Lindor Deal May Be Among Biggest In Franchise History

Last week’s deal that brought Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to the Mets may be one of the biggest trades in Mets’ franchise history. Lindor is a four-time All-Star, who is in his prime at 27 years old. Carrasco led the American League in wins in 2017, and was the A.L. comeback player of the year in 2019.

I started thinking about big trades the Mets have made in each of their decades of existence. While the points are certainly debatable, here is a look at one trade from each decade that brought star power to Queens.

1960s

Since the Mets were a laughing stock until 1968, they were not adding significant pieces in the early-to-mid 1960s. They brought in players such as Tommie Agee and Tommy Davis, but the deal that comes to mind is the acquisition of first baseman Donn Clendenon in 1969.

The Mets got Clendenon at the trading deadline, that at the time was June 15. The deal worked well for the Mets, as Clendenon became the World Series MVP. He hit .252 with 12 home runs and 37 RBIs in just over half a season with the Mets in 1969. He added three home runs and a .357 batting average in the World Series.

An interesting note on the Clendenon deal is that the Mets sent Steve Renko, among other players, to Montreal in return. Renko won 134 games in the major leagues (he lost 146).

1970s

Just two and a half years after the Clendenon trade, the Mets and Expos did business again before the 1972 season, with the Mets sending Tim Foli, Mike Jorgensen, and Ken Singleton, for Rusty Staub.

Staub became an iconic Met in two tours of duty in New York. In the first round from 1972-1975, he hit 62 home runs and drove in 297 runs. His 105 RBIs in 1975 were a franchise record. Rusty had a strong post season in 1973, batting .341 with four home runs and 11 RBIs. He missed game five of the NLCS with a shoulder injury, and played injured throughout the World Series.

In his second stint with the Mets, Staub became a pinch-hitter extraordinaire. He tied a major league record with eight consecutive pinch hits in 1983, and in that same season, had 25 RBIs as a pinch-hitter.

1980s

In the 1980s, the Mets were quite active on the trade front, as they became a force in the National League East after 1983. In 1985 they acquired Gary Carter from Montreal (see a trend here?), and they added Kevin McReynolds for the 1987 season. Ray Knight became a Met in 1984, But the franchise deal of the 1980s came on June 15, 1983 when Keith Hernandez became a Met.

Hernandez was the first of the veteran additions, all of whom complemented the Mets young core of Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Lenny Dykstra, Ron Darling, and Mookie Wilson (among others). The Hernandez deal helped legitimize the Mets as contenders, and likely played a role in the other acquisitions. Keith also was the team leader when the Mets won the second championship in 1986.

Hernandez hit .297 with an OPS+ of 129 over seven seasons as a Met. He also won gold gloves in six of those seasons, and may be the best defensive first baseman to ever play the position. While the Mets had to part with the live arm of Neil Allen to get Hernandez, the deal was one of the best, and most important, in franchise history.

1990s

This one is a little clearer. In 1998, the Mets sent Preston Wilson and two minor leaguers to the Florida Marlins for Mike Piazza. The Mets were on the upswing at the time, and Piazza accelerated their rebirth.

Piazza went on to bat .296 with 220 home runs and an OPS+ of 136 over eight seasons in Queens. He helped lead the Mets to consecutive post season appearances in 1999 and 2000, culminating with a National League championship in 2000.Piazza hit .412 with two home runs in the five-game NLCS in 2000. He backed that up with a .273 average and two more home runs in the five-game World Series that post season.

Piazza was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame in 2016.

2000s

Some trades just don’t work out. On December 11th, 2001, the Mets sent Alex Ochoa (and others) to Cleveland for Roberto Alomar, Jr. Alomar, a future Hall of Fame inductee, would be entering his age 34 season, coming off a year in which he hit .336 with 20 home runs and 100 RBIs. he had been a 12-time all star, and seemed as though the Mets had landed a superstar (though he was in the later years of his career).

Alomar’s drop-off as a Met, precipitous as it was, could not have been reasonably foreseen. In 2002, his first year as a Met, he hit just .266 with 11 home runs and a 90 OPS+. Alomar was traded mid-way through the 2003 season, at which point he had a .262 average and an 84 OPS+. Alomar retired after the 2004 season, but had amassed such great career numbers that he was elected into the Hall of Fame with a 90% vote in 2011.

The Mets had brought in a star, whose time had simply run out simultaneously with his arrival at Shea Stadium.

2010s

The Mets spent the first half of the decade rebuilding, and off-loading players like Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes. When the team was contending in 2015, Sandy Alderson pulled the trigger on the trade of the decade, bringing in Yoenis Cespedes at the deadline.

Cespedes with the key ingredient as the Mets surged to the 2015 World Series. in 57 games as a Met, he hit .287 with 17 home runs and an incredible 155 OPS+. He had solid series in the NLDS and NLCS, before hitting just .150 in the World Series and leaving the decisive game five early with an injury.

Cespedes had a wild ride with the Mets, never repeating his 2015 production. He signed a deal with a one-year opt-out before the 2016 season. He performed well that year, batting .280 with 31 home runs and a 136 OPS+. Before the 2017 season, he signed a four-year deal with the Mets, that became a series of injuries that drastically limited his playing time. He opted out of the 2020 season after just two weeks of play.

We are just beginning the 2020s. The Lindor/Carrasco trade has the chance to be the iconic deal of the decade. Time, and deals to come, will tell.