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.