Professional Athletes Who Have Played for the Most Teams

Starting pitcher Mike Morgan’s MLB career stretched through four different decades — and a dozen franchises. He made his MLB debut for the Oakland A’s in 1978 at 18 years old. Morgan was traded to the New York Yankees in 1980, then to the Toronto Blue Jays in 1982, before going to the Seattle Mariners in 1985. He played three years for the Mariners, before being traded to the Baltimore Orioles.

In 1989, Morgan was shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he played for three seasons and made his lone All-Star game in 1991. After that season, Morgan played for the Chicago Cubs for three-and-a-half seasons and was then traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. Morgan later had brief stints with the Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, the Cubs again, and Texas Rangers. He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2000, at age 40. Morgan pitched out of the Arizona bullpen for three seasons, helping the team win the 2001 World Series.

Matt Stairs was an outfielder, designated hitter, and a pinch-hit specialist, hitting 23 home runs off the bench — an all-time record. He began his career with the Montreal Expos, playing briefly with the team in 1992 and 1993. Stairs played in Boston for the Red Sox for the 1995 season, then signed with the Oakland A’s, where he played for five seasons.

Throughout the 2000s, Stairs moved frequently — playing for the Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Toronto Blue Jays, never for more than a few seasons. During the 2008 season, Toronto traded Stairs to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was part of their World Series-winning team at age 40. Stairs played for the San Diego Padres in 2010 before rounding out his career in 2011 with the Washington Nationals — the franchise that started after Stairs’ original team, the Montreal Expos, relocated.

In his 15-year career, pitcher Ron Villone played for a dozen different teams, never staying on one team for longer than two seasons. Even in his rookie season, Villone was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the San Diego Padres. The next season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers, who then traded him to the Cleveland Indians the next season.

Villone played sparingly with Cleveland, then went onto the Cincinnati Reds for two seasons. From 2001-2005, the lefty pitched for the Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Pittsburgh Pirates, Seattle Mariners again, and the Florida Marlins, who traded him to the New York Yankees. Villone made over 100 appearances for the Bronx Bombers during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. He then rounded out his career with one season for the St. Louis Cardinals and one season for the Washington Nationals.

NBA small forward Chucky Brown played for 12 teams in just 13 seasons. After being drafted by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1989, Brown played for the team for just over two seasons before he was waived in 1991 and signed by the Los Angeles Lakers. He signed a series of one-year free agent deals with the New Jersey Nets, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, and Houston Rockets — where he was a member of their 1995 NBA Championship team.

Brown re-signed with the Rockets, then was part of the Charles Barkley trade that sent Barkley to Houston and Brown to the Phoenix Suns. A few months later, the Suns traded Brown to the Milwaukee Bucks for the remainder of the 1996-1997 season. Brown signed a series of short contracts through the end of his career — playing for the Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte again, Golden State Warriors, back to his first team in Cleveland, then the Sacramento Kings in 2002 to finish his career.

After being drafted fourth overall in 1992, small forward Jim Jackson played four-and-a-half seasons for the Dallas Mavericks, his longest tenure with any team. Jackson never played for two full seasons with any other team. He was traded by Dallas to the New Jersey Nets during 1997, who then traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers during the offseason. The Sixers traded Jackson to the Golden State Warriors in February 1998.

In February 1999, Jackson signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. He was traded to the Atlanta Hawks six months later during the offseason. In early 2001, the Hawks traded Jackson to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The next three seasons, Jackson signed free agent deals with new teams — the Miami Heat, the Sacramento Kings, and Houston Rockets. During his second season in Houston, he was traded yet again, this time to the New Orleans Hornets. But he never actually played for the Hornets. The team traded Jackson to the Phoenix Suns, where he spent parts of two seasons before he was waived by the team in 2006. Jackson rounded out his career with a short stint with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Power forward Tony Massenburg played for a dozen different NBA teams. His rookie year, the 1990-1991 season, was spent entirely with the San Antonio Spurs. The next season, he was waived and signed with the Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, and Golden State Warriors. Massenburg spent his next two seasons playing in Spain before coming back to the U.S. to play for the Los Angeles Clippers.

