5 MLB Trades That Are Starting to Look Pretty Bad

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Now that the MLB trade winds have calmed down and players are starting to settle in with their new teams, it becomes easy to tell which trades have not worked out thus far.

Some players naturally do not mesh well with other players and teams, and we start to see some stats dive down. This leaves some fans questioning why certain trades were even completed in the first place.

Teams in the playoff hunt like to trade minor league prospects or cash considerations for that one bat to help power an offense.

But sometimes the trade seems to be a “swing and a miss.”

There have been numerous trades that have not worked out well this year, but a few teams have bought players higher than what they have been worth so far.

In no particular order, here is a list of five trades that had teams expecting different outcomes.

Marlins Receive Carlos Lee from the Astros

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Although he may be heating up right now, Carlos Lee has not been playing well for the Marlins after being traded on July 4th.

Lee’s home run against the Dodgers on August 26th is only his second as a Marlin in 48 games so far.

To put that into perspective, hitting two home runs every 48 games puts you on pace to hit about seven home runs in a full 162-game season.

Sitting with eight home runs so far, Lee still needs at least eight more to tie his season low in his rookie year. Lee has hit more than 20 home runs every year in his career aside from his rookie season.

His batting average has dropped, too.

Lee's batting average was .303 on June 24th, then 10 days later, on the day he was traded, he dropped substantially to .284. He now sits at .280.

Aside from Lee’s struggles, the Marlins have not been playing well, either. They are only 19-28 since acquiring Lee on July 4th.

Cubs Receive Justin Germano from Red Sox

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What seemed to be a harmless trade for the Cubs actually has come back to bite them where it hurts.

On July 19th, they traded cash considerations to the Red Sox in return for starting pitcher Justin Germano.

Since being traded, Germano has posted a 2-3 record with the Cubs and has only pitched more than six innings once.

In his last two starts especially, Germano has pitched poorly (9.2 IP 18 H 12 ER 7 K).

Surprisingly, his 5.09 ERA is not the worst in the Cubs' rotation, because the Cubs’ starting pitching has been terrible overall this year. Paul Maholm is the only starter with a winning record.

The Cubs still sit 21.5 games out of the wild-card spot, so it would be safe to say that they are not heading for the playoffs this year.

Astros Trade Brett Myers to White Sox

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The Houston Astros lost a great closer in Myers when they traded him to the White Sox back on July 21st.

He had been pitching well for the Astros, and he is a primed player, so trading him away really dug the Astros a deep hole that they will not get out of this season.

Since he has been traded, Myers has been a huge help to the White Sox.

Including the four runs he let up in one game against the Royals, Myers has only allowed eight runs in 19.1 innings.

He also has been credited with his only two wins this season while on the White Sox.

Myers is not closing because Addison Reed has been pitching so well, but Myers would be a closer on a handful of teams in the MLB.

The Astros lost a great arm out of their bullpen and did not receive much in return. 

Rays Receive Bryan Roberts from the Diamondbacks

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The Tampa Bay Rays traded for Ryan Roberts for almost nothing in return, but Roberts has not done much to help the team since being traded on July 24th. 

Since being traded, Roberts has struck out 22 times in only 28 games. His average has dropped from .250 to .241, and his speed has not been a factor.

Roberts has already been caught stealing three times in five attempts, compared to being caught the same amount of times in 12 attempts with the Diamondbacks.

Batting .219 with the Rays, Roberts has only managed to hit two home runs.

The Rays sit 1.5 games back in the wild-card race and five games back in the division, so they have a shot a clinching a playoff spot, but the four-game slide they are on has set them back.

Yankees Receive Casey McGehee from the Pirates

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This trade really has some fans scratching their heads.

After losing Alex Rodriguez due to a hand injury back in late July, the Yankees went out and traded for Casey McGehee to intern until Rodriguez came back.

This trade seemed crazy because the Yankees have a more-than-capable backup in Eric Chavez.

McGehee did not do to well, and he was relieved of his intern duties and replaced by Chavez after only a few games.

Even with a new shave, McGehee was not able to get the job done.

In 13 games with the Yankees, he batted .186 with only one home run.

After falling into a 2-for-22 slump after August 18th, the Yankees decided to stop using McGehee regularly and bring in Chavez and company to take the workload until Rodriguez returns.

Rodriguez is set to return soon, though, and no thanks to McGehee, the Yankees still are in first place in the American League East.

Their lead has dwindled, though—on the day of Rodriguez’s injury, the Yankees owned a 7.5-game lead on the Baltimore Orioles. Now that lead is only at 3.5 games.

Losing five of their last eight games, the Yankees will hope that the return of Rodriguez will help them clinch the division.