Mets 2003 Trade Deadline Review: Five trades with little return

In one of the least productive trade deadlines in modern franchise history, the New York Mets made three deals in 2003 and failed to get any impact prospects in return.

The 2003 New York Mets season happened right in the middle of two memorable campaigns. Far enough away from the 2000 season yet not close enough to 2006, it was a year with plenty of misery.

This year, the club finished 66-95. Realizing their fate, the team sold whatever they could ahead of the trade deadline.

It began on July 1 when the team decided to move on from Roberto Alomar. The Hall of Fame second baseman was a failure in New York compared to what he did in his earlier days.

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Unfortunately, the Mets couldn’t fix the original Alomar deal and snag any notable players in return for him. Set to hit free agency at the end of the 2003 season, the Metropolitans had to settle for a crop of three players who never did all that much.

The trio of Edwin Almonte, Royce Ring, and Andrew Salvo failed to make their mark in team history. Ring is the most memorable, in part because there was some hype that the former first-rounder could become a valuable piece for the Mets.

It never happened and this trade turned out to bring little back for the Amazins.

The 2003 sell-off continued when on July 14 they traded Jeromy Burnitz to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Burnitz was actually having a decent year in 2003 after a dreadful performance in 2002. However, the players they got back for him were unremarkable.

Yet another trio, this one included Jose Diaz, Victor Diaz, and Kole Strayhorn. Only Victor Diaz ever saw playing time with the Mets. He even got 313 plate appearances in 2005.

Still, the trade hardly worked out in New York’s favor.

Armando Benitez was the next player to get dealt away. In a rare trade with the New York Yankees, the Mets managed to flip him for Jason Anderson, Ryan Bicondoa, and Anderson Garcia.

Like the other threesomes mentioned before, they never developed into big-name players or even regular role-players for the orange and blue let alone any big league club.

The trade deadline was getting nearer when the Mets made two more trades. On July 28, Graeme Lloyd went to the Kansas City Royals for Jeremy Hill. The next day, Rey Sanchez was sent to the Seattle Mariners for Kenny Kelly.

Neither of those minor leaguers ever played a single game for the orange and blue.

Typically, a trade deadline is about one of two things. A team is either looking to add a veteran to their roster for a run or an organization is hoping to land a future contributor.

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In 2003, hoping to do the latter, the Mets fell flat on their faces with five trades for very little in return.