After playing the 1994-1995 season in L.A., the newly-formed Toronto Raptors selected Massenburg in their expansion draft. He played 24 games in Canada before the Raptors traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers. Massenburg signed for the New Jersey Nets ahead of the 1996 season and then for the Boston Celtics for 1997 and was traded to the Vancouver Grizzlies mid-season. In 1999, the Grizzlies traded Massenburg back to Houston for the rest of the season, then he signed a free agent deal with Vancouver once again in 2000, playing with the team through their move to Memhpis through the 2001-2002 season. After that, Massenburg signed one-year deals with the Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, and back to his original team the San Antonio Spurs, helping the team win the 2005 NBA Championship before retiring.

Joe Smith was drafted first overall in the 1995 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. He made the all-rookie team and averaged 17.0 points per game in his two-and-a-half seasons with the Warriors. In early 1998, Smith was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for the rest of the season. He signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he played two seasons before signing a one-year deal with the Detroit Pistons, then returned to Minnesota for two more years. The T-Wolves traded Smith to the Milwaukee Bucks after the 2002-2003 season, where he remained for three seasons.

After being traded to the Denver Nuggets ahead of the 2006-2007 season, Smith bounced around for the remainder of his career, never staying with one team for more than a season. He played for the Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Atlanta Hawks, New Jersey Nets, and Los Angeles Lakers. He retired after the 2010-2011 season.

Mike Sillinger played for more teams than any player in NHL history, suiting up for a dozen franchises. The center began his career in 1990 for the Detroit Red Wings before being traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in 1995. From 1996-2001, Sillinger was traded five times — from Anaheim to the Vancouver Canucks, then to the Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and the Ottawa Senators. Ahead of the 2001-2002 season, Sillinger signed a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets, playing there for two full seasons.

After the 2002-2003 season, Sillinger was on the move again. Columbus traded him to the Dallas Stars, who flipped him that same day to the Phoenix Coyotes. He was again traded to the St. Louis Blues, who in turn traded him to the Nashville Predators. Sillinger finally got some stability at the end of his career, signing with the New York Islanders ahead of the 2006-2007 season. He played with the Islanders for three full seasons before retiring.

After spending his rookie season with the New York Mets in 1999, relief pitcher Octavio Dotel was traded to the Houston Astros, where he pitched for more than four seasons — his longest stretch with any team. In 2004, the Astros traded Dotel to the Oakland A’s. In 2005, Dotel injured his arm and needed Tommy John surgery, returning to the big leagues in August 2006, after signing with the New York Yankees.

Dotel began the 2007 season with the Kansas City Royals before being traded to the Atlanta Braves. He then spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, posting a 3.55 ERA in 134 appearances. He split his 2010 season between the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Colorado Rockies, and his 2011 season between the Toronto Blue Jays and the St. Louis Cardinals. Dotel was a crucial piece of that Cardinals 2011 World Series team, appearing in 12 postseason games. Ahead of the 2012 season, he signed as a free agent with his 13th and final team — the Detroit Tigers. Dotel returned to Detroit for the 2013 season, but he missed significant time with injury and retired in 2014.

No professional athlete in the modern history of the NFL, NHL, NBA, or MLB played for as many teams as Edwin Jackson, at 14. The pitcher made his MLB debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2003 at just 19 years old. In 2006, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, where he also spent three seasons. Jackson was traded to the Detroit Tigers ahead of the 2009 season. There, he made his lone All-Star game, going 13-9 with a 3.62 ERA.

After the season, he was traded four times in 20 months, going from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Chicago White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays to the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was part of their 2011 World Series-winning team. Beginning in 2012, Jackson signed a string of free agent deals, playing for the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Washington again, the Oakland A’s, a second stint in Toronto, and finally back to Detroit for a few games in 2019 to round out his career.