Met Trades: Good
Since the hot stove is a bit quiet today, it seems like a good time to look back at some of the better Met trades in the history of their franchise. The bad trades are coming later this week.
December 15, 1967
New York Mets traded Tommy Davis, Jack Fisher, Billy Wynne and Dick Booker to the Chicago White Sox for Tommie Agee and Al Weis.
April 6, 1972
New York Mets traded Mike Jorgensen, Tim Foli and Ken Singleton to the Montreal Expos for Rusty Staub.
December 8, 1978
New York Mets traded Jerry Koosman to the Minnesota Twins for Jesse Orosco and Greg Field.
Yes Koosman went on to win 20 games the very next year for the Twins, but Jesse Orosco was still around in '86 to help the Mets in win the World Series while Koosman had retired in '85.
April 1, 1982
New York Mets traded Lee Mazzilli to the Texas Rangers for Ron Darling and Walt Terrell.
What especially makes this trade good is that the Mets signed Mazzilli as a free agent later on August 3, 1986. Darling had his best year as a pro in 1986 and they both helped the Mets beat the Red Sox in to win the World Series.
June 15, 1983
New York Mets traded Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey to the St. Louis Cardinals for Keith Hernandez.
This was highway robbery of epic proportions. Ownbey only pitched in 21 games after that trade and Neil Allen spent time bouncing around the majors for the rest of his career.
December 8, 1983
New York Mets traded Bob Bailor and Carlos Diaz to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Sid Fernandez and Ross Jones.
ELLLLL SSSSIIIIIDDDD!!! Nuff said.
August 28, 1984
New York Mets traded Gerald Young, Manny Lee and Mitch Cook to the Houston Astros for Ray Knight.
Ray may not have done much for the Mets in the regular season, but the other guys did not do much for their teams either and Ray was on the '86 team which earns his some brownie points.
December 7, 1984
New York Mets traded Walt Terrell to the Detroit Tigers for Howard Johnson.
I almost feel bad about this one, but Walt did have win 47 games the following three years for the Tigers so they got something back.
December 10, 1984
New York Mets traded Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans to the Montreal Expos for Gary Carter.
Anyone see a pattern here? The Mets made some serious moves leading to the 1986 Mets.
November 13, 1985
New York Mets traded Calvin Schiraldi, Wes Gardner, John Christensen and LaSchelle Tarver to the Boston Red Sox for Bob Ojeda, John Mitchell, Chris Bayer and Tom McCarthy.
March 27, 1987
New York Mets traded Ed Hearn, Rick Anderson and Mauro Gozzo to the Kansas City Royals for David Cone and Chris Jelic.
Perhaps my favorite Met trade of all time. Cone used to be my favorite Met before he was traded North of the border. Who can forget his 20-3 year while posing a 2.22 ERA?
July 31, 1989
New York Mets traded Rick Aguilera, Kevin Tapani, Dave West, Tim Drummond and Jack Savage to the Minnesota Twins for Frank Viola.
I was torn on this one, it was a pretty lackluster move all around. Aguilera moved to the pen predominantly and Tapani & Co. never panned out. On the other hand Viola did win 20 games for the Mets in 1990 and was the last Met pitcher to get to that mark.
December 6, 1989
New York Mets traded Randy Myers and Kip Gross to the Cincinnati Reds for John Franco and Don Brown.
Oh yes, before Johnny became the object of everyone's profanity laden attacks at Shea he actually did some good for the team. If he bowed out gracefully earlier he would have been remembered for all the good. Unfortunately it is too late for that and I'm glad to see him go.
December 20, 1996
New York Mets traded Robert Person to the Toronto Blue Jays for John Olerud.
Johnny hard hat had the best season ever for a Met first baseman. He went .354/.447/.551 with 22 homers and 93 RBIs while having a .994 fielding %. It's too bad he was not with the team when they went to the 2000 World Series to do battle with the Evil Empire®.
February 6, 1998
New York Mets traded Jesus Sanchez, A. J. Burnett and Robert Stratton to the Florida Marlins for Al Leiter and Ralph Milliard.
Alois Terry Leiter won 10 games or more for seven straight years as a Met which was a feat only beaten my Tom Seaver.
May 22, 1998
New York Mets traded Preston Wilson, Geoff Goetz and Ed Yarnall to the Florida Marlins for Mike Piazza.
This is probably the best trade by the Mets of all time. They actually traded for a Hall of Famer while he still had some productive years left. Thanks for the memories Mike.
December 1, 1998
New York Mets traded Charles Johnson to the Baltimore Orioles for Armando Benitez.
As much as it pains me to associate Armando Benitez with being a good thing, he did put up some solid numbers in his time here. He had loads of talent but not much in the self confidence arena in his time in Queens.
December 23, 1999
New York Mets traded Roger Cedeño, Octavio Dotel and Kyle Kessel to the Houston Astros for Mike Hampton and Derek Bell.
Dotel sure turned out to be someone that I wish we had but without Hampton there is no World Series in 2000. If not for the stellar schools in Denver the Mets might still have him today.
April 5, 2002
New York Mets traded Dicky Gonzalez, Bruce Chen and Luis Figueroa to the Montreal Expos for Scott Strickland, Matt Watson and Philip Seibel.
It was a good deal at the time and I think it still is. I have faith in Scottie still and I think he can be a big piece of the 2005 bullpen.
July 14, 2003
New York Mets traded Jeromy Burnitz to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Victor Diaz, Kole Strayhorn and Joselo Diaz.
Duquette earns some points for turning some trash into some cash. I think Victor is going to be a keeper and the other two guys had some upside.
April 3, 2004
New York Mets traded Roger Cedeño to the St. Louis Cardinals for Wilson Delgado and Chris Widger.
Duqutte deserved some type of Noble Prize for finding someone that actually wanted Cedeño even with the Mets paying his entire salary.
June 17, 2004
New York Mets traded Dave Weathers and Jeremy Griffiths to the Houston Astros for Richard Hidalgo.
Though Hidalgo could not hit the broadside of a barn in August in September, he sure earned the nickname Mr. July (I just gave it to him now). He tore it up and gave Met fans some visions of the Wild Card while contributing mightily to the slaying of the Yankees at Shea stadium.
Background: Other organizations were stunned when the Devil Rays were able to obtain Kazmir and Jose Diaz from the Mets for Victor Zambrano and Bartolome Fortunato at the July 31 trade deadline. Kazmir struggled early in 2004 with his mechanics and an abdominal strain. Once healthy, he breezed through the minors and outdueled Pedro Martinez in the most memorable of his seven big league starts.
Strengths: Kazmir has an overpowering 93-97 mph fastball. A nasty slider with outstanding bite complements his heater, giving him better pure stuff than any young lefty in the game. His changeup has good fade and depth, showing the makings of becoming a third plus pitch. A good athlete with a clean delivery, Kazmir has a steady demeanor on the mound.
Weaknesses: After dealing Kazmir, Mets officials anonymously questioned whether his size would allow him to remain healthy and in the starting rotation, and they also knocked his makeup. While Kazmir has had some minor ailments, the Devil Rays have no long-term concerns. He still needs to refine his command and his changeup.
The Future: Kazmir will begin 2005 in the middle of Tampa Bay's rotation and in time he should grow into the No. 1 role. If he moves to the bullpen, he could become the next Billy Wagner.
posted by michael o. at 10:51 AM
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