The Kansas City Royals have had their share of rough trade returns, but few still sting like the one they made on March 27, 1987. That was the day the club shipped promising young pitcher David Cone and outfielder Chris Jelic to the New York Mets for pitchers Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo, plus catcher Ed Hearn.
At the time, Cone was still early in his career, with just 22.2 major league innings on his résumé. He wasn’t a finished product yet. The Royals saw a pitcher with upside, but also one with some wildness and plenty of refinement still ahead of him, and they chose to move on.
What followed made the deal look worse in a hurry. Cone broke out almost immediately in New York, posting a 5.5 bWAR season in his first year with the Mets.
By 1988, he was a 20-game winner, finishing with a 2.22 ERA and a 2.58 FIP. For Kansas City, that had to feel like a brutal miss.
Cone’s path had actually made him a familiar name in the Royals system long before the trade. Drafted in the third round in 1981, he rose quickly through the organization and looked like a future fixture for the club.
Then a torn ACL in Spring Training in 1983 wiped out his season and slowed his climb. By the time he got back on track, the Royals had already decided to deal him.
The return never came close to matching what Kansas City gave away. Anderson appeared in only 13 games for the Royals over two seasons, putting up a 6.89 ERA in 47 innings before leaving as a free agent after 1988.
He never pitched in the big leagues again. Gozzo spent two seasons struggling in Double-A Memphis before the Toronto Blue Jays drafted him in the 1988 minor league draft.
Hearn didn’t do much to soften the blow, either. He played in 13 games for Kansas City across two seasons, went 9-for-35 at the plate, and never appeared in an MLB game again. Put together, the three players the Royals received produced -0.5 bWAR during their time in Kansas City.
The Royals did eventually bring Cone back, signing him as a free agent in December 1992. That second stint worked out far better.
He turned in two of the best seasons of his career and won his only Cy Young Award in the strike-shortened 1994 season. But even that couldn’t erase the original mistake, and the club added another painful chapter in 1995 when it traded Cone to the Toronto Blue Jays in another deal that brought back negative value.
It’s the kind of trade that still hangs around decades later: a hometown pitcher sent away before his best years, and a return that never came close to making up for it.
In Other News...
Royals Fans May Not Love This New Vinnie Pasquantino Speculation
Jake Bauers is off the board after agreeing to a four-year deal with the Boston Red Sox, and that has the Milwaukee Brewers sorting through a new set of first-base possibilities. The list is already familiar enough around the league: free agent Ty France, internal options such as Andrew Vaughn and Andrew Fischer, and now a trade idea that would pull Vinnie Pasquantino out of Kansas City.
For Royals fans, that last name is the one worth watching. Pasquantino remains the kind of player other clubs would love to pry loose if they think the price is right, and the Brewers are at least being mentioned as a team that could explore it while they weigh their alternatives. Nothing has been decided, but any rumor involving a young bat like Pasquantino is the sort of thing that can get a fan base paying close attention fast. [Read more 🡒]
Bobby Witt Jr. Just Raised The Stakes For Kansas Citys Future
Bobby Witt Jr. spent the season doing exactly what the Royals have been hoping for since he arrived: playing like a franchise centerpiece and making it look sustainable. Even with injuries limiting him to 143 games, he still finished third in American League MVP voting with 188 points, added another All-MLB First Team nod for the third straight year and picked up the MLBPAA Heart & Hustle Award for the third time, a strong reminder that his production and approach keep stacking up.
For Kansas City, the bigger takeaway is where this leaves the organization going forward. Manager Matt Quatraro and general manager J.J. Picollo both pointed to Witts growth and preparation as signs of what he means to the club beyond one standout season, and the Royals challenge now is clear: keep building a roster that matches his trajectory. After a year like this, the stakes around supporting him only get higher. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Loftin Created A Royals Roster Debate That Isnt Going Away
Nick Loftin spent the 2026 season doing exactly what players on the roster bubble are supposed to do: make the decision harder. He put together a career-best batting line, logged 118 games, and kept showing up wherever the Royals needed him, handling multiple infield spots while turning in enough value to finish with a 1.3 WAR. His work at third base even earned a Gold Glove nomination, a sign that his defensive reputation has started to catch up to the versatility he has offered all year.
The problem for Loftin is that progress does not always equal a clear lane the next season. Kansas City has competition at several infield positions, and while Loftin has made himself more useful, the outfield is still not an obvious answer for him because of the defensive questions there. So the Royals are left weighing a player who helped them in a lot of different ways against a roster picture that may still push him back into the same utility role, even after his best season yet. [Read more 🡒]