10 Recent Sports Moves We Did Not See Coming
Sam Hinkie's resignation, as reported by ESPN's Marc Stein, wasn't the most shocking sports development of the year, but its timing did come as a surprise.
So what have been the most surprising moves in the recent sports past? Brock Osweiler's deal with the Houston Texans comes to mind. In fact, the quarterback shuffle in the NFL has manufactured some of the more unexpected player moves in sports over the past several months.
True, neither the NBA nor NHL trade deadline was chock-full of jaw-dropping action. Still, recent events have offered some surprising moves in the way of player acquisitions, trades and even one blockbuster of a coach firing.
During the MLB and NFL offseasons, players have ended up in new, unexpected places, while others have ended up in old, familiar places, both with equal shock value. More than one all-time great decided to hang it up for good, and one poor soul in Cleveland abruptly lost his job.
Here they are: 10 recent sports moves hardly anyone saw coming, from Yoenis Cespedes staying with the New York Mets to Osweiler royally ticking off John Elway.
Yoenis Cespedes Stays with Mets
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Yoenis Cespedes was one of the hottest free agents on the MLB offseason market.
Back in September, the New York Mets outfielder told Marly Rivera of ESPN Deportes (via Adam Rubin of ESPN) that he wanted a six-year deal in free agency.
Yet as the offseason marched on, no such deal materialized. Potential suitors scooped up other free-agent outfielders—the Detroit Tigers got Justin Upton, and the Kansas City Royals kept Alex Gordon—and Cespedes was left in the cold.
"Where will Cespedes go?" was a popular offseason question that ended up with quite the ho-hum answer: nowhere.
Cespedes re-signed with the Mets in late January for three years and $75 million.
In this case, the lack of movement was the surprise.
Alex Teixeira to Jiangsu Suning FC
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There is a new player in the global market for soccer talent. The Chinese Super League scooped up "five of the six largest transfer signings in the 2015-16 window," according to Andrew Flowers of FiveThirtyEight.
In February, John Duerden of the Guardian wrote, "China is set to become the biggest non-European league in the world in the not-too-distant future, overtaking the likes of MLS, Mexico and any other you may care to mention."
The swift rise of the CSL in the player market is surprising in and of itself, but perhaps the biggest deal thus far has been Jiangsu Suning's acquisition of Brazilian midfielder Alex Teixeira. The club signed him away from his Ukranian team in February to a deal worth somewhere around £35 million (over $49 million), the largest transfer fee of the year to that point.
Sami Mokbel of Mail Online wrote, "The stunning move which will see the Brazilian forward join from Shakhtar Donetsk to link up with Ramires at Jiangsu Suning comes a huge blow to Liverpool, who refused to bid higher than £30 million [over $42 million]."
Sam Hinkie Resigns
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As mentioned above, Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie resigned on Thursday.
It wasn't overly surprising in general, given the state of the 76ers and the hiring of basketball super-executive Jerry Colangelo in December. Yet the timing was odd—the move came with a few games left in the season.
Deadspin's Patrick Redford added, "The timing of Hinkie's departure is rather curious given that he just went on Zach Lowe's podcast yesterday and talked a whole lot about how the Sixers are just a normal team like anyone else and that losing sometimes happens and they're not that different."
In an even odder move, Hinkie gave his resignation in the form of a 13-page manifesto to the Sixers organization. According to Stein, an excerpt read, "There has been much criticism of our approach. There will be more. A competitive league like the NBA necessitates a zig while our competitors comfortably zag."
The timing and nature of this move made it unexpected, and the 76ers' dismal record hadn't pushed Hinkie to move before. Yet even though the Sixers weren't planning to fire Hinkie, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, perhaps the writing about his future was on the wall.
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Dion Phaneuf to the Senators
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The NHL trade deadline came and went with about as much excitement as its NBA counterpart (so, hardly any).
Yet one trade did raise a few eyebrows. Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman and captain Dion Phaneuf was sent to the Ottawa Senators in a nine-player megadeal in February.
As Daniel Nugent-Bowman of Yahoo Sports noted, the move wasn't surprising, but the destination was. He wrote, "Now for the shocking part. The Leafs shipped Phaneuf to one of their biggest rivals, the Ottawa Senators—the first time in almost two decades the teams have exchanged NHL players."
The Leafs were able to free up cap space with the trade and won't have to pick up any of Phaneuf's remaining salary (perhaps they are paving the way to eventually go after Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos?).
Still, sending the captain to the enemy? Chris Peters of CBS Sports called it "an extremely rare trade between rivals."
Heather O'Reilly Left Off Olympic Qualifying Roster
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In a Jurgen Klinsmann-like move, U.S. women's national soccer team coach Jill Ellis left a veteran leader off the Olympic qualifying roster in January.
Midfielder Heather O'Reilly has 228 international caps and three Olympic gold medals. Chad Smith of Reporting KC wrote, "O'Reilly is a bit of a surprise, as she is always extremely fit and has been playing well over the last few friendlies."
Clearly, Ellis favored a younger roster heading into the qualifiers. According to U.S. Soccer, forward Mallory Pugh became the youngest player to make the women's national team qualifying roster at just 17 years of age. In addition, seven other players to make the team have eight international caps or less.
