By Jordan Long
The Colorado Rockies might have made the most puzzling trade in their history. They sent arguably the best 3rd baseman in MLB, Nolan Arenado, to St. Louis plus added $50 million. The trade has not been finalized yet because Arenado has to waive his no-trade clause and it needs to be approved by MLB. Assuming that happens, it is the dumbest trade in Colorado Rockies history. This got me thinking, what other trades in Colorado were just as perplexing that didn’t pan out.
The Colorado Avalanche have made many trades over the years. One to this day that still doesn’t make sense was dealing left wing Chris Drury and center Stephane Yelle to the Calgary Flames for center Dean McAmmond, defenseman Derek Morris, and center Jeff Shantz. This happened on October 1st, 2002.
Drury was one of the best young forwards for Colorado. He had 4, 20+ goals seasons for the Avalanche. He was a young star who was going to improve his game. Drury might even have been one of their top players in the next 5 years. The trade happened in Drury’s 5th year in the league. Drury put up 20 or more goals 5 more times in his career but wouldn’t win another Stanley Cup.
Yelle wasn’t an offensive player like Drury but his skill set was killing penalties. He always was able to take the puck away and shoot the puck to the other end of the ice to kill time off of the penalty. Both of these skaters were key for the Avalanche for their 2001 Stanley Cup Championship. It was baffling to give up on them.
Morris was expected to help Colorado on the blue line and become more of an offensive defenseman. He helped Colorado a little bit scoring 17 goals and 59 assists in his two years with Colorado. Colorado then traded Morris to Phoenix on March 8th, 2004.
Shantz played 1 forgettable season with Colorado in 2003. He was not the scorer Drury was with a disappointing 3 goals and 6 assists. McAmmond also played 1 year for Colorado and scored 10 goals and added 8 assists in 41 games. This was one of the most lopsided trades in Avalanche history. None of these players Colorado received back did much in the league for them. If they could go back and redo it, Colorado would probably not have done it seeing how it ended up.
The Denver Broncos made a bunch of trades throughout their history. One that still doesn’t make sense is sending Jay Cutler to Chicago for Kyle Orton. This only happened because the Broncos’ new Head Coach, Josh McDaniels, was the coach and General Manager, meaning he was in charge of the roster.
Cutler was entering his 4th year in the league. The Broncos were hoping he was going to take a large step forward and be the franchise quarterback for years to come. Cutler was 17-20 in Denver and didn’t make a playoff appearance. He tossed for 9,024 yards, 54 touchdowns, and 37 interceptions. Cutler had the arm to stretch the field and throw to a wide-open receiver downfield. He could even fit the football into tight windows when the receiver was barely open. Cutler had everything Denver hoped for in a quarterback.
Unfortunately, Josh McDaniels had other plans. He delt Cutler for Kyle Orton. Orton spent 3 forgettable years in Denver with a 12-21 record. Orton passed for 8,434 yards, 49 touchdowns, and 28 interceptions in his time in the Mile High City. Denver let him go on November 22, 2011, to make room for Tim Tebow. Denver never made the postseason with Orton. The Broncos ended up winning the division with Tebow. They finished 8-8 in 2011 and even beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round.
The Bears clearly won this trade. For Cutler, he managed a 51-51 record with the Chicago Bears and advanced to the playoffs 1 time, 2011. Cutler threw for 23,443 yards, 154 touchdowns, and 109 interceptions with the Bears. He retired after the 2016 season but came out of retirement to play 1 more year with the Dolphins.
The Denver Nuggets have numerous transactions in their franchise history. One that the Nuggets were hoping would have worked out was acquiring “superstar” Allen Iverson from the Philadelphia 76ers. This was going to add another scorer for Carmelo Anthony. The trade happened on December 19th, 2006.
Iverson averaged 25.6 points per game in 135 games for Denver. The Nuggets advanced to the playoffs in 2007 and 2008 with Iverson but they were first-round exits. The Nuggets traded Iverson on November 4th, 2008 for Chauncey Billups. Billups took Denver to the Western Conference Finals that season.
The Colorado Rockies’ recent trade might be the worst. Before that has to be sending Troy Tulowitzki and LaTroy Hawkins for Toronto for Miguel Castro, Jeff Hoffman, Jesus Tinoco and shortstop Jose Reyes.
Tulowitzki won 2 Gold Gloves with the Rockies and helped them reach the World Series in 2007. In Toronto, he didn’t win a Gold Glove but Tulowitzki helped them go all the way to the Championship Series in 2016 but the Blue Jays lost to the Cleveland Indians. Tulowitzki hit .313 with 36 home runs and 122 RBI’s.
For the Rockies, Reyes played 47 games for Colorado, hitting .291 with 2 home runs and 19 RBI’s. The Rockies let Reyes go following the 2015 season. The only player who panned out in that trade was Jeff Hoffman. Hoffman is still with the Rockies. He has a record of 10-16 with a 6.40 ERA.
These are just some of the trades that didn’t work out in professional sports for Colorado teams.
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