3 worst trades in KC Royals history

1987: KC Royals traded David Cone and Chris Jelic to the New York Mets for Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson, and Mauro Gozzo

At the time, the Royals' 1987 spring training trade that send pitcher David Cone and minor-league outfielder Chris Jelic to the New York Mets for catcher Ed Hearn and pitchers Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo made a lot of sense. Cone had only thrown 22.2 innings in the majors and posted an underwhelming 5.56 ERA, so while he was a top prospect to watch in the minors, the decision to trade him wasn't particularly note-worthy, especially considering the Royals' need for catching.

To say the deal didn't age well would be a very big understatement, and now, sending Cone to the Mets is widely considered to be the worst trade in Royals history.

Cone played almost six seasons with the Mets before he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in August 1992, and during that span, he pitched in 182 games, received the first two All-Star selections of his career, and finished third in NL Cy Young Award balloting for the 1988 season. Coming off a World Series-winning stint with the Blue Jays and three consecutive seasons as the MLB strikeout leader, Cone returned to the Royals before the 1993 season, and won the AL Cy Young Award during the strike-shortened 1994 season. Still, the Royals apparently didn't learn from their first mistake, because they traded Cone back to the Blue Jays before 1995.

Cone retired from baseball in 2003 with 194 wins to his name, a career 3.46 ERA, and 2,668 strikeouts across 17 seasons. The five-time World Series champion was selected to five All-Star teams, and is widely considered to be one of the best pitchers of his time, even if he never made it into the Hall of Fame.

It's clear that the Mets did very well in their 1987 trade, but what about the Royals?

Hearn, who the team acquired to be their new everyday catcher, suffered a severe shoulder injury mere days into the 1987 season and, as a result, only ever appeared in 13 games for the Royals — 6 in 1987 and 7 in 1988. Anderson also only appeared in 13 games for Kansas City, going 2–3 with a 6.89 ERA across two seasons, and Gozzo stayed in the minors for the entire time he was a part of the Royals organization.

The Cone/Hearn trade is largely considered one of the most lopsided transactions in MLB history, and there's no question that Kansas City lost out in a major way. Still, considering the Royals learned so little from the first experience that they made the exact same mistake just eight years later, it's hard to feel too sorry for them.