarely saw the field, playing in 15 games, scoring 3 goals, and being loaned out until the end of his contract in 2004. Abreu played for 31 teams in 11 countries during his professional career and was a star and major flop in about half of them.
23. Bills acquire Kelvin Benjamin
Kelvin Benjamin was supposed to improve the Buffalo Bills in the receiver category in 2017, well that did not happen at all. Benjamin ran for only 217 yards in six games and was released after 12 games the next season.
22. Elton Brand to Philadelphia 76ers
Elton Brand signed a five-year $82 million contract with the 76ers in 2008. In his first season Brand was out mostly due to injury, playing modestly both the player and team wanted out and granted him an amnesty clause in 2012.
21. James Shields to Chicago White Sox
The White Sox needed pitching or at least that is what they thought when they sent a 17-year-old kid named Fernando Tatis Jr. to San Diego in exchange for pitcher James Shields. For three seasons Shields was atrocious, going 16-35 with a 5.31 ERA in Chicago.
20. Jozy Altidore to Sunderland
USMNT striker Jozy Altidore was lighting it up in the Netherlands for AZ scoring 39 goals in 67 games. When transferred to the Premier League the jump in level was too much for Altidore who scored 1 goal in 40 games for the struggling English side. Altidore would take a big money deal to return to MLS, but his European career was all but over.
19. Joakim Noah to New York Knicks
The Knicks have struck out a lot over the years with their high priced contracts. Noah was considered washed up when he signed a $72 million four-year contract in 2016. In his second year Noah played all of 40 minutes for the season and played 95 total games.
18. Juan Samuel to New York Mets
Maybe the worst deal in New York Mets history was sending beloved fan favorites Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell to Philadelphia in exchange for in-fielder Juan Samuel in 1989. Dykstra had his demons, and it was time for him to go, but McDowell was unthinkable. Samuel was a calamity of errors and mishaps as a Met. He was booed tremendously before every game and was traded the following year.
17. Eusébio to Monterrey
Even great players have rough spells, Eusébio shocked the world when he signed with Monterrey in 1975 after a spell with the NASL’s Boston Minutemen, the Portuguese great played only 10 games and scored 2 goals.
16. Colts trade John Elway
Drafted by the Colts in 1983 and finding no room for the great QB on their roster they executed a trade for Chris Hinton, Mark Herrmann, and a first-round pick and sent Elway to the Broncos… the rest is history.
15. Penny Hardaway to Phoenix Suns
Penny Hardaway signed a league max to play for the Phoenix Suns in 1999. Injuries would severely derail his career in Phoenix and that would result in a trade to you guessed it… New York Knicks.
14. Ronaldinho to Querétaro
One of the most fantastic soccer players ever came to Mexico after Ronaldinho had returned to Brazil and won a Copa Libertadores. Ronaldinho was more interested in the Mexican nightlife, with supposed private plane trips to Cancun and many nights with women. Ronaldinho played for Querétaro for two seasons, he played 25 games and scored 8 goals. The world’s best player, he was not in his time at Liga MX.
13. Landon Donovan to Leon
Make no question about it, Landon Donovan’s move to León in 2018 was purely a political and marketing signing. A recently retired Donovan went to Liga MX after President Donald Trump made some disgusting remarks about Mexican immigrants. While noble, on the field it was anything but impressive. Donovan was clearly past his prime and played a meager 6 games. Not exactly what was expected by a player that many Liga MX teams chased over the years.
12. Delino DeShields to Los Angeles Dodgers
Delino DeShields was a modest second basemen, not much to highlight, 80 home runs, 561 career RBI’s and five teams. Modest, meager, when Delino DeShields was traded to the Dodgers for a guy named Pedro Martinez, who knew that the Dodgers were giving up a future Cy Young Award winner.
