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The busiest pipelines in sports
187 players went straight between the Reds and the Cardinals. The pairs of franchises that have swapped the most players, from every roster in five sports.
By Austin · October 16, 2026
Every trade, release and free-agent signing moves a player from one roster to the next. We followed every career in our data from team to team and counted which pairs of franchises have passed the most players straight between them, in either direction.
| Sport | Busiest pipeline | Players |
|---|---|---|
| Baseball | Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals | 187 |
| Basketball | Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers | 57 |
| Football | Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots | 89 |
| Hockey | Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers | 65 |
| Soccer | SS Lazio and Inter Milan | 40 |
Baseball
Baseball's busiest routes are between old National League rivals. The Reds, Cardinals, Cubs and Phillies have traded, released and signed each other's players since the 1800s, and they top the list because they've had the longest to do it.
| Between | Players | Including | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals | 187 | Vada Pinson, Cesar Cedeno, Curt Flood |
| 2 | Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers | 180 | Billy Herman, Fred McGriff, Ron Cey |
| 3 | Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds | 177 | Aroldis Chapman, Nick Castellanos, Rollie Hemsley |
| 4 | Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals | 176 | Dick Groat, Scott Rolen, Bill White |
| 5 | Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs | 168 | Walker Cooper, Greg Maddux, Joc Pederson |
| 6 | New York Yankees and Athletics | 168 | Rickey Henderson, Enos Slaughter, Tim Raines |
| 7 | Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals | 166 | Lou Brock, Willson Contreras, Don Kessinger |
| 8 | Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies | 166 | Ryne Sandberg, Jimmie Foxx, Harvey Kuenn |
| 9 | San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals | 159 | Orlando Cepeda, Carlos Beltran, Red Schoendienst |
| 10 | Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies | 158 | Pete Rose, Smoky Burgess, Frank McCormick |
Basketball
Basketball rosters are small, so the numbers are too, and no one pair runs away with it. The Hawks are in four of the top ten pairs, the Pistons and the Kings in three each.
| Between | Players | Including | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers | 57 | James Harden, Paul Millsap, Dikembe Mutombo |
| 2 | Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons | 52 | Walt Bellamy, Tracy McGrady, Rasheed Wallace |
| 3 | Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks | 42 | Brook Lopez, Terry Cummings, Marques Johnson |
| 4 | Sacramento Kings and Detroit Pistons | 40 | Tom Van Arsdale, Olden Polynice, Caron Butler |
| 5 | Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings | 39 | Vince Carter, Reggie Theus, Clyde Lovellette |
| 6 | Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings | 38 | Johnny Green, Tom Van Arsdale, Darrall Imhoff |
| 7 | Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers | 38 | Dikembe Mutombo, Bill Bridges, Tom Van Arsdale |
| 8 | Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons | 38 | Dave Bing, Bailey Howell, Don Ohl |
| 9 | Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards | 38 | Moses Malone, Don Ohl, Trae Young |
| 10 | Los Angeles Lakers and Washington Wizards | 36 | Russell Westbrook, Mitch Richmond, Spencer Haywood |
Football
Football's list runs through Miami: the Dolphins are in five of the top ten pairs, with the Patriots, the Bills, the Chargers, the Lions and the Browns.
| Between | Players | Including | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots | 89 | Justin Bethel, Irving Fryar, Wes Welker |
| 2 | Los Angeles Chargers and Miami Dolphins | 78 | Wes Welker, Mike Pouncey, Kevin Gogan |
| 3 | Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins | 77 | Frank Gore, Richie Incognito, Jordan Poyer |
| 4 | Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins | 76 | Jake McQuaide, Teddy Bridgewater, Brock Marion |
| 5 | Los Angeles Chargers and Washington Commanders | 76 | Deacon Jones, Thomas Davis, Trent Green |
| 6 | Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns | 76 | Jadeveon Clowney, Vinny Testaverde, Matt Stover |
| 7 | New York Giants and Washington Commanders | 75 | Jessie Armstead, Landon Collins, LaVar Arrington |
| 8 | San Francisco 49ers and Washington Commanders | 75 | Trent Williams, Charles Mann, Ray Brown |
| 9 | Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins | 74 | Jarvis Landry, Paul Warfield, Don Strock |
| 10 | New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles | 74 | Art Monk, Ken O'Brien, Hugh Douglas |
Hockey
Hockey's list runs through New York and St. Louis: the Rangers are in five of the top ten pairs and the Blues in four.
