Some MLB teams just don’t deserve nice things. Over the years, plenty of franchises have been blessed with generational talents—only to completely fail at building a contender around them. Whether it was bad management, cheap ownership, or just sheer incompetence, these teams managed to waste some of the greatest players in baseball history.
Let’s take a look at 10 franchises that completely wasted their superstars—because some of these players deserved way better.
10. Toronto Blue Jays (Roy Halladay)
Roy Halladay was one of the best pitchers of his era, and what did the Blue Jays do with him? Absolutely nothing. Despite his dominance, Toronto never built a competitive team around him, and he didn’t even sniff the playoffs until he forced his way out. The second he landed in Philadelphia, he threw a no-hitter in his first postseason game.
9. New York Mets (David Wright)
David Wright was the Mets. The guy put his heart and soul into the franchise, but the Mets never returned the favor. Whether it was terrible front-office decisions, ownership drama, or just flat-out bad luck, Wright spent his career carrying mediocre teams. By the time the Mets finally became contenders in 2015, injuries had robbed him of his prime.
8. San Diego Padres (Tony Gwynn)
Tony Gwynn is one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, and the Padres managed to turn his career into an extended exercise in frustration. Despite hitting .338 over 20 seasons, Gwynn only played in the postseason three times. The one time San Diego made the World Series? They got steamrolled by the 1998 Yankees.
7. Seattle Mariners (Felix Hernández & Ichiro Suzuki)
The Mariners have a rich history of wasting superstars, but Felix Hernández and Ichiro Suzuki are the ultimate victims. Ichiro was an absolute machine, but Seattle never built a true contender around him. Then there’s King Felix, who won a Cy Young while leading the league in losses—because his team never scored runs for him. He never pitched in a single playoff game.
6. Pittsburgh Pirates (Barry Bonds & Andrew McCutchen)
The Pirates have a long track record of doing nothing with generational talent. Barry Bonds turned into Barry Freaking Bonds in Pittsburgh, and they still let him walk in free agency. Decades later, Andrew McCutchen won an MVP and dragged the Pirates back to relevance, only for ownership to immediately tear the team down again.
5. Colorado Rockies (Todd Helton & Nolan Arenado)
The Rockies had two Hall of Fame-caliber players and somehow managed to do nothing with them. Todd Helton spent 17 years in Colorado and only made the playoffs twice. Then there’s Nolan Arenado, who got so fed up with the front office’s ineptitude that they traded him away—and paid the Cardinals to take him.
4. Minnesota Twins (Joe Mauer)
Joe Mauer was a once-in-a-generation player. A hometown hero who won an MVP as a catcher, he should have been the centerpiece of a dominant Twins dynasty. Instead, Minnesota never surrounded him with enough talent, and the team repeatedly flamed out in the playoffs (usually at the hands of the Yankees). By the time the Twins finally started spending money, Mauer’s best days were behind him.
3. Los Angeles Angels (Mike Trout & Shohei Ohtani)
The Angels didn’t just waste one generational talent—they wasted two at the same time. Mike Trout put up some of the best numbers in baseball history while the Angels failed to build anything around him. Then, Shohei Ohtani arrived—arguably the most talented player ever—and the Angels still couldn’t put together a winning team. Ohtani finally left, and Trout is probably next.
2. Cleveland Guardians (Jim Thome & José Ramírez)
Cleveland has a bad habit of wasting superstars. Jim Thome was one of the best power hitters of his era, and the Guardians (then-Indians) let him walk instead of building a real contender. Now, José Ramírez is following the same script—a legit MVP candidate stuck on a team that refuses to spend. He even took a discount to stay, and Cleveland still won’t make big moves.
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1. Oakland Athletics (Basically Every Good Player They’ve Ever Had)
No team wastes talent quite like the A’s. From Reggie Jackson to Mark McGwire to Jason Giambi to Matt Olson, Oakland’s entire business model is developing superstars just to trade them away. They refuse to pay their best players, they refuse to invest in a real stadium, and now they’re actively tanking their way to Las Vegas. The A’s are a factory of wasted potential.
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