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.