| Between | Players | Including | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers | 65 | Marcel Dionne, Mathieu Schneider, Bobby Carpenter |
| 2 | New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues | 62 | Wayne Gretzky, Jay Wells, Glenn Anderson |
| 3 | Montréal Canadiens and St. Louis Blues | 54 | Guy Lapointe, Guy Carbonneau, Pierre Turgeon |
| 4 | Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues | 54 | Marc Bergevin, Todd Gill, Adam Oates |
| 5 | St. Louis Blues and Vancouver Canucks | 53 | Dave Lowry, Cliff Ronning, Ryan Miller |
| 6 | Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers | 53 | Mark Messier, Doug Weight, Adam Graves |
| 7 | New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins | 52 | Luc Robitaille, Alex Kovalev, Jack Johnson |
| 8 | Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins | 50 | Paul Coffey, Marty McSorley, David Perron |
| 9 | Dallas Stars and New York Rangers | 50 | Pat Verbeek, Mike Gartner, John MacLean |
| 10 | Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs | 49 | Ron Francis, Patrick Marleau, Larry Murphy |
Soccer
Soccer's pipelines run inside one country. Italian clubs loan and sell to each other constantly, so Serie A dominates the list; French clubs fill most of the rest.
| Between | Players | Including | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SS Lazio and Inter Milan | 40 | Stefan de Vrij, Matías Vecino, Francesco Acerbi |
| 2 | Olympique Marseille and FC Girondins Bordeaux | 39 | Klaus Allofs, Bernard Zénier, Alain Giresse |
| 3 | UC Sampdoria and AS Roma | 35 | Patrik Schick, Alessio Romagnoli, Francesco Antonioli |
| 4 | AS Roma and Hellas Verona | 33 | Marash Kumbulla, Victor Nelsson, Daniele Ghilardi |
| 5 | Bologna FC 1909 and Atalanta BC | 33 | Stefan Posch, Musa Barrow, Riccardo Orsolini |
| 6 | Cagliari Calcio and Atalanta BC | 33 | Marco Borriello, Daniele Berretta, Raoul Bellanova |
| 7 | ACF Fiorentina and SSC Napoli | 33 | José Callejón, Alessandro Gamberini, Manuele Blasi |
| 8 | Parma Calcio 1913 and Inter Milan | 32 | Matteo Darmian, Alessandro Bastoni, Antonio Cassano |
| 9 | AS Monaco and Olympique Marseille | 32 | Lucas Ocampos, Toifilou Maoulida, Benjamin Mendy |
| 10 | AS Roma and Inter Milan | 32 | Edin Dzeko, Romelu Lukaku, Henrikh Mkhitaryan |
Why this matters in Teammate Chain
A busy pipeline means a lot of players who wore both uniforms. When a Teammate Chain puzzle has you stuck between two franchises, the answer is often a player who made the move. For the players who made the most moves, see the most-traveled players.
How we counted
For each career, we listed the franchises a player appeared for in the order he first played for each, and counted each step from one to the next. A player who went from the Reds to the Cardinals counts once for that pair, whichever way he went. A player traded during a season counts too, but then we can’t always tell which team came first. Relocated and renamed franchises count as one, under the name they have today.
About the data
These numbers come from the rosters behind Teammate Chain, not from every league a player ever played in. Two players count as teammates only if both are on the same club’s roster for the same season in our data, so a player who spent part of his career somewhere we don’t cover has fewer teammates here than he really had.
- Baseball: every MLB and major-league season since 1871. Every major-league season is included, back to the National Association, so baseball careers are complete.
- Basketball: every NBA season since 1946-47 (BAA included). The ABA isn't included, so ABA seasons (Julius Erving's, Moses Malone's, Spencer Haywood's first) don't count. Some rosters from the 1960s to the 1980s are incomplete.
- Football: every NFL season since the 1970 merger. Nothing before 1970, so the AFL and the pre-merger NFL are missing, along with the USFL, XFL and other leagues. A career like George Blanda's (1949-1975) only counts from 1970.
- Hockey: every NHL season since the 1967 expansion. Nothing before 1967-68, and no WHA, so Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, for example, only count from 1967.
- Soccer: Europe's top five leagues since 1963-64. Only league matches in the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Seasons anywhere else (Portugal, the Netherlands, Turkey, MLS, lower divisions) and cup and international matches aren't included. Teammates count from the club's squad list, even a player who didn't play that season; career lengths count only the seasons he played. A career that starts with a newly promoted club may have begun in a lower division, so those careers are left out of the lists.
Careers that are still going count through the latest season in the data, as of October 17, 2026. Players who share a name are kept apart by their league ids and birth dates, and a player listed on a roster for a season he didn’t play (an injured rookie, a draft pick still overseas) isn’t counted for it. Spot a mistake? Let us know.
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