Neyer: Moves at Trade Deadline Can Be Great Deal of Trouble

The most important thing to know about baseball trades made in July is that most of them do not amount to much. Few of the stars traded to contenders will be the difference between winning and losing, and few of the young prospects traded for stars will become stars. Still, we have had a flurry of activity leading to Sunday’s deadline for nonwaiver trades (don’t ask), with stars like Carlos Beltran, and numerous lesser lights changing teams and kindling hope among their new teams’ fans.

And although most of these deadline deals are ultimately good for all parties — contrary to popular opinion, baseball executives are generally intelligent — there have been a few notably disastrous deadline trades over the years. ...

Usually, it is not the guys you trade that hurt you. According to the old saw, you have to give quality to get quality. What hurts you are the guys you get who are not nearly as good as you thought.