NY Mets: Remembering the 2006 trade for Shawn Green

Shawn Green spent the last year and a half of his MLB career with the New York Mets, helping them earn a playoff spot in 2006.

On August 22, 2006, the New York Mets acquired outfielder Shawn Green in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Along with some cash, Green went to New York in exchange for Evan MacLane, a guy who never did make the big leagues with the Diamondbacks and only saw limited time with the St. Louis Cardinals.

In other words, the team from the Big Apple stole Green from the desert.

It wasn’t immediately grand theft. At the time of the deal, Green was hitting .283/.348/.429 with 11 home runs as a member of the Diamondbacks. He ended up finishing the season with 4 more home runs with New York with a batting line of .257/.325/.442.

This wasn’t the kind of strong finish the Mets were hoping for in the regular season. Luckily, the 2006 Mets were postseason bound. After more than a decade of playing baseball without a postseason series win, Green came ready to play.

Green played in two of the three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS. The Dodgers, a team Green spent five years of his career with, couldn’t muster a win against Green and the Amazins. In his 9 plate appearances, Green hit .333/.333/.556 versus his former team.

In the next series, Green continued to hit. The infamous 2006 NLCS included a .304/.429/.348 slash line from Green which also included a pair of RBI and a stolen base. Green played in all seven games of the series, taking over as the regular right fielder.

As all Mets fans remember, the series didn’t end as dreamed and the Mets were eliminated. This wasn’t the end of Green’s time in New York. He had one season left to give.

In 2007, Green had a quietly productive year. He hit .291/.352/.430 with limited power which held him to only 10 home runs. However, he did still have 30 doubles in only 491 plate appearances. This year ended with another disappointment, this time with the Mets collapsing in the regular season rather than during a playoff game.

Green became a free agent after the 2007 season. Rather than re-sign with the Mets or find a home somewhere else, he decided to retire to spend more time with his family. Before he did, Green did manage to do one very-Mets thing in 2007. The always healthy outfielder went on the DL for the first time in his entire career as a member of the Mets.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

From 1993-2006, he had never once been injured enough to land on the sidelines. It took an orange NYM on his cap to make it happen.