This article reflects on a trade made by the Toronto Blue Jays 28 years ago, where John Olerud was traded to the Mets for Robert Person. The author argues that this trade was a mistake, as it involved trading a promising young player (Olerud) for a less established pitcher (Person).
28 Years Ago Today: The Blue Jays traded 28-year-old John Olerud to the Mets for 27-year-old Robert Person . I don’t know if it is the worst trade in team history, but it is my least favourite. We won the World Series in 1992 and 1993. Then 1994, 95 and 96 didn’t go as well. The Jays won with an older lineup, and that lineup seemed to age quickly after the second World Series year. Seeing how things were heading, our GM Pat Gillick left the team after the 1994 season to take over the Orioles.
Gord Ash got the job with the Jays. But, unfortunately, it wasn’t a good spot. There was only one way the team could go, which wasn’t up. Ash inherited a very loved, strong-willed, opinionated manager in Cito Gaston. None of those are bad traits for a manager, but when you are a new GM, it is easy to be steamrolled by a strong manager. So, the Jays had a line-drive hitter who played excellent defense at first base and was coming into his prime years in Olerud. But we also had an aging outfielder, Joe Carter, who couldn’t handle playing the outfield every day anymore. Still, he could play first. Add in that he was a two-time World Series hero. And we had a young potential superstar, Carlos Delgado, who had primarily been a DH but could play first (if you weren’t picky about defense). So we had three guys for two spots. The intelligent thing for a team that should have been rebuilding would have been to keep the younger two and see if they could trade the older player. But Cito understandably loved Carter. Joe helped him get two World Series wins, so he pushed to trade Olerud to make room for Carter to play daily. Cito was never a fan of John. A strong GM might have stood up to his manager and said, ‘No, Carter’s time is over. We need to rebuild around the younger guys.’ A good general manager could have gotten a nice return for a player like Olerud. Ash traded for Robert Person. Person, at 27, had pitched 101.2 innings for the Mets. He had a 4
Toronto Blue Jays John Olerud Robert Person Baseball Trade Gord Ash Cito Gaston
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