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Mets: Three trades with the Astros that led to a World Series appearance

ByTim Boyle|
16 Oct 2000: General Manager Bobby Valentine of the New York Mets congratulates Mike Hampton #32 after the National League Divisional Series Game 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium in New York, New York. The Mets defeated the Cardinals 7-0.Mandatory Credit: Al Bello /Allsport
16 Oct 2000: General Manager Bobby Valentine of the New York Mets congratulates Mike Hampton #32 after the National League Divisional Series Game 5 against the St. Louis Cardinals at Shea Stadium in New York, New York. The Mets defeated the Cardinals 7-0.Mandatory Credit: Al Bello /Allsport
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4 Oct 2000: Mike Hampton #32 of the New York Mets looks on during the NLDS Game against the San Francisco Giants at Pac Bell Park in San Francisco, California. The Giants defeated the Mets 5-1.Mandatory Credit: Tom Hauck /Allsport

The New York Mets and Houston Astros have made some big trades over the last 50+ years. Three helped lead New York to a World Series appearance.

The New York Mets and Houston Astros are tied together in MLB history. They came into the league together. The pair even met in the 1986 postseason. The Mets were the victors in that best of seven series, setting up for a championship run.

These two organizations have also made plenty of trades over the years. Whether the Astros were in the American League or National League, they’ve never been shy about making a deal with the orange and blue team in New York.

Amazingly, three of those trades helped lead to a World Series appearance by the Mets. Going back from the most recent, these were the big trades between the Mets and Astros with a clear connection to winning.

One Year of a Star Pitcher

On December 23, 1999, the Mets traded Kyle Kessel, Roger Cedeno, and Octavio Dotel to the Astros for two veterans. They were outfielder Derek Bell and star pitcher Mike Hampton.

Kessel never made it to the big leagues while Cedeno lasted just one season in Houston. Dotel had some very good years with the Astros but bounced around throughout his career. For what it’s worth, he was part of the 2004 trade that brought Carlos Beltran to Houston.

The Mets directly got much more from the two players they acquired in this trade. Bell hit 18 home runs for the Mets and filled in nicely as the team’s everyday right fielder. Hampton had a much bigger impact, going 15-10 with a 3.14 ERA in the regular season.

Hampton was coming off a second-place Cy Young season down in Houston when he arrived in New York. He wasn’t nearly as amazing in 2000 yet still played a major role in leading the Amazins to the World Series.

In the postseason, Hampton struggled in his lone starts in the NLDS and World Series. However, he made up for it with two wins and 16 shutout innings in the NLCS. The performance earned him the series MVP.

Speaking of MVPs. More than a decade earlier, the Mets landed another important one in a trade with the Astros.

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