A Long-term Trade Deficit

If his career accomplishments aren't painful enough for the Dodgers, he has seldom missed an opportunity to rub it in.

Before starting the 1999 All-Star game for the American League (and striking out the first four National League hitters), he said:

"All those people who put all those labels on me must be out there [in L.A.] now banging their heads against the wall. You're talking about some of the biggest people in baseball, but they obviously didn't know anything about the game.

"I made 65 appearances in '93 and they were still saying I was too small, too weak, certain to break down. I think about it all the time. It's still my motivation. Durability is my whole game. I've proven them wrong. God willing I'll continue to prove them wrong."

Claire has absorbed all the slings and arrows and remained standing.

"As the general manager, I made the decision and take the responsibility," he again said in reflection. "You know, at the end of the day, you have to give a lot of credit to Pedro. I'm not sure that there's been another right-hander of his size that has combined his power, finesse and heart. No one has more spirit."

Six years after DeShields last played in the major leagues, Martinez is still a valued starter with the New York Mets, and no Dodgers trade of the last 50 years has been more cussed and discussed.

However, there is one more that should be mentioned.

In fact, in his own private rankings, Claire will always reserve a painful place near the top for a seven-player 1998 deal in which Chase Carey, then a top Fox executive who had become part of the Dodgers' new ownership structure under Rupert Murdoch, went behind his general manager's back to trade Mike Piazza, among the most popular L.A. Dodgers ever, to Florida, netting among others Gary Sheffield and the turmoil that travels with him.

That shocking trade foreshadowed the departure of the undermined Claire and the chaos of the Fox ownership, but was it enough to dislodge the haunting memory of Martinez/DeShields?

For most Dodgers followers, a vote by superdelegates isn't needed.

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The bottom five

A look at the five worst trades by the Dodgers in their 50 years in L.A.:

No. 1 -- Nov. 17, 1993: Fred Claire tried to fill a second-base hole by acquiring Delino DeShields from Montreal for Pedro Martinez, who promptly started on his way to Cooperstown while DeShields was headed to an early retirement.