NY Mets: 10 notable Mets trades from the month of August

What do you think of when you see the word August? Is it vacation? The heat? Roman Imperial rule? If you’re rooting for the New York Mets on a yearly basis, you might think of some big trades.

August isn’t typically the month when big trades occur. That’s for July. However, because of a few changes in some seasons and the old rule of allowing trades for players who pass through waivers, some notable Mets trades have occurred in the penultimate regular season month of the season.

A mix of good and bad, these are the ten most notable Mets trades that were finalized in August.

August 31, 1977 – Mets trade Jerry Grote to the Dodgers

Just when Mets fans thought the tear down was over, August 31 arrived and one more fan favorite was traded away. It was on this day in 1977 that longtime catcher Jerry Grote was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Grote had already lost the starting catcher job to John Stearns so this trade wasn’t completely ridiculous. Still, it’s notable because of what Grote meant to the Mets.

In return for him, the Mets picked up two guys you think might be made up: Daniel Smith and Randy Rogers. Neither ever made it to the big leagues which has this trade categorized in the “forgettable” file.

I thought it was worth having on this list because of the presence of Grote. The first catcher the club built around, his absence served as another reminder in 1977 that the front office was taking the franchise in a different direction.

August 28, 1984 – Mets add Ray Knight in a deal with the Astros

As painful as 1977 was for Mets fans, this trade on August 28, 1984, helped make up for it. Two-time All-Star Ray Knight was hitting just .223 for the Houston Astros. They sent him to the Mets where he would go on to bat .280 in his first 101 plate appearances.

Unfortunately, he did revert back to his slumping ways in 1985 with just a .218 batting average. So, why is he even on this list?

If you don’t know, have you followed Mets history at all? Knight surged back to his prime in 1986 with a .298/.351/.424 performance. His regular season performance earned him a 14th place finish in the MVP vote. A footnote on his year, bigger things were yet to come.

Far more notable, Knight slashed .391/.440/.565 in the World Series. He would go on to win the World Series MVP and add a ring to his finger.

The trade that brought the second World Series MVP to the Mets cost them Gerald Young, Manuel Lee, and Mitch Cook. All expendable because of what Knight accomplished, we have a clear victor.

There is no debating this one. The Mets were the big winners in this August trade with the Astros.

August 1, 1989 – Mets trade Mookie Wilson to the Blue Jays

We can file this one right alongside the Grote deal. On August 1, 1989, the Mets traded away longtime fan favorite Mookie Wilson. A World Series hero right alongside Knight from 1986, the club was determined to get the most out of Juan Samuel in center field this season. They had already traded Lenny Dykstra to the Philadelphia Phillies to land Samuel. Trading Wilson was the next logical step for them.

It did make sense at the time. In 262 trips to the plate, Wilson was hitting .205. However, we should realize he picked things up once he joined the Toronto Blue Jays. Wilson finished the season in Canada hitting .298. Able to play more often with the Blue Jays, he turned back the clock and would actually give them another good season in 1990.

As for the Mets, they didn’t get much out of this trade other than a cleared roster spot. Jeff Musselman and Mike Brady were the two pieces they received for Wilson. Only Musselman ever reached the majors. While effective in 1989 out of the bullpen, he wasn’t able to do enough to help the team get back to the postseason.

The loss of Wilson was one of many the Mets experienced in the late 1980s and early 1990s. An era was officially over.

August 27, 1992 – Mets trade David Cone to the Blue Jays

The Blue Jays couldn’t possibly win two August trades with the Mets, could they? No. That’s impossible. Teams don’t even make trades in August.

That just happens to be the case with this major deal, although, the Mets weren’t exactly the big losers here either.

One of the great Mets pitchers of the late 1980s and early 1990s, David Cone, was heading toward free agency. With a record of 13-7 and 2.88 ERA, the “going nowhere” 1992 Mets decided it was time to sell him to the highest bidder. It happened to be the ball club in Toronto.

In return, the Mets did get future MVP Jeff Kent—of course winning the award years after leaving New York—and a quality hitter named Ryan Thompson. Hardly a bludgeoning by the Blue Jays, it’s what Cone accomplished with Toronto that makes this one a painful deal.

Cone was fantastic with the Blue Jays in 1992. He went 4-3 with a 2.55 ERA. He would also play a big role in the postseason. In just his second trip there as a major leaguer, Cone assisted the Blue Jays in taking down the 1992 Atlanta Braves.

It would be the first of several World Series rings Cone would add to his collection. Of course, all others came as a member of the New York Yankees. Puke!

August 22, 2006 – Mets add Shawn Green in deal with the Diamondbacks

The 2006 Mets are a team that turned many casual fans into diehards. One notable trade the team made to increase their chances was the August 22 addition of outfielder Shawn Green. While having a productive season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he swapped uniforms and joined the baseball club in Queens for the stretch run.

Green wasn’t nearly as good with the orange and blue in 2006 but he did play a role in the postseason and hit quite well. He slashed .333/.333/.556 in 9 NLDS plate appearances and .304/.429/.348 in 28 opportunities in the NLCS.