Going young is fine, but as U.S. soccer legend Julie Foudy tweeted, "No @HeatherOReilly. Hmmm. Like Ellis going younger, but also need some veteran leadership. HAO positive leader."
Megatron Retires
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As the 2015 NFL season wound down, rumors about Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson heated up. Would the Lions—who stood to suffer a $24 million cap hit on the All-Pro in 2016—cut or trade him? Would he actually consider retiring at age 30?
Johnson, who played in the NFL for nine seasons, accumulated 11,619 receiving yards and 83 touchdowns. In 2015, he caught for 1,214 yards—nothing to squawk at, but also a drop-off from his record-breaking 2012 total of 1,964.
In early March, Johnson officially announced his retirement, writing in a statement published by the Lions, "After much prayer, thought and discussion with loved ones, I have made the difficult decision to retire from the Lions and pro football. I have played my last game of football."
Early retirement appears to be happening more frequently in the NFL, noted Alex Reimer of SB Nation. And it goes without saying that football is a punishing physical sport. Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch retired after 2015 as well, at age 29.
Still, one of the greatest wide receivers of all time retired at the age of 30 when, despite nagging injury troubles, he could still play at a high level. We didn't see it coming.
Cavaliers Fire David Blatt
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Rumors of internal turmoil are pretty much a constant with the Cleveland Cavaliers these days. And yet under head coach David Blatt, the team went to the NBA Finals and finished the first half of the 2015-16 season at 30-11, the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Still, the Cavs opted to abruptly fire Blatt in January and replace him with assistant coach Tyronn Lue. The suddenness of the move, coupled with his team's on-court success, made the firing shocking and even troubling. Questions about the involvement of superstar LeBron James also came up.
According to ESPN.com news services, general manager David Griffin referenced "a lack of fit with our personnel and our vision."
Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweeted, "LeBron said he wants to fly under the radar. Looks like he did. I'll bet Blatt never saw this sneak attack coming."
Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical offered, "Since last season, LeBron James and his agent Rich Paul have been strong advocates of Lue becoming head coach, league sources tell Yahoo."
RG3 to the Browns
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As recently as February, Robert Griffin III's move to the Dallas Cowboys looked like a solid possibility.
Washington let the embattled quarterback go in early March, a move that had become all but a certainty long before. Upon his release, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reported that Dallas might not be interested in Griffin after all.
Meanwhile in Cleveland, 2014 first-round draft pick Johnny Manziel continued to experience off-field issues, and the team waived him March.
Despite Cleveland's desperate need for a QB, it still came as a surprise to some when the team signed Griffin to a two-year deal. Given Griffin's own history of injury and tumultuous team relations, it just seemed like a curious choice, even if not a financially risky one.
Joe Noga of Cleveland.com wrote:
"Reaction to the decision was swift and predictable on Twitter, as some users praised the move as a low-risk, high-reward gambit by the Browns. Others lamented Griffin's choice to join a team that is currently experiencing a deep and somewhat harsh rebuilding process (that some would argue has been going on since 1999).
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Then again, as Twitterer @Tyler_Martin25 pointed out, "The Browns signing RG3 is so Browns it hurts."
Dexter Fowler Stays with the Cubs
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Dexter Fowler to the Baltimore Orioles was virtually a done deal. The outfielders's Chicago Cubs teammate Anthony Rizzo even texted him to say congratulations on the new gig, according to Fowler, per Tony Andracki of CSN Chicago.
And then Fowler showed up to Cubs camp in Arizona, surprising everyone (except insiders like president of baseball operations Theo Epstein).
Fowler's potential deal with Baltimore was rumored to be in the neighborhood of three years and $35 million but folded last-minute because of a dispute over an early opt-out clause, according to Dayn Perry of CBS Sports.
Instead, he signed a one-year deal to stay with Chicago, an early favorite to win the World Series.
Per Andracki, Cubs veteran catcher Davis Ross said, "Everybody was looking around kind of dumbfounded. Theo got us all. Theo pulled one over."
Brock Osweiler to the Texans
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When injuries and poor play prompted the Denver Broncos to remove veteran quarterback Peyton Manning from a November game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Brock Osweiler stepped in and stepped up.
He started the next game against the Chicago Bears, throwing for 250 yards, two touchdowns and compiling a 127.1 QB rating. Cue controversy, hype, etc.
Fans know the rest. Manning eventually returned to the helm, and the team's stellar defense led them to a victory in Super Bowl 50. Most figured if Manning retired at the end of the season, the Osweiler era would begin for real in Denver.
Yet as the offseason progressed (and Manning took his time with that retirement announcement), light rumblings of another Osweiler destination began.
Indeed, when the free-agency period opened, Osweiler signed a four-year, $72 million deal with the Houston Texans. The reaction from around the league was swift and, in a word, people were surprised.
Broncos cornerback Chris Harris tweeted, "Shocked I thought Brock wanted to play with us lol."
Free-agent QB Matt Flynn chimed in, "Wow I know I'm going to get killed for this and I don't have a lot of room to talk, but this latest QB contract is unbelievable."
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