Best Trades in Mets History

In honor of the trade deadline today, here are the best trades in the history of the New York Mets:

10.) December 3, 1974: Acquired John Stearns, Mac Scarce, and Del Unser from the Phillies for Don Hahn, Tug McGraw, Dave Schneck.

In essence this was a Stearns for McGraw trade. The Phillies already had a good catcher (Bob Boone), so they decided to trade the #2 pick in the 1973 draft to the Mets. Stearns had a very productive career in New York, posting a 102 OPS+ and 19.4 WAR in 10 seasons. He also went to 4 all-star games, being arguably the best player on some terrible Mets teams in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Phillies, for their part, made out pretty well. McGraw made an instant impact in Philadelphia, as he was an all-star in 1975. Overall, he went 49-37 with 94 saves and a 120 ERA+ in 10 seasons with the Phillies, and helped them win the World Series in 1980 when he finished 5th in Cy Young voting.

9.) February 6, 1998: Acquired Al Leiter and Ralph Milliard from the Marlins for Robert Stratton, A.J. Burnett, and Jesus Sanchez.

Leiter was one of many victims of the Marlins firesale that took place following their championship in 1997. He ended up becoming a huge cog on the Mets in 1999 and 2000, and overall went 95-67 with a 124 ERA+ in 7 years in Flushing. His 28.0 pitching WAR ranks 4th in team history, behind only Seaver, Gooden and Koosman. Burnett had a decent career with the Marlins, but was nowhere near as good as Leiter, going just 49-50 with 12 WAR.

8.) October 19, 1965: Acquired Jerry Grote from the Astros for a PTNBL (Tom Parsons) and cash.

The first great trade in Mets history, the Grote trade was pretty lopsided. The Mets got their starting catcher for the next 11 1/2 years, one who would go to 2 all-star games, help the Mets win two pennants and a World Series in 1969, and post 15.6 WAR. Parsons, the player acquired by the Astros, never played a game in a Houston uniform.

7.) December 11, 1986: Acquired Kevin McReynolds, Adam Ging, and Gene Walter from the Padres for Kevin Armstrong, Kevin Brown, Shawn Abner, Stan Jefferson, and Kevin Mitchell.

This relatively famous trade saw 4 players named Kevin involved, two of whom (McReynolds and Mitchell) proved to be the centerpiece of the deal. McReynolds had a terrific 5-year run with the Mets, averaging 24/87/.273 with a 122 OPS+. In 1988, he finished third in MVP voting, and overall had 15.4 WAR in New York. Mitchell, of course, turned out to be the league MVP in 1989, but that came after he had been traded to San Francisco for Mark Davis, the '89 Cy Young winner. The other players sent to San Diego didn't really work out, collectively posting -2.8 WAR.

6.) May 22, 1998: Acquired Mike Piazza from the Marlins for Geoff Goetz, Preston Wilson, and Ed Yarnall.

As mentioned above, in 1998 the Marlins were in the midst of a firesale. As part of that firesale, they sent Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla and others to the Dodgers for Piazza and Todd Zeile. However, they had no real intention of keeping Piazza, so about a week later they sent him to the Mets in this trade. All Piazza did was lead the Mets to the World Series, bring baseball back after 9/11, hit 220 home runs in New York, and continue his crusade of becoming the greatest hitting catcher of all time. Meanwhile, all the Marlins really got back in return was Preston Wilson, who would be flipped a few years later for Juan Pierre.

5.) December 20, 1996: Acquired John Olerud and cash from the Blue Jays for Robert Person

This was a huge steal by the Mets. Person hadn't done much in his Major League career to that point, and was already 27. Olerud, coming off three good but not great seasons, had won a batting title in 1993. He bounced back to that form in New York, putting up a .315/.425/.501 slash in three seasons with the Mets. He was also a member of the terrific Mets infield in '99 that led the team to the NLCS. Meanwhile, Person struggled mightily in Toronto, going 8-13 with a 6.18 ERA before being traded to the Phillies in 1999.

4.) March 27, 1987: Acquired David Cone and Chris Jelic from the Royals for Rick Anderson, Mauro Gozzo, and Ed Hearn.

Cone was terrific with the Mets. In 1988, he went 20-3 and was third in Cy Young voting. Overall he went 80-48 with 19.7 WAR in his first stint in New York. He would be traded in 1992 to the Blue Jays for Jeff Kent. Meanwhile, the three players acquired by the Royals combined for -0.6 WAR.

3.) April 1, 1982: Acquired Ron Darling and Walt Terrell from the Rangers for Lee Mazzilli.

Darling had been the 9th pick in the 1981 draft, while Terrell was a 33rd rounder in 1980. Neither had reached the big leagues yet. Mazzilli was the Mets best player from 1978 to 1980, and was an all-star in 1979. However, he struggled in 1981. The Rangers gambled that Mazzilli, only just turned 27, would bounce back. He didn't, and both Darling and Terrell proved to be good starting pitchers. Mazzilli hit just .241 in 1982 before being sent midseason to the Yankees for Bucky Dent. Terrell was solid in New York, posting a 102 ERA+ in 370 IP before being flipped to the Tigers for Howard Johnson. Darling blossomed into one of the better pitchers in the league. Fifth in Rookie balloting in '84, Darling was an all-star in '85, and top-5 in Cy Young voting in '86, helping the Mets win the World Series. Overall, Ronnie went 99-70 with the Mets, posting a 101 ERA+ and 16.1 WAR in 9 seasons.

2.) December 8, 1983: Acquired Sid Fernandez and Ross Jones from the Dodgers for Bob Bailor and Carlos Diaz.

El Sid was outstanding with the Mets. In 10 seasons, Fernandez went 98-78 with a 113 ERA+ and 27.7 WAR. He was an all-star in 1986 and 1987, finishing 7th in Cy Young voting the former year. He led the league in WL% in 1989, in H/9 3 times, and in SO/9 in 1985. Meanwhile, Bailor and Diaz combined for just 1.4 WAR in Los Angeles.

1.) June 15, 1983: Acquired Keith Hernandez from the Cardinals for Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey.

This is easily the most lopsided positive trade in team history. In a bizarre deadline deal, the defending champion Cardinals sent the 1979 NL MVP to the Mets for two pitchers who were a combined 3-10 in 1983. Hernandez racked up 6 more Gold Gloves in New York, in addition to 3 all-star game appearances, a Silver Slugger, and a World Series ring. Allen and Ownbey, meanwhile, combined for -0.5 WAR in their careers with the Cardinals.