In 2007, Green returned for his final MLB season. He hit .291/.352/.430 in just under 500 plate appearances. Not tremendous production, he was exactly what you might want to add in an August trade: quality veteran talent.

In order to bring him to New York, the Mets gave up a guy named Evan MacLane. You don’t need to have a subscription to The Athletic to realize this was a good trade for the Amazins. They got some outfield help in exchange for someone that only ever pitched one major league inning.

Green wasn’t a huge splash by any stretch, but he was an upgrade the team felt they needed.

August 25, 2009 – Mets trade Billy Wagner to the Red Sox

I feel this trade falls under the radar. Who wants to remember much about the 2009 season anyway? It ended with the Yankees and Phillies in the World Series. It’s not exactly palatable to anyone who bleeds orange and blue.

On August 25, 2009, the Mets sent a healed-up Billy Wagner to the Boston Red Sox. Wagner had only pitched two games for them that year so a trade was a logical step to take.

Amazingly, at 37, Wagner was just as good, if not better. He had a 1.98 ERA with the Red Sox across 13.2 innings of work. Showing off that this wasn’t just success from a short sample size, he returned in 2010 with an All-Star campaign with the Atlanta Braves. While there, he saved 37 games and pitched to a 1.43 ERA. Wagner put together what might be one of the greatest final seasons for a pitcher in recent MLB history.

But back to the trade between the Mets and Red Sox. Chris Carter and Eddie Lora are the names of the two guys that went to New York. Lora never reached the majors and Carter was much different from the NFL player of the same name. He did appear in 100 games for the team in 2010 and managed to even hit .263.

August 30, 2015 – Mets add Addison Reed in a deal with the Diamondbacks

The Mets made a few memorable splashes before the July 31 trade deadline in 2015. Notably, it was the addition of Yoenis Cespedes to the lineup that many cite as the catalyst to the team turning on the engines full blast.

However, on August 30, the team made another addition that paid off. In a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Addison Reed was shipped to New York.

Reed joined the boys in Flushing after posting a 4.20 ERA out in the desert. Amazingly, he was able to deliver much more than I think anyone thought he had up his sleeve. Reed finished 2015 with a 1.17 ERA in 15.1 innings of work while wearing orange and blue. The next year, in 77.2 innings of work, Reed had a 1.97 ERA.

As if this didn’t work out in New York’s favor enough, Reed posted a 2.57 ERA in 2017 and managed to earn 19 saves for the club before getting traded again.

The trade that brought Reed to Citi Field as a hometown player cost the Miller Diaz and Matt Koch. Neither went on to become MLB legends. Because of this, we look at the August 2015 trade for Reed as one of the better deals in franchise history.

August 1, 2016 – Mets add Jay Bruce in a deal with the Reds

On August 1, 2016, the Mets were looking for some pop to add to the lineup. A year after losing in the World Series, they were willing buyers one season later. This time, their big midseason trade was a swap with the Cincinnati Reds for Jay Bruce. In return, they would send Max Wotell and Dilson Herrera to Cincinnati. Neither did much and Herrera would actually end up back with the Mets organization a few years later.

The big story here is Bruce. Acquired with a year and a half of control left, he was quite miserable in 2016 after changing uniforms. Bruce slashed .219/.294/.391 with 8 home runs in the regular season for the Mets. It wasn’t the big acquisition any of us were hoping to get.

Since he wasn’t a mere rental, we got to see Bruce redeem himself a little more the following year. In 2017, he hit 29 home runs in 448 plate appearances. It’s quite possible he could have set a franchise record, but a losing Mets team forced them to sell him and a few other pieces away.

The August trade to bring Bruce to New York in 2016 wasn’t a very good one. Although it wasn’t costly, it would have been nice to get more production from a mid-year trade like this.

August 2017 – The Mets sell off multiple pieces in August

Okay, I’m going to cheat here. This isn’t a list of ten. It’s a list of much more. That’s because in August of 2017, the Mets put everyone heading to free agency up for sale. The selling began in July with Lucas Duda and Addison Reed headed elsewhere. It continued into August with three notable Mets veterans getting dealt.

The first happened on August 9, 2017 when Bruce was traded for the second straight August. About a year and a week after joining the Mets, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians for minor leaguer Ryder Ryan. Ironically enough, Ryan would later be traded in an August 2020 deal with the Texas Rangers to bring back Todd Frazier.

The Mets weren’t done dealing. On August 12, Neil Walker went to the Milwaukee Brewers for pitcher Eric Hanhold. Aside from some clever puns his name could provide, Hanhold didn’t accomplish much with the Mets.

Finally, there was the August 19 trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers involving Curtis Granderson. Again, the Mets got a single pitcher back in the deal. This time, it was Jacob Rhame. He pitched for the Mets a few times in recent years. He wasn’t exactly the greatest addition.

In defense of the Mets, all three of these veterans were on expiring contracts and none were game-changers for their new franchises. Still, it would have been nice to get something of value back.

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Which August trades in Mets history did you enjoy the most and which one still gives you nightmares?