Mets trade for Cameron Maybin only cost them a picture of George Washington

I would have sworn it was a joke when I first heard what it cost the New York Mets to acquire Cameron Maybin from the Chicago Cubs. Even if he was buried in Triple-A and not performing well, the cost to acquire the veteran outfielder couldn’t have possibly been real, could it?

Apparently, it is.

In order to acquire Maybin’s services, the Mets had to trade away the first President of the United States. That’s right. To help replenish their outfield, the Mets paid up a single dollar with George Washington’s face on it.

Can Cameron Maybin give the Mets more than a dollar’s worth of production?

Just to be clear, the Mets are still paying Maybin a salary so in addition to the 100 pennies they sent to the Cubs (wouldn’t that be great if they actually paid in old copper Lincolns?), they do have to give him a regular paycheck.

The need to add a player like Maybin became painfully clear this week as soon as Kevin Pillar was struck in the face with a pitch. It was just the latest injury to the Mets starting lineup. As we saw on Tuesday, the team put together a lineup with Tomas Nido batting fifth. Thankfully, he hit the game-winning home run and there’s nothing to complain about in this regard.

Maybe, now 34, is likely this year’s Carlos Gomez or Rajai Davis. I have a hard time believing he’ll be with the big league team beyond any return of the more notable outfield options. Right now, though, those guys are not nearly ready to retire.

Rather than try to survive with Johneshwy Fargas every day in center field and Khalil Lee striking out five times in his first big league start (ouch!), the club got aggressive and made a rare May trade. I don’t think this will compare to some of the other trades the Mets made in the month of May in the past. Still, it has some importance.

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Maybin is a warm body with experience and a decent resume. After hitting .247 last season in 101 plate appearance, I’ll take him. He’s here to hold down the fort and hopefully prevent things from getting real ugly beyond the infield dirt. Let’s see what he can give the team. As for the Cubs, I hope they pick a nice snack from the nearest vending machine.