By SBRForum.com

The Boston Red Sox have made a lot of deals over the years, some good, some bad, and some terrible. But what comprises the biggest trade ‘busts” in Boston baseball history?

To begin with, we must point out that the worst “trade” in Red Sox history wasn’t really a trade; it was a sale. In December of 1919 Boston sent a young Babe Ruth to New York for cash. And cash is never really a “bust,” unless maybe there’s not enough of it.

Then again, let’s try to add it up. On one side you’ve got Boston, which got something like $200,000 for the Babe, equal to about $2 million today. The also instantly inherited “The Curse.” On the other side the Yanks went from a team that had never won anything to the most successful North American sports franchise in history. Forbes recently estimated the Yankees to be worth a little under $2 billion.

So yea, maybe that Ruth deal was a bit of a bust.

Here follow a few other deals the Red Sox would probably like to re-think.

Jeff Bagwell for Larry Andersen

In 1990 the Sox were fighting for the AL East crown, and needed some shoring up in the bullpen. At the time Larry Andersen was a fairly capable 37-year-old right-handed middle reliever toiling in Houston, while Jeff Bagwell was a local kid with little power playing third base at double-A New Britain. So at the trade deadline Boston sent Bagwell to the Astros for Andersen.

Boston actually got 22 solid innings of relief out of Anderson on its way to the AL East title and a playoff loss to Oakland. The following winter the Sox traded him to San Diego, and two years later he was out of baseball.

On the other end of this trade, though, Houston ended up getting 2,300 hits, 1,500 runs, 449 homers, 1,500 RBI and the simple pleasure of having one of the best hitters of that time in the lineup just about every day for 15 seasons.

Are you telling me the Sox didn’t have anybody at triple-A that could have done the same thing as Andersen during that pennant drive? How many line drives do you think Bagwell would have hit off the Green Monster? Bagwell spent nine seasons playing his home games in the spacious confines of the Astrodome. What might his career numbers be had he played those games at Fenway? Sox Nation still grinds its teeth over this trade.

Dave Henderson for Randy Kutcher

In October 1986 Henderson hit one of the great homers in Red Sox history, that ALCS Game 5 blast that got Boston past the Angels and into the World Series. The following season, with Hendu struggling, the Sox traded him to San Francisco for Kutcher, a 27-year-old reserve outfielder.

Kutcher didn’t amount to much, hitting .224 with three homers in basically one full season in Boston. Henderson, meanwhile, revitalized his career a couple years later with Oakland, helping the A’s win three straight American League pennants from 1988-90. To add insult to injury Hendu went six-for-16  with a double, a homer and four RBI against the Sox in the ’88 ALCS

Bill Lee for (Who the Hell Is) Stan Papi (?)

One of the most unpopular deals in Red Sox history went down because of a clash of attitudes, when  the popular “Spaceman” was traded to Montreal for utility infielder Stan Papi.

Lee had won 17 games three years in a row with Boston 1973-75, and left two games with the lead in the ’75 World Series, only to have Red Sox relievers cough ‘em up, including in Game 7. The counter-culture minded left-hander (is that redundant?) later butted heads with old-school manager Don Zimmer, and was sent packing at the end of the ’78 season.

Lee then immediately won 16 games for the Expos, helping turn that franchise into a contender for the first time. His iconoclastic ways led to his exit from baseball three years later, but hey, the Sox can always say they got a homer and six RBI (Papi’s numbers in 50 games for Boston) for him.

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