NY Mets Trades: Five most impactful deals with the Blue Jays

From 1989 until 2019, the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays have made five very notable and impactful trades.

Geographically, the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays are only a long bus ride away. Historically, I’m not sure how much they really have in common.

The two organizations never played each other until interleague play came around. This didn’t prevent them from swapping players as early as 1980 when the Blue Jays were still a young team.

In the years since, the Mets and Blue Jays have cut numerous deals. There are five of them that stand out most because of the impact each had on the two organizations—positive and negative.

July 31, 1989 – Mets trade Mookie Wilson

We’re going to get the heartbreak out of the way early so stick with us, Mets fans.

On July 31, 1989, Mookie Wilson’s time with the Mets came to an end. He was struggling, hitting .205 through his first 80 games. The situation wasn’t ideal for Wilson to thrive. The team had already acquired Juan Samuel from the Philadelphia Phillies. The club was hopeful he would be an improvement.

It didn’t exactly work out that way as Samuel struggled in New York. Meanwhile, Wilson managed to hit .298 in 238 trips to the plate for the Blue Jays in 1989. He remained productive into 1990 before sliding back into a decline during his final season in 1991.

There are two sides to all trades so it’s worth looking at what the Mets got in return for Wilson.

Mike Brady never made the major leagues but Jeff Musselman was already an experienced reliever. The Mets landed him when his ERA was 10.64 through 11 frames. He did turn things around in his 26.1 innings with the Mets, going 3-2 with a 3.08 ERA.

Unfortunately, Musselman only played one more big-league season. He finished 1990 0-2 with a 5.63 ERA.

More than anything, the Wilson deal helped spark the end of an era in Flushing. Although the team remained competitive in 1990, they were beginning to make some changes for the worse.

And the worst of the trades with the Blue Jays was yet to come.

August 27, 1992 – Mets trade David Cone

The two trades made by this organization involving pitcher David Cone could be considered a success. The deal they made with the Kansas City Royals to first land him has no argument. New York won.

The August 27, 1992 trade with the Blue Jays is a little more worthy of debate. Although the club landed a future MVP, they ended up dealing him away before he reached his prime. What’s more, they traded him away for Carlos Baerga.

This future MVP I am referring to is Jeff Kent. Kent didn’t spend a long time in New York. However, he did show some signs of becoming a competent player. It wasn’t until the late 1990s when he began to really shine. By that point, I’m not sure he would have been in orange and blue regardless of whether or not the Mets traded him. Free agency would have come knocking a little earlier.

In the deal, the Mets did also acquire Ryan Thompson. The club was able to use him to land Mark Clark, a starting pitcher who had a pretty good 1996 campaign but didn’t do much else for the franchise.

If not for what Cone would continue to do, I think the 1992 trade between the Mets and Blue Jays is a lot more even.

Unfortunately for the Mets, Cone went on to help the Blue Jays win the 1992 World Series. In 1994, now back in a Royals’ uniform, he won the Cy Young.

Cone enjoyed some great years with the Mets. His 20-win season in 1988 remains one of the best seasons by a pitcher in franchise history.

Whether you want to claim this trade with Toronto as a win or loss doesn’t matter much. It was a deal that impacted two franchises with the Mets coming away from with very little in the standings.

December 20, 1996 – Mets acquire John Olerud

Fortunately, we’ve arrived at an important part of this list. The previous two Mets trades with the Blue Jays subtracted an important piece of the franchise. This deal begins our streak of trades involving the Metropolitans actually acquiring talented pieces in deals with Toronto.

On December 20, 1996, Christmas arrived early for the Amazins. After a poor 1996 season with some good offensive performances, the team decided it was appropriate to start building toward something better. They went out and made a trade for one of the franchise’s top first basemen of all-time, John Olerud.

In exchange, the Mets sent Robert Person to the Blue Jays. It was an absolute steal of a trade considering what each played ended up doing in their new home.

It didn’t take long for Olerud to help turn the franchise in Flushing around. In year one wearing orange and blue, Olerud slashed .294/.400/.489. He added 22 home runs and 102 RBI while playing some stellar defense over at first base. In year two, Olerud set the franchise record with a .354 batting average.

During his three Mets seasons, Olerud gave the club a .315/.425/.501 performance complete with 63 home runs and 291 RBI. The only shame of this trade is that they weren’t able to keep him around longer. Olerud continued to play well for several more seasons as a member of the Seattle Mariners.

There’s no telling what may have happened in 2000 if the Mets had Olerud over at first base. With all due respect to Todd Zeile, Olerud was a better player at this point in their careers and possibly a missing chip for the pennant-winning team in 2000.

July 28, 2019 – Mets acquire Marcus Stroman

The biggest midseason Mets trade with the Blue Jays which saw the Amazins as buyers took place on July 28, 2019. Just as many were counting them out of the playoff picture, the team decided to attempt to ride some second-half momentum. Rather than sell, they bought. And the big buy they made brought Marcus Stroman to New York.

Although the verdict is far from over with this deal, Stroman did go 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA in 11 starts for the Mets in 2019. He has been a great ambassador for the organization, especially during troubling times in 2020 involving all of the non-baseball chaos going on in the world.

Unfortunately, not everyone viewed this deal as a good one even when it happened. The Mets gave up two top pitching prospects, Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods-Richardson, to land him. If Stroman never pitches for New York again and even just one of them has a nice career with the Blue Jays, it’s easy to call this deal a failure for New York.

Regardless of what the eventual outcome of the trade is, this is certainly an impactful move made by the Mets and Blue Jays. The trade effectively put the Mets in win-now mode and helped the Blue Jays reset for the future.

It will take more than a few years before we know how truly good or bad this deal was for both teams. Right now, it’s a bit of a draw.

Ask me again in a few years and I may know for sure exactly how big of a mistake this deal may or may not have been.

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Which other Mets trades with the Blue Jays do you think impacted the franchise?