When the Avalanche announced on Friday that they’d traded Mikko Rantanen, ESPN described it as a “blockbuster.” Those who rank such things place it No. 6 on the list of the biggest trades in Denver sports history.
With all due respect to Mr. Rantanen, who is a bonafide superstar, it’s a little early to rank the swap with Carolina that brings Martin Necas, (the Hurricanes’ leading scorer this season), Jack Drury (nephew of former Avs standout Chris Drury) and a draft choice.
I judge a trade—in hindsight, of course, after seeing how it works out—two ways: the impact of the acquisition or acquisitions on the team trading for them, and their individual performance (or performances) after being acquired.
Here’s how I rate past trades by our four most prominent major league teams:
Most successful
Trading, in 1983, a package that included offensive lineman Chris Hinton, who developed into a perennial all-pro, for John Elway—two-time Super Bowl champion, member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and face of the Broncos for five decades—must be considered the best deal ever made by a Denver sports team.
Close behind is the acquisition of goalie Patrick Roy from the Montreal Canadiens on December 6, 1995. Roy led the Colorado Avalanche to two Stanley Cups during his eight years in Denver—after leading Montreal to a pair of Cups in 11 seasons in Montreal. Also a Hall of Famer, he has been voted one of the top 100 players in the history of the National Hockey League. None of the three players Colorado gave up—two of them first-round draft choices—ever made an NHL all-star team.
Receiving Calvin Natt, Fat Lever and Wayne Cooper (plus two draft choices) from the Portland Trailblazers for Kiki Vandeweghe and his 29.4 scoring average, in 1984. The Nuggets never won an NBA title with this trio, but they improved from 38-44 the season before the trade to 52-30 and NBA Western Division champs following it. And they won another division title three years later with a 54-28 record.
Under the radar
Before the Rockies played their first game, general manager Bob Gebhard claimed Kevin Reimer in the expansion draft and promptly sent him to Milwaukee for Dante Bichette, who hit 201 home runs in seven seasons as part of the Blake Street Bombers.
Recognizing that former American Basketball Association MVP George McGinnis had reached the downside of his Hall of Fame career, the Nuggets traded him in the middle of the 1979-80 season to Indiana for third-year pro Alex English, who played for Denver for a decade, leading the league in scoring in 1983. English’s number was retired by the Nuggets in 1993.
The Broncos acquired three future Hall of Famers through trade (in addition to Elway): Gary Zimmerman and draft choices from Minnesota for Vance Johnson and draft choices in 1993; Terrell Davis two years later with one of those draft choices from the Zimmerman deal; and Champ Bailey from Washington for Clinton Portis in 2004.
Carlos Gonzalez (and two other players, including closer Huston Street) from the Oakland A’s for Matt Holliday (who was traded again in mid-season, to St. Louis).
Infamous
Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks for a king’s ransom in players and draft choices, by the Broncos.
Nolan Arenado and a king’s ransom in future salary from the Rockies to the St. Louis Cardinals for five players who, except for lefthanded starting pitcher Austin Gomber, produced little or nothing.
Catcher Brad Ausmus and pitchers Andy Ashby and Doug Bochtler to San Diego for Greg Harris, who had compiled a 2.95 ERA in six seasons with the Padres, and washed-up Bruce Hurst on July 26, 1993. It was the Rockies’ first season, and they were drawing huge crowds. Principal owner Jerry McMorris wanted Bob Gebhard to make a move that showed those fans the club was serious about winning. Harris, whose best pitch was a curveball that wouldn’t break in Denver’s altitude, compiled a 4-20 record with an earned run average of 6.60 in a season-and-a-half, while Ausmus enjoyed an 18-year major league career and Ashby won 98 games in 14 seasons, including 17-9 for the Padres in 1998.
So, will the Rantanen “blockbuster” make any of these lists?
Time will tell.
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Denny Dressman’s 17th book, a collaboration with Kansas City artist Anthony High titled Black Baseball’s Heyday – Capturing An Era in Art and Words, will be published next spring. You can write to Denny at dennydressman
@comcast.net.