11. Rafael Márquez to New York Red Bulls
Unanimously voted by MLS fans as the worst player ever signed by MLS, Rafael Márquez was a case of the blues every way you look at it. Márquez played three seasons with the New York Red Bulls, mostly because no team would take him by year 2, he was red carded often, including getting a red card in an important playoff game that left the Red Bulls in a massive hole. Rafael Márquez publicly criticized his teammates as beneath him, let’s not forget two of his teammates were Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill. Márquez endeared himself more to MLS fans when he called his move to the league the worst decision he ever made in his career. There is a word for a guy like this…
10. Bret Hart to WCW
Bret Hart is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, extremely technical and agile, well into his 40’s, Hart could have been a huge savior for WCW during the late 90’s Monday Night Wars. The company had no clue what to do with the highest paid wrestler in the business, earning an estimated $3.5 million yearly. Hart was put in ridiculous and out of character storyline after ridiculous storyline and got a career ending injury to boot. It was a sad end to such a great career.
9. Saša Ćurčić to MetroStars
Yugoslavian midfielder Saša Ćurčić was the icing on the cake in arguably the worst season of any team in MLS history. The 1999 MetroStars were a horrid team and in an effort to save a season that saw the team lose 12 in a row during the summer, the brass signed Saša Ćurčić. Ćurčić came to MLS from Crystal Palace and was into techno music, forgetting his cleats at practice, and almost missing a team trip due to “over sleeping”. When Ćurčić arrived, he asked the supporters if anyone could get him in for free at Webster Hall. Throughout the buffoonery Ćurčić still managed to score 2 goals in 9 games and was cut right after the season ended.
8. Broncos trade for Russell Wilson
In 2022, Denver traded Drew Lock, Noah Fant, Shelby Harris, two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and a fifth-round pick to Seattle for Wilson and a fourth rounder. It was all in search of the team’s new star QB, it failed miserably, as Wilson went 4-11.
7. Ben Wallace to Chicago Bulls
After the Jordan era in Chicago had given way to poor season after poor season, the Bulls tried to get Ben Wallace to kick start the franchise. Wallace signed a four-year, $60 million contract in 2006. It would be short lived; Big Ben would go to the Cavs a year and a half later.
6. Raiders trade Randy Moss
Things were not going well for Moss in Oakland, and he was traded to New England for a fourth-round pick in 2007. Once in New England, Randy Moss got a new lease on life and matched well with Tom Brady.
5. Diego Maradona to Newell’s Old Boys
Diego Maradona returned to his native Argentina to play for Newell’s Old Boys in 1993 following a stint in Sevilla in Spain. Maradona returned visibly in better shape than he was in Spain, but after only 5 matches and the firing of the coach, Maradona requested out of his contract. It was the shortest stint Maradona had in his career, and his poorest, he did not score a single goal. Yet he has a stand named after him at Newell’s stadium.
4. Falcons trade Brett Favre
In 1992 a young Brett Favre was taken 33rd overall in the 1991 draft, but issues with then head coach Jerry Glanville forced the team to trade him to Green Bay. The Falcons got a first-round pick just one year later.
3. Oilers Trade Wayne Gretzky
In a move that shocked the Hockey world in 1988, the Edmonton Oilers sent the best of all time, Wayne Gretzky to the L.A. Kings in an eight-player deal. The Oilers basically received scraps when compared to the career Gretzky had in Los Angeles, playing 539 games with the Kings, and recording 918 points.
2. Mike Tyson post prison
Showtime got the hottest ticket in Sports in 1995 when Mike Tyson was paid millions, high millions to be the biggest face on Showtime’s boxing roster. Tyson looked menacing but his post prison fights were shameless, crazy, and incoherent fights that ended in 1st round knockouts, boxers quitting mid fight, ear biting, and eventually banishment when Lenox Lewis knocked out the former great in 2002.
1. Babe Ruth to New York Yankees
Already a standout pitcher and hitter for the Boston Red Sox, it was a head scratcher as to why the Red Sox would sell the Babe to the Yankees. All Ruth did was win 4 World Series in the Bronx and became what many consider to be the greatest Baseball player of all time.