I’ll have to look at the Bunning deal in my spare time. He was a star and the Pirates gave up four players to get him, but he was 36 at the time and past his prime. Therefore he doesn’t meet our criteria.

I’ll try to get to some of those deals eventually, though.

Mike, take a look at the worst trade of all time Pirate wise, the trade for Jim Bunning. He was supposed to put the Pirates over the top, and immediately fell off a cliff. I know they gave up both Don Money and Woody Fryman for him.

20.8% of top 10 hitting prospects (as determined by Baseball America) turn out to be “Busts” (defined as a player who averaged 2 or less Wins Above Replacement Player).

29.2% were “contributors” (2 to 4 WARP per year).

33.3% were “Everyday Players” (4 to 6 WARP per year).

16.7% were “stars” (6 or more WARP per year).

For pitchers it’s a different story, though.

53.8% are Busts.
30.8% are Contributors.
11.5% are Everyday Players
3.8% are Stars.

So there’s an 85% chance of getting at best a back-of-the-rotation pitcher and only a 15% chance of having a pitcher who will be worth a damn. The numbers don’t get any better for prospects ranked between 11 and 25 either.

The Madlock deal doesn’t meet our criteria because it was a three-for-three trade. I might take a look at it in my spare time, though, just to see how the Win Shares add up after the trade. The Garner trade more closely meets the above because it was a three-for-six deal, but Garner wasn’t exactly a star.

I don’t know what Zachry did to you, but it’s nice to see that you’ve gotten over it. ;)

Steve Henderson was a talented guy back when it seemed all young outfielder were black and named Henderson, he, Rickey and Dave all came up around the same time, and Dave and Steve were teammates with Seattle.

A trade I’d love you to look at would be the Pirates getting Bill Madlock in 1979, or the Phil Garner trade. Back then the Pirates had a loaded farm system and could trade for guys… :(