A history of the Mets and the multi-team trade

With rumors about the Mets signing Curtis Granderson swirling around and trades between other teams occurring left, right and center, the other needs of the team at shortstop and pitcher, have yet to be met. Considering Chris Young’s one-year, $7.25 million contract and the perspective Granderson contract (would have to be at least 15 million per over three to four years), it appears that any acquisition at shortstop or pitcher would have to be via trade. Stephen Drew will cost more than the approximate five to seven million that would be left in the Mets budget, as would any starting pitcher left on the market.

All of this makes sense when matched to the various rumors that have said Sandy Alderson is looking at multi-team trades to meet some of the Mets needs. Predicting a multi-team deal is nearly impossible with all of the unknown moving factors that are involved, so although there definitely could be credence to the various statements that connect the Mets and the Rays (Ike Davis anyone), outside of saying that any deal of that nature would hopefully net the Mets either Ben Zobrist or Yunel Escobar (preferably Zobrist of course), I don’t think that I can predict any aspects of the deal itself.

So, how have the Mets done historically in the multi-team trade department? The 2013-2014 offseason is the 53rd such offseason that the Mets have undertaken in their history (starting with the expansion draft in 1961 and the subsequent offseason of acquisitions). In that time, they’ve been involved in six multi-team trades, four three team trades and two of the even rarer version, the four team trade.

The Mets first such transaction occurred during the 1976-1977 offseason, the 16th such offseason in their existence and it was a huge trade (please note the sarcasm).

December 8th, 1976

The Mets trade Jim Dwyer to the Cubs
The Cubs trade Pete LaCock to the Royals
The Royals trade Sheldon Mallory to the Mets (as a player to be named later, acquired on December 13th, 1976)

In what amounted to a three team trade of two role players and a middling prospect, the Mets somehow lost out. How that can occur can only be explained by the status of the Mets in the late 70’s, a team that didn’t want to spend any money and was looking at any way cut away the few contracts they had on the team. Dwyer had been acquired in one such deal, when on July 21st of 1976, Dwyer was acquired, along with Pepe Mangual, from the Expos for the Mets incumbent third baseman for most of the 70’s, Wayne Garrett and the Mets starting centerfielder at the time, Del Unser. Dwyer would go 2 for 13 over the remainder of 1976, playing two games in the outfield and pinch hitting. Mangual, who had looked like a solid young speedy outfielder from the Expos chain, would never amount to much as a Met, batting .183 over the course of 109 at bat’s over two partial seasons with the club.

After the December 18th trade, Dwyer would play another 13 years in the majors as a fourth outfielder, first baseman, designated hitter and lefty pinch hitter off of the bench. LaCock would be the primary first baseman for the good Royals teams of the late 70’s, playing in a strict platoon with various right handed bats, along with hitting .333 in the playoffs over that time period. Mallory, whose minor league numbers show that he was a fast, high OBP type of player with solid defensive skills in the outfield, would never make it with the Mets. Why is somewhat mysterious. The 1977 Mets were clearly a team in transition and Mallory was a 23 going on 24 year old speedster. Why he wasn’t even kept on the 40 man roster (he was sold to the A’s in April of 1977), is one of the many mysteries that surround the horror show that was the late 70’s New York Mets.

Although this was not a successful deal for the Mets, it was still only a deal of role players, unlike the second multi-team deal the Mets would get involved in exactly one year later.

December 8th, 1977

The Mets trade Jon Matlack to the Rangers and John Milner to the Pirates
The Braves trade Willie Montanez to the Mets
The Rangers trade Tom Grieve and Ken Henderson to the Mets, as well as Tommy Boggs, Adrian Devine and Eddie Miller to the Braves and Bert Blyleven to the Pirates
The Pirates trade Nelson Norman and Al Oliver to the Rangers

In a rare four team deal that involved some huge names of the 70’s, the Mets again proved to be the losers in the deal. The Braves ended up not getting much out of this deal as only Devine, a solid middle reliever at the time, was ever productive for them, but the other two players were prospects at least that just didn’t pan out. When you add in that the Braves only gave up Montanez, an excellent fielding first baseman with inconsistent power and a solid bat, you can argue that the Braves were, at worst, the second worst team in this trade. The Mets gave up one of the best left handed pitchers in the game (not named Steve Carlton), as well as an inconsistent power hitting first baseman/outfielder for a 30 year old first baseman, a 30 year old outfielder in Grieve, who’d had two good years and one terrible one, which happened to be 1977 and an over the hill outfielder in Henderson. Montanez would have one good year and one partial bad year before being traded for Mike Jorgensen and Ed Lynch in 1979. Grieve would be terrible in 1978 and be packaged to the Cardinals for Pete Falcone in the 78-79 offseason. Henderson would make no impact with the Mets and be traded during the 78 season for Dale Murray. So, for Matlack and Milner, the Mets in essence got Jorgensen, Falcone, Lynch and Murray. Not exactly a group of players to build a team around.

