Baseball Toaster was unplugged on February 4, 2009.
Jeff Conine again switches teams at midseason. This time he is headed for the first-place Mets from the playoff challenged Reds. Last year he went from the rebuilding O's to the playoff hungry Phils (and they are still hungry). An original Marlin in 1993, Conine was reaquired in 2003 by the Marlins from the O's and they went on to win the Series.
He's the ultimate rent-a-bat.
It made me wonder who was the player who switched teams midseason more than anyone else. Is it Conine?
The short answer is no. Bobo Newsom leads the pack switching teams midyear a hefty eight times:
| Player | #Yrs | First | Last | POs |
| Bobo Newsom | 8 | 1935 | 1952 | 1 |
| Terry Mulholland | 6 | 1989 | 2002 | 1 |
| Willie Montanez | 6 | 1975 | 1982 | 0 |
| Bob Kennedy | 5 | 1948 | 1957 | 1 |
| Bob Kuzava | 5 | 1950 | 1957 | 1 |
| Dan Schatzeder | 5 | 1982 | 1990 | 1 |
| Dave Philley | 5 | 1951 | 1960 | 0 |
| Dave Weathers | 5 | 1996 | 2004 | 1 |
| Don McMahon | 5 | 1962 | 1969 | 1 |
| Harold Baines | 5 | 1989 | 2000 | 4 |
| Hoyt Wilhelm | 5 | 1957 | 1971 | 0 |
| Jim Dwyer | 5 | 1975 | 1989 | 0 |
| Jim Poole | 5 | 1991 | 2000 | 1 |
| Lenny Harris | 5 | 1989 | 2003 | 3 |
| Luis Polonia | 5 | 1989 | 2000 | 3 |
| Ruben Sierra | 5 | 1992 | 2003 | 3 |
| Shad Barry | 5 | 1901 | 1908 | 0 |
| Tom Zachary | 5 | 1927 | 1936 | 1 |
Of course, his new teams made the playoffs just once. I was envisioning more of a Conine/Rickey Henderson type, a guy who is rented for the last couple of months of a season to help a team get to the postseason.
The players who switched teams midseason and then subsequently made it to the postseason the most times are as follows:
| Player | #Yrs | First | Last | POs |
| Harold Baines | 5 | 1989 | 2000 | 4 |
| Ruben Sierra | 5 | 1992 | 2003 | 3 |
| Bill Madlock | 3 | 1979 | 1987 | 3 |
| Luis Polonia | 5 | 1989 | 2000 | 3 |
| Lenny Harris | 5 | 1989 | 2003 | 3 |
| Rickey Henderson | 4 | 1989 | 2000 | 3 |
Conine won't even make this list when the Mets inevitably win the division. Baines did it four times: 1990 A's, '97 O's, '99 Indians, and 2000 White Sox (his second postseason with them, but the first in 17 years).
I note that the most playoffs list is all position players, not a middle reliever in the bunch.
Players traded after Sep. 1 (and thus ineligible for post-season roster) most times.
I remember the Mets picking up Candelaria for like the last week of the season. And didn't the Sox do that with a reliever recently?
Comment status: comments have been closed. Baseball Toaster is now out of business.