NY Mets longest active trade drought is with the Cardinals

Carlos Beltran of the Mets is forced out at 2nd base as David Eckstein leaps in the air during game 5 action of the NLCS between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on October 17, 2006. (Photo by G. N. Lowrance/Getty Images)
Carlos Beltran of the Mets is forced out at 2nd base as David Eckstein leaps in the air during game 5 action of the NLCS between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on October 17, 2006. (Photo by G. N. Lowrance/Getty Images)

The New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals are old rivals who haven’t made a trade with each other since 2006.

There was a time when there was much more bad blood on the diamond between the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals. Before the leagues were realigned, they were in the National League East together. The two often battled for supremacy.

And even after the Cardinals slid into the newly formed NL Central, the two kept up a rivalry even if they didn’t see each other as often.

With such a deep history, I guess it shouldn’t surprise us to learn that it’s the Cardinals the Mets have the longest trade drought with. You have to go back to 2006 when the two franchises made any sort of a deal.

The last trade the Mets made with the Cardinals happened on June 23, 2006. The Cardinals sent Rich Rundles to the Mets as part of a conditional deal.

I couldn’t find much online about this trade. Rundles never actually pitched a game for the Mets in the majors. His six innings in Major League Baseball all took place after as a member of the Cleveland Indians. Sadly, he passed away last December at the age of 38 from natural causes.

Before Rundles, there were some more notable trades between these two clubs. On April 4, 2004, the teams swapped Wilson Delgado for Roger Cedeno. Four years earlier, New York picked up Joe McEwing in a deal for the ageless one, Jesse Orosco.

Many of these trades involve multiple players whose baseball cards I remember collecting in the 1990s and early 2000s. Craig Paquette, Shawon Dunston, Rigo Beltran, and others were all sent from one team to another.

There were, however, some huge trades between these two franchises.

In 1996, the Mets landed Bernard Gilkey in an absolute steal. Gilkey immediately went on to have one of the best offensive seasons in club history.

Even bigger than this deal, the Mets struck gold in 1983 when they managed to pick up star first baseman Keith Hernandez in a trade with St. Louis. I don’t think I need to go into many details about the trade. We all know the importance Hernandez had on the franchise.

There were other trades in the 1960s and 1970s that involved Mets we all know. Somewhere along the way, these two seemed to stop making trades. Frankly, I can’t blame the Cardinals. They got burned far worse.

Next. Biggest Mets trades with the Diamondbacks

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Eventually, these two teams will make a trade again. When it happens, we can only hope it has the same effect as many of the past ones did.