What makes this deal that much worse is the fact that Blyleven and Oliver were involved. The Mets couldn’t have gotten that caliber of a player back for Matlack? I have trouble believing that, which all the more proves that the late 70’s Mets were less about building a team then cutting salary.

The Mets would wait another eight years to make a multi-team trade and again would get the short end of the stick.

January 18th, 1985

The Mets trade Tim Leary to the Brewers
The Royals trade Frank Wills to the Mets and Don Slaught to the Rangers
The Rangers trade Danny Darwin and Bill Nance to the Brewers
The Brewers trade Jim Sundberg to the Royals

In a deal that traded a top pitching prospect in Leary, the Mets literally got back nothing. Wills never made it to the Mets. He was traded in March for a no name minor leaguer who never made the big leagues. Wills wasn’t a special player by any stretch of the imagination, but considering that Slaught, Darwin and Sundberg were in this deal, who all had solid major league careers, it’s amazing the Mets couldn’t have gotten more for Leary, who would figure it out in 1986 and be a solid end of rotation starter until 1990, as well as a key part of the 1988 Dodgers team that beat the Mets in the NLCS.

Just a month short of two years later, the Mets would be involved in their fourth multi-team trade, involving a fan favorite.

December 11th, 1987

The Mets trade Jesse Orosco to the Dodgers
The Dodgers trade Jack Savage to the Mets, as well as Bob Welch and Matt Young to the A’s
The A’s trade Kevin Tapani and Wally Whitehurst to the Mets, as well as Alfredo Griffin and Jay Howell to the Dodgers

This was actually the first time the Mets got a solid return in one of these trades. Whitehurst became a solid middle reliever for the club, while Tapani and Savage became parts of the trade during 1989 season that landed Frank Viola. To get all of that for Orosco was a nice move.

It’s strange in retrospect how three of the four playoff teams in 1988 were involved in a trade that proved extremely important for all involved. The Dodgers bullpen was bolstered by Orosco and Howell, while Griffin became a starting middle infielder for them. Welch became a quality part of the A’s rotation, winning the Cy Young in 1989 and Young became a quality long man/spot starter for the A’s staff.

The Mets would then go another 15 years before getting involved in another multi-team transaction.

January 21st, 2002

The Mets trade Lenny Harris and Glendon Rusch to the Brewers, as well as Benny Agbayani and Todd Zeile to the Rockies
The Rockies trade Ross Gload and Craig House to the Mets, as well as Alex Ochoa to the Brewers
The Brewers trade Jeromy Burnitz, Lou Collier, Jeff D’Amico and Mark Sweeney to the Mets

Although this trade didn’t really work out for anyone, the Mets were the clear winners in this deal. Zeile was towards the end of his career and Harris and Agbayani were bench players, at best. Rusch was a decent fifth starter but nothing that the Mets would miss. The key to this deal was Burnitz and D’Amico. D’Amico had ace stuff, but couldn’t get away from injuries and would not be much of a factor for the Mets. Burnitz had big time power and was a solid fielding outfielder who, unfortunately, came to a Mets team that declined quickly. After struggling in 2002 (.215 AVG, 19 HR, 677 OPS in 550 PA), Burnitz was having a bounce back season in 2003 (.274 AVG, 18 HR, 925 OPS in 259 PA) and was traded at the trade dead line as the Mets were well out of the race for a playoff spot. They didn’t get much for Burnitz, but since Burnitz was the only impact player in 2002 trade and the Mets didn’t give up all that much to get him at the time, this was a win for the club.

Six years later, the Mets would take their last foray into the multi-team trade (which might add a seventh version this year, we’ll see).

December 11th, 2008

The Mets trade Mike Carp, Ezequiel Carrera, Endy Chavez, Maikel Cleto, Aaron Heilman and Jason Vargas to the Mariners, as well as Joe Smith to the Indians
The Mariners trade Sean Green, J.J. Putz and Jeremy Reed to the Mets, as well as Luis Valbuena to the Indians
The Indians trade Franklin Gutierrez to the Mariners

This appeared to be a necessary deal at the time, as the Mets needed an 8th inning man to help bridge the gap to Francisco Rodriquez. Unfortunately, injuries derailed the 2008 team, including Putz. The Mets clearly gave up a lot in this deal, although only Carp, Smith and Vargas continue to be productive players today. Gutierrez was a great acquisition in this deal by the Mariners, but injuries have derailed his once promising career. The Mets would dump Putz on the White Sox the following year, where he would revive his career. Putz continues to be an effective reliever to this day, although injuries plagued his 2013 season. In the end, this was an absolute loss for the Mets, but it’s hard to say that the deal shouldn’t have been done at the time it was completed.

So, six multi-team deals and not a whole lot of success with them. If Alderson moves on a deal of this magnitude, hopefully he adds a check to the win column. At the very least, he better not give up a Matlack for a Montanez.