2) Mets add Bob Ojeda in a trade with the Red Sox
This November trade involves a secondary award for involving as many players as it did. On November 13, 1985, the Mets and Boston Red Sox struck a deal. Who knew less than 365 days later they would be playing in the World Series?
Each team sent four players packing. The most notable of all ended up being Bob Ojeda. Boston was apparently ready to give up on the struggling starter. Fortunately for the Mets, all he needed was a change of scenery.
All Ojeda did in 1986 was go out and win 18 games for his new team. His .783 winning percentage led the entire league. He finished fourth in the Cy Young vote and went undefeated in the postseason.
For a little more insult, Ojeda was there to help the orange and blue win Game Three of the 1986 World Series. This was a pivotal point in the series. New York was down 2-0 to Boston. The victory helped turn things around and put the Mets in a position to come back.
Ojeda wasn’t just a one-year wonder. He continued to win games for the Mets and pitch to a low ERA. His totals with the club include a 51-40 record and 3.12 ERA.
Along with Dwight Gooden and others, Ojeda helped form one of the league’s best rotations in the National League during the late 1980s. He was one of the veterans of the group made up of mostly homegrown talent or players acquired via trade before they were established.
The fact that the Mets landed him in a trade with their eventual World Series foes makes this November deal a little bit